Identifying, developing and supporting Academic Leadership: An Evidence Informed Review Of Good Practice is to examine institutional current and emerging practices with the intention of learning and sharing among our members the multiple approaches in the sector to identifying, developing, supporting and retaining academic leaders.
The objectives of this project will be to gather examples of steps that institutions, large or small, are taking to develop sustainable leadership among their academic cadre and to articulate clearly both the opportunities and challenges involved.
We will explore how to support and develop both leadership and leaders for the future with the intention of creating a dialogue for innovation and improvement.
We will gather data and offer insights, highlighting good practice and success stories from HE specific case studies that have embedded inclusive and transparent methods to identify, develop and support successful and diverse academic leadership practice.
Keep up to date with the Identifying, developing and supporting Academic Leadership project.
Register your interest using the form below to receive regular updates on this Advance HE Member Benefit project.
Aims
In this project from April to July 2023, we propose to:
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Research the organisational context and conditions required to identify, develop and sustain healthy and inclusive academic leadership.
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Launch a survey aimed at HR and Organisational Development colleagues in the sector to establish as broad a view as possible of how we identify, develop and support academic leadership. The survey is now closed.
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Examine and affirm the role and contribution of HR and Organisational Development colleagues in enabling inclusive academic leadership. We propose to do this by identifying good practice and success stories and will be holding focus groups to gather evidence and insights.
Tentative dates for these are: 1, 8 and 9 June 2023. These 90-minute sessions will offer an opportunity for HR and OD colleagues to discuss and exchange views on how academic leadership can be positioned effectively within overall university strategy. Register your interest here.
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Conduct interviews with HR and OD senior leaders to learn about what works to strengthen academic leadership and what could be improved including critical lessons learned.
Outputs will include:
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A webinar to share insights, findings and recommendations on 13th July 2023. The webinar will provide an opportunity for dialogue with contributors about cross-cutting themes. Please click here to register your interest.
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A capstone report outlining key opportunities, challenges, reflections and insights, including a focus on good practice examples and ways of working, including a gap analysis where appropriate, recommendations and conclusions.
This project is led by Advance HE in partnership with Universities Human Resources (UHR) and Organisational Development in Higher Education network (ODHE).
Introductory Blog
As we launch new work exploring strategic approaches to identifying, developing and supporting academic leaders, Advance HE Associate, Dr Geraldine Harrison, explores some of the issues and invites member participation in the project.
Focus Groups
In order to explore the role and contribution of HR and Organisational Development colleagues in enabling inclusive academic leadership as well as identify good practice and success stories, we will hold focus groups on the following dates:
- Thursday 1 June 14:00 - 15:30
- Tuesday 6 June 14:00 - 15:30
- Thursday 8 June 08:00 - 09:30
- Friday 9 June 10:00 - 11:30
These 90-minute sessions will offer an opportunity for HR and OD colleagues to discuss and exchange views on how academic leadership can be positioned effectively within overall university strategy.
To attend, please register your interest via the form linked here. You will then receive an email from a member of the team to confirm which date you wish to attend.
Webinar
Date: Thursday 13th July 2023 13:30 - 14:30 BST
The webinar will provide an opportunity for dialogue with contributors about cross-cutting themes. We hope to offer an approach that is useful for both OD and HR professionals as well as academic staff looking to take on leadership roles.
Meet the team
Dr Geraldine Harrison - Project Lead
A longstanding Associate of Advance HE, Geraldine is the Project Lead for the Identifying, developing and supporting Academic Leadership project. She holds a PhD from Edinburgh University and an MBA from the Open University. Geraldine is also an OD professional with experience in the higher education sector and the private sector.
Kim Ansell - Advance HE Senior Consultant in Leadership, Organisational Development and Research
Kim has worked across higher and professional education providing support to groups at all levels including senior leadership teams and Boards, to facilitate change, strategic thinking, planning and performance improvement.
Sophie Crouchman - Strategic Projects and Research Manager at Universities Human Resources (UHR)
Sophie is the Strategic Projects and Research Manager at Universities Human Resources (UHR). Sophie has spent 15 years in a range of HE professional services roles including HR and a secondment to Research England for the REF, and latterly as Senior Planning Officer at Loughborough, covering governance, projects and data work, HESA, EDI and HR datasets.
Sarah Hubbard - Advance HE Senior Consultant in Leadership, Organisational Development and Research
Sarah is a Senior Consultant in the Leadership, Organisational Development and Research team. Sarah’s work is focused around designing for, and enabling participation and alignment, wellbeing and inclusion, leading to improved colleague engagement and performance, enhanced decision making and transformation.
Kay Renfrew - Advance HE Associate, Consultant and Researcher
Kay is an experienced consultant and researcher who has delivered assignments for clients in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. She has a Masters degree in information management and has extensive expertise in data analysis and reporting, to assess project impact and performance.
