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Title |
Research Universities in their
Regions |
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Dates |
11 - 12 March 2010 |
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Venue |
University of Melbourne |
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Participants
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Anyone at a U21 university with an
interest |
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Research universities,
active in the global arena, share common aspirations to contribute
internationally, nationally and within their regions to
intellectual, cultural, social and economic advancement. Within
their regions they exist in juxtaposition with other universities
and higher education institutions
whose mission is less broad and founded more clearly within their
geographical region.
Whilst all U21 universities
feel a strong commitment to their geographical region
they differ in how this commitment is expressed within their
strategic documents, how it is executed, managed and monitored at an
operational level and in how they engage with other HEIs within
their region. There
appears to be no clear picture of the way an international research
university should or could engage with its region for its own and
its region’s best advantage.
The Universities of
Auckland, Glasgow and Melbourne are working
to establish a U21 collaborative group of
academics within the fields of Lifelong Learning, Regional
Development and cognate disciplines to share strategic vision, best
practice and engage in benchmarking activities. The
focus will be on effective knowledge transfer, 3rd mission
activities, and other engagements that contribute to regional
development and to the success of our institutions.
This work will build on the
work of PASCAL Observatory, a consortium with regional government
and university members and strong links with the OECD (http://www.obs-pascal.com).
It has a European base in Glasgow, which has already
undertaken substantial research into the role of Universities within
their regions, both mapping and benchmarking practice through its
PURE (Pascal Universities Regional Engagement) project.
In order to establish the
grouping we are arranging an international meeting in Melbourne on
11-12 March 2010 for both the initiating
core group and other interested U21 institutions to undertake
preliminary talks and agree a work plan. We
provisionally envisage organising two
further virtual seminars, guidance on mapping and benchmarking
tools, and an analysis of the regional role for U21 institutions.
Relevance
Whilst most universities
(within U21 and elsewhere) are engaged in comparisons using a range
of metrics, there is little systematic comparison made of the full
range of external engagements. This may be a useful exercise for a
set of research-intensive universities, allowing them to assess this
aspect of their work in a holistic fashion by comparison to other
aspects of their mission. The number of U21 universities and spread
of activities is such that a range of benchmarking studies focused
on different aspects of engagement might be undertaken.
Link to U21 Strategic Plans
The project supports at
least three elements of U21’s strategic plan. Firstly it contributes
to the aim of recognising the interlinked nature of research,
teaching and knowledge transfer though organizing a network that
seeks explicitly to map external engagements including knowledge
transfer with the other two missions. In this context, an initial
event provides developmental opportunities for staff in U21.
Secondly it encourages cross-network collaboration through the
sharing of experience in external engagements and introducing
approaches to benchmarking these in a number of domains. Thirdly
when established the network will produce high quality publications
and tools.
Outcomes and Outputs
Initially after the
meeting in Melbourne the establishment of a core group for a
network concerned with regional engagement. This network would
then offer other U21 members the opportunity to contribute to
its activities.
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Guidance on mapping and
benchmarking tools for all U21 institutions in the form of
online publications
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Virtual seminars focused
on specific interest areas within external engagement
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Ongoing bilateral and
multilateral collaborations, included where available externally
funded work.
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An analytic paper
reviewing the role of regional engagement across U21.
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Rather than simply
produce written and electronic reports, we envisage running two
subsequent online seminars after the initial event using Adobe
Connect. These will allow
participation of all U21 members in real time. Further
the seminars will be recorded for subsequent podcasting. Outputs
from the face-to-face seminar and the two virtual seminars will
also be made available in report form.
Click to
download the Conference programme
Click to
download the Conference registration form
The Co-ordinators
The co-ordinators are all
experienced in delivering collaborative projects in an international
arena.
Michael Osborne is co- director
of the PASCAL International Observatory is an international
strategic information tracking and sharing service on Place
Management, Social Capital and Learning Regions.
It
is an international research and policy development alliance, which
aims to develop, communicate and explain new and emerging ideas in
these areas.
He is currently manager
for the Pascal Universities Regional Engagement (PURE) project,
which is engaged with 12 regions internationally in a mapping and
benchmarking study of regional engagement of HEIs.
;PASCAL and the PURE project have access to
a range of knowledge and practical approaches to benchmarking. A
number of regions taking part in PURE include U21 universities.
Over and above this he has
experience of organizing many events and establishing networks
within an international domain.
Helen Hayes is an experienced
senior manager who has long standing experience of working in
knowledge management, partnership development and community
engagement. She was Vice Principal
for Knowledge Management and CIO at the University of Edinburgh
until early 2007 and recently took on the role of Director,
Knowledge Transfer and Partnerships at the University of Melbourne.
Helen has a background in
information services, business process review and development, and
benchmarking. She is a winner of the
Australian Telstra Business Award in the corporate and government
sector and her department achieved an Australian Quality Council
Award for Business Excellence. Helen
is internationally engaged having served as chair of a number of
JISC committees, as a member of the British Library Advisory
Council, and she is a member of the Stanford University Academic
Information Services Advisory Council and undertook a review of the
senior management of the Stanford University Library. Helen
has been undertaken benchmarking in Australia, the U.K. and South
Africa and has publications relating to benchmarking, knowledge
management and organisational change.
Susan Geertshuis is Professor of
Lifelong Learning and director of the Centre for Continuing
Education at the University of Auckland. Prior
to this she was director of the Centre for Learning and Innovation
in Organisations and Professor of Organisational Studies at
University College Northampton, UK. She
is by training a cognitive psychologist and has followed consistent
research interests in post compulsory learning and education, issues
of measurement and the use of technology to the present day. She
has a strong international reputation in improving decision-making,
including in relation to the use of national resources, an important
aspect of the engagement of HEIs and their regions.
Click to
download the Conference programme
Click to
download the Conference registration form
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