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.

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?

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.

1. Find out what your department’s core needs are and get to know how to cover them as best as possible. These may not always be the “sexy” duties, and they may even be boring or tedious sometimes. However, if you are perceived to be the all-rounder, the person who can run the whole department if necessary, your employers will be much more reluctant to let you go.
2. It is equally important to not isolate yourself in your specific department. Whenever you get the chance, actively seek interaction and co-operation with other departments. Get to know how they work, what their needs are, and how your department can work with them for mutual benefit. Try to gain an understanding of your university as a whole and of its broader activities.
3. Never stop seeking new training opportunities. No matter how senior you may be and how much expertise you may have acquired in your area of work, there will always be new things to learn – be it a new piece of computer software, a new professional qualification, or simply keeping up to speed with developments in your field.
4. Offer something extra than what was asked for. If every once in a while you give away some of your time to assist in university activities where an extra pair of hands is needed, or to do some work on top of what is in your job description, this will no doubt be much appreciated, admired, and remembered.
5. Network as much as you can, whenever and wherever you can. Network with colleagues from your institution and other institutions, with management staff, with industry people, with whomever possible. You never know when a contact may come in handy, and if you ever get to the unpleasant position of being let go from your job, you will already have a wide network of people who you can ask for help with finding new opportunities.
6. Finally, it is worth remembering those simple things, which, if not followed consistently, can ultimately cost you your job. Arrive at work on time, make up for any time lost, listen to your managers, be respectful to colleagues, maintain good working relationships with everyone, and give your best when executing your duties.

Who is affected the most?

It is no secret that inflated staff-related costs are more associated with the academic rather than with the non-academic staff. Yet, academics are there to serve the principal purpose of every university, which is to educate students. They are in charge of a university’s core business, which is teaching and research. Therefore, when redundancies become a necessary measure, it is the non-academic staff who are unfortunately the most vulnerable. That said, academics unfortunately can and do occasionally lose their jobs too, such as when universities decide to remove their modules from the timetables. However, mass redundancies of academic staff, especially of those in permanent positions, are rather unrealistic.

Why are non-academics in more trouble?

The answer is quite simple. While all those specialized modules need somebody with relevant expertise to teach them, it is assumed that, for example, one administrative assistant can carry out the work of two if necessary, or one finance officer can complement the role of another colleague. The demand for specialization is much lower in non-academic personnel. This makes them an easier target when job cuts are considered, simply because they are seen as easier to replace.

So is it all doom and gloom?

I don’t believe so. The purpose of this post is not to add to the general uncertainty of the times, but to analyze a situation that may seem incomprehensible and even unfair to some. Even more importantly, the aim is to offer some suggestions on how non-academic staff can try to “recession-proof” their career. So read part II for hints and tips on how to stay employable.

I couldn’t help thinking that the current economic climate has something to do with this. After all, I know that competition for any job in the past few months has been fierce. Even most non-academic university vacancies nowadays attract several applications from redundant (or redundancy-fearing) City workers – usually well qualified and with lots of desirable competencies. This makes things harder and more complicated for everybody – candidates and recruiters alike. This makes the outcome of any job application even more unpredictable than it is anyway.

Some interesting HE employees

While City workers may or may not get the job at the end of the day, higher education is one of the foremost industries in the UK that is open to people from different and diverse backgrounds. Even from my limited experience working in the sector, I have met people from every possible background doing university work that is not always relevant to what they used to do before.

Let’s see if I can muster some of the most astonishing examples I have come across:

• Ex-wedding planner now managing business development activities
• Ex-airhostess now coordinating student internships
• Ex-journalist now writing and managing bids
• Ex-librarian now a Careers Advisor
• Ex-actress now an executive PA
• And let’s not forget me: an ex-political researcher and journalist who happened to fall into higher education and loved it so much that now I want to develop my career in the sector

Is all this good or bad?

Depending on whether you see the glass as half-full or half-empty, this openness can be seen as good or bad news. With the current economic climate, it may mean that competition becomes much harder, but not for those candidates who can demonstrate a real interest and knowledge of the sector and can show how their skills make them the right person for the job. Whether those skills come from higher education or elsewhere, it is those candidates who are ultimately going to get interviews and land the jobs.

For people already employed in the sector, this can only mean good news. With the exception of a few highly specialised positions, most non-academic posts require the same transferable skills. In my current role, I work with students, academics and external organisations. I do events coordination, marketing, bid writing support, website management and administration, all in between internal and external meetings. All my colleagues do the same, from my line manager to the department head. Some tasks are enjoyable, some are not. But the point is that we are lucky enough to gain a range of transferable skills that can be applied to a wide variety of different roles and functions. HE institutions do not normally discourage internal mobility, so it is not unusual for staff to move to a different department of the same institution for career development purposes. Similarly, HE hiring managers usually keep an open mind about the type of candidates they are looking to recruit and about the kind of experience those candidates bring along. It is not always necessary that your current role is an exact fit to the new vacancy if you have the required skills and are able to prove it.

I don’t know if I am overly optimistic, but to me, this all sounds like good news.