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The White Paper - what are the HR implications for higher education institutions?

on Monday, 18 April 2016.

The Higher Education White Paper - Success as a Knowledge Economy: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice - sets out a number of proposals for reform of the sector.

From an HR perspective, the key proposals are those which aim to drive up teaching standards and the opportunities that might present themselves by giving higher education institutions more autonomy.

The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)

Academic performance is now a key issue for higher education institutions. Until recently, the Research Excellence Framework has meant that focus has tended to be on research, but students have become more demanding as a result of higher fees, and expect to get value for money. The proposed TEF will shine the spotlight firmly on teaching, and will be linked to future rises in student fees.

The detail of how the TEF will operate in practice is yet to be developed, but assessment of performance will  be based on factors including:

  • student satisfaction
  • retention
  • graduate employment

Greater institutional autonomy

The White Paper also proposes that higher education corporations will have more institutional autonomy and approval for certain changes to their Instrument, and Articles of Government will transfer from the Privy Council to a new Office for Students.

This raises the possibility of changing the standard provisions in relation to suspension and dismissal of staff. This could include moving the detail out of the Articles into policies and procedures and being less prescriptive about who takes decisions, perhaps removing the necessity of involving the Board of Governors, except where the issue involves a very senior member of staff.

What should you do now?

In preparation for the new regime, higher education institutions would be well-advised to review their organisational structure to ensure that it is fit for purpose.

The TEF is likely to engender a more equal balance between teaching and research, and this may involve a significant cultural shift for some universities. There is also likely to be increased competition between universities for both staff and students, who are likely to be drawn to those institutions with higher TEF ratings.

HR teams should also consider reviewing their performance management procedures to ensure that they are robust enough and measure the right factors. More importantly, where there is a reluctance to use them, managers should be trained so that they have the competence and confidence to address any performance issues that might arise.

Academics are often appointed and promoted on the basis of their research, rather than teaching. With the introduction of the TEF, higher education institutions may want to consider their recruitment processes to ensure that teaching skills are adequately assessed. The same may also apply to criteria for promotion: rewarding teaching excellence will be key to universities retaining their best teaching staff.

A lot of the devil will be in the detail and, although the proposals will inevitably raise challenges for HR professionals, the changes may allow for greater flexibility and the ability to reflect modern best practice.

For more information, please contact Jane Byford on 0121 227 3712.