October 2013
Talk Time: Leadership Update
The key to engaging our people in the journey towards 2017
Headlines
1.
Enrolment targets exceeded
2.
Strategic Plan consultation continues
3.
Consultation on University Values
4.
University Car Parking
5.
Changes in Professional Services Directorates
6.
Salford Media Festival
7.
QAA report online
8.
US News Channel
9.
iSalford app for mobiles launched
55% of meaning is conveyed
in facial expressions
38% of meaning is conveyed
in the way something is
said
Only 7% of meaning is
conveyed through words
used
Source: Professor Albert Mehrabian's
communications model
Guidance
 This ‘Talk Time Leadership Update’ is the University-wide core brief
 Please use this as the basis for a face-to-face monthly briefing session with your people and encourage two-way
discussions in order to increase engagement levels
 Add your own local briefing points and examples to the template below
 Help your people to understand the key updates below by expressing these in the way you feel best
 Encourage questions, make notes and ensure you provide answers
 If you don't know the answer to a question, please use the feedback form to pass the question back to the Director of
the area in question
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Core
Brief
University-wide headlines
1. Enrolment targets exceeded
This week has seen the beginning of the new semester. Now that registration has been
largely completed, we can confirm that we have met, and exceeded, our enrolment targets.
New student registrations are at 107 per cent overall (and 4 per cent above our HEFCE
allocation). International student registrations are also higher than expected. Because we
also met our planned operating surplus of £4.5m for the financial year that ended at the end
of July, we enter the new academic year in a strong financial position.
This year there was a stronger emphasis on targets and the Heads of School and
Admissions Directors demonstrated real commitment to managing these. Additionally, we
invested more resources into developing our relationships with local FE Colleges through
regular visits and campus tours. This has had an immediate positive impact but also will reap
long-term benefits, as we widen our reach.
Our Open Day events were well attended with excellent feedback from parents and
enthusiastic prospective students, impressed with our facilities, professionalism and
welcoming feel.
June saw 1,989 prospective students come to Salford for our Open Days and last weekend
drew around a further 2,500 visitors across all campuses. More than half of those who
registered to attend came along, which is far higher than the expected figure for such events.
The new international check-in system implemented by the UKBA compliance team has been
very useful in making the process simpler for Tier Four immigration students. For the first
time, Registration has also seen Student Life teams offering specialist immigration advice on
site at Clifford Whitworth and this is working well.
The new Student Union leadership is in place with Mishal Saeed as President, supported by
Vice-Presidents Alex Thorp, Jasmine Pokuaa and Todd Hewitt and we look forward to
working with them as partners throughout this academic year. We fully support their goals for
the year and with representation on all decision-making bodies, we are committed to helping
them deliver these.
Work has started on our new academic building and will soon start on our new student
residence and our MediaCityUK campus is alive with creative, mind-stretching events; “a
cradle of new talent”, “bristling with an array of advanced broadcast equipment that could
well put some its better-known neighbours to shame.” (The Times, 1 October).
3. Strategic Plan consultation continues
A series of engagement and consultation sessions have already been held regarding the new
Strategic Plan with the Executive, heads of school and heads of service; Professional Services
leaders and PVC/Deans and their teams. A further five sessions are being held this month and
the Plan is being presented to the University Council in November for final approval.
The engagement and consultation sessions have also been attended by some of our Council
members, whose input has been invaluable in helping the University to shape the Plan.
The new Plan - which will set a clear direction of travel for the next five years - is intended to
be a living document to inform and guide us as we move forward with clear, measurable, yet
aspirational targets.
The world has changed considerably since the last Plan was created in 2008 and it is
important that the University develops a strong, distinctive strategy for the future. The Plan is
also being shared with a range of stakeholders who include students, alumni, trade unions,
University Council and a range of external partner organisations and interest and community
groups.
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Running alongside these engagement sessions will be a series of focus groups aimed at
getting an understanding of what values the organisation wants to aspire to and defining what
behaviours bring those values to life.
4. Consultation on University Values
Employees from across the University are being consulted in the coming weeks on our new set
of values - the behaviours and attitudes through which we’ll deliver the University’s new
Strategic Plan.
Following on from a number of events which have taken place with academic and professional
services colleagues to gather views and opinions on the first draft of the new Strategic Plan, the
University is now holding a series of focus groups which will specifically look at “setting the
university’s values”.
Focus Groups will take place as follows:
4 October - Student Life, Marketing and Student Recruitment and Student Administration
7 October – Open to all
9 October - College of Arts & Social Science and College of Science & Technology
10 October - Governance Services Unit, Legal, Communications, Salford Professional
Development, Advancement Services, Research and ITS
14 October - Open to all
16 October - College of Health & Social Care
To book a place, visit
http://www.hr.salford.ac.uk/coursebooking/courses.php?booking=course&cat=ppd
5. University Car Parking changes
The car parking changes which took effect from Monday 9 September will enable the building of
stunning student residences and academic building as part of the Campus Plan.
The existing Northern Car Park will fall within the student accommodation footprint. However,
the new residences will open with undercroft car parking in two years’ time.
Until this new car parking is available, a number of positive measures will increase the security
and employees’ ease of use at Adelphi’s Farmer Norton Car Park which will become a key
alternative car park now the Northern Car Park has closed.
There is now increased lighting and a security car park officer to monitor the Farmer Norton Car
Park. We have also improved the car park’s surface area. Permit holders are welcome here and
daily tickets will also be available at a charge of £2.00 a day. Permit holders will also be able to
park on the car park behind Adelphi House and at Castle Irwell.
Employees and students who wish to continue driving to campus are asked to use any of the
University’s many car parks over using residential streets since the University is committed to
remaining a valued neighbour with respect for our local residents. A number of spaces are
available for students and employees with restricted mobility. In particular, colleagues are asked
to ensure that they use University car parks and do not park on any double yellow lines on
public roads.
For more details on car parking, visit http://staff.salford.ac.uk/news/details/3567
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6. Changes in Professional Services Directorates
As a result of the recent organisational change programme, Student Information Directorate
(SID) has now been restructured into two divisions – Marketing and Student Recruitment and
the Student Administration Directorate.
Paula Barrow, has been appointed to the newly-created role of Director of Marketing, and joins
the University on November 6 and will head up Marketing and Student Recruitment with a brief
to ensure the University maintains a clear proposition in the challenging higher education
marketplace and a particular focus on brand development, web and social media, marketing and
international student recruitment.
Michael Lurie becomes Deputy Director (International) leading our International recruitment and
partnerships activity and for an interim period Nicky Chapman is our Associate Director for
UK/EU Conversion.
Sarah McAleny continues to lead Corporate Marketing and Mark Sanders continues to head
up the Digital Team. Both Sarah and Mark and their teams have transferred over from the
Communications Directorate to work under Paula.
Paul Cartwright, previously Executive Director of Planning and Change, has been appointed as
Director of Student Administration. He will be responsible for the core administrative processes
that support the student journey, from registration through to assessment and examination to
graduation.
Student Administration covers academic progression, timetabling, student information and
records and student information reporting as well as relationships with a range of external
stakeholders including HESA, the UKBA successor organisation, the Student Loans Company
and OFFA. Helen Hemaya becomes the Head of Systems and Data; and Saul Quirke
continues to lead Information and Analysis. Work is on-going to fill the role of the Head of
Customer Service.
As you are aware, the Director of Student Life, Claire MacLean, recently left the University to
undertake a new role at Goldsmiths in London. Interim arrangements have been agreed for the
management of the Directorate, with Linda Tompkins (Associate Director for Employability and
Engagement) taking on the role of Acting Director, supported by Sarah Mulholland (Associate
Director, Student Support). Linda will lead the Directorate and will focus particularly on Careers,
Enterprise, the Salford Advantage, Student Communications, Skills Development and
Community and Student Engagement. Sarah will lead on student support, and as such will pick
up and lead issues relating to student advice, guidance and wellbeing, discipline, Student
Charter, disability and the governance around it, faith provision and support, and our contracted
services including the nursery and the health centre.
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6. Salford Media Festival
After 19 years of the Nations and Regions Media Conference, the University’s prestigious event
is re-launching this November as the Salford Media Festival.
Taking place over four days, the Festival promises to be one of the premier events in the UK
media calendar and is a must for content creators, commissioners, producers, broadcasters,
policymakers, industry newcomers and media academics.
Located in our own MediaCityUK facility for the first time, Salford Media Festival 2013 will be
one of the most important festivals of its kind outside London and will feature a host of high
profile experts from across the media sector. Industry professionals and academics will attend
the festival on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 November, while the final two days of the
Festival will consist of sessions for the next generation of talent entering the media sector.
These Next Generation days will be an opportunity for our existing students, with scheduled
classes at MediaCityUK on those days, to enhance their learning by working with leading
industry figures and speakers such as Josh Weinstein – writer of The Simpsons, just one of the
high calibre speakers and delegates at the event.
A selection of students and young people from outside of the University will also be able to
attend the Next Generation days which will, in many ways, be a catalyst in driving forward the
University’s excellent reputation as the institution for studying all things digital. It will feature a
series of master classes, panel discussions and practical workshops from experts in TV, Radio,
Digital Media, Film, Audio, Animation and Broadcasting.
Colleagues are encouraged to support the festival as it establishes itself in the UK media
calendar by tweeting about the Festival and sharing it on LinkedIn and Facebook. The Festival’s
Twitter feed at @Salford_Media and to use #SMF2013 in any tweets.
The website which you may wish to point to is http://salfordmediafestival.co.uk/.
7. QAA report now online
The Institutional Review (England and Northern Ireland) Report for the University has been
published on the Quality Assurance Agency website at
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/InstitutionReports/Reports/Pages/IRENI-University-Salford-13.aspx.
This follows the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) visits to the University
throughout May and June.
The thoroughly positive Report concludes that we fully meet all dimensions of academic
standards for higher education institutions in the UK – the threshold standards for our academic
awards, the quality of information we provide and the quality and enhancement of student
learning opportunities.
In particular, the QAA noted two areas of good practice: the role of the University’s Teaching
and Learning Strategy, ASPIRES, in guiding and promoting enhancement activities, and the way
in which student employability was integrated into student services and curricula.
For more information, contact Gregory Clark in the Governance Service Unit on 55868 or visit
http://staff.salford.ac.uk/news/details/3596
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8. US News Channel
The online US News Channel has been refreshed to provide more internal good news for
employees through video reporting and more interaction via comment submission forms at the
bottom of a range of articles.
The homepage of the new site still features the regular links which exist on the old Staff Channel
homepage. These can be found at the top and bottom of the new site.
In addition, the new US News Channel offers a “Hot Topics” section where employee views will
be sought on a range of topical issues. News on policies and information to be aware of will be
reported in a “What’s new” column whilst successes and people’s stories will feature under a
“Success Stories” column.
The new site can be accessed at staff.salford.ac.uk and any feedback can be sent through to
Internalcomms-uos@salford.ac.uk.
9. iSalford app for mobile devices now launched
An iSalford app is available free from Android and iOS app stores, offering students and
employees the following features:
 Access to Blackboard online app (If you haven't already downloaded the Blackboard app
you'll be directed to the app store for your platform)
 Browse the Library catalogue, check item availability, and contact a librarian
 Find a PC on campus – Locate the nearest available open access PC
 Get the latest news and announcements and browse recent stories
 Forgotten your network password? You can reset it through the iSalford App
 Maps – find your way around campus with our dedicated maps function
 Browse and share photos and images from the Salford Catalogue
 Browse University videos – of speakers, events etc
 Get Help – Need to contact campus security? Your school office? Student Life? Access all
the important campus and local numbers when you need them
Users of other platforms can access a mobile-friendly web-based version of the app at
http://isalford.salford.ac.uk. The app will develop further over time and is just one aspect of ITS
work to enhance the experience at the University and to enable greater wireless mobility.
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Successes
Sharing positive news is important for morale and engagement. This section contains a range
of successes which you can share with your people. If you can provide details of awards,
research funding or partnerships we can celebrate, then please email internalcommsuos@salford.ac.uk.
Salford Business School shortlisted in THE Awards 2013
Salford Business School has been shortlisted for ‘Business School of the Year’ in this year’s Times
Higher Education (THE) Awards.
This is the latest in a long line of nominations the University has received over the last few years.
In all, the University has been a finalist more than 10 times in the last three years alone across a
range of categories; an impressive achievement in itself and this year we are hoping our
submission will gain us a category win.
To have been shortlisted for this prestigious award, is a recognition of the hard work of the School
in delivering a brand new curriculum that addresses the needs of business being taught in an
innovative and pioneering way.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony in late November.
To find out more about the Times Higher Education Awards, visit http://www.the-awards.co.uk/.
Business booms for Salford Professional Development
Since its launch a year ago, Salford Professional Development (SPD) has gone from strength to
strength.
The standalone training company, which is based in Faraday House, is celebrating a successful
first year of trading, having turned over £1.3m in its first 10 months of operation.
More than 2,000 delegates have travelled from across the UK to participate in one of the 100
courses offered by SPD – and the order book for 2014 is looking very healthy.
The Search Engine Optimisation programme that the company offers has been particularly popular.
The training programmes currently on offer fall under six main subject headings – Business & Law,
Education, Energy & Built Environment, Health & Social Care, Leadership & Management, and
Media & Digital. However, the SPD team can also tailor courses to meet an individual
organisation’s needs.
The company is happy to generate bespoke courses for clients and to respond to their
requirements. A recent example of this is when they were contacted by a company in Malaysia,
which requested some training in TV production skills and a course was created based on their
needs. A proportion of the training offered by SPD is currently facilitated by outside agencies, but
the team is keen to enhance their provision through access to the expertise of academics at the
University.
SPD would like to encourage more academic and professional services colleagues to get involved
in teaching these courses. The company takes care of all the administrative work – the marketing
and logistics, for example, to create an opportunity for colleagues to just ‘turn up and teach’.
University employees are very important as they can generate interest in SPD by telling their
contacts in industry about the company.
For more information, visit the SPD website at www.salford.ac.uk/spd.
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Local Brief
Use this space to write down key updates affecting your school, directorate or team. Topics
you may wish to include:
Policy - What new procedures do you need to introduce, explain, reinforce or change?
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People - What successes, issues and hard work can you discuss with the team?
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Progress - Key areas and tasks which have progressed this month.
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Points for action - What are the University or team priorities for the next month?
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Questions &
Feedback
Our mission
Salford is an enterprising University which transforms individuals and communities through excellent teaching, research,
innovation and engagement.
Our vision
The University of Salford will be, by 2017, an outstanding University renowned for the quality of its engagement, humanity,
global reach and leadership in research, innovation and education.
Our values
We espouse and promote the following values and behaviours:
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The highest academic, professional and ethical standards
Service to our stakeholders, clients and partners and, in particular, putting our students first
Supporting our people and recognising and rewarding excellence and leadership
Working together for the advancement of the University
Innovation, creativity, enterprise, courage
Diversity, humanity, fairness and respect
Pride in our heritage and the distinctive difference we make to the world
Investing passion in all that we do
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