Following a last minute cancellation of the event due to heavy snow in December 2010, Capita’s third further and higher education Scottish Convention convened at the Westerwood hotel’s excellent conference facilities on the 2 and 3 February this year to discuss how to achieve more with less in the further education sector. Delegates from throughout Scotland came together to hear news from all the critical players in the Scottish FE sector and look at how Capita’s innovative products can help make their organisations more efficient and effective in these challenging times.
The implications of the economic downturn are becoming clearer, but while the Comprehensive Spending Review will see Scotland's overall budget fall by £1.3 billion in cash terms in 2011-12, it is still not fully clear how this will affect the education sector.
So far, Scotland has managed to avoid imposing tuition fees on higher education courses and has retained the Education Maintenance Allowance scheme, but we await further news this year on where the cuts will eventually be made. Whatever the future brings for funding in Scotland, the chief executive of Scotland’s Colleges, summarised the key task facing the sector when he stated:
“Scotland’s Colleges are often best placed to respond to the affects of economic downturn by offering re-training and re-skilling opportunities to those finding themselves out of work. Equally as important is the big rise in demand for places from school leavers.”
Day 1
David Bell, professor of economics at Stirling University, provided our keynote address. David has previously spoken on a number of economic issues including the impacts of reduction of public sector spending for health, welfare and education; he has even considered the impact of scrapping the Trident nuclear weapon programme for the Scottish economy. Only a few weeks ago he joined John Humphries on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme to discuss the impact of the economic crisis on young people. At the Scottish Convention, David’s presentation set the scene for the day explaining the wider economic situation and placing it in the context of further education.
Gerry Dougan, the e-college lead specialist at Scotland’s Colleges, next offered an update on their work to date. The presentation expanded on David Bell’s points and looked at how colleges might use technology to become more efficient.
Shared services are also seen as crucial. They should not just be about technology, but focus on sharing knowledge and best practice, as is the case with Scotland’s Colleges’ Communities of Practice.
Gordon McBride from the Scottish Funding Council provided a detailed presentation of a new data model that can be used by colleges to improve the quality of data submitted to the SFC. It works by identifying data inconstancies and checking for exceptional circumstances. His session also covered the data requirements for the European Social Fund (ESF) submissions.
Steve Cain, systems architect for Capita’s UNIT-e MIS, provided an update on technology developments over the last 12 months and R&D in progress at Capita.
Latest developments for UNIT-e Information Interface are enabling web-based applications to be produced that are much richer in functionality and more rapid to develop. Use of Microsoft Reporting Services is enabling more graphical based reports that can be deployed over the web. Combined with the UNIT-e Launch Pad it will provide easier access to all these new features. Steve also introduced the new UNIT-e Tools for Electronic Document Management (EDM) module, which will provide a cost effective way of handling electronic and paper records efficiently when coupled with Microsoft SharePoint.
2010 saw the launch of UNIT-e Vocational Qualification Management Tracking (VQMT) solution for Scottish institutions. While VQMT has been in use in England for several years and is receiving very positive feedback, there was a need to enhance the product to handle the specific statutory requirements in Scotland. Adrian Kilburn’s presentation highlighted the features that would ease the set-up of Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) frameworks and would enable funding submissions to be made in line with the milestone requirements. In an addition, the effective use of electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) was the area covered by Paul Greenhalgh of Skillwise,
Through close collaboration with Scottish Customers, 2010 saw the design and development of UNIT-e Personal Learner Support Plans: a module aimed directly at the specific DPG-18 funding requirements in Scotland. Now drawing to the close of pilot, this module is now available for all colleges to use and Maurice Down demonstrated this new module highlighting the benefits it would bring easing the administration of this complex process.
With over 60% of costs related to staff and much of the remaining relating to estates, ensuring that your institution gets the most from valuable resources is critical. UNIT-e Resource Manager provides all the information required to ensure you can measure and manage all your costs and resources. Sophisticated staff and room utilisation reports will provide senior managers with what they need to make informed decisions. Maurice Down’s presentation described how some of this sophisticated analysis is achieved.
Day 2
Capita is very proud of their Microsoft Gold Partner status and were privileged to be joined by Stephen Grier, Microsoft’s Scotland education business manager. He spoke of Microsoft’s immediate news and whose presentation provided insight into how Microsoft technology might change the way institutions work.
Francis McLaughlan, of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh, provided a customer showcase that demonstrated how the power of UNIT-e Results Calculator has been employed to make the examination process at the college more efficient.
Martin Hughes and Helen Bennett, from the Scottish Qualifications Authority, provided on update on SQA centre support issues, including benchmarking the new SQA Connect portal.
Skills Development Scotland is commencing work to design a new data hub that will enable the sharing of data between stakeholders within Scottish education. Simon Marshall’s presentation described the proposed solution, which once up and working should make the sharing of information much more integrated and effective.
The closing session of the day provided an update on development plans for the next 12 months within Capita's UNIT-e suite. The presentation included some early designs for the Mark Book and Day View products that will be released later during 2011.