Strengthening and modernising the University: a message from the Vice-Chancellor

Monday, 10 March 2014

Vice-Chancellor Sir David Bell

Dear Colleagues

As I have shared with you previously, our University is ambitious about its future direction. As we look toward our Centenary in 2026, I want us to be renowned for

• Our teaching and learning: building our students' skills and resilience, embracing flexible learning to broaden our reach, and increasing relevance and flexibility whilst preserving academic excellence
• World-class research: doing work at the boundaries of knowledge, working across academic disciplines and addressing global issues that make a real difference
• Influencing on the world stage: shaping policy and becoming a hub for original thinking that can influence the world around us locally, nationally and globally

Yes, our aims are ambitious, but they need to be in a challenging and increasingly competitive higher education system.

To achieve our aims, we have developed a vision and strategy which will take us through to 2026. Key to that strategy is getting the fundamentals right. One priority is to make sure that we operate in the best possible way. We need an IT infrastructure that supports 21^st century ways of working, a procurement system that helps us get the most from our spend, support services that are structured and delivered optimally to support our core academic activities and a student experience that is sector beating.

We have asked PwC to support us as we focus on five key work streams:

• Enabling Technology - focused on improving the quality, structure and cost effectiveness of our IT services as a whole, including significant investment in our IT infrastructure to provide better performance, capacity and reliability. IT will collaborate closely with the Procurement and the Student Journey work streams. This work-stream is also considering how best to organise IT staffing resources more efficiently across the University; a review group has been established by the University Executive Board to oversee this activity.
• Procurement across the University - establishing a new and more efficient approach to the acquisition of goods and services, using the principles of 'category management‘ and introducing simplified, standardised, IT enabled processes to help us achieve better outcomes for significantly less money. Flexibility will be built in to meet exceptional and specific requirements but, overall, we will use common arrangements.
• Professional and Administrative Services - introducing new and better ways of working through improved structures, greater use of technology, simplified basic processes and the sharing of best practice. To get the best possible solutions we need your help, so we will be working with you to understand the vast range of activity which underpins the day-to- day operation of the University.
• Planning and Institutional Performance - providing clear and concise management information that will support us in making more informed decisions and reducing the demand on Schools and Services for data.
• Student Journey - aimed at creating a sector-beating experience for prospective, current and past students, recognising their needs and allowing them to interact digitally at every point in the student lifecycle with the University, their peers and tutors.

The scope and pace of this activity is demanding and the entire programme is expected to take up to three years. As many of you are aware, much of this work is underway already with your support. For that, I am hugely appreciative.

Over the coming weeks and months, you will hear more detailed information and be asked for further support - including up-to-date information tracking our progress online and face-to-face update sessions led by senior management across the organisation. I am really grateful for your assistance and co-operation as we roll-out this important project.

Sir David Bell

Vice-Chancellor, University of Reading