Delivering a professional administration: a case study in fieldwork management

Speaker: Rosie Williams, Teaching and Learning Administrator, School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester

  

Co-Speaker: Emma Casey, External Relations, Recruitment and Admissions Administrator, School of Environment and Development,

University of Manchester

This session looks at the how the School of Environment and Development created a discrete role to review and

improve the administration of student field courses. The School is a multi-discipline department coordinating

approximately twenty international student field courses per year, with a high proportion of international student

participants. Field courses in the School give rise to complex issues around accessibility, immigration, budget

management, student pastoral care and health and safety.

2

Aims & Objectives

• To communicate our experience, in managing the professional administration of a discrete function

• To demonstrate a practical example of aligning operational activity with strategy and how to bridge the vision and the reality

• To communicate some strategies for improving operational performance in administration through re-organisation

Background to the School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester

• School formed in September 2004 following merger

• Four disciplines Architecture, Planning, Geography and International Development

• Fully co-located and merged administration teams in July 2007

• Fieldwork administration sits within the Teaching and Learning team

• 12 staff within Teaching & Learning Team (further 7 staff in Recruitment & Admissions Team)

• c.1000 undergraduate students

• c.450 postgraduate taught students

• c.200 postgraduate research students

• 60% of PGT students are International (non UK/EU)

• Mix of Urban and Rural Fieldwork• Some practical fieldwork (Physical

Geog)

• Around 20 overseas fieldtrips each year

• Around 30 day fieldtrips each year

• c.£450,000 spend per academic year (c.50% recouped from students)

Background to UGT/PGT fieldwork in the School

Recognising the need for change

• Mix of individuals organising fieldwork trips (academic staff, technical staff, admin staff)

• Fieldtrip planning/organisation impacted on staff in Programme Teams at key times in student life cycle so was generally done in haste, inefficiently or last minute

• No standard practice in the organisation of trips across the School (H&S/payment practices/budgeting)

• No central hub of information about fieldwork trips (timetables, costings)

• Student numbers growing, so fieldtrips grew larger, or increased in number adding to the complexity

• Higher numbers of international PGT, led to increased issues with visas, financial problems

• No senior experienced administrator with the capacity for the development of new processes and practices

Challenges to implementing the change

• Used period of major University change to restructure

• Challenge of changing way PSS staff worked

• Challenge of changing way academic staff worked

• Dealing with increased level of expectation from staff

• Handling student needs

• Rationalising different ways of working across

disciplines

• Forming new relationships with central University

services

How change was implemented

Stages of implementation

1. Preparation/ Review 1 monthExtensive discussion with administrators and academics SWOT analysis of existing processes

2. Strategy Formulation 2 yearsUse of external agencies / guidelines to formulate School-level policy, forming liaisons with central services, documentation of policy - dissemination across the University AND

3. Centralisation of responsibility and approval 2 yearsSupplier review / contractor appointment, budgetary monitoring, consistency of health and safety and supervisory procedures

4. Try, try and try again

5. Re-dissemination at 4 years

Benefit analysis of introducing the change

• Effective management of unforeseen events

• Oversight of Budgets

• Ability to forward plan

• Health and Safety and Risk

• Standardisation of Practice

• Ability to find synergies with other areas of the School

• Signalling to academic colleagues the benefits that PSS staff can bring to key tasks

• Improving the Student Experience

9

Ongoing Development

• Widening of hands-on experience

• Identification of training opportunities

• Role analysis identifying strategical responsibility to be retained

and administrative tasks to be disseminated

10

11

12

Closing Statement/Questions

Summary:• Identifying the need for change• Challenges• Implementation• Timeline• Role analysis for re-dissemination

Lessons Learned• Faster dissemination

Use:• An example of benefit to Schools and departments with

similar characteristics and needs:• Disparate disciplines / sub-divisions• Disparate working practices• Duplication of resource across common activities