Opportunities and Challenges Working in Consortia Opportunities and Challenges Sue Starbuck: South East DTC s.starbuck@surrey.ac.uk http://www.southeastdtc.ac.uk/

About us Consortium of 4 universities: Kent, Reading, Royal Holloway and Surrey managed by Surrey DTC Manager based at Surrey (financed by partners) DMG: 2 senior social science academics from each partner, student reps and senior administrators “Pathway leads and co-ordinators” i.e. subject representatives at each partner Administrative, Finance and e-learning contacts at each partner

Opportunities Access to Wider Expertise: Academic and Managerial Community: Wider and more diverse Cohort: Larger and more diverse; greater support Networking and External Engagement: Both Student and Staff Training: Wider range and greater rationalisation Greater opportunity to Add Value Time: Stability

Challenges: Part 1 Community: Building a community Cohort: Creating a sense of belonging in students Culture of the organisation, direction from above Communication: Practical and emotional Resistance of individuals to new processes and to involvement or “interference” Cost

Challenges: Part 2 Coordination Complexity Time: speed of reaction Studentship process Allocation of studentships across institutions Bidding for extra funding Alignment of policies and procedures Financial Logistics of Training : distances; numbers Time: speed of reaction

Minimising the Challenges Attitude Engagement Support Creativity Choosing the right partners Developing a good working relationship Building the right foundations

Contact details Sue Starbuck Charlotte Ayling: DTC Manager s.starbuck@surrey.ac.uk Charlotte Ayling: DTC Manager c.ayling@surrey.ac.uk Professor Nigel Fielding: DTC Director n.fielding@surrey.ac.uk http://www.southeastdtc.ac.uk/