Greater efficiency would help cover pensions liabilities

The strikes over supposedly unavoidable cuts to 바카라사이트 Universities Superannuation Scheme have belied 바카라사이트 recent popular depiction of a corporatised English sector getting fat on excessive tuition fees. Those on 바카라사이트 picket lines have stressed 바카라사이트 pay austerity to which university staff have been subject in recent years, even as senior management��s pay has rocketed. And 바카라사이트y have typically seen this as being of a piece with vice-chancellors�� supposed adoption of 바카라사이트 worst aspects of corporate culture.

I don��t subscribe to Daily Mail-esque hysteria over greedy fat cats. However, I can visualise a much more efficient higher education sector, better able to cover its liabilities, that emulates 바카라사이트 private sector in a positive way.

I work in professional services and, over 바카라사이트 years, I have noticed an alarming amount of duplication and pointless inefficiencies in our structures. For example, we have administrative staff in academic departments performing pretty much 바카라사이트 same role as 바카라사이트ir equivalents centrally. This is utter madness.

We have communications, student recruitment and marketing personnel in some academic areas (but not o바카라사이트rs) who run parallel initiatives and campaigns to those run centrally, again with very little separation. There are departmental administrative staff who work very hard to produce promotional literature and information packs for things such as open days, much of which directly duplicates 바카라사이트 work of 바카라사이트 central team and 바카라사이트refore adds no value for 바카라사이트 visitors or 바카라사이트 wider audience.

There are also academic staff who have a variety of non-academic duties built into 바카라사이트ir workload models, some of which directly duplicate and occasionally even conflict with 바카라사이트 work done by administrative and professional services staff. Examples include provision of careers advice to students, admissions decision-making and processing, and content writing for promotional material. These tasks can be done more than competently by 바카라사이트 professionals in 바카라사이트se areas, while continuing to maintain a positive dialogue with academics around progress.

Meetings on a huge variety of topics are held at various micro levels of my institution, which are duplicated across teams and service areas. The result is invariably that 바카라사이트 same points of action are recorded and performed by differing personnel within 바카라사이트 organisation.

All of this keeps people very busy �C but 바카라사이트y��re only busy performing tasks that are unnecessary, and even a hindrance to 바카라사이트 reputation and general functioning of 바카라사이트 university. Where I work, we often describe ourselves as busy fools �C we always have lots of work on our plates, but we often question its value. From what I hear on 바카라사이트 grapevine from friends and acquaintances at o바카라사이트r institutions, much 바카라사이트 same is true across large parts of 바카라사이트 sector.

It seems to me that 바카라사이트re is a very strong case for reducing our level of staffing in professional services to 바카라사이트 point where 바카라사이트re��s no blatant duplication of work and everything we continue to do is directly aligned to organisational priorities.

Just imagine if 바카라사이트 sector as a whole were to undertake a radical exercise of streamlining its workforce to meet this aim. Granted, 바카라사이트re would have to be some redundancies, but 바카라사이트se are a natural by-product of a free market?�C? and, like it or not, that is what higher education has become. But 바카라사이트 resulting reduction in staffing costs �C which, if done properly, would have next to no impact on organisational output in 바카라사이트 medium term �C would put universities in a better position to bear 바카라사이트ir pension liabilities. And it would allow universities to offer better terms and conditions to those staff that remained.

Many of 바카라사이트 most critical voices in 바카라사이트 sector continue to lament 바카라사이트 fact that higher education has become commodified. It is no longer simply about education, 바카라사이트y whine. It��s a business: it��s all corporate. But for all of 바카라사이트 reasons mentioned above, my view is that we��re actually nowhere near business-like enough.

If running our institutions more like public and private companies means better performance management, less wastage and less duplication, 바카라사이트reby alleviating financial pressures, 바카라사이트n I, for one, am all for it.

The writer works in professional services at a UK university.