The Big Conversation has been a sector-wide endeavour to consider the state of higher education governance working jointly with the Committee of University Chairs (CUC), the Association of Heads of University Administration (AHUA), Universities UK, GuildHE and Independent HE. Our findings have focused on what is working, what needs to improve, where practice varies, and how governance should change. This work has benefited from drawing on the perspectives and expertise across these sector organisations and the insights from within their membership.
You can read the Shaping the future of HE governance report here.
Ten priorities to enhance HE governance
In drawing together the findings from this activity, we have identified 10 headlines which we are now encouraging the governance community across higher education to reflect on:
- Enhanced board composition - actively reflecting on size, skills and diversity to meet evolving sector challenges
- Proactive scenario planning - engaging boards more effectively in stress testing assumptions and forecasts
- Agile decision-making - improving meeting cycles and focusing ruthlessly on strategic, regulatory or materially significant matters
- Technology integration - leveraging digital solutions for more effective governance processes and information sharing
- Governor development - raising expectations for continuous professional development throughout terms of service
- Increased transparency - telling the governance story more openly and creatively to staff, students, partners and society
- Academic governance integration - strengthening links between corporate and academic governance structures
- Regulatory compliance demonstration - more proactive and transparent approaches to showing adherence to codes and regulations
- Remuneration consideration - exploring benefits and challenges of payment to secure talent, raise expectations and improve diversity
- Partnership collaboration - being more open-minded about strategic partnerships and shared services.
Underpinning all of these themes is that culture is crucial, along with the need for a challenging and inquisitive mindset from the Board and openness and transparency from the Executive to proactively share concerns and performance.
Analysis of survey data on university governance effectiveness
In addition, Advance HE has published the 'Thematic Analysis of Governance Benchmark Survey Data' drawing upon over 60 governance effectiveness reviews conducted since 2020 at a variety of providers. Via more than 1,200 respondents, we saw strong correlations with the 10 themes identified in the ‘Shaping the future of HE governance’ report with members of governing bodies continually identifying the need to improve stakeholder engagement; raising expectations of continuous governor development; strengthening links with academic governance and board composition (including board diversity), underpinned by governance culture being crucial to success. This is part of the picture and there is more work to understand the future of HE governance in the UK.
Over to you
We are now inviting Chairs, governors, governance professionals, university executive and staff to actively reflect on how the governance of their institution is functioning and to particularly consider against each of the 10 themes for development we have identified. Some institutions have already informed us they will be leading a session with their board to evaluate how they currently perform against each of these 10 themes, where there is room for enhancement and how they will implement these improvements.
Given the diversity across the sector the extent to which the findings from the Big Conversation will resonate with individual providers and their governing bodies will vary, but we strongly invite everyone with a stake in the governance of the sector to honestly and openly evaluate where progress can be made across each of the 10 themes.
Advancing HE governance
Alongside our invitation for institutions to act, Advance HE has already committed to a number of changes to build on this work:
- refreshing the content and focus of the support we provide to governors and governance professionals through our Governance Development Programme to ensure it more obviously deals with the contemporary issues facing governors and their institutions,
- making ourselves available to lead and facilitate board sessions to share the findings from our work and support governors to consider the improvements and enhancements they can make,
- feeding into the review of the Committee of University Chairs Higher Education Code of Governance,
- reviewing our own Governance Effectiveness Framework which we use when undertaking Board and Council effectiveness reviews
- Working jointly with AHUA to convene the annual Clerks and Secretaries network in May next year.
We will continue to operate in a way which works in partnership with other sector bodies and organisations, harnessing their insight and expertise to work jointly to make a bigger difference. The conversation has just started. Join us by sharing your thoughts on where sector governance is, reflecting against the 10 themes and identifying the improvements your board should make in the spirit of continuous improvement.