Professional services in higher education

Advice on the many functions of a university that fall outside academia or teaching such as HR, finance, communications, department and laboratory management, libraries and student services. Find out how professional services teams in higher education can best ensure the smooth running of an institution, supporting teaching, research and student success – and work effectively with their academic colleagues.

From library-focused project to campus-wide collaboration

A heritage trail to mark an anniversary event began life in the library, but how to extend its reach to the rest of the university? Here’s what one library team learned when they collaborated across their institution

Rachael Jones, Neal Buchanan, Carol Stewart

University of Strathclyde

Funding bid for research illustration concept

How research technical professionals can enhance research infrastructure funding bids

When technicians are empowered and supported, they don’t just contribute to best practice and equipment sustainability, they can boost bids for investment in infrastructure

Alex Laude

Newcastle University

Compassion cuts through polarisation

Compassion, not empathy, is the emotion that will cut through group polarisation and motivate constructive intergroup dialogue in higher education. Training in mindfulness-based compassion meditation can be scaled at a relatively low barrier to entry

Rayne Bozeman

Georgia Tech College of Lifetime Learning

AI as an access tool for neurodiverse and international staff

Used transparently and ethically, GenAI can level the playing field and lower the cognitive load of repetitive tasks for admin staff, student support and teachers

Vanessa Mar-Molinero

University of Southampton

Connecting and empowering technical staff: lessons for universities

Technicians themselves will have many of the answers to the challenges they face and can bridge staff groups, but their roles are often siloed or isolated. These suggestions build networks and communication

John Nicolson

University of Cambridge

Investing in futures: maximising legacy gifts in higher education

Legacy giving provides a valuable and sustainable source of income for charities but it’s still relatively untapped in the higher education sector. With universities and students under increasing financial pressure, now is a good time to make it a priority. Here’s how to get started

Carolyn Jones

University of Liverpool

Conversations that drive grassroots innovation in higher education

When university resources are limited, innovation doesn’t always begin with boardroom decisions or major funding. Sometimes it starts with one conversation and a willingness to act on it. Here’s how university staff can drive change through grassroots leadership initiatives

Penny Triantafillou

The University of Warwick

Focus on programme leaders in higher education

Overworked and undervalued: how can we empower programme leaders in higher education?

Programme leaders are an often-undervalued part of the student learning experience. Here, Neil Ford shares advice on how peer networks and communities of practice can support programme leaders’ development and recognition

Neil Ford

University of Southampton

A podcaster interviewing a guest speaker

The power of podcasts to enhance student support

A university podcast can help cut through the noise of traditional communications. By meeting students where they are, it can be a powerful way to build community, reduce stigma and ensure support services reach those who need them

Shaunagh Moss

University of Chester

How to create snackable social media content

What makes an engaging post that delivers your key message? Here’s what university social media creators should do and what they should avoid when creating short-form content

Evan Atkinson

Georgia Tech College of Lifetime Learning

Why parents and carers networks matter to university staff

Advocacy, activities, peer support and safe spaces are among the reasons to institute a network for university faculty and staff with caring responsibilities

Claire Partridge

University of Southampton

Stepping stones to milestones: tap into micro-moments for alumni engagement

To connect effectively with alumni, bite-sized social media content must mirror the complexity of the lives it touches, writes Florence Neo

Florence Neo

Singapore Management University

Cut through the noise with impactful internal communications

Internal messaging needs to reach the right people and inspire action – whether that’s getting responses to a staff survey or changing recycling behaviour. Here, Kelly Hibbs explores practical strategies to build trust and clarity

Kelly Hibbs

University of Southampton

Airport arrival sign with welcome in English, French and Italian

How to strengthen onboarding and integration for international scientific talent

Welcoming faculty from another country requires more than adding visa information to the domestic induction process. Joanna Daaboul shares how her institution helps international researchers settle into life in France

Joanna Daaboul

Université de Technologie de Compiègne

The impact of business relationship managers in higher education

The role that bridges the gap between digital transformation and the wider university is often misunderstood. Here, Bhupinder Siran explains what a business relationship manager does, and the position’s challenges and rewards

Bhupinder Siran

University of Southampton

How to use a ‘manual of me’

This team-building activity costs nothing and will help you and your staff understand each other better. Here’s a guide to using this simple tool

Alexandra Head

University of Southampton

Is a ‘co-opetition’ model the way to safeguard higher education for future generations?

Shared support functions don’t mean the end of competition among institutions, writes Mark Thompson. Instead, collective thinking could focus effort on universities’ strengths and potentially rescue the sector from ‘an unsustainable race to the bottom’

Mark Thompson

The University of Exeter

Knowledge exchange professional services career framework

How a career framework for knowledge exchange can foster a culture of professional growth

A career framework can provide pathways for personal and professional development. Here, Jane Shepard explains how one arts-based institution identified the skills required by professional services staff who help facilitate knowledge exchange

Jane Shepard

University of the Arts London

Co-creation as a model for estate redevelopment

Campus redevelopment can offer an opportunity to reframe the ‘ivory tower’ image of a historic campus, without losing its sense of history, place and academic distinctiveness. Here’s how to bring in diverse stakeholder perspectives

Anton Muscatelli, Frank Coton, Karen Lee, Nicola Cameron, Moira Fischbacher-Smith

University of Glasgow

A new university campus as a springboard for regeneration

The development of a new Ulster University campus has been a powerful driver for regeneration and community engagement in North Belfast. Vice-chancellor Paul Bartholomew explains how

Paul Bartholomew

Ulster University

New hire shakes hands with hiring manager

Get inboarding right in five easy steps

Internal hires don’t need traditional onboarding, so how do you ensure they find their feet quickly and thrive in their new position in your university? That’s where inboarding comes in

Alexandra Head

University of Southampton

computer technician working on mainframe

Career development for technicians in higher education

Technicians need to advocate for themselves, network and seek leadership opportunities to gain the recognition they deserve, writes Mark Dabee Saltmarsh. Here, he offers career advice for the unsung heroes of higher education

Mark Dabee Saltmarsh

Cardiff Metropolitan University

Five tips for embedding a team member into a newly created role

How do you make sure a new recruit feels at home at your university, beds into the department and feels they have a place at the table? Here, Alexandra Head shares advice from her experience

Alexandra Head

University of Southampton

Campus webinar: Recruit, develop and retain the best staff in higher education

Join three experts from Campus+ institutions in the UK, Europe and Asia as they discuss best practices for universities for identifying, hiring and developing the best people

H. C. Man, Inês Crisóstomo , Helen Ashley

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, University of Luxembourg, The University of Manchester

Panel job interview with young female candidate

How do universities successfully recruit faculty and staff?

Grounding hiring processes in the principle of ‘shared governance’ is essential for successful recruitment outcomes, writes Norma Bouchard. Here, she offers 11 examples of best practice for hiring top candidates at a university

Norma Bouchard

Chapman University

Can well-being programmes attract world-class talent to an institution?

Aside from competitive compensation, research support and faculty development, how can a university attract the best faculty candidates? Ron Fricker outlines two programmes that meet the recruitment challenge head-on

Ron Fricker

Virginia Tech

How to manage parental leave for university staff

Parental leave presents challenges for the parent and the workplace, writes Judith Lock. Here are some dos and don’ts for before, during and after the leave period that aim to smooth the return to work and fix academia’s leaky pipeline

Judith Lock

University of Southampton

Embedding lean practices in higher education

How can university processes be more efficient and sustainable? Here’s how one continuous improvement team took a viral approach to efficiency through lean thinking, lean leadership and lean toolkits

Tammi Sinha, Pete Rykowski , Michael Shaw

University of Southampton

How to engage your staff in just 15 minutes

You need to get updates and other messages to faculty and staff, but they don’t have much time for internal communications. Here, Kelly Hibbs offers tips to reach a busy audience in a quick, engaging, accessible way

Kelly Hibbs

University of Southampton

Want student success? Modernising your careers centre is vital

Camille Dumont gives advice on how to adapt a university careers centre to better align with the evolving needs of students and the job market

Camille Dumont

Post University

Two students walking down a corridor talking through some notes

Offer students a personal touch through peer support

As universities expand, they will need to take more of a personal approach to higher education – despite the huge cohorts – but how? Emma Norman suggests looking to the students themselves

Emma Norman

The University of Exeter

A team of colleagues in discussion in a meeting

Building bridges between academics and professional services

Five strategic tactics for a seamless collaboration between academics and professional staff in pursuit of a learner-centred education

Foteini Springou

University of York

Learning design illustration of computer screen, light bulb, pencil and books

Learning designer may be the best job you’ve never heard of

This role is the bridge between students and academia – and makes use of many transferable skills you may already have in your toolkit

Vanessa Jefferson

Online Education Services

Bingo! Try bringing games into your staff training

To engage professional service staff with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, a team at the University of Exeter took a novel approach, creating SDG Bingo. Here’s how they did it

Eleanor Cook

The University of Exeter

Forms of assessment and how to use them in university classes

Formative, summative or diagnostic assessment? A guide

An introduction to three of the key forms of assessment along with how they can be applied in the classroom

Alejandra Govea Garza, Adriana González Nava , Paulo Mendoza Rivera

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Figure at the top of a ladder illustrating skills for career progression, online learning

Creating opportunities to enhance student employability online

Working online presents opportunities for students to develop their employability in the digital space. Ruth Donnelly lists how remote programmes can prepare them for the changing workplace

Ruth Donnelly

The University of Edinburgh

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