I have always worked very closely with my academic colleagues, on whichever programme, or sets of programmes, that I have worked on. The change in team set me thinking about the qualities that are necessary for support staff within Universities.

There are some who will have you believe that the role of an administrator in HE is mainly data entry, with little responsibility and decision making. I have to say that this, in my experience, is not the case. In order to be an effective administrator, you need to have excellent attention to detail – it is likely to be you who picks up on little things that your academic colleagues may miss. You need to know your programme(s). I have learnt over the years that having intimate knowledge of the workings and nuances of the programmes you work on is vital. Each programme, or group of programmes, will have its own little differences – you may have a flexible part time programme. You may have a post graduate programme that operates strangely out of sync with under graduate programmes. Each student on the programmes will have their own set of circumstances that may effect them in assessments, and considerations will need to be made at assessment board time. It is often you, the administrator, who has some of this specialist knowledge. There are times when you will be the point of contact for a troubled student. I have managed to retain students on a programme in the past when they were on the verge of withdrawing, but was able to advise and suggest a suspension of studies as an alternative. This kind of ability is invaluable to a university and to a programme team (especially when numbers can make or break a programme!).

I have always felt that a programme needs a dedicated administrator – and the last two weeks have confirmed this for me. A collaborative programme is likely to have differences that a home programme does not. You are often working within more than one set of regulations – your institution, and the partner institution. These programmes can not be managed by multiple people. They need to have a single person who can truly get to grips with the nuances.

I’m hoping that support staff reading this blog post are nodding sagely at what I say. We are the foundation of the success of our institutions. If you are the type of person who does have attention to detail; who notices the little things; who works well to a structure that has deadlines, regulations and application, you will make an excellent HE administrator.

There are many departments in Universities that support the work of our academic colleagues. HE Institutions are big employers, and the roles that support the teaching and learning are vital. As administrators at Faculty or School level, we support the core business. We ensure the smooth running of the academic calendar. We support our students, and are often the face of the university we work at. Students will come to administrative staff for a large number of queries, and the advice and support that we are able to offer assists our students through their career with us.

Without the administrative staff, assessment boards would not take place. We work tirelessly to ensure that all student assessment is recorded accurately and the assessment boards run smoothly. In another part of my current role, the administrative staff ensure that timetables are constructed without clashes, to suit both students and academics alike. No mean feat when there are multiple modules on multiple programmes across multiple schools in one faculty. But it all comes together, thanks to the expertise of the staff working in that area. These are the areas with which I have direct experience and knowledge.

There are opportunities for development of staff in Higher Education. Where else would you get the opportunity to learn and to gain qualifications? This is something that Universities can uniquely offer to their staff. You can develop from within. I myself have been given the opportunity to explore the world of academia and teaching – and to discover that this is something I love and want to move into.

All support staff within Universities need to take pride in the vital role that they play in the running of a University. It is a good career, one with many opportunities. But you have to work for those opportunities, and if you seek them, they are there for those who want them – you just need to reach out and take them.

I have certainly seen it happen, and I understand the skepticism.  I have had every possible range of experience working with consultants, from the very good to the very bad to the simply mediocre and useless.

Why use consultants?

A recent (September 2010) CASE article by Andrea Jarrell called “Help Wanted: Making the most of consultant expertise” identifies the following factors to help universities (or any organisation, really) identify when they might need a consultant:

Four factors generally cause institutions to seek outside expertise: scope, know-how, objectivity, and politics.  The first two are fairly obvious: Is the job simply too big for campus professionals to handle in addition to their regular responsibilities? Is the expertise required to accomplish your goals lacking on campus? If the answer is yes to one or both of these questions, you need help from a consultant. Even if you have the time and expertise on campus to handle the proposed project, you may need the objectivity of outside counsel to ensure success.

I recently helped co-ordinate the work of a branding agency to help Wales’ newest university re-name and re-brand, and despite expected complaints from some at how much was spent developing a “logo,” I know first-hand how much work was involved from the research and benchmarking stages through to the advocacy and lobbying and internal communications and then the part that everyone sees – the brand identity.  It didn’t go perfectly, and everyone learned from the process, which is to be expected.  But I also know for a fact there is absolutely no way either I or my team or even a working group of academic and administrative professionals could have achieved the necessary output without professional assistance, for all the reasons listed in the article above.

Working expectations – beyond the “brief”

And now I’ve moved from briefing and coordinating the work of consultants to being one myself. Reflecting on my experience, I think the key to a successful working relationship is to spent the time at the outset agreeing the terms of the arrangement.  And by this I don’t simply mean the contract and what constitutes breaches, setting deadlines, etc.  But rather a very frank discussion about working styles and expectations. As one of my favourite teachers used to say, “you can’t staple your head to the paper.”  Meaning, it may all be “up there” but if you don’t spell it out, how can anyone possibly know what you mean?

So talk about preferences – email vs. phone vs. chat; experience managing these types of projects (on the client side) – do they need help and guidance?; pros and cons of being fully involved in each stage of the project; time commitments and availability; learning/thinking/feedback styles – do you go with your gut or do you like to digest and think about it first? And so on…this can take place before the contract is awarded even, so that both parties clearly understand what they’re getting into.

I find it strange that so much time is spent hiring permanent or even contract staff in terms of the application process and interviews, trying to figure out if the person is the right “fit” for the organisation, but the same types of consideration aren’t part of the equation in hiring a consultant.  It’s understandable, but I think both the client and the consultant would benefit from similar discussions so that the decision isn’t simply based on previous experience/recommendations or cost/benefit but rather on the interpersonal relationship the partnership brings to the team.

The (near) future of consulting

It’s a tough time to try to work with universities – with massive budget cuts, it’s hard to imagine that financial resources will be made available for consultancy-based projects. However, with the increasing competitiveness and need to source and develop additional revenue streams, given the above criteria, hiring consultants and interim managers is a logical stop-gap measure when longer-term funding is unknown. The options are endless too – it’s no longer just a matter of having someone come in and do a bit of research and leave you with a 100+ page report for you to read and implement (although if that’s all you’re after…!) but rather consultants can be used in house where staffing gaps might exist or to implement particular projects or to train staff on new ways of working – or all of the above!

The right partner can be worth their weight in gold if used effectively, particularly if flexible and as committed to the success of your organisation as you are. In this way, you are not chained to them if it’s not working, but if it is – the link is solid, and they don’t just walk away at the end of the project with no concern for the effectiveness of the implementation of their recommendations and ideas.

The restructure is almost always a cost-cutting measure but rarely if ever is portrayed as such. It is usually a “more effective”, “efficient” or “customer friendly” way of doing things.

This instantly creates an air of anger and resentment in those affected by the dreaded restructuring, with people wanting their employers to simply be honest with them. The extent to which this would help is debateable as I don’t know of any companies that have done this.

When a restructure leads to jobs being ‘at risk’ and in many cases having to re-apply for your own or a similar position leaves people feeling angry, insulted and de-motivated. It also leads to colleagues looking at each other with an air of suspicion, thinking that others are rivals for their job.

However hard it may be, it is important amid all the turmoil to try and stay positive. Being bitter and complaining is highly unlikely to change anything and if your boss and others see you getting on with your job you put yourself in a much better position when applying for a new role.

The restructure may even give you a chance to change your career for the better. This won’t be the case for everyone, but it is very easy to get stuck in a rut and stay in a job that is very comfortable, if that is the case use this as an opportunity to gain more skills and experience and take the next step in your career.

So if a restructure is affecting you try to stay positive, and make sure you brush up on your interview skills and CV writing in plenty of time.

In my experience, however, a degree is very helpful to working in HE, for several reasons.

1) It shows you have an interest in, and an aptitude for, the central service/product on offer by the university or college you are applying to – education is at the core of their business and their values, and you would be best placed if you can demonstrate the role it has had in your life as well.

2) Higher education is an increasingly complex and dynamic industry, and advanced studies lend themselves to the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are valued in that kind of environment.  Having a degree doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be a flexible, adaptable, pro-active employee, but it may show that you have a pre-disposition towards this.

3) Working with others who have advanced degrees and/or who are at the top of their field – you won’t automatically be able to get the respect you deserve from a fellow staff member just because you’ve got some letters behind your name, but when you’re working in a place that places a great deal of importance on teaching and research, you may find it easier if you know your quantitative from qualitative evidence, and are able to demonstrate this tangibly not only from your professional working history, but also from having taken appropriate courses at some stage in your career.

All of this will of course depend to a certain extent the role that you have as well as your relationship with your peers and of course the institutional culture where you work.  But in my experience, you will likely find it easier to get settled in a new role if you have had some prior experience of university-level study and how a university organizes itself.  And certainly as a hiring manager, with all else being equal, I would certainly prioritise an applicant or a candidate for promotion who showed a continuing interest in their own personal and/or professional education, and would certainly encourage him or her to take courses at the institution.

Another option to consider is joining professional networks and memberships.  Most professionals working in higher education (on either the academic or administrative side) hold multiple memberships of relevant professional organisations, which are also selective and often also require studies at an appropriate level in order to gain membership.

There may be a “degree” of academic snobbery at work here, in that members of the academy expect that others in the organisation should have achieved a similar standard of education. But when you think about it in terms of an institution’s brand values and mission in society, what does it say if they conclude a degree isn’t important to success?

Over time these games developed and are now we have a regular booking on an outdoor pitch where we have our weekly “Staff versus Student” football matches, with both academic and non-academic staff playing. Everyone is welcome to play and it’s quite a casual (if at times quite competitive) affair which everyone enjoys. We often have up to 20 people per week coming along to play and demand continues to grow.

Aside from it being an enjoyable distraction for both staff and students it has greatly helped the working relationship between all that take part. Students no longer see the staff as a bureaucratic obstacle they need to overcome; they see them as real people who need to have certain procedures in place to do their job. Staff also have a deeper understanding of the students’ issues and as such can do more to help.

Walking around the university now, you will often see students chatting to staff about the previous week’s game or looking forward to the next one. Some of the staff who play are also non student facing so these events are the only chance they get to see the students.

When it started I had no idea that a simple social game of football would have these added benefits. I think it stresses the importance of seeing students as individuals and not just as problems as one can easily do when under pressure. Seeing students in a less formal setting lends itself to this very easily.

Although the football games that I organise have grown very organically it is very much something I would encourage others to create. I think any form of social activities where staff and students can come together away from their university would have beneficial effects on any institution, even if only in a small way.

Apart from the obvious impact this uncertainty has on prospective students it also leaves staff in HE facing many questions.

With the increased fees how will students expectations change?

As students could be paying £27,000 or more for a degree, they will surely want more for their money than those who have paid £9,000. The problem universities face is how to meet this increased demand with no more money? How do you improve service whilst making budget cuts?

Will poorer students be put off from applying?

Universities want the best students, not just the richest. With the new fees universities charging over £6,000 will have to take measures to ensure they are widening participation for the poor. Unfortunately, HE institutions and their staff have no idea what these measures will be or how effective they will be. How do you ensure that the best students aren’t put off from applying due to fees?

Will different courses cost different amounts?

In simple, practical terms a course such as chemistry costs more to run than History. Although I’m no chemist, the labs, chemicals and safety equipment must be expensive. Therefore should a Chemistry degree cost more than a History degree? If so does that undermine the History course and make students feel undervalued?

I could continue but each question leads only to further questions that cannot currently be answered.

The point is that an effect of the government’s decision on fees is to create an uncertain atmosphere in Universities for both staff and students. The quicker it is resolved the better it will be for all concerned.

Why not try looking at a career in Higher Education? It may seem strange at a time when University funding cuts are being widely talked about but for me the pros far outwiegh the cons.

I worked in a corporate environment before I took a job in Higher Education and the contrast is startling. To work in an atmosphere that was not entirely focused on making money was a refreshing change. Most of the staff in HE both academic and non-academic are focused on improving the students’ experience. This is becoming increasingly so as the students are expecting more for their increased fees.

There are a wide variety of jobs (As the blog title says it’s Not Just Teaching) that are required in order to keep a university functioning. From marketing and PR jobs, careers advisers, administrators and even graphic designers, so any job in a university brings you into contact with a wide range of people with differing skills.

The pay and benefits are also good at most UK universities – they haven’t suffered the pay freezes that the public sector have and wages are still competitive with similar roles in the private sector. Many universities offer cut-price childcare and gym membership as additional benefits.

Holidays too are generous with most universities giving around 5 closure days/concessionary days over the year including a long break at Christmas without any extra holidays taken.

Opportunities for progression are often very good with opportunities across various departments allowing you to develop a wide range of skills.

Of course there are downsides too and not everyone will have found their experiences as good as mine; Funding cuts are a cause for concern and some smaller universities may merge which would cause some job losses. However, I think for those of us who are lucky enough to work in Higher Education should take the time now and again to appreciate how much worse our working lives could be and how fortunate we are.

What are the differences?

Given that public spending has seen significant cuts this year and that universities are already feeling the pressure, there is a considerable shift in recruitment from purely administrative and operational roles to income-generating roles. Anything to do with alumni and development, research and services commercialization, business partnerships – in other words, anything with potential to bring in additional income in the near future – is on the rise. This is not to say that admin roles are not on offer anymore, but the current trend is to try and squeeze an administrator’s role into a broader, preferably income-generating, role. The reason is quite obvious: lower costs for the institution with the potential for some much needed extra cash.

What does this say about the industry?

In my opinion, higher education institutions are doing the same as private and other public organizations in their efforts to cope with the financial crisis and the consequent reductions in cash flow. The way I see things, the education industry is more successful than other industries in that they are generally trying to avoid mass redundancies and are cutting costs in a reasonable manner. At the end of the day, thinking about the shifts in recruitment patterns, the UK higher education industry seems to be showing flexibility, and quick adaptability to environmental changes. Instead of freezing new hires all together, as we have seen elsewhere, it is instead moving its focus towards roles that are thought to satisfy current financial needs. If nothing else, universities in the UK are challenging the assumption that public sector organizations are inflexible and slow to change.

What does this have to do with higher education? The debate about how the education system fails to provide students with soft skills and how little it does to prepare them for real-life challenges once they embark on a career has been going on for decades. The argument that higher education modules need to escape the stereotypical classroom learning model and discover more connections with the real world couldn’t be more relevant. Employers are complaining that college graduates, who are undoubtedly bright people, have difficulties grasping the practical issues of work and adapting to workplace requirements. These graduates are just used to different ways of thinking – more academic than practical – and they definitely need, and do indeed take, their time to adjust.

This is the challenge that enterprise modules at universities aim to tackle. They are designed to teach students those all-important transferable skills that sadly tend to be overlooked while at university, yet constitute essential requirements for any career: communication, teamwork, public speaking, problem solving, leadership, creative thinking, and business acumen. In other words, enterprise modules aim to bridge the gap between academia and the workplace. My university has started to realise the importance of these classes and has introduced enterprise modules across different degree disciplines, from business to sports and life sciences. By learning and practicing how to write effective business plans, overcome challenges, solve day-to-day problems, and pitch their ideas, students develop the soft skills that will allow them to be successful outside academia and will prepare them for a range of careers beyond graduation.