INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD Technical Services Review 2013 James Crooks Head of Technical Services, UCLan

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD UCLan Founded in 1828 The Harris Institute for the Diffusion of Knowledge 35,000 students 3000 staff 500 undergrad and 200+ postgrad courses Preston, Burnley, Cumbria, and Cyprus…

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD Technical Support at UCLan Centralised Line Management “Learning & Information Services” Library and IT merged in 2008 Technical Support joined between Now around 90 technical staff Structured into three separate areas

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD Laboratory Facilities Team 22 technical staff Psychology Chemistry Biochemistry Pharmaceutics Tissue culture Molecular Biology Fire Safety Forensic Sciences Anthropology Archaeology Biology

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD Technical Resources Team 31 technical staff Music Production Fine Art Fashion Engineering Photography Graphic Design Film & Media Performing Arts Animation Motorsport Architecture Land Surveying Geography Product Design

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD Technical Services Team 33 technical staff Computing Electronics Journalism Physics AV Support & Development Equipment Stores Support Hubs IT Hardware Support

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD The Review – Why? New student expectations/demands Increased focus on research activities Growing postgraduate numbers Greater demand for support Limited funding for additional staffing Increasing “digital” needs Existing staff profile

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD The Review – How? Review board formed Engaged with HEaTED Feedback, feedback, and more feedback! Workshops for technical staff Workshops for academic staff Workshops for students Online surveys and questionnaires

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD The Review – Questions What is Technical Services? What value do these activities/services add? What should we be doing… …in addition? …more of? …less (or none) of?

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD What is Technical Services? Equipment maintenance & support Staff and student support Stores / Equipment Provision Technical Development Preparation Health & Safety Administration Event Management Housekeeping Business Support Project Management

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD What should we be doing more? More involvement in course planning Better engagement with academic teams Developing more specialist technical skills Adopting consistent processes across UCLan Providing more support for research activity Streamline reporting lines and customer support Horizon scanning

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD What should we be doing less? Administration Removals / deliveries / furniture / cleaning Core IT services in isolation Event coordination and management Highly skilled staff regularly doing low skill tasks

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD How do we move forward? Clarify technical support needs Mini-reviews of course/subject areas Identify technical leads for each discipline Document H&S agreements Streamline Business Processes Procurement & purchasing Event & exhibition management Review helpdesk hand-offs and support flows

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD How do we move forward? Focus on “professionalising” the technician role Develop and improve PDPs Business continuity and workforce plan Identify career progression path Provide clarity on role definitions

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD How do we move forward? Scoping and planning processes Lab & workshop timetabling Build horizon scanning into workloads Define equipment replacement/ upgrade/ servicing / maintenance schedules and contracts Develop digital content – induction, user guides Space review Health & Safety audits

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD Observations / comments Buy-in from Senior Management/Directorate/HR Tri-angulated feedback Externality of review board (HEaTED) External networking

INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR THE REAL WORLD ANY QUESTIONS?