Bits of light in tunnels...

As the University enters the run up to the arrival of our new Vice-Chancellor in the middle of 2011 and the government announces some worrying changes with Browne and the CSR, I'm living in "interesting times"!

Nevertheless ENABLE soldiers on...

The work of ENABLE has been built into (and greatly influenced) the new Technology Supported Learning Strategic Plan, which is now in full draft and will shortly go to committee members for initial comment prior to be being discussed at the next Learning Teaching and Assessment Sub-Committee. I also have a meeting with our Finance Director, Director of Information Services and one of the Deans to discuss the relationship between the TSL Plan and our "emerging" Information Strategy.

The Information Strategy draft was discussed at the various governance boards that report to our Information Strategy Group, and it was heartening that the "ENABLE message" that we need to have a corporate view of our information and how it can be used to enable the university to meet its plans seems to have "taken hold" amongst increasing numbers of senior staff. I am now part of a group which will redraft the Information Strategy to ensure it is a "University" strategy and reflects the needs of all stakeholders. (This was following a full meeting of ISG to discuss the strategy).

Other messages from ENABLE have also shown signs of taking hold. ENABLE has a "mini-project" on External Examiners, and through no-one's particular fault, the University came perilously close to starting a parallel, overlapping, project. This highlighted shortcomings in governance and communication, particularly around the management and sustainability of innovation, and I shall be working with colleagues in our Information Service and others to try and find solutions...

That takes me on to "knowing what is going on". Changes in the Executive (and my own line management) have sadly slowed down progress towards having an institutional Programme Office (but the need for such a thing is increasingly recognised) but I've had a "cunning plan"! We will (with the support of our Dean of Students, Head of Academic Development, Business Re-Engineering Manager and colleagues in Information Services) being trying out a "Web 2.0" style approach to ensuring change across the University is easy to find out about. I'm calling it the "Change Heap" - more will be revealed in due course!

Aside from that, I've had meeting with the team working on the External examiner mini-project, the team working on the TransAPEL project (and associated Pineapple benefits realisation work - Neil Witt will be visiting us in November) and have been looking through the updates from the partner colleges and will be discussing those with our Partnerships staff. We have also had two meetings with staff managing the University's CRM project and looked at it against "the big picture"...

It has been suggested that the work of ENABLE should be presented to the University Business Development Group - that would be a great step forwards and I hope it comes off.

So, despite frustrations, I really believe that the message is finally beginning to "get out" and that the light I see is not a train coming the other way!