Hosted by Sally Turnbull, HESPA Exec member and Chair of HESPA’s HE Data Insight Group (HEDIG)

Registration

Hangout / Networking / Exhibition

Networking Carousel with Supporters (open to all attendees)

Networking & Exhibition

Plenary 3: Institutional Autonomy: does it still exist and does it matter? 

This session will consider whether the autonomy of universities is under threat and whether that matters. It will consider:

• How institutional autonomy should be defined
• What the impact of recent and forthcoming legal, policy and regulatory changes has been
• What the implications are for university strategies
• How institutions should respond
• What can be done to advance a positive case for autonomy

Refreshment Break

Networking & Exhibition

12:00 - 12:45

Business Sessions

Business Session 2: Studyportals - Around the World with Data: How 2020 changed International Student Interest. Case of Coventry using Student Behaviour Data

2020 has been a game changer: student mobility has been largely affected, and student interest to the UK has changed as well. Students have been browsing online and considering options abroad for their studies: now that marketing and recruitment have moved mostly online it is crucial to keep a finger on the pulse of student interest. This session drives you through long-term changes and sudden shocks, trying to make sense of what has been a complex year. Keeping focus on the UK as the destination, this session summarises the core changes for international student interest. This session combines Studyportals’ student behavioural data with hands-on experience in student recruitment from Coventry University.

Thijs van Vugt, Director Studyportals Analytics and Consulting Team

David Pilsbury, PVC Global, Coventry University

Business Session 3: EAB - Overcoming Hidden Enemies to Strategy: Lessons from University Planning Processes…and Cognitive Psychology 

Many leaders at HEIs set out to make bold changes at their institutions, only to hit roadblocks when translating those ideas into practical decision-making. In working with universities and observing their strategic planning processes, EAB has identified five common barriers that different stakeholders create—almost like defence mechanisms against change (e.g., Stay the Course Syndrome—adhering to a widely-shared vision, despite evidence of its untenability). In this session, EAB will provide an overview of these five hidden enemies to strategy, how they manifest themselves in planning processes, and practical strategies for overcoming them. The presentation will also feature commentary and on-the-ground observations from Riley Power from the University of Bradford, whose leadership team has been working through these hidden enemies in their own strategic planning.

Rachel Tanner, Director of Research, EAB

Riley Power, University Secretary, University of Bradford

Lunch Break

Networking & Exhibition

14:00 - 15:00

Workshop Sessions 

Workshop B1: Strategic Risk Management

Strategic risk management is one of the hottest topics for university leaders in 2021. Regardless of whether you coped well or badly with Covid-19, the need to show readiness for the next wave of foreseeable risks is pressing. In this workshop you will learn about the ‘enlightened’ view of risk management, which proposes that uncertainty gives rise to both risk of harm and the prospect of opportunity. You will discover simple visual ways to explain how strategic risks and opportunities can be managed. A step-by-step process will be demonstrated and you will be given the opportunity, using online whiteboarding software, to try out the core risk and opportunity assessment process.

Dr Mike Baxter, Director, GoalAtlas.com

Workshop B2: Data governance at SHU

Higher Education is coming under higher scrutiny from its regulators, through media, and by its students. Data has quickly become the vehicle to enable this scrutiny as such institutions need to understand their data sources and pro-actively manage the data within them. This presentation explains how Sheffield Hallam considered and responded to the data driven landscape. We will talk honestly and openly about our journey from the launch of a Data Strategy to the establishment of a Data Governance service and through to today as we are continuing to embed our work. The challenges, barriers, enablers and successes faced within Sheffield Hallam could help other institutions navigate their journey in evolving attitudes to data, particularly through the lens of data governance.

Refreshment Break

Networking & Exhibition

Plenary 4: Regulatory Horizons

Following the huge popularity of last year's HESPA Live event ‘Regulatory Requirements in the Coming Months’, this session will bring together representatives from the Office for Students, Scottish Funding Council and Higher Education Funding Council for Wales to discuss the current regulatory requirements for Providers and give insights into forthcoming developments.

Panellists are Richard Puttock (OfS), Hannah Falvey (HEFCW), Martin Boyle (SFC) and the session will be chaired by Sally Turnbull, HESPA Exec member and Chair of HESPA’s HE Data Insight Group (HEDIG).

We encourage you to submit questions for the panellists prior to the session - this will give the best chance of an answer during the session - but there will also be opportunities to ask questions during the event.

Panellists:

Richard Puttock, Director of Data, Foresight and Analysis, Office for Students

Hannah Falvey, Head of Statistics, HEFCW

Martin Boyle, Director, Policy, Insight & Analytics, Scottish Funding Council

Chair:

Sally Turnbull, HESPA Exec member and Chair of HESPA’s HE Data Insight Group (HEDIG).

Refreshment Break

Networking & Exhibition

Wellness Programme