Central Co-ordinating Units
The 2009 Embedding BCE project found examples of central co-ordinating units in all of the partners, although their functions varied considerably. Some aspects of Business and Community Engagement may require a dedicated central co-ordination role. Examples of these are Science Parks, Innovation Centres, Spin-out co-ordination, conference centres.
Other roles are handled by centralised units in some institutions and by individuals or faculty/department-based units in others. Common roles included business development (concerned with searching for business opportunities for the institution, particularly in the area of work-based CPD delivery), contract negotiation, licensing of Intellectual Property (advice, costing and administration), funding bids (advice and writing), programme and project management, student placement and voluntary work advice and placement.
Any review of Business and Community Engagement should seek to identify such centralised resources and the services offered. Managers and some staff within the resources should be included within the list of interviewees and questions should elicit an assessment of take-up and engagement internally. The nature of links to other centralised functions needs to be identified and understood, with finance in particular being a key function usually associated with such units. Any barriers and issues that the central resource has should also be identified and tested against the perceptions of its users.
Also to be identified is the nature of the relationship with its users. Is use of this resource a constraint for its users or is it optional? Where it is optional, how widely is it used? Are Service Level Agreements in place? How is it resourced - does it charge for its services and are any charges fixed or are they based on percentage of income? How do users feel about the service provided? There is likely to be a difference of opinion across the institution of the worth of such resources and both pros and cons offered which may, when tested, point to both strengths and weaknesses or identify areas for improvement.
As an example, the contract knowledge and negotiation abilities of one central resource were described to the Embedding BCE project in glowing terms. However, some departments of the institution felt that there was a lack of understanding within the staff of the central resource about the particular business of the department. Conversely, staff of the central resource felt that on occasion academic staff had unrealistic views of the value of work to be licensed.
The nature of any contact with external bodies (organisations or individuals) by Co-ordinating Units should be identified and processes documented. In particular services or units with a Business Development role often take on an outward marketing role and it is important to know how this occurs, how any data or information is stored, what IT systems are used, how any marketing materials are produced etc.
The Business Development Unit at Shrewsbury College marketed courses as though they were offered to employees by their own employer. The college branding was secondary to the employer's own branding and, indeed, the college used the employer's own document templates to produce the materials. The college logo was included with a strapline 'in partnership with' or similar. The college even had exhibition stands for loan to companies to display their materials on. Such an approach widened participation from students who might otherwise not have approached a college directly.
