Looking back as AHUA Chair – from pestilence to practicability

At the end of March, I step down after six years as the Chair of AHUA. On being elected at the end of 2019, I was already aware that there was a shift happening for the Association. The OfS had started full operation of its regulatory framework in August 2019 and was finding its feet, alongside creating clear water from those still hankering after HEFCE. Our members were navigating the new (and often unwritten) rules of engagement and the policy context was one of diversifying, growing and marketising the sector.

However, starting as Chair in April 2020, a week after the first lockdown was announced, I really hadn’t known what I was letting myself in for. From Day 1, seeking to make sense from the initial daily reporting of Covid cases to OfS (remember that?), I realised there was a new kind of leadership role which AHUA was going to need to play – practical, constructive and in partnership.

There are points where nostalgia now makes our responses seem quaint, but the way we all had to pivot everything and keep both people and our institutions safe amongst the confusion of government, communications and levels of anxiety was, in reality, remarkable. And let us not forget that we were all doing this at a time where our understanding of the implications of student contracts in the newly regulated sector was far less mature than it is now. 

The Covid years set the tone for a different kind of partnership particularly with UUK, CUC, UKRI, Jisc, BUFDG, HESPA, AHEP and AdvanceHE. Our engagements with DfE and OfS have been regular and progressive, despite changes in 7 Secretaries of State, 3 Chairs and 2 Chief Execs respectively over the period. It also brought a closer focus on the support and value for our members – I will not forget our ‘online’ conferences or the ‘virtual shoulders’ we provided each other during times of immense stress and uncertainty.

But we should also remember another seismic event of those early months of 2020– the murder of George Floyd in May sparked protests across the world and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement.  As our universities reflected on their responses, so did AHUA.  We cannot determine our membership, however we can influence the potential for succession. We have run a reciprocal mentoring scheme for mid career administrators of colour and our members for the last three years – and learnt a huge amount.  We commissioned research in 2024 as there had been no previous focus on the challenges of career progression for HE professional services staff of colour and provided places and bursaries for our development programmes. We are only at the start of this, but I am very proud of the start we have made.

One of our previous Chairs, Dr Jonathan Nicholls, died tragically in March 2022. He was a great advocate for development of our membership and the profession.  We commissioned an Essay Prize Competition in his honour, partnering with our sponsor Shakespeare Martineau, to seek ideas for a ‘Higher Education Reimagined’. The prize, presented by his wife Sue at an event in the Shard in June 2023, was a lovely moment to recall for our members.

2023 saw the progress of the Freedom of Speech bill and the appointment of Arif Ahmed to the OfS. Our members, typically strongly disposed to Freedom of Speech – but also strongly disposed to practicability – have been at the front line of this for a long time. We have made progress in getting more detail to inform our decision making and the navigation of increasingly difficult waters in recent years.

On the point of practicability, the focus on the effectiveness of OfS as a regulator came under intense scrutiny in 2023. Having provided written evidence to the Lords Industry and Regulators’ inquiry, I was invited to give (televised!) evidence to the Committee. Both a privilege and nerve-wracking in equal measure, I am also proud of the visibility and credibility this gave to AHUA.  The intent of AHUA has always been to support good regulation.  I am appreciative of the time and willingness to engage that both Nicola Dandridge and Susan Lapworth have given to AHUA and believe that working together we have created better clarity and processes for implementing regulation.

The regulator was set up within a different context of marketisation and growth. The former remains, but the latter is now one focused increasingly on sector contraction.  We have provided new forms of development and engagement for our membership to support them through these challenges and played an active role on the UUK Transformation and Efficiency Taskforce. Our proposal for an Organisational Efficiency Maturity Assessment as part of the outputs has now launched as a pilot last month in partnership with SUMS, as a practical tool to assess and provide a shared and comparative understanding of relative efficiency in all aspects of higher education activity.

Financial instability and sustainability issues have also provided for an increased focus on effective governance. I believe our contribution to the discussion in our roles as Secretaries is critical, often at the nexus of Chairs and Vice-Chancellors. We can see the points where practice or culture comes under strain.  We are playing an active role on the CUC Code Steering Group. We launched our new Secretaries programme in 2022 and this has been a popular and impactful development to improve the professional skills and status of our University secretaries.

Finally however, the joy of the role has inevitably been about the people. Whether that has been with our sector partners, our wonderful sponsors, the Executive Committee or the AHUA Board. I have been hugely supported by our Office, and a huge shout out to Catherine Webb and Ben Vulliamy who really made everything above happen.  But ultimately AHUA is about our members – our roles are increasingly different as are our titles, but the commonality of issues, perspectives and empathy remains strong.  I am about to go to lie on a beach, but for now I say thank you and pass the baton to Helen Galbraith (and may no further pestilence or other disaster start in April!)