heidi Good Practice Seminar
26 March 2009
London
Schedule for the day
10.00am-11.00am
11.00am-11.15am
11.15am-11.45am
11.45am-12.15pm
12.15pm-12.45pm
12.45pm-1.45pm
1.45pm-2.15pm
2.15pm-2.45pm
2.45pm-3.00pm
3.00pm-3.30pm
Registration and coffee
Introduction to the seminar
Presentation from The University of Greenwich
Presentation from The University of Edinburgh
Presentation from ECU
Lunch
Presentation from University of Durham
Presentation from The University of Sheffield
heidi future developments
Questions and discussion surrounding heidi and good
practice
Seminar objectives
• To provide insights into the experience of HEIs in using
heidi
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
System roll-out
Administration
Training
Integration with management information processes
Problems and solutions
Benefits and costs
Future plans
• To inform delegates about the heidi equality project and the
need for evidence-based approaches to equality and
diversity monitoring
• To provide information on future development of heidi
• To stimulate discussion
HEIDI at the
University of Greenwich
The story so far
History with HEIDI
• The University was part of the Higher Education
Management Statistics Review Group in 2004-05
• HEIDI User Group member since inception in
November 2005
• Used LUMIS the software developed by the
University of Leeds to provide access to HESA data
Setting the Scene in Planning
• Planning Office of six staff
– Responsible for all statutory data returns
– Carry out the analytical elements of resource allocation
– Academic planning and target setting at an institutional
level
– Providing statistics for the annual review and planning
exercise carried out by Schools and Offices
– Dealing with league table analyses, performance indicators,
ad hoc requests etc
– Train key “super users” in Schools and Offices about access
to and use of data and reports
Using Data
• In 2003, in response to the Cooke Review of
Information on Quality and Standards in Higher
Education the University reviewed its approach to
making information available
• Two pronged approach
– Provide quality information available on our own
students
– Make better use of the data held nationally
Sources of National Data
• UCAS applications data
• UNISTATS including the NSS data
• IPSOS MORI NSS dataset
• Estates data
• Performance Indicators
• League Tables
• HESA data
Working with the individual datasets is time consuming
HEIDI brings most of the data together in one interface
Using HESA data
HESA data is used in two ways:
• The National Dataset via HEIDI is used for Academic Planning
and benchmarking
• Our own submissions are used to monitor performance
– Our student submissions are transformed (translated into
University speak to make them more user-friendly to colleagues)
then stored in an Oracle warehouse
– We run reports off the HESA warehouse using Business Objects
and a Graphical User interface called Advizor
We aim for a seamless transfer between the two systems
HEIDI at Greenwich
• Access to a wide range of data through our portal
• Reports are generated by planning staff and “super
users” and made available to others
• The number of “super users” is being expanded.
– In some cases this is removing a bottleneck.
– There is resistance from those who would prefer to have
Planning provide the analyses
Using HEIDI for benchmarking
• We use HEIDI for benchmarking both against the sector
mean and against a group of peers
• Benchmarking is carried out routinely e.g. comparisons of
degree classifications and performance indicators
• We use benchmarking data when carrying out policy
reviews
– Value for Money review of our Estate
– Part time recruitment over last five sessions
Administering HEIDI
• I am the University’s local administrator
• One of the Planning Team is also listed as an
administrator
• The planner keeps lists of all staff who have attended
training sessions and sets up users as required
• They are the key point of contact within the University
• They have attended the HEIDI Administrator training
programme
HEIDI Training
• Training in the use of HEIDI has been offered to staff in
Schools and Offices by staff in Planning
• Hands-on sessions offered on each of three main
campuses
• Part of a package of training that includes an introduction
to in-house reporting tools and sources of data
• The training includes a section on using data
No one is allowed a password to the system unless they
have attended a training session
Setback
• Staff turnover led to a loss of expertise
– Having expertise in the use of HEIDI is an attractive addition to a
planner’s skill set
– Experience of training is an additional benefit
• Solution
– We invited HESA to provide HEIDI training in-house to all new
Planning Staff. An additional benefit was the presentation on
appropriate use of data
– We are documenting fully all procedures for managing the HEIDI
system including protocols for generating and saving reports
– We are reviewing our implementation of HEIDI
Issues to be resolved – using HEIDI
• How to group reports effectively – using folders
• What is an appropriate naming convention for
reports?
• How independent are staff in Schools and Offices
expected to be?
• How much training is required?
• How much resource needs to be devoted to providing
custom reports?
We don’t have all the answers but we are asking the
questions
Issues to be resolved - Training
• If HEIDI is used only by a small number of key staff
then training is easy to manage
• If, as at Greenwich, there is a desire to have “super
users” in Schools and Offices then training is a
significant issue
–
–
–
–
Who provides it?
How often? – people need refresher courses
How do you encourage people to attend?
How much do you rely on the HEIDI training material?
Training can be a significant drain on resources
Issues to be resolved - Administering
HEIDI (1)
• Managing access to reporting systems is:
– not an obvious part of a planner’s job
– an additional function which is time consuming
• The systems infrastructure is not as developed as in an
information systems department
• There are no direct outcomes for the Planner who is
responsible for this activity
Are we the best people to be administering HEIDI?
Issues to be resolved – Administering
HEIDI (2)
• The second administrator has changed three times
since we started working with HEIDI
• It is important that the procedures for notifying
HESA of the change in personnel takes place
• There must be in-house protocols so a newly
appointed administrator understands their role
Selling HEIDI to users
• How to make the in-house interface user-friendly and
intuitive
• Can we create a better context for accessing reporting
tools
• Can we make the end-user truly independent
• Are we championing the system effectively
What we are planning: Diversity
• A seamless integration of our own datasets with the
Diversity Dashboard
– Discussions are already taking place in relation to the
staffing elements
– As soon as the detailed report definitions are available for
student we will modify our internal reports to match on
methodology and add additional reports that we do not
have
• We aim to make benchmarking of diversity measures
easy
What we are planning: Maps
We know that maps are highly valued but do not have the capacity to
produce all the maps that schools and office want
• We have ARCVIEW as our geodemographic tool but it is a sledgehammer to crack a nut
• Advizor has mapping functionality but the maps are pictures
• We are looking at the newly announced geodemographic
functionality of Business Objects but that has just been released
Maps in HEIDI
• Match in-house canned reports to provide added
value when put alongside the HEIDI mapping
development
• Enable enlightened “super users” to be able to
access maps with the minimum of intervention
from central services
Good Practice?
• The University of Greenwich is using HEIDI
• We are committed to providing as much access as
possible while trying to ensure that data is used
appropriately
• We are reviewing our activities to see what is working and
where there are problems
• We are looking to implement future developments as
they become available
• We are listening to others to see what they are doing
HEIDI Good Practice Seminar
26 March 2009
Training and User Support
Manya Buchan
The University of Edinburgh
Governance and Strategic Planning
M.Buchan@ed.ac.uk
0131 651 4330
Agenda
• Background of HEIDI @ Edinburgh
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Roll Out
Folders and Roles
Where does HEIDI fit?
• User Training and Support
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Training Sessions
User Guide
Web presence
User Support
Roll Out
• Initially only Planners had access
• Adhoc widening to include staff across the University who
specifically asked for access (Finance, Careers)
• In recent months, have rolled HEIDI out across the University

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Email sent to ‘Head Administrators’ for each School and College, and Heads
of Support Units
Suggested appropriate users:
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Resource Team members
Teaching / Research Administrators
Research Pooling Administrators
Staff involved in making HESA returns
Staff with comparative data analysis / reporting responsibilities
Roll Out
Pros / Cons
• Positive aspects of phased roll out:


Increased use of HEIDI, combined with strong knowledge of HESA, NSS,
UCAS, and other data sets, means that Planning Team are now in a better
position to be able to support Users across the University
Use of HEIDI over the past year makes in-house training possible
• Negative aspects of ‘open call’ for Users


In some areas, potentially ‘inappropriate’ Users named
Likely that a significant number of named Users will never use the system

Clean-up will be required
Folders and Roles
Folders
Folders
Careers
Projects (1 for each)
Colleges (1 for each)
Research
Estates & Buildings
Schools (1 for each)
Finance
Strategic Plan Targets
Human Resources
Students
Planning
Test
Folders and Roles
Roles
Roles
Careers
Human Resources
Careers Office staff
Corporate HR staff
College Officer
Research
College Office staff
ERI staff
Estates & Buildings
SACS / EUCLID
Corporate E&B staff
Registry staff
Expert User
School User
Comms & Marketing, Registry, Int’l Office
Managers / Admin staff in Schools
Finance
Student Recruitment
Corporate Finance staff
Central Student Recruitment & Admissions staff
GaSP (Planning)
GaSP staff
Folders and Roles
Sharing
Roles
Folder Access*
All Roles have access to all folders,
except …
Project folders
Planning
Strategic Plan Targets
Careers
Careers
GaSP (Planners)
All
SACS / EUCLID (Registry)
Students
School User
All School folders
* All have access to HESA Standard Reports
Where does HEIDI Fit?
Planning
• In Planning, HEIDI has come to play an integral role in our existing
reporting processes:


Strategic Plan target monitoring
Balanced Scorecard annual updates
• HEIDI has enabled us to take on additional project work more
easily:

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HR Management Information Project
PGR Student Management Information Project
• HEIDI has enabled us to respond more quickly to data requests
Where does HEIDI Fit?
out there …
• For the first time, individual business / academic units
have ready access to comparative data


Creation of own comparator groups
More in-depth analysis
• Has the potential to form part of existing reporting
requirements:


Teaching Programme Reviews
Quality Assurance Reports …
User Training and Support
@ Edinburgh
Training
Training Sessions
• 1.5 hours
• Around 10 people per session
• Re-iterate HEIDI terms and conditions
• Work through two examples ‘live’
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Data explorer
Derived columns and other features within the report builder
Creating groups
Sharing reports
Rolling reports forward
Data definitions
System help
Training
Training Sessions
• Discuss role / folder structure
• Go over data issues:
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Types of data and what can be done with them
General issues with data
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Interpretation of fields when returns are made
Are you looking at what you think you’re looking at
Different data sources
Changes over time
Institution names / mergers
Training
Training Sessions
• Discuss upcoming HEIDI development
• Go through the HEIDI data release schedule
• Generate awareness of User resources


Local Administrator contacts
UoE HEIDI website
Training
Quick Start User Guide
• A UoE Quick Start User Guide was published at the
beginning of the official roll-out

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Reiterates content of the training sessions
Shows HEIDI functionality by working through a single example
Includes screenshots
Training
Other training materials
• All training materials are available from a single webpage
Training
Other training materials
• All training materials are available from a single webpage:
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UoE HEIDI Quick Start User Guide
HESA HEIDI Manual
HESA HEIDI Training Videos
HESA HEIDI Data Specification
Details of upcoming UoE training sessions
Web Presence
• Have created a dedicated HEIDI page on our University
intranet
Web Presence
• Have created a dedicated HEIDI page on our University intranet
• Current links include:
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HEIDI system
Training and User Support
News
Data Updates Timetable
Recent Releases
Upcoming HEIDI Development
List of Current Users, Contacts, Folders and Roles
• Will soon include a link to a Message Board to capture known ‘issues’

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
Mergers
Common pitfalls …
Will initially be populated by users in Planning, but we expect this to expand as the
number of Users increases
Web Presence
• Current links include:







HEIDI system
Training and User Support
News
Data Updates Timetable
Recent Releases
Upcoming HEIDI Development
List of Current Users, Contacts, Folders and Roles
• Will soon include a link to a Message Board / wiki to capture known ‘issues’




Mergers
Common pitfalls
Known issues with UoE data (and the data from other HEIs) …
Will initially be populated by users in Planning, but we expect this to expand as the
number of Users increases
User Support
• Local Administrator (2) contact details are widely
publicised



Web pages
Quick Start User Guide
Training sessions
• Users are encouraged to contact either of the Local
Administrators (or anyone else in GaSP) with any queries:



HEIDI system issues
Data queries
Help with interpretation
HEIDI Equality
Chris Brill
Outline of session
The need for evidence
The HEIDI Equality Project
Going forward
Questions?
Our role
Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) supports the
higher education sector to realise the potential of
all staff and students, whatever their race,
gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion and
belief, or age, to the benefit of those individuals,
higher education institutions (HEIs) and society.
We work in partnership with HEIs and sector
organisations, undertaking projects and research
and providing practical support and guidance.
Need for evidence
Women 42.3% of academic staff
17.5% of Heads of Departments or
Professors
7.9% in SET subjects
BME 4.8% of Heads of Departments or
Professors
Equality in Higher Education Report
HEIDI equality project
Starting point – ECU report ‘Mapping Equality
Data in the Higher Education Sector’
(March 2008)
Joint HESA-ECU ‘HEIDI Equality’ working
group established
Aim to make better use of existing equality &
diversity data
Develop a set of equality indicators and
benchmarks
Current data (1)
By ‘Institution’ or ‘Subject Code’
HESA data (students and staff)
Gender
Age
Ethnicity
Disability
Nationality (academic staff only)
Domicile (students only)
Mode of study
Type of contract
Current data (2)
UCAS data (applications and acceptances)
Gender
Age
Ethnic origin
Domicile
Training & Development Agency data (teacher training)
Gender
Age
Ethnicity
Disability
Domicile
Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)
% ACADEMIC STAFF - FEMALE
Going Forward
HEIDI equality group has met
Outline of main equality categories
Data fields against which equality categories
should be analysed
Initial ideas for presentation of statistics
Paper on possible indicators
Meeting of working group in April
Development of national training programme
Questions?
Contact
Chris Brill, Policy Adviser
Email: chris.brill@ecu.ac.uk
Tel: 0207 438 1021
Web: www.ecu.ac.uk
HEIDI: Informing University
Strategy
Presented by Rob Livermore
26th March 2009
Overview
The provision of benchmarking data is an extremely powerful means of engaging
with groups across the University.
HEIDI makes this data readily accessible to all but this level of access can also
bring about it’s own problems.
∂
Support for Strategy & Planning
∂
Comparator Analysis
Key Performance Indicators
University Strategy
Department Performance Profiles
Comparator Analyses
Formal Reporting
– Comparator groups defined and performance used to set targets relevant to the
Durham context
Ad-hoc analyses in response to specific concerns
∂ decision making or reviews (e.g.
– Producing aggregate measures to inform
research income per academic staff FTE)
Key Performance Indicators
Formal reporting forms the basis of strategic performance monitoring
– Clearly defined groups provide a standard point of reference to set Durham’s
internal data in a wider context
– The impact of local trends can be analysed in a wider context
∂
Department Performance Profiles
Formal starting point to the annual planning process
– Integration of internal management information with standard sector data
Provides a key opportunity to present data that will support changes in behaviour
– often the data sourced from HEIDI is essential to this
∂
– Relative performance holds the most weight
Departments will have the opportunity to identify their own comparator group
– Production of reports is transparent and co-operative
Key Drivers for Use of HEIDI
The obvious central driver is to broaden the scope of management information by
incorporating benchmarking elements
Underpinned by an increasingly strategic perspective within certain academic
units, fuelled increased demand for contextual
data
∂
– Further take-up has been encouraged through group introductory sessions and
one-to-one training and guidance
Issues
Provision of appropriate benchmarking data in one area can lead to overly
optimistic assumptions in others
– Science v. Arts
Users may draw conclusions from their reports
that are not entirely based on a
∂
sound understanding of the data
The Future
Will past patterns of use affect future attitudes towards HEIDI?
– Yes, free and open access extends the level of analysis open to depts
– Those who wish to take the initiative in developing a greater self-awareness of their
own activities are able to do so
– An appreciation of performance data is embedded at a grass-roots level, with a
natural progression towards planning∂
Will we continue to administer HEIDI in the same way?
– Yes, free user access to all data sets, supported by central, approachable expertise
Summary
Key to Durham’s successful adoption and use of HEIDI has been its status as a
fully embedded data source within the existing management information suite.
∂
Using HEIDI
The Sheffield Experience
Linda Mason and Becky Bradbury
Planning and Governance Services
University of Sheffield
© The University of Sheffield
Looking at…
•
Where we were…
•
Initial developments
•
Organisational developments – the story so far
•
Using HEIDI in our integrated planning
•
Issues encountered
•
What we plan to do next…
22-Mar-16
© The University of Sheffield
Where we were….
• Ad hoc access to HEIDI across the University
• Used to obtain data for benchmarking and competitor analysis
(mainly for Senior Management and Council)
• No consistency in the way the data was being used and
reported
22-Mar-16
© The University of Sheffield
Initial developments
• Established a HEIDI User-group to discuss common issues
and share good practice
• Set up clear processes for giving access to new users
(including support/training)
• Carried out an audit of how different professional service
teams are using HEIDI (or not!)
22-Mar-16
© The University of Sheffield
Organisational developments – the story
so far…
Drivers:
• Changing University structure
• Development of 5 Faculties
• Development of an integrated planning round
• Bringing together academic and professional service planning
• Increasing importance of benchmarking in reflection on performance
• University-wide Management Information project
• MI View
22-Mar-16
© The University of Sheffield
MI View : Dashboards at the
Ready
Making strategic information
available in a single working
environment
‘MI View’ is a significant
step forward in the maintenance and
supply of planning data and
therefore is transforming our
leader's ability to take strategic
decisions’.
Dr Claire Baines
Academic Secretary
Is your strategic data held in multiple
formats, locked away in private
databases or in the darkest corners
of your colleagues desk draws?
MI View contains snapshot data Currently Operational
from corporate systems. This is • Core Planning indicators
then packaged and organised using • Research indicators
the University planning structure.
MI View brings these valuable
resources together into a single
location and then supplies added
value to that data by allowing it to be
analysed – online.
MI View gives profiles, trends and
internal benchmarking charts with
data downloads.
This is then
supplied within a secured section of
the institutions existing CIS reporting
software ‘uReports’.
In Development
• Learning and Teaching
indicators
• Student Journey
In discussion
• HR indicators
• Research Finance
• Estates Management
For more details contact: Rhiannon Birch, Planning Services Manager; Planning and Governance Services, The University of Sheffield. E-mail
© The University of Sheffield
r.birch@sheffield.ac.uk
Using HEIDI in integrated planning
• Performance review for academic and professional services
departments
• Reflection on where they are now
• Moving to value for money drivers in Professional Services
• Faculty specific data
• To develop a better understanding of competitive position and drive
change
22-Mar-16
© The University of Sheffield
Performance Review
Student Load - First Degree (FTE)
Cost Centre x
600
Student FTE
500
400
300
200
First Degree (Sheffield)
100
First Degree (RG Average)
0
2001/02
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
Academic Year
22-Mar-16
©
© The
The University
University of
of Sheffield
Sheffield
2005/06
2006/07
Faculty Specific Data
Faculty of x 2006/07
6000
Total Overseas
5000
Total Home and EU
PGT FPEs
4000
3000
2000
1000
22-Mar-16
© The University of Sheffield
V
U
T
S
R
Q
P
Sheffield
O
N
M
L
K
J
I
H
E
D
C
B
A
0
Issues Encountered
• HEIDI does provides access to wide range of data in one
place
• HEIDI does not have functionality to create sophisticated
reports
• Chart options and functions are limited (easier to export to
Excel and manipulate)
• Limitations of the data (mapping to internal structures,
comparing between institutions)
22-Mar-16
© The University of Sheffield
What we plan to do next…
• Integration in MI View
• Aspiration to extract data from HEIDI and present via University’s MI
interface
• Faculty, Department and Professional Service KPIs
• Developing useful comparators at Faculty level - no institution has the
same structure and therefore how best can we compare?
• Benchmarking for Professional Services (e.g. estates management
statistics)
• More extensive and systematic use of HEIDI for reporting and
University level benchmarking
22-Mar-16
© The University of Sheffield
heidi future developments
heidi future developments
• Subscription level includes some resource for ongoing development
• User Group identifies and prioritises development
issues…
• …but ideas are always welcome
• Development plans are published on web
www.heidi.ac.uk
heidi version 3.0
• To be released in September 2009
• Data explorer enhancements
• Usability enhancements
• User preferences settings
• Increasing the number of exported columns
• Scoping of nested report rows
• Scoping of geo-demographic mapping
• heidi equality
• Expansion of data sets
Questions and discussion