This session is part of the HESPA Showcasing Good Practice Week 2025. The aim of this week is to provide a space for our members to share with each other the work they have done which they feel has been a particular success, and to celebrate and promote the hard work of planners in the HE sector.
Synopsis:
In 2023, the Strategy & Planning Team at YSJ led the development and release of a new risk management annual planning cycle for our portfolio of courses. Our previous process needed considerable overhaul in light of the recent (at that time) sector regulatory changes (OfS B3) and in terms of existing disconnected and inefficient data and administrative processes and the additional burden this placed on staff. In collaboration with Registry, Senior Management, and our Academic Schools, we designed a new process which would reduce overall burden while focussing effort on risk assessment and actions in relation to regulatory frameworks and institutional strategic objectives.
We achieved this via a simultaneous overhaul of our strategic data infrastructure and our portfolio risk planning documentation, which led to the creation of new Portfolio Risk Profiles and an underlying Portfolio Performance Dataset. The clarity and focus on this new approach allowed us to reduce burden while at the same time empowering Senior Management and Schools to align risk identification and opportunity planning to our strategic priorities. The new process was very positively received and deemed a success, but as is natural in such an undertaking, there was plenty of feedback on things that could be improved. We gathered and acted upon feedback to make further improvements for the 2024 cycle.
Speakers:
Michael Cummings, Head of Business Insight & Analysis, York St John University (YSJ)
