Take three steps
JISC Portfolio for Senior Managers: Employing technology to support your business goals
JISC experts suggest 3 steps, within 5 key areas of challenge, that institutions can take to tackle some of the issues facing universities today.
Enhancing the student and staff experience
- Ensure that best practice and innovation is being shared across your institution rather than being confined to pockets of excellence
- Check that the student voice is represented across committees and planning groups so that your students’ views and expectations are heard
- Make the most of the advice and guidance that JISC offers in this area: there is a wealth of resources in relation to technology supporting learning and teaching
Video: 3 steps towards enhancing the student and staff experience
Sarah Knight (JISC Programme Manager, e-Learning)
Strategies for agile institutions: Scenario planning
- Read – explore the range of resources on the JISC infoNet website aimed at this area
- Review – look at where you are right now with a very open mind. It is easy to assume that things that have been in place for a long time are fit for purpose, but take a critical eye at things such as mission statements – can it be changed?
- Measure – be clear about the metrics you are going to use and whether you are happy with them as indicators of progress. How will you know you have made those improvements and achieved that benefit?

Video: 3 steps towards scenario planning
Steve Bailey (Senior Advisor at JISC Infonet)
Relationship management and business intelligence
- Know your processes – across academic departments and business functions. Institutional efficiency and credibility may be at stake. Use the CRM Self-analysis Framework to self-appraise
- Know your markets – segment your external ‘market’ (not just commercial); involve central marketing and ensure capability and capacity to effectively manage strategic partnerships
- Play to your strengths – universities cannot do everything in terms of external engagement; develop the business intelligence to inform well-founded and sustainable strategic choices
Video: 3 steps towards relationship management
Simon Whittemore (JISC Programme Manager, Business & Community Engagement)
Research rigour, accessibility and impact
- Put in place practices, policies and infrastructure to ensure that your institution’s research outputs are made Open Access
- Review your infrastructure for the collection and management of research administrative information and join with JISC to ensure that good practice is spread across the sector
- Review your risk management strategy and see what contribution the JISC Data Audit Framework can make to it
Video: 3 steps towards research rigour, accessibility and impact
Neil Jacobs (JISC Programme Manager, Information Environment)
Alternative business models for higher education
- Look at the body of evidence being developed about new business models and send your specialist staff to attend workshops and review the documentation before any tough decisions about resources are made
- Read Chris Batt’s report that looks at the first steps a university might take if considering building a digital community around its online collections
- Send staff to the training events offered by the Oxford Great War Archive project on how to engage the community to build up a digital collection
Video: 3 steps towards alternative business models
Stuart Dempster (Director of the Strategic Content Alliance) & Alastair Dunning (JISC Programme Manager, Digitisation)
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