UniForum
What is UniForum?
The UniForum project is a UK and international benchmarking exercise run by Cubane Consulting. It is a tool that helps inform the way in which Exeter’s Professional Services might develop.
The programme provides us with a comprehensive dataset to better understand the effectiveness of the Professional Services that support the teaching and research activities of the University. We collect information every year, as part of our 'business as usual' that can be compared with our competitors. A Service Effectiveness Survey, usually carried out in spring, captures views from both Academics and Professional Services colleagues. In summer we collect information about Professional Services staff activity and costs.
To create the benchmark, we have to collect all costs associated with Professional Services in the prior academic year and code to an agreed UniForum Quick Reference Guide 2022. The idea is that, regardless of structures or department size, if all Universities code costs against the same activity framework then a comparable benchmark can be created. We consider the activity of all Professional Services members of staff who have been on the payroll (no matter how short the period of time, or if they move jobs within the year). We are also collecting all Professional Services Supplier costs, as part of the Supplier data collection.
Among the many universities within the UK and worldwide are 17 other Russell Group institutions who, like us, have taken part for the last four years and will continue to take part for at least four more years as off 2022.
We took part in the Service Effectiveness Survey twice since we signed up and are looking forward to hearing your views in the upcoming collection in May 2023.
We took part in the full Data Collection regarding PS activities in 2023. Around 250 managers across our Professional Services considered the activity of their teams and logged how anyone who was working in their team in the prior year spent their time against a UniForum Quick Reference Guide 2022. Other universities undertook the same exercise. Further information on our results can be found here.
Which Russell Group universities are members of UniForum?
- University of Birmingham
- University of Bristol
- University of Cambridge
- Cardiff University
- Durham University
- The University of Edinburgh
- University of Exeter
- University of Glasgow
- Imperial College London
- University of Leeds
- University of Liverpool
- London School of Economics & Political Science
- University of Manchester
- Newcastle University
- University of Oxford
- Queen Mary University of London
- University of Southampton
- University College London
How is Exeter managing the programme?
The University Registrar, Mike Shore-Nye is the Executive Sponsor for the programme. Key contacts are:
Mike Shore-Nye (Registrar and Secretary - Chair), Executive Project Sponsor
Dr Michael Wykes (Director of PPBI), Executive Project Sponsor
Lucy van Eimeren, Cubane Programme Manager
The programme and activities are managed by the University Corporate Service team and any enquiries should be directed to the Programme Manager Lucy van Eimeren or email uniforum@exeter.ac.uk
Plans for the next collections
Exeter plans to run the Service Effectiveness Survey in May 2023 and the next Professional Services staff activity data collections in the summer of 2023.