Annual Monitoring Statements All responses

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1 1 of 10 23/11/ :59 Annual Monitoring Statements All responses Return to contents page Question 1 Do your indirect funding agreements (sometimes known as 'franchise agreements' or 'franchises') with further education colleges provide security of funding and student numbers for a minimum of three years? Choose one from : Yes No - If no please give further details You chose : No - If no please give further details Our partnership arrangements do provide security of funding and student numbers on an annually negotiated basis. We are in discussion with our partners regarding a transition from indirectly allocated student numbers via the University to directly allocated numbers obtained through bids in to "the margin". We are intending to continue our long standing and geographically coherent partnership strategy which is built on complementarity of provision, validation of awards and quality assurance and support for HE delivery. Based on the numbers we have through HEFCE's student numbers control, we will continue to manage student numbers at partner colleges within agreed limits. We are in the process of reviewing our partnership agreements as a matter of routine and to reflect the changed funding context.

2 2 of 10 23/11/ :59 Question 2 Have you made progress as planned in towards delivering the activities and outcomes you set out in your Higher Education Innovation Fund round four (HEIF 4) strategy? Choose one from : Yes No - If no please explain the reasons for this, in not more than 300 words You chose : Yes

3 3 of 10 23/11/ :59 Question 3 Funding for HEIF 4 ended in July 2011, therefore all underspends need to be reported here, regardless of size. All substantial underspends will be fully investigated by HEFCE, with emphasis placed particularly on scrutinising and potentially recovering significant underspent funds from those HEIs receiving increased allocations in HEIF11-15 (on grounds that these may not be able to deliver value for money from the combination of a substantial past underspend and a substantial present uplift). For your HEI received 1,360,126 for HEIF 4. Did any funds remain unspent at the end of academic year ? Choose one from : No Yes - If yes please state the amount and explain the reasons for this, in not more than 300 words. (Your explanatory text should include any spending since 31 July 2011.) You chose : Yes - If yes please state the amount and explain the reasons for this, in not more than 300 words. (Your explanatory text should include any spending since 31 July 2011.) As at 31 July, the University had committed all of its HEIF 4 funds. However, 74,841 of these committed funds had yet to be charged to the I&E account as at 31st July. Of this amount, 5,137 represented work undertaken prior to 31st July but not invoiced for until after year end. A number of projects, in receipt oif awards from our internal Knowledge Transfer Innovation Fund (KTIF), were also ongoing at the year end with the completion of these projects delayed for a number of reasons such as the need to reschedule events involving external partners, availability of academic staff time during the summer term, delays in completing contractual arrangements and delays by suppliers in production and delivery of materials. All of these projects except one are now complete and the sum of 49,446 was spent on these KTIF projects between 01 August and 31 October The sole ongoing project is nearing completion, with 1200 committed to complete market research for a potentially new knowledge exchange service. Together with associated internal project management and oversight costs, these represent the totality of the University's HEIF 4 allocation.

4 4 of 10 23/11/ :59 Question 4 Please provide a summary (400 words maximum) of the key achievements of the year linked to HEIF 4 formula funding, referring to flagship projects identified in your institutional strategy. The final knowledge exchange projects supported by our Knowledge Transfer Innovation Fund (KTIF) have been completed. Of the 72 projects that were funded during the HEIF 4 period, 25 were carried out during and could be classified as follows: Skills and human capital development (six projects) Facilitating the research exploitation process (ten projects) Knowledge sharing and diffusion (eight projects) Supporting the community/public engagement (one project) The KTIF initiative achieved its primary objective of increasing the number of academics engaging in knowledge exchange and helping embed KE as a core activity. Other outputs from the final two rounds of the programme included the piloting of new short courses; feasibility studies of new CPD programmes, prototyping of new technologies and market evaluations of new IP. In addition to the KTIF projects which focussed on skills and human capital development, there has been an overall increase in short courses/cpd programmes delivered by the University and a number of business cases are being prepared to extend our portfolio of short courses even further. Some departments that had not previously delivered training/cpd are now actively engaged in developing training courses in areas such as Curatorial Studies, Directors' Duties and Social Science Research Methods. Our objective to inspire innovation has resulted in the development of a number of projects which have been successful in securing financial support from external funds such as the Iceni Seedcorn and Carbon Connections funds. Some of these projects illustrate the cross-disciplinary approach outlined in our HEIF 4 strategy, drawing on our expertise in social sciences and technology fields. KE skills development within the University has continued for both KE professionals and academics. KE-relevant skills are now an integral part of the Staff Learning and Development programme and also a part of the training programme for the University's Doctoral Training Centre. Our engagement with businesses has benefited from improved business processes and in particular the adoption of a CRM system which is shared with our Vice-Chancellor and Registrar's Office, Alumni Office, and Communications and Events team. Other tools which have been adopted to facilitate the targeting of businesses are the MINT database and Click Dimensions (e-marketing). Demand for student enterprise support continues to grow and the HEIF 4 initiatives launched during the previous year (e.g. the Essex Boot Camp, the Big E Awards) were instrumental in securing additional funding for the Santander Awards for Excellence in Enterprise.

5 5 of 10 23/11/ :59 Question 5 Have you made progress or met your objectives from last year as set out in your equality action plan? Choose one from : Yes No You chose : Yes

6 6 of 10 23/11/ :59 Question 6 Please describe, in no more than 250 words, what progress you have made in meeting those objectives. The relevant actions for our equality schemes for Race, Disability and Gender were still in place up to July 2011 and were progressed within the timescales indicated. The new Equality Policy and Strategy 2011 was finally published in July Relevant long term actions from the previous individual schemes were incorporated in the new Equality Policy and Strategy. Despite the vagaries in this area of the Equality Act 2010 we have continued to carry out equality impact assessments (EIAs) and have now developed a two tier structure for EIA's full assessments are now to be called Equality Impact Reviews (EIRs) and initial assessments will be called EIAs. We have updated our online training for equality and diversity in line with the requirements of the Equality Act We have completed the development of our on line Recruitment and Selection course and it is now compulsory for all staff involved in recruitment of staff to complete this course.

7 7 of 10 23/11/ :59 Question 7 If you have encountered any difficulty in meeting those objectives, please give further details including any barriers to implementation. The various delays and debates regarding the final content of the Equality Act 2010 resulted in the deadline for publishing our new Equality Policy and Strategy being extended.

8 8 of 10 23/11/ :59 Question 8 Please highlight any particular achievements. Once more we were pleased to be reaccredited for the "two ticks" symbol "positive about disability" by having our progress in all five objectives approved. There has been a significant increase in the numbers of staff completing the on line Equality and Diversity training. We have become members of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme. Our Access Forum continues to have a major influence on disability matters both with regard to policy matters and to the estate. Our Harassment Advisory Network and procedures have been subject to a major review and we have recruited, trained and appointed 14 new Harassment advisers.

9 9 of 10 23/11/ :59 Question 9 Please briefly describe your key equality objectives and/or actions for The introduction of the Equality Act 2010 meant that a new single document was drafted to meet the new public duties and to include the new protected characteristics. The University's single equality policy and strategy 2011 which replaces previous policies schemes and action plans was recommended to the University Council by the Equality and Diversity Committee in May 2011and agreed by the University Council in July Key objectives in the policy and strategy are: To build the knowledge, understanding and commitment to equality and diversity of all members of the University community. To appeal to a broad student market and provide a living, studying and working environment in which a diverse student population can learn, achieve and prosper. To maintain the diversity of the workforce and deliver a fair and supportive working environment for all. To promote and enhance equality of access to our services, goods, facilities, premises and information To ensure that major strategic decisions are made with an awareness of their consequences for different groups of people and those with managerial responsibilities demonstrate inclusive leadership behaviours.

10 10 of 10 23/11/ :59 Question 10 During the three years from to your HEI received capital funding under the Capital Investment Fund either by having met the requirements of the CIF or by providing programme and project information. Please explain, in a maximum of 250 words how your institution invested the CIF 1 funding (both teaching and research capital) over the three years and what benefits have been achieved through that funding. The University invested just over 4m in two projects at its new Southend campus. Firstly the fit-out of floors 2 and 5 of the Gateway Building creating rehearsal studios for East 15 Acting School and teaching and office space for the Essex Business School. Secondly the award winning conversion of the former United Reformed Church into the Clifftown Studios comprising performance space, five rehearsal studios, offices and ancillary space for East 15 Acting School at a total cost just over 5m. Both projects have consolidated the University's offer in Southend and contributed to the recruitment of 779 undergraduate students on this developing campus -helping stimulate the regeneration of Southend. The TCIF fund also supported projects in our partner institutions, South Essex College and Colchester Institute by the purchase of animation machines, the fit-out of the HE centre and part of the HE Arts School as well as over 300k of refurbishment at Colchester Institute. The RCIF funds supported thirteen projects including innovative building projects and the purchase of equipment. The largest project was the conversion of the University's redundant Central Boiler House into a multi-functional space supporting collaboration and research capacity alongside teaching uses, as part of a holistic development, at a total cost circa 5m. An RCIF contribution to this project was made to support the alteration and extensive AV fit-out which creates a cutting edge environment especially relevant for the University's traditional research strengths in the Social Sciences. Other projects included a major scheme to refurbish and re-equip Biological Sciences research labs and a groundbreaking multi-media lab in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. In addition, equipment was acquired for Psychology, Language and Linguistics and for an Economics research laboratory. Question 15 Please sign off the return with your name and job title. There is no need to provide HEFCE with a hard copy. Your responses are uploaded to us at every input session and deemed as being complete by virtue of all the questions being answered and by the electronic 'sign off'. There is no 'submit' button to press. Name Professor Colin Riordan Job Title Vice-Chancellor Date 23 November 2011