Shows
University Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 19: ‘I wish I knew then what I know now’Drawing its inspiration from the classic 1973 song by the Faces, this episode of the podcast was a live recording at the spring conference of AHUA held at Swansea University in April 2025.
The recording provides an opportunity to hear from two departing/departed AHUA members in conversation discussing their reflections on their long careers in the sector. Featuring Lee Sanders of the University of Birmingham and Paul Greatrix, formerly of the University of Nottingham the focus is very much on those areas where valuable lessons have been learned.
Subjects such as being selective in the battles you pick, the c...
2025-05-121h 06
QAA Membership PodcastVicki Stott in conversation with Paul GreatrixIn the latest edition of the QAA podcast, our Chief Executive Vicki Stott talks with Paul Greatrix – who last month retired from his position as Registrar at the University of Nottingham at the end of a 36-year career in higher education.Together, Vicki and Paul consider the changes that the sector has gone through over the last few decades and the challenges it faces today, as they anticipate the developments ahead in 2025.Topics include the challenges and opportunities raised by the lifelong learning agenda – and the importance of robust credit transfer mechanisms – the proliferation of artifi...
2025-01-311h 04
University Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 16: Knowing Me, Knowing You
Swedish and UK Registrars learning from each other over four decades
This episode of the podcast sees a second discussion with Lee Sanders, Registrar and Secretary and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Birmingham. This time we are talking about a long standing collaboration between Swedish and UK Registrars, generations of whom have been meeting at a biennial seminar which has been running since 1984. Lee and I both joined the group in 2011 having been tapped on the shoulder for the Cardiff conference and since then have experienced a series of successful events where Registrars from b...
2024-10-2938 min
My Imaginary UniversityEpisode 20: Monasticism and Modernity at the University of Hyper-HumanitiesOur latest imaginary vice-chancellor is Paul Clark, formerly of HESA and UCL and now an independent strategy consultant.
Paul has created a novel institution which is rooted in the past but with an eye very much to the future. There aren’t huge numbers of students on campus at this super-connected ivory tower of an institution but it does have a large online presence. It's a full service university but with a strong leaning towards the humanities, a huge research budget and a temperate northern European location. The university enjoys a light touch regulatory environment and a campus which co...
2024-07-1235 min
My Imaginary UniversityEpisode 19: The Uni of Peace and Quiet and Learning to Love a Mid-life Crisis at Transition UTime for a further landmark in the My Imaginary University podcast series. It is another live recording but our first at an international conference. This recording was made at the 2024 HUMANE annual conference at the University of Amsterdam and features not one but two imaginary higher education institutions. Our creative presenters are Leon Van de Zande, Secretary General at the University of Amsterdam, and Marianna Bom, Chief Financial Officer at Aalto University in Finland.
Leon's imagined university is the home of Peace and Quiet, a very non-hierarchical institution where there is genuine parity of esteem between teaching and research. T...
2024-06-2335 min
The Wonkhe ShowCost of living, public polling, electionThis week on the podcast we have new research out on cost of living and its impact on the student experience. With no time, will students get the skills and confidence they were promised? Plus there's new public polling out on the salience of universities, the election rumbles on and Debbie's going back to the 90s.With Paul Greatrix, Registrar at University of Nottingham, Ed Marsh, Chief Executive Officer at the Tutor Trust, and Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe. Hosted on Acast...
2024-06-2142 min
University Registrars Talking About StuffRegistrarologue #6: Bonus content - Cut Regulation, Save MoneyIt's time for more exciting bonus content. Whilst on this podcast you will usually find me in conversation with registrars and other higher ed notables, I've got some other diversions to share. There will be some new podcasts along soon but in the meantime I wanted to provide a bit of bonus content.
In this short Registrarologue then you can hear me going on yet again about regulation and setting out a a very personal perspective. This time it is a 10 point plan to save a whole load of much-needed money for the sector by cutting the regulatory b...
2024-05-1211 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 18: The University for Service - Outstanding HE for the Public Sector
Our innovative creator in the latest edition of the My Imaginary University podcast is sector stalwart and HE consultant at large, Aaron Porter. Aaron's bold university idea is to create an institution dedicated to serving the public sector and educating prospective public service professionals from nurses to teachers to fast stream civil servants. With campuses based in former department stores in both Blackpool and Belfast the university has struck a novel student funding deal with government in return for its strong public service ethos. Student selection is via a potential-judging personality test and the student experience is very much f...
2024-03-2631 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 17: Tri-Nation Seaside Study at As Yet Untitled U
My guest on this episode of My Imaginary University is Alistair Jarvis, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Partnerships and Governance at the University of London.
Generously supported by a billionaire philanthropist, Alistair's university is based on three campuses on estates by the sea on the south coast of England, Dubai and Nigeria. The three campuses are equal in every way and every student is mobile, studies other languages and all fees are paid.
The university's campuses really are a special feature: they all have nice beaches and are open, integrated into their communities and offer great food as well as work an...
2024-03-1939 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 16: Hauntings, Hallelujahs and a Holistic Student Experience at Camford University
This episode of My Imaginary University stars Johnny Rich, who is Chief Executive of the Engineering Professors' Council and of Push, the independent university guide, among other roles. Johnny is proud to be the Vice-Chancellor of Camford University, a post he was appointed to some years ago with a bold remit to change the ancient institution.
As VC he has instituted a radical approach to contextual admissions and the university is now using AI to support identification of potential, including deploying an alternative version of dating software to help with selection. The university has also adopted a radically...
2024-02-2042 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 15: Greenworld U: interdisciplinary HE with Shakespeare, starlight and dancing
This edition of the podcast stars Professor Julie Sanders, Vice-Chancellor and Principal at Royal Holloway, University of London. Julie offers a novel concept, Greenworld Univerisity, a constellation of campuses based on the notion of green world spaces in Shakespeare or spaces of possibility. Her university has a very broad offering - not just Shakespeare - and provides huge flexibility in learning patterns for students who can enjoy the right to roam academically and expect a transformative experience.
Greenworld University has quite a porous structure and also brings in broader support including from the wider community. Many things...
2024-01-2939 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 14: From medieval employability to a new intellectual start up
This episode of My Imaginary University is rather longer than usual and follows a slightly different course to previous editions. My guest this time is Professor Sir David Eastwood, most recently, until his retirement, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham but someone with over 25 years of senior leadership in the sector.
David explores some of the history of higher education, starting with medieval universities and their surprising employability focus before moving on to the development of the University of Birmingham and subsequent civic institutions. Noting that many universities now are looking to rediscover a civic mission, recognising...
2024-01-1549 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 14: A lifetime in academia and music
In this episode of University Registrars (and Others) Talking About Stuff I talk to someone who is very much not a registrar but a notable figure nevertheless. Dr Vince Wilson recently retired as Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham and among the stuff we learn about is Vince's distinctive academic journey from a degree in pharmacy to a research degree, a Royal Society fellowship - as part of which he spent a period in Germany - and then a post-doc in Glasgow.
Vince joined Nottingham in 1989 where he was based in the Queen's Medical Centre and being...
2024-01-0633 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 13: Higher Education My Way at Bandersnatch UniversityThis episode is a bit of a landmark in the My Imaginary University podcast series. For the first time we recorded the podcast in front of a live and indeed lively audience at this year's Wonkhe Festival of Higher Education at Senate House, University of London. My imagineer this time is Amatey Doku, Senior Consultant at Moorhouse Consulting and he presents us with a genuinely novel package of higher education innovations.
Amatey holds up a black mirror to higher education with his creation of Bandersnatch University, derived from a TV show from a few years ago with a variety...
2023-11-1142 min
The Wonkhe ShowFree speech, franchising, NHS trainingThis week on the podcast Michelle Donelan’s letter to UKRI expressing outrage over “extremism” has been in the news, and Gillian Keegan is bearing down on antisemitism on campus - we discuss and assess the fallout. Plus OfS is set to get digging around into franchised provision, and we try to work out if the student training needs in England’s long-term NHS plan are deliverable.With Sally Mapstone, Principal and Vice Chancellor at the University of St Andrews, Paul Greatrix, Registrar at the University of Nottingham, David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe...
2023-11-0249 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 13: From Teenage Kicks to University SecretaryIn the latest episode of University Registrars Talking About Stuff I chat with Dr George Turner, University Secretary and Clerk to the Council at the University of Roehampton.
We naturally discuss George's early academic career which, quite distinctively, started out with him forming a punk band at 16 and then being inspired to study music at Sheffield. He stuck with music as a discipline, ending up with a PhD thesis on the place of the electric guitar before deciding he needed to earn some money, taking the first job he could which happened to be at the University of Derby...
2023-09-1839 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 12: Mobile Maverick UniversityThe latest episode in the My Imaginary University podcast series stars Vicki Stott, Chief Executive Officer of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. Vicki's imagined institution is very much in a utopian vein with a near unlimited funding stream (thanks to Bill and Melinda) and little regulatory intervention. The university is described as a coalition of mavericks but where everyone has responsibility for delivering social benefit as well as education and research. Remarkably though the university moves to a different brownfield location every 25 years or so once its key local goals have been met but leaving a powerful legacy...
2023-08-2929 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 11: Mandatory Sunscreen at the University of Northern EfficiencyThis episode of My Imaginary University features Heidi Fraser-Krauss who is Chief Executive Officer of Jisc. Heidi offers us a distinctive northern university which has been built by the people for the people. Whilst traditional redbrick in some ways it has a strong research portfolio as well as a substantial adult education programme and is a very open campus. The university town benefits significantly from the vibrant multiculturalism and international make up of the institution.
It's not just the campus which is open though - the curriculum is extremely flexible and follows something akin to the Scottish general degree...
2023-08-2134 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffRegistrarologue #5: Bonus content – Too Much Information?It's time for more exciting bonus content. Whilst on this podcast you will usually find me in conversation with registrars and other higher ed notables, I've got some other diversions to share. There will be some new podcasts along soon but in the meantime I wanted to provide a bit of bonus content.
In this short Registrarologue then you can hear me going on a bit about some of the challenges of dealing with Freedom of Information requests in universities. But I also thought I would share with you some FOI examples which highlight the concerns I have with t...
2023-08-1812 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 10: Buck Rogers Goes to UniThe latest episode of My Imaginary University draws on the creative capabilities of Professor Emma Flynn, outgoing Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at Queen's University Belfast and shortly to start as Provost at the University of Warwick.
Emma offers us the most remarkable and fantastical institution - a World University which seeks to recognise the huge power of institutions across the globe to understand and change the world and lives. This university aims to convene the best people from all parts of the world to collaborate instead of competing to come up with solutions to the big global challenges.
2023-08-1032 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 11: Data, Drums and Other DiversionsThis episode of University Registrars and Others Talking About Stuff finds me in discussion with higher education sector data guru Andy Youell.
Whilst Andy started his working life at Rolls Royce working on various aircraft he soon found the appeal of data and HE funding (not to mention sector acronyms) irresistible and joined PCFC just before it merged with UFC and then HEFCE. He became heavily involved in data collection and indeed it was his phone number given as the contact for HESES enquiries. This certainly helped build his sector network, something he continued to develop upon joining HESA i...
2023-08-0733 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffRegistrarologue #4: Bonus content - The unbearable heaviness of regulationIt's time for more exciting bonus content. Whilst on this podcast you will usually find me in conversation with registrars and other higher ed notables, I've got some other diversions to share. There will be some new podcasts along soon but in the meantime I wanted to provide a bit of bonus content.
In this short Registrarologue then you can hear me going on a bit about one of my favourite topics - regulation.
2023-08-0409 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffRegistrarologue #3: Bonus content - Graduation Time!Yes, here's a bit more exciting bonus content. Whilst on this podcast you will usually find me in conversation with registrars and others, talking all about higher ed matters, I've got some other diversions to share. There will be some new podcasts along soon but in the meantime I wanted to provide a bit of bonus content.
In this short Registrarologue then I wanted to dress up smart and offer a few observations about a highly topical issue - graduation.
2023-08-0210 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffRegistrarologue #2: Bonus content - That Sinking FeelingIt's time for more bonus content. Whilst I'm normally in conversation with registrars and others here, talking about lots of HE stuff, I've got some other diversions to share. There will be some new podcasts along soon but in the meantime I wanted to provide a bit of bonus content.
This short Registrarologue then is a bit of ramble by me all about sinking university buildings. Allegedly.
I hope you enjoy it.
2023-07-2805 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffRegistrarologue #1: Bonus content - Cats on CampusIt's bonus content time. Whilst I'm normally in conversation with registrars and others here, talking about lots of HE stuff, I've got some other diversions to share. There will be some new podcasts along soon but in the meantime I wanted to provide a bit of bonus content.
This short Registrarologue then is a bit of ramble by me all about cats on university campuses.
I hope you enjoy it.
2023-07-2807 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 9: We Just Can't Get Enough of Rustbelt U
This episode of My Imaginary University features Alex Usher who is the President of Higher Education Strategy Associates. Alex is an internationally recognized expert on a range of fields within higher education and is the first My Imaginary Uni podcast participant from outside the UK.
The vision for a new institution is a novel one - Alex is keen to create Rustbelt U, an HEI which will be at the forefront of an economic renaissance and leading on the levelling up agenda in a city somewhere rather like Stoke on Trent or similar in the UK, Europe...
2023-05-1835 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 8: Physics, Philately and Dominant Dons at the University of StamfordFor this edition of My Imaginary University I invite Iain Mansfield, think tank researcher and former special advisor to several government ministers, to create his ideal HE institution. Iain's imagined university has a long history, dating back to the 1330s, and is a small but perfectly formed collegiate institution based in Stamford in Lincolnshire. The University of Stamford delivers on educational excellence and rigour as well as widening participation and specialises in core science and arts disciplines (plus stamp collecting) with a strong liberal arts leaning - all freshers have to study both maths and history. League table ambitions are...
2023-05-0536 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 7: A unique student experience at Good Times University
In the latest podcast in the My Imaginary University series Eve Alcock, Head of Public Affairs at the Quality Assurance Agency, and Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, present their vision for a rather different kind of HE institution. This university, whilst definitely a campus operation, provides for students primarily on a short intensive block basis, thereby combining both residential and remote learning provision. It is a quite novel structure therefore which is intended to reinvent the way everyone looks at learning but is very much in line with the current lifelong learning policy trajectory.
The model also...
2023-04-2940 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 6: A Bright Sunshiny Day at Founders UIn this latest episode of the podcast sector legend Mary Curnock Cook dreams up a challenger institution which is something she wants to turn from imaginary to real. Whilst the branding might need some work, Founders University (FU?) is going to offer a distinctive prospectus for ambitious entrepreneurs, students who want to start their own companies or indeed want to learn about funding others' start-ups.
Mary acknowledges that it will be a tough sell, not least because of the base in Swindon, but believes the emphasis on collaboration, an agile approach to learning and curricular co-creation will really appeal...
2023-04-2139 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 6: Golden Governance and the Registrarial Bucket ListThis episode of University Registrars Talking About Stuff finds me talking stuff with Lucinda Parr who is Registrar and University Secretary at the University of Bristol. Looking back to the beginning of her career Lucinda recalls working as a departmental administrator at Goldsmiths to help fund her masters and enjoying it so much that she ended up staying. She then moved to a new role working with the Warden on developing the institution's new strategic plan. Lucinda stresses the value to her career of her governance involvement in her Goldsmiths roles and is a passionate advocate for its importance in...
2023-03-1734 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 5: University governance - mysterious, omnipresent and sexy?In this episode of the podcast I have a really good conversation about stuff, mainly governance related, with Louise Nadal, Secretary at the London School of Economics. We learn about Louise’s career journey, which started with a series of short term roles in London universities culminating in a role in HR at Imperial College at which point she realised she wanted to work closer to the core academic operation so moved to a role in planning instead. Not long after starting this job at Royal Holloway she also acquired governance responsibilities for the first time and this pattern repeated a...
2023-03-0938 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 4: Sporting Scenes, Sector Challenges and Royal RemainsThe latest episode of the podcast finds me talking to Richard Taylor who is Chief Operating Officer at Loughborough University. Like quite a few others in similar positions Richard's taste for HE management started with a stint as a sabbatical officer at Durham University before landing an exams administration job at Loughborough and then returning north, becoming in due course Head of Marketing back at Durham. From there it was another trip back to the East Midlands where in 2003 Richard was appointed as Director of Marketing at the University of Leicester at a very young age. Working with Bob Burgess (m...
2023-03-0334 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 3: Transformation, More Transformation and Tortoise TimeMy latest guest on University Registrars (and others) Talking About Stuff is Keith Zimmerman who has just started a new role at King's College London as Executive Director for Transformation of Education and Student Outcomes. Keith has a long and varied career in the sector which began at the University of Exeter where he started a PhD but then had so much fun working as the departmental administrator that he decided to pursue a career in university management. We learn a lot about Keith's time at Exeter and the huge changes he was involved in, working with big figures including...
2023-02-2547 min
The Wonkhe ShowHarassment, science and tech, student livingThis week on the podcast the Office for Students has new proposals out on harassment and sexual misconduct – but will they work in the way intended?Plus Tony Blair and William Hague have ideas out on science and technology, there’s a new student living strategy in Nottingham and we explain the reclassification of FE colleges into the public sector.With Paul Greatrix, Registrar at the University of Nottingham, Selena Bolingbroke, HE consultant, Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe, Andrew Bush, Director at KPMG and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe. H...
2023-02-2346 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 5: Federal University Fun at Wrottesley-RummidgeIn this episode Andy Westwood, Professor of Government Practice at the University of Manchester, creates an imaginary university formed from a distinctive combination of redbrick, plate glass and post-92 universities as well as an FE component.
Wrottesley-Rummidge University aims to be more than the sum of its parts and presents itself as a university that doesn't know its place but knows its place. It has a tiny medical school but a huge social science offering. The university has a strong civic mission but also has an international profile which is helped by the multinational make up of the local f...
2023-02-1943 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 2: From HEFCE heaven to good governance (and bidets)The latest guest on University Registrars (and others) Talking About Stuff is John Rushforth who is Executive Secretary of the Committee of University Chairs (CUC) as well as having a number of other sector roles too. John has been around for quite a few years now and, before he joined the newly formed HEFCE, his early work was with the Audit Commission where he experienced the challenging days of auditing Liverpool City Council in the turbulent 1980s.
His memories of HEFCE are strongly positive and he feels the agency did a difficult job well and was never really captured...
2023-02-1639 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 4: Two Towers for the Sandhurst of RegulationIn the latest episode of My Imaginary University I speak to Douglas Blackstock, former Chief Executive of the QAA about his idea for a novel and non-traditional kind of university. His extremely niche institution, provisionally named the European University for Regulation of Organisations, is handily located in Luton, close to some excellent transport links.
The core idea behind this new university is that it provides courses, at all levels, for both regulators and the regulated and if Harvard are offering programmes in this area then why not. The two different groups study in two separate buildings and segregation is r...
2023-02-1235 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 3: Far from preposterous - imagining a creative community campus in KeralaThe latest episode of My Imaginary University sees Ben Tucker, Partner at Minerva, creating an exciting new university, some distance from the UK, in Kerala, India. Originally titled Preposterous University things quickly got a little more serious and Kerala Leadership University was founded with a very broad based curriculum and a strong widening participation ethos as wells as big fund-raising ambitions.
It's a functional rather than a glitzy campus - no lazy rivers here - and there is an ongoing debate about students wearing uniform. It's also a pretty egalitarian place with a triumvirate (or possibly quadrumvirate) in charge i...
2023-02-0247 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 2: Challenging orthodoxy, holograms for all and a proud anthemThe latest episode of My Imaginary University sees Professor Craig Mahoney sharing his vision for an exciting new challenger university, unconstrained by centuries of history, with multiple campuses, each with their own character and flavour, and ready to take on the old guard. The university is engaged in real world research too, focusing on the big modern problems, and has a novel approach to collaborative and virtual delivery.
Students at Craig's university come from all walks of life and cover all age ranges. It's a very inclusive community where students can expect to experience innovative learning techniques including holographic...
2023-01-2241 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 1: Leadership legacies and avoiding the chasm of emptinessThe first episode of Season 2 of University Registrars (and others) Talking About Stuff is a landmark in more ways than one. My guest this time is Professor Chris Husbands, Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, who has just announced that he is to leave his role at the end of the year after eight years in charge.
We talk about Chris' career prior to Hallam which included six years teaching in urban comprehensives, stints training teachers and as head of two university schools of education before he became Director of the Institute of Education and led it into merger with...
2023-01-1341 min
University Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 50: Acronymphilia - from FEC to HERA to UUK
The latest episode of the podcast (number 50! who would have thought we would make it this far) features Chris Hale, Director of Policy at Universities UK. Chris is not a registrar but is very well placed to talk about registrar-related stuff. We learn about his current role in policy and his career trajectory post graduation which saw him fill a number of temporary positions at Sussex University, the GMC and indeed UUK where he went on to secure a permanent role and has remained ever since. In 20 years at UUK he has filled most roles including a brief p...
2023-01-0940 minMy Imaginary UniversityEpisode 1: Life in a Northern University TownIn this episode we learn a lot about what Smita Jamdar's made up university would look like. It is a very new one, based in the north and with a strong sense of community and business engagement. There is a strong set of values underpinning the university and some real curricular novelties and innovations.
Whilst this leader has no particular interest in league tables there is even less enthusiasm for regulation - rather institutional autonomy is seen as much the most important thing.
Smita is very much a Vice-Chancellor of the people, she's relaxed about sharing an open...
2022-12-1343 min
University Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 49: Spoons, Zombies and Fancy Gowns
The latest episode of the podcast sees me talking about stuff with Mike Shore-Nye who is Registrar and Secretary at the University of Exeter. We talk about Mike's role at the university and his title, which now has a classic feel to it but means that it requires some explanation, particularly to those not familiar with university administration. We learn that he has a rather good Registrarial gown too.
After graduation Mike worked for both Majestic Wine and Wetherspoon's before joining the HE sector having decided he needed to do something a bit more worthwhile. Stints at Liverpool...
2022-11-3037 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 48: "A newspaper for people who work in universities"
In this episode of the podcast, a longer one this time as there is so much to talk about, I'm joined by someone who is not a Registrar but the founder, Editor-in-Chief and CEO of Wonkhe, Mark Leach.
We start with Mark's time as a student and subsequently sabbatical officer at the University of Kent where he first became fascinated with university committees and bureaucracy.
Mark credits Wes Streeting, at that time the Vice-President for Education at NUS, for making policy wonkery sexy and indeed Mark ended up working in the HE policy unit set up at S...
2022-10-1752 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 47: From Collaborative Cornwall to Wonderful WalesFor the latest episode of the podcast I have the great pleasure of talking to Niamh Lamond who is Registrar and Chief Operating Officer at Swansea University. Niamh has enjoyed a long career in higher education covering several of the Celtic corners of the sector including Cornwall, Northern Ireland and South Wales. She spent a significant period in Falmouth as part of an institution which grew rapidly from a college into a university, crucially as part of the Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative which started in the late 1990s and brought significant EU resources into a region of real deprivation...
2022-10-1134 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 46: From fighting fees to supporting good governanceIn this latest edition of the podcast I talk to Aaron Porter, a consultant extraordinaire and floating higher education all rounder. We explore at some length Aaron's years as a student leader in NUS, first as Vice-President at a time of strong partnership working with politicians and HE agencies, then followed by year as President in 2010-11 during what was one of the most turbulent of periods for the sector and the student movement. Following a change of government and publication of the Browne report the issue of higher tuition fees became a major political issue, with NUS at the...
2022-09-2745 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 45: London Universities 0 - University of Hull 4Episode 45 of University Registrars Talking About Stuff features Chris Ince who is University Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer at the University of Hull. We discuss this distinctive title (not quite unique in the sector) and the particular role Chris plays which has real logic to it given the way that the external regulatory environment has grown and the extended responsibilities of governing bodies in England under the OfS.
Chris has had an interesting career journey from sabbatical officer at Imperial College to computer game tester before heading back to Imperial for his first administrative role and then moving on to...
2022-09-2135 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 44: Building a new university overseas, quality matters and Bob Dylan's graduation robes shockFor episode 44 of the podcast I have the privilege of talking to Hugh Martin, Registrar and Chief Administrative Officer at the British University in Dubai. We review Hugh's career trajectory, which saw him starting in business but then moving into a series of university positions, in a variety of different roles. One of the most interesting of these was the Chief of Staff role, first at St Andrews and then at LSE - this was new and distinctive in UK then but has become much more common albeit something of a poisoned chalice role, leading to challenge from all quarters.
2022-09-0636 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 43: Warming up an HE cold spot and supporting a challenged generation of studentsIn this, the 43rd episode of the University Registrars Talking About Stuff podcast, I am delighted to be talking to James Rolfe who is Chief Operating Officer at Anglia Ruskin University. James joined Anglia Ruskin some four years ago after an unusual career journey which began in the civil service in Whitehall in the 90s before leading him to a role in social services in Norfolk and then as a senior manager at Enfield Council. We explore some of the differences and similarities with HE with James arguing that really the culture and operations in central and local government are...
2022-08-2329 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 42: Emergency services, student occupations and intelligent regulation
For episode 42 of the podcast I am in conversation with Khadir Meer, Chief Operating Officer, Registrar and Clerk to the Board at SOAS, University of London. Unusually for the podcast this is the first time we have talked too so it's an interesting way to meet. Khadir has only been in the role for nine months having previously worked as COO and Deputy Chief Executive of the London Ambulance Service. Working in the NHS during the pandemic was clearly hugely challenging and stressful and Khadir was understandably excited therefore by the opportunity for a change of direction and the d...
2022-06-1335 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 41: From farmer's boy to vice-chancellor, an extraordinary Higher Ed journeyIn episode 41 of the podcast I talk about stuff with a notable sector leader, Professor Craig Mahoney who is Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Law. From growing up on a farm in Tasmania Craig came to the UK to study, ending up at Queen's University Belfast to complete his doctorate before taking up a series of academic posts and ultimately becoming Principal and Vice-Chancellor at the University of the West of Scotland, a post he held for eight years. Craig rightly feels a sense of real achievement from his time in charge at UWS which he has t...
2022-05-2637 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 40: Geology, gloom avoidance and government lobbyingEpisode 40 (I can't quite believe we've made it to number 40) finds me in conversation with Dr Tim Bradshaw, Chief Executive of the Russell Group. We hear about Tim's very much unplanned career journey from a geology PhD to presenting to a US Senate Committee and then policy work in the House of Lords and the CBI before moving to a succession of roles in the Russell Group.
Tim advises that the Russell Group, which comprises 24 research intensive universities, is concerned primarily with helping members network, share information and best practice as well as engaging with government - mainly about...
2022-05-0335 min
The Wonkhe ShowBlair, spiking, minimum entry, free speechThis week on the podcast the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change has argued for 70 per cent HE participation - but are interventions from Blair doing more harm than good? Plus the Home Affairs committee reports on spiking, IFS has a report on student loans and Michelle Donelan has been talking about free speech.With Paul Greatrix, University of Nottingham Registrar, Diana Beech, Chief Executive at London Higher, Sunday Blake, Associate Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark leach, Wonkhe’s Editor in Chief. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2022-04-2845 min
University Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 39: From UK universities to Universities UK and back again
In episode 39 of the podcast I am really pleased to be speaking to Alistair Jarvis, Chief Executive of Universities UK. We begin by looking back at Alistair's career journey which started out with a sabbatical role at Kent before moving into a number of roles which catered for his taste in public policy and higher education. These included a stint as director of communications for the now defunct 1994 group and, following that, a period at the University of Birmingham as Director of Communications and Marketing. A return to London beckoned and Alistair joined Universities UK, initially in External Relations...
2022-04-2634 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 38: Developing a new university in Finland and real international higher edIn another international outing for the podcast this episode is brought to you via Finland from where I am joined by the first Chief Financial Officer I've spoken to on the podcast, Marianna Bom of Aalto University. We begin by exploring Marianna's career journey, from her first post graduation role working for an elevator company before moving to Nokia, where her strength in Russian language saw her setting up operations in Moscow, before spending some time based in Colombia. Having become tired of the short termism of the commercial world the joined Aalto 12 years ago, just at its establishment, and...
2022-04-1935 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 37: From Scotland to the world and back again
In this edition of the podcast I talk to Wendy Alexander, Vice-Principal International at the University of Dundee, about her remarkable career, her university's international activities, student life after the pandemic and the future direction of higher education in Scotland and the UK.
Wendy's career has taken her around many parts of the world both as a student and in work but it has always had a connection with higher education one way or another. That consistent thread of HE has run through a period of international consultancy, 12 years in and around the Scottish Parliament including a period...
2022-03-1933 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 36: The strategic deployment of steel toe-capped boots and a hard hat in higher edIn Episode 36 of University Registrars Talking About Stuff I have the opportunity to chat with Jackie Njoroge who is Director of Strategy at the University of Salford. We learn about Jackie's position as Director of Strategy which represents a distinctive and wide-ranging role and one she hugely enjoys. Discussing her unusual career journey we hear how she started out with British Steel in Corby on a graduate entry finance track before a move to a portacabin in even more glamorous Hartlepool where she was issued with steel toe-capped boots, hard hat and a high vis jacket. Having qualified as an...
2022-03-1233 min
The Wonkhe ShowUkraine, Augar, Digifest, AdmissionsThis week on the podcast we discuss the crisis in Ukraine and what universities can do, and would like to do if only the home office allowed it. There's also Phillip Augar on the government's response to his review, a new admissions code, a look at university finances via the National Audit Office and DK's been to digifest. With Paul Greatrix, Registrar at the University of Nottingham; Laura Tamara, Co-President at BedsSU; David Kernohan, Associate Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Mark Leach, Editor in Chief at Wonkhe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...
2022-03-1045 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 35: Scandinavian perspectives: a view from Sweden's Longest UniversityEpisode 35 of University Registrars Talking About Stuff is another international edition, this time featuring Martin Melkersson, Chief Operating Officer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).
Martin is the first Swedish COO I've talked to about stuff here and we learn firstly about his 10 years at SLU and his broad-ranging role, covering all non-academic matters at the University before hearing about a career journey which saw him starting out as a budding academic at Uppsala University then becoming a teacher before converting to university administration. Following 11 years in various roles at Stockholm University Martin applied for and successfully...
2022-02-2842 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 34: Changing places - from the RAF to the University of Sunderland
In Episode 34 of University Registrars Talking About Stuff I have an interesting half hour chatting about stuff with Steve Knight who has been Chief Operating Officer at the University of Sunderland for six years now. Steve has had a distinctive career journey which started with a 26 year stint in the RAF followed by time at Middlesex University and in the private sector before arriving at Sunderland.
We explore the cultural differences and also, perhaps surprisingly, the many similarities between higher education and the services before discussing the development of health provision at Sunderland and its impressive progress in o...
2022-01-0933 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 33: State of the nation - university estates, hybrid working and much much more
In this edition of the podcast I have a really enjoyable chat with Patrick Hackett who is Registrar, Secretary and COO at the University of Manchester. We learn first about Patrick's career journey from architect to working in estates at Royal Holloway and then to Reading followed by a spell of consultancy before a 13 year stint at Liverpool University and then the move to Manchester, each time broadening his remit.
The importance of the estate to universities is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a hot topic for Patrick and as we begin, hopefully, to come out of pandemic he sees it...
2021-12-0535 min
Humans Leading Humans#EP22: Never a Dull Moment with Paul GreatrixThe guest in this episode is the wonderfully authentic, modest, imaginal Paul Greatrix, Registrar ( AKA COO) of Nottingham University; one of the UKs’ biggest universities with over 8,000 staff, 35,000 students and £750million turnover.. so no small outfit. His responsibility is to CREATE operating models and cultural frameworks where everyone at all levels are in learning mode.
Leaders in all organisations are finally realising life long learning is no longer a nice to have. Continuous learning and improvement is crucial in this time of continuous and accelerating change
So there’s a lot be learned from academia - wit...
2021-11-2544 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 32: Going Dutch - Higher Ed developments in the Netherlands and beyondFor this Episode, number 32 in the series of University Registrars Talking About Stuff, I had the privilege of talking about stuff to Stephan van Galen of Groningen University in the Netherlands. We caught up for an in person (in person!) chat at recent HUMANE Winter School where both of us were presenting case studies on our universities and their approaches to internationalisation.
We naturally began with Stephan's career history before moving on to the value of the HUMANE Winter School and its wider network which brings heads of administration together from across Europe and helps professional services staff i...
2021-11-0739 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 31: The Tyne of his life - Newcastle's Registrar on the big admin issues, then and nowThis latest episode of University Registrars Talking About Stuff provides an extremely welcome return for Newcastle University's legendary Registrar Dr John Hogan. Back in Episode 9 John and I talked, among other things, about stuff such as the impact of cuts in the 80s, the experience of working at the University of Warwick, life under lockdown and financial challenges ahead for the sector.
This time John once again demonstrates his passion for effective university management across a wide range of areas and recalls some recent experiences as well as a few issues from the past.
We explore the very d...
2021-10-2346 min
The Wonkhe ShowGavin Williamson, UCAS data, student futures, internationalWe're back for a new season as Gavin Williamson addresses Universities UK conference - did he give anything away about the upcoming spending review? Plus there's UCAS data in an odd year for Clearing, an interim report from the Student Futures Commission, two new reports on international students and Hidden History looks at old student conduct rules that might be just as applicable today.With Paul Greatrix, Registrar at the University of Nottingham, Sunday Blake, from the Strategic Delivery Unit at the University of Exeter, Mike Ratcliffe, Academic Registrar at Nottingham Trent University, David Kernohan, Associate Editor and...
2021-09-0949 min
University Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 30 - The Registrar's baton, life down under and farming futuresIn the latest episode of University Registrars Talking About Stuff it is my great pleasure to talk to Ken Sloan, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Senior Vice-President (Enterprise and Governance) at Monash University in Australia. As is customary we start by exploring Ken's varied career journey, from an initial brush with accountancy before a typically varied career at the University of Warwick, including an overlap with me at the government-inspired National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth, NAGTY, before becoming Deputy Registrar. Ken then had a brief stint in the private sector before returning to Warwick as Registrar and COO and then...
2021-09-0335 min
Anarchy in the H.E.Episode 5 THE PUNK REGISTRAR with Dr Paul GreatrixDr Paul Greatrix is the Registrar at University of Nottingham and a bit of a punk. Well, he likes The Stranglers and The Fall, and has 14 years of blogging about hot H.E. matters at least.
Listen to our conversation about a wide range of H.E. matters including Paul's story of his time in the higher echelons of H.E. and his thoughts on regulation, league tables and essay mills.
Paul's chosen punk song for you to listen to is Something Better Change from The Stranglers' 1977 (and best, in my opinion) album 'No More H...
2021-07-3039 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 29: From fish research to the dark side, civic harmony and regulatory reliefIn Episode 29 of University Registrars Talking About Stuff I chat with Jim McGeorge who is University Secretary and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Dundee.
We discuss Jim's career which took him from a PhD in Fish parasitology to administrative roles at Abertay, Stirling and Dundee as he moved from academic work to the 'dark side'. He shares how he actually enjoyed the administrative aspects of academia rather than actual research but does feel that he is now in a position where he is not just empathising with the academic mindset but is better placed to support the...
2021-07-1832 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 28: Career reflections, Covid consequences and a very long CorridorIn Episode 28 of the University Registrars Talking About Stuff I am in conversation with Roger Gair, University Secretary at the University of Leeds. Roger has enjoyed a long and distinguished higher education career and, unusually, all of it has been at the same university. After over four decades at Leeds, almost half of that time as University Secretary, Roger must be one of the longest serving administrative leaders in the UK. Although no-one has checked.
Looking back over his career Roger observes how the pace of work has undoubtedly picked up and working practices changed and moved from gifted am...
2021-05-2935 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 27: Convening power, planning for the long term and growing future HE leadersThe latest edition of University Registrars Talking About Stuff sees me chatting to Lee Sanders, Registrar and Secretary at the University of Birmingham
Lee talks about his all-encompassing role across professional services at Birmingham as well as in relation to governance and as a member of the university executive. Drawing on experiences from both Durham and Warwick (where Lee and I worked together for a period) he observes that things have changed considerably since our time at Warwick and we have all had to adapt to what is now a very different operating environment for universities.
Lee comments o...
2021-03-2231 min
University Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 26: Quality counts, the work of the QAA at home and abroad and the value of HEThe latest edition of University Registrars Talking About Stuff offers the opportunity to hear from Douglas Blackstock, Chief Executive of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
We learn all about the work of the QAA and how it has shrunk significantly in size in recent years but remains an organisation with global reach and one which is still complex in terms of its operations dealing with hundreds of institutions in the UK and many similar agencies overseas too.
QAA operates as a UK-wide organisation and, while there may be policy divergence, the quality code remains UK wide a...
2021-03-0738 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 25: Finland, Pharmacies and the Future for Higher Ed in EuropeEpisode 25 (a bit of a landmark) features our first international guest on University Registrars Talking About Stuff. Esa Hämäläinen is Director of Administration at the University of Helsinki and also Chair of a notable European higher ed association, HUMANE, the Heads of University Management & Administration Network in Europe.
We learn about Esa's background in several Finnish universities and in a students' union, including working on research policy, organisational development, in central administration, before ending up as the equivalent of Registrar at Helsinki, a position he has held for the past 10 years.
Helsinki has historically enjoyed con...
2021-02-2838 min
The Wonkhe ShowReturn to campus again, digital learning, wider experience, examnishamblesThis week on the podcast we consider the issues presented by the return to campus for students and their universities. There are new reports on digital learning and student activities and employability to get across, and we think through how teacher assessed A level results might impact admissions.With Smita Jamdar, Partner & Head of Education at law firm Shakespeare Martineau, Paul Greatrix, Registrar and Secretary at University of Nottingham, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2021-02-2545 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 24: collaboration, inclusion and optimism for the post-Covid HE sectorIn this episode of University Registrars Talking About Stuff it is my enormous pleasure to be talking to Sheena Stewart who is University Secretary at Abertay University in Dundee.
Sheena has worked at Abertay for an extraordinary 30 year period but, given what we have been through lately, we mainly look back at the past 12 months and then into the future too. Sheena has led the University's Coronavirus response team throughout this time and observes that the reaction of colleagues across the institution to the Covid challenge has been tremendous, representing a really powerful team effort. Collaboration with the University...
2021-02-2130 min
Unite Students Accommodation MattersS01E04 - International StudentsHost Darren Ellis returns with a new panel of experts to tackle the subject of international students in the UK.
In this episode, the panel discusses how recruitment efforts have been adapted in light of Covid, which markets we’ll be looking to for the next generation of international students, and how accommodation teams can make sure they have a great experience living and studying in the UK.
Darren is joined by:
· Sir Steve Smith, the government’s International Education Champion and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Exeter
· Vivienne Stern...
2020-12-1138 minUnite Students Accommodation MattersEpisode 4 - International Students is out this weekWe're back for the last episode of the year.
This month we'll be talking about international students.
Joining Darren for this discussion is Vivienne Stern, Director of Universities UK International, Professor Sir Steve Smith, the UK's International Education Champion and former Vice-Chancellor at University of Exeter, Doctor Paul Greatrix, registrar of the University of Nottingham and Sheena Birch, Commercial Director at Unite Students.
Check your podcast feed this Friday for the new episode.
2020-12-0700 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 23: The latest episode of University Registrars Talking About Stuff - Higher Ed in that London, preparing for a meteorite strike and an end to ministerial edictsIn the latest edition of University Registrars Talking About Stuff, Episode 23 in the series, I’m in conversation with Andrew Young, Chief Operating Officer at the London School of Economics. We talk about Andrew’s career history - from Newcastle to the capital - and the joys and challenges of working in an institution with such a distinctive history and character as the LSE as well as the experience of the London context for working patterns.
The excellent response of staff to the start of the lockdown is covered along with the need to move quickly and beyond prepared inci...
2020-11-2932 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 22: the Oxford experience, the importance of relationships and pulling together to deliver success (and possibly a vaccine) in the Covid responseEpisode 22 of University Registrars Talking About Stuff finds me in discussion with Gill Aitken, Registrar at the University of Oxford. Gill talks through her career from private sector legal firm to civil service lawyer in the Department of Health, also leading various professional teams, and now her first couple of years at Oxford where she has responsibility for a wide range of professional services departments as well as, inevitably, the University's Covid response.
We explore her experience of making the transition from civil servant to Registrar, an increasingly common step, and the transferability of approaches and experience including successfully...
2020-11-2230 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 21: From the Civil Service to Sheffield Hallam, avoiding us and them and moving out of the covid crisis to address the civic challenge for our universitiesEpisode 21 of University Registrars Talking About Stuff welcomes Richard Calvert, Deputy Vice Chancellor Strategy and Operations at Sheffield Hallam University, for an interesting conversation about the current challenges and wider issues too. Richard talks us through his long and varied civil service career, which included major stints at DfID working with some notable Secretaries of State and some major work on organisational effectiveness in the civil service and in other agencies too before ending up at Sheffield Hallam four years ago.
We learn about some of the big changes he has made since he arrived with a real focus o...
2020-10-2432 min
University Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 20: Gifted amateurs, lockdown art and design, UAL’s delayed term start and new ways of working for professional services.Episode 20 of University Registrars Talking About Stuff features Steve Marshall, Secretary and Registrar at the University of the Arts London talking about lots of topical higher ed matters. Steve talks us briefly through his career and how he ended up at UAL before we explore the nature of the role of Secretary and Registrar and equivalents within universities, considering whether such roles are indeed the last postings for the gifted amateur or perhaps more realistically a destination for those with real breadth of experience and knowledge within universities. The jury is clearly out on that one.
The pandemic is, o...
2020-09-2828 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 19: Dave’s back, welcome to the Open University, sector challenges over the centuries and growing mini Che GuevarasIn Episode 19 of University Registrars Talking About Stuff we welcome the return of Dave Hall whose company we haven’t enjoyed since Episode 8. Much of the stuff we catch up on this time is related to Dave settling in to his new role as University Secretary at the Open University, the challenges of changing job during lockdown, the distinctive mission of his new employer (which he has now learned nearly all of) and his pleasure at discovering he would have a campus to work at (eventually). Dave discloses the surprising news that he has developed a new level of basic IT...
2020-09-1835 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 18: the value of generalists, learning from change, meetings skills and sector relationships with government.In Episode 18 of University Registrars Talking About Stuff Paul Greatrix talks to Sophie Bowen, Chief Operating Officer at Middlesex University. We learn about Sophie’s career progression from graduate trainee at the University of Birmingham to her current role and what this experience tells us about the place of generalists and specialists in university administration.
Looking at the lockdown experience we reflect on the extraordinary response of all parts of the university community to addressing the challenges of remote learning and working and what this means for supporting the health and welfare of staff and students. We also explore th...
2020-08-0233 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 17: Resilience during and after lockdown, planning post-pandemic and optimism for the future.Episode 17 of University Registrars Talking About Stuff finds Paul Greatrix talking to June Hughes, University Secretary and Registrar at the University of Derby. We hear all about June’s higher education history which has been spent, unusually these days, at just one institution, her current one. Derby has changed hugely in the time June has been there and during her career she has fulfilled most of the core administrative roles you could imagine. We discuss how that broad experience and institutional knowledge has undoubtedly helped support and shape what has been a really positive and collaborative response by June’s colle...
2020-07-1930 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 16: Innovation and partnership, the new campus experience and the future for HE in Northern Ireland and beyondEpisode 16 in the series of podcasts featuring University Registrars talking about stuff. This time Paul Greatrix talks to Joanne Clague, Registrar and Chief Operating Officer at Queen’s University Belfast, about a wide range of topics both pre- and post- pandemic. We learn a bit about Joanne’s background and how she spurned auditing to pursue a varied pathway through many different areas of professional services in higher education and also enjoyed a particularly valuable experience in the NHS where she picked up a real taste for innovation and partnership which has translated well into her current role.
We expl...
2020-06-2833 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 15: University mergers old and new, preparing for students in September and Universities working together for NottinghamEpisode 15 in the series of podcasts featuring University Registrars talking about stuff. This time Paul Greatrix talks to Steve Denton, Registrar and Chief Operating Officer at Nottingham Trent University, about a variety of big ticket items in higher education at the moment, including, of course, matters pandemic. We look at Steve’s long career in the sector in a series of institutions where, for one reason or another, he has been involved in mergers or the consequences of them including some significant governance challenges. And the fact that they all seem to change their names after he has moved on...
...
2020-06-2132 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 14: The value added by of lawyers in HE, resisting the tidal wave of regulation and avoiding the treacle department
Episode 14 in the series of podcasts featuring University Registrars talking about stuff. This time Paul Greatrix talks to Smita Jamdar, Partner and Head of Education at legal firm Shakespeare Martineau and, on account of broad and distinguished service in higher education, very much an Honorary Registrar. We discuss Smita’s legal background and how she and her firm have responded to the diverse range of legal needs of universities which have grown over the years. Support has ranged from helping with the typical Friday afternoon crises to making a really positive contribution to support decision-making in institutions and being an ac...
2020-06-0631 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 13: Not the Francis Maude management model, post-Covid car parking and the risks of new regulationThe 13th episode in the series of podcasts featuring University Registrars talking about stuff. This time Paul Greatrix talks to Rachel Sandby-Thomas, Registrar at the University of Warwick about a variety of current issues in higher education, many of them Covid-19 related. Rachel fills us in on her extensive and varied career as a lawyer in the civil service before she joined Warwick and describes how valuable this experience in Whitehall has been in her role, although she denies forcefully that Francis Maude has in any way influenced her leadership style. We discuss the many ways in which the pandemic...
2020-05-3133 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 12: New ways of working, avoiding the apocalypse and campus life after lockdownThe latest episode in the series of podcasts featuring University Registrars talking about stuff. This time Paul Greatrix talks to Dr David Duncan, Chief Operating Officer and University Secretary at the University of Glasgow about a range of higher education topics mainly relating to the pandemic.
We learn a bit about David’s career, the response of Glasgow to the lockdown and talk about future working arrangements. There is some discussion about the slightly different higher education situation in Scotland as well as what are going to be challenging arrangements for trying to bring a new normality to ca...
2020-05-2330 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 11: Responding to the crisis, administrative agility, the anxiety legacy and planning for the first post-pandemic graduationsA new episode in the series of podcasts featuring University Registrars talking about stuff. This time Paul Greatrix talks to Registrar and Secretary at the University of Brighton, Stephen Dudderidge about his career, the response to the crisis at all levels of his university, the need for new ways of working and for administrative agility in particular. We also discuss streamlining processes and ensuring consistent implementation, the likely legacy of the crisis in terms of staff anxieties as we move into the new normal as well as planning for the first post-pandemic graduations.
2020-05-1629 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 10: Skimpy support packages, the lessons of Storm Desmond and empowerment gets real
Episode 10 in the series of University Registrars talking about stuff. In this edition Dr Paul Greatrix of the University of Nottingham talks to Nicola Owen, Deputy Chief Executive Operations at Lancaster University about her career, life under lockdown, her University’s response to the current crisis and what the future holds, both for the sector and for AHUA, the Association of Heads of University Administration where Nicola has recently taken over as chair. Nicola shares some of the lessons learned from Storm Desmond and what the future holds, including for university professional services where empowerment has begun to get rather re...
2020-05-0834 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 9: Back to the 80s, recycled envelopes and post-lockdown challenges aheadIn this episode Paul Greatrix talks to Dr John Hogan of Newcastle University about the impact of cuts in the 80s, the Warwick experience (again), life under lockdown and many a financial challenge ahead for the sector
2020-05-0226 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 8: Celebrity honorary graduates, chancellors and graduation garbEpisode 8 in the series of podcasts featuring two university Registrars talking about higher ed stuff. In this instalment Dave Hall of the Open University and Dr Paul Greatrix of the University of Nottingham talk about some more highly pertinent higher education matters, this time it is largely about matters ceremonial. First off we look at the thorny issue of the award of honorary degrees and the move from awarding them to eminent and worthy but largely unheard of academic high achievers to the more recent trend of focusing on those with more star quality and celebrity status. Terry Wogan, Brian C...
2020-04-0828 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 7: Free speech, ethical investment and beasts on campusEpisode 7 in the series of podcasts featuring two university Registrars talking about higher ed stuff. In this instalment Dave Hall of the Open University and Dr Paul Greatrix of the University of Nottingham discuss a diverse range of key issues from controversial speakers to reindeer on campus. Universities are expected and required to be guardians of free speech but we often find we have speakers whose views we might not like and many might find upsetting and in ensuring we meet our legal obligations we can end up annoying almost everyone. Universities have to bend over backwards to accommodate speakers...
2020-04-0125 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 6: Governance, Governance, Governance
This is the sixth in the series of podcasts featuring two university Registrars talking about higher ed stuff. In this episode Dave Hall of the Open University and Dr Paul Greatrix of the University of Nottingham talk about the different elements of the highest level of university governance. Goings on at the governing body are largely unseen by many within universities and there is a real need to ensure governing body members understand the university better and are more visible to staff. The importance of drawing the line between governance and management as well as getting the core elements...
2020-03-2626 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 5: Animals, student protests and community impactEpisode 5 in the series of podcasts featuring two university Registrars talking about higher ed stuff. Dave Hall of the Open University and Dr Paul Greatrix of the University of Nottingham talk through a number of areas of university life including the challenging issues around supporting animal research, student protests and occupations and the impact that students can have on the local community.
We look at the difficulties associated with building a new animal research facility, the desire of universities to be more open about the research they conduct involving animals and the benefits this brings together with the...
2020-03-2026 min
University Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 4: Curricula, class and university rankingsEpisode 4
Welcome to the fourth in the series of podcasts featuring two university Registrars talking about higher ed stuff. Dave Hall of the University of Leicester and Dr Paul Greatrix of the University of Nottingham talk through a number of items of registrarial interest with the focus this time very much on teaching and learning. The big issues addressed include: are we doing the right things in the classroom and how do we know; what is higher education actually for - is it all about getting a great job or more to do with lliving a good life and b...
2020-02-0925 min
University Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 3: Diversity, gas pipelines and challenges abroadThe third in the series of podcasts featuring two university Registrars talking about higher ed stuff. Dave Hall of the University of Leicester and Dr Paul Greatrix of the University of Nottingham talk through a number of items of registrarial interest including some of some of the more unusual aspects of the Registrar role, such as working with partners in challenging environments from Afghanistan to Ethiopia to Iraq and Malaysia and China. Some contrasts with Swedish HE are noted before things move on to the exceptional challenges of portraits, diversity and gas pipelines. Yes, really.
2020-01-3126 min
University Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 2: Crises, job titles and artificial intelligenceThe second in the series of podcasts featuring two university Registrars talking about higher ed stuff. Dave Hall of the University of Leicester and Dr Paul Greatrix of the University of Nottingham talk through a number of topics including job titles, from Registrar to COO to CFO and all points in between, the most enjoyable and least satisfying aspects of being a Registrar, the excitement and challenges of a good crisis and lots of stuff about meetings and minute writing. Leicester city fans will be delighted their team features here as will family and friends of Richard III. There’s al...
2020-01-2426 minUniversity Registrars Talking About StuffEpisode 1: Bill Clinton, Jeremy Vine and The Warwick WayThe very first in a series of podcasts featuring two university Registrars talking about higher ed stuff. Dave Hall of the University of Leicester and Dr Paul Greatrix of the University of Nottingham talk through a number of topics including the role of the Registrar, some key responsibilities of the job and Dave’s career trajectory from the army and rebellion in the ranks to sabbatical officer and university administrator. The shared Warwick experience - both worked at the University for a period - including their (very small) part in organising the visit of Bill Clinton visit to the institution an...
2020-01-2028 min
The Wonkhe ShowPrivate schools, LEO, REF, free speechThis week on the podcast we discuss the Sutton Trust and Social Mobility Commission’s report on the educational backgrounds of Britain’s leaders and what the findings suggest about social mobility. We look at LEO, analyse an exercise reviewing the Research Excellence Framework, and take stock of where the sector is with the debate over free speech.With Paul Greatrix, Registrar at the University of Nottingham; Aaron Porter, Associate Director Governance, Advance HE and Director of Policy, IDP Connect; and Wonkhe’s own Arthi Nachiappan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2019-06-2845 min