20 | FOCUS | OUTSOURCING
S TR ATE G I C T H INK I N G
For many years universities ran the majority of their services in-house, but now an increasing number are outsourcing to cut costs and improve the student experience
At a time of intense debate about how higher education should be funded, Andy Shenstone, Group Market Director for Education at Capita Group, said that universities can benefit from establishing partnerships with external companies. “We're seeing universities express a much greater interest in creating partnerships with our business. These partnerships enable them to focus on improving the student experience, while also contributing to the botom line in terms of delivering value for money.” This can mean a full outsourcing
arrangement, where an external company takes responsibility for a particular university service or facility, but Shenstone is keen to stress that it is not the only form of private sector involvement. He added: “Outsourcing to us is just one example of a type of partnership, but it's not the only one – the risk is that it's viewed as being the only way to do things when we're quite clear that it's not.”
Strategic partnerships These kind of partnerships or outsourcing agreements are typically used in ancillary or non-core university services, such as catering or estate management. However, having started working with universities in the '90s, Capita now offers a wide range of services to the higher education sector. “The provision of information technology and advice, both hardware and software, is one component. We also provide strategic management consultancy services and work with universities in the area of estates and master planning in the built environment. Then we offer a range of professional services around HR and procurement, and work directly with universities to improve the quality of the student experience,” said Shenstone. The exact shape of the agreement
depends on the specific priorities of the university, and Shenstone says he and his colleagues put a lot of effort into
understanding the sector's priorities. “Only by listening and understanding the issues universities and students face can we then hope to offer solutions that are going to be atractive, that resonate, and that are relevant and appropriate,” he said. One of the key issues facing the sector
is of course finance, both in terms of rising student fees and in pension liabilities for the university. Affordability for students is a big preoccupation, leading this generation to ask fundamental questions about the value and purpose of HE. “Universities see students who are
increasingly questioning the value for money of specific courses and programmes. They want to see how their money is spent,” outlined Shenstone. While the sector is responding very positively to these changes, such as by making more course information available through things like the key
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