HEI Community Engagement: Partnership and Collaboration in a changing environment

[Background] [Aims] [Outcomes] [Audience] [Programme] [Event Information] [Application Conditions]

Background

The wider higher education environment:

Most universities take seriously their civic engagement role but, often, in the past, this work has taken place in the margins of institutional activity. This has begun to change with HEIs starting to embed the work throughout their teaching and research activity, to reflect it in their mission statements and strategies, and to create space for it through their formal structures and in their systems of reward and recognition. A number of trends are responsible for closing the gap between universities and their towns, cities and regions, among them: 

• The introduction by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) of social and economic ‘impact’ as part of its criteria for funding research;
• The widening participation agenda and the requirement on HEIs charging higher fees to submit Access Agreements, setting out what they are dong to attract under-represented groups into higher education, to the Office of Fair Access;
• The localism agenda and the expectation that university leaders will contribute to ‘leadership of place’ and local economic and civic renewal by helping join up a range of national policies and programmes at a local level;
• The context of economic recession which is, on the one hand, prompting universities to think harder about their potential role in wider society and the value of collaborative working with local, national and global partners; and, on the other, prompting government and other stakeholders to question the purpose of universities; and
• The pressure on HEIs to improve public understanding of what universities do and to engage the public more, particularly around science and technology, in order to make university research a more dynamic part of everyday life. 

The conference series will examine their different aspects of HEI partnership and collaboration, considering, in particular, engagement with: institutions – including schools, further education colleges and local authorities; employers; and communities more widely. It will give delegates an opportunity to learn about some of the best practice in the sector, to hear from a range of expert keynote speakers and to develop their own institutional action plans for civic engagement.

This partnership conference is brought to you by:
FACE  (Forum for Access and Continuing Education)
UALL   (Universities Association for Lifelong Learning)
AoA     (Action on Access)
NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education).

Background on HEI community engagement:

The long-standing tradition of HEI engagement with communities and wider society – sometimes characterised as the ‘third mission’ of higher education – has been revived over the past decade. This change has been driven by the factors outlined above but has been shaped also by the different institutional missions, cultures and histories of HEIs, as well as by the sorts of pre-existing partnerships which have developed over time in each locality, often determined by the particular specialisms of institutions. This growing focus has been sharpened by publicly supported initiatives and activity intended to promote civic and public engagement (defined, loosely, by HEFCE as ‘specialists in higher education listening to, developing their understanding of, and interacting with non-specialists’). This activity included the 2007 Beacons for Public Engagement scheme, a £9.2 million initiative to support public engagement in the UK and to develop a coordinated approach to recognising, rewarding and building capacity for public engagement. The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) was set up in 2008 in England to help HEIs value, improve and increase the quantity and quality of their public engagement and embed it into their core practice. Many institutions are now seeking to embed the work throughout their teaching and learning activity, seeing it less as a third strand of work but as an essential dimension of their core activities. The conference will explore the emerging agenda around public engagement for HEIs and look to make connections with other key agendas, such as mature and flexible access and widening participation. 

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Aims

The conference aims to:

• share some of the best practice in the sector around public and community engagement;
• explore the roles and responsibilities of HEIs;
• consider the tensions between this and the universities’ key missions of teaching and research; and
• provide delegates with examples of good practice.

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Outcomes

• Delegates will be better informed about embedding a community engagement approach across an institution and about the mutual benefits of the work;
• Delegates will have a better understanding of the common factors which contribute to successful HEI institutional engagement; and
• Delegates should leave the conference with a first sketch of an action plan to improve institutional engagement with their communities.

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Audience

This conference will be of interest to those working in a higher education setting whose work involves or could benefit from greater community engagement and wider partnership and collaboration with groups within their local communities. It will be of particular interest to those interested in improving levels of collaboration with community and voluntary organisations, and with the public more widely, and in learning how to embed community engagement throughout the life of an institution, including in its teaching and research activity.

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Programme 

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 Event Information

• Arrival, registration and networking are at 10:00am for a 10:30am start. The conference will end with tea at 3:50pm.
• Event fee per person: £100
  Reduced fee for members of FACE, UALL, AoC and NIACE:  £69
  (includes sandwich lunch, tea/coffee)
• NB: NIACE does not charge VAT on conference or course fees
• Only online application forms with the payments section completed will be processed.
• NB: If you wish us to invoice your employer we require a copy of the Purchase Order before the form is processed
• Places will be allocated in order of receipt of completed online application forms (one online application form per person)
• Video cameras may be in use at this event. If you do not wish to be photographed or appear on the video outputs please indicate this on the application form and make yourself known at registration
• Participants should be prepared to take their own notes as there will not be handouts for all sessions
• If you have not received an e-mail confirming your attendance and joining instructions 4 working days before the event please contact: events@niace.org.uk

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Application Conditions

• Event date:      Thursday 23 January 2014
• Closing date:   Thursday 16 January 2014
• Cancellations are non-refundable
• The full fee is payable prior to the event
• Substitutions are to be advised 5 working days prior to the event
• A 15 working days notice period is required for provision of electronic note-takers, sign language interpreters and transcription to Braille
• Places are to be reserved online – scroll up and click on Apply Now
• Reservations by telephone cannot be accepted
• Application forms are individually acknowledged by e-mail. Joining instructions, including map and directions, will be e-mailed out one week before the event
• NIACE reserves the right to reject applicants who are not from the target audience list.

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