Professional services in higher education

Advice on the many functions of a university that fall outside academia or teaching such as HR, finance, communications, department and laboratory management, libraries and student services. Find out how professional services teams in higher education can best ensure the smooth running of an institution, supporting teaching, research and student success – and work effectively with their academic colleagues.

An iceburg seen from below the water line

Under the waterline: making skills visible to students

Students often develop valuable transferable skills during their studies but struggle to recognise and articulate them to employers. Here’s how academics can work with careers professionals to support

Lorna Devlin

The University of Edinburgh

A team brainstorming around a large table

Learn from product development to design HE courses

How a design thinking approach can support agile, innovative new course development

Theresa Mercer , Ron Corstanje

Cranfield University

An unseen laptop user with a flow-chart visualisation superimposed

Why process mapping matters in higher education

A technique to help universities improve collaboration, reduce inefficiencies and build shared understanding across teams to support more effective working – and a framework for successful implementation

Helen Jones

University of Chester

Beat GenAI ‘stranger danger’ with staff training

Higher education staff are apprehensive about the new stranger in the room: GenAI. But personalisation and staff development can help alleviate anxiety

Katie Steen

WorkSmart-AI

Publishing as connection: lessons from developing a university press

By listening to researchers, staying flexible, embracing criticism and collaborating widely, those developing an institutional publishing ecosystem can reflect the values of the communities they serve

Emily Carter

University of Southampton

Colleagues looking at sticky notes on glass wall

A lean approach to university technology transfer

Universities can leverage selective outsourcing to build a lean, adaptive technology transfer office that enhances collaboration and responds to external funding cycles

Gavin Clark

University of the Arts London

Office workers discuss around a meeting table

Don’t forget HR when building a student-centred university

HR staff can be invaluable in shaping the student experience. Here’s how to keep them in the loop

Igor Kim

Nazarbayev University

Graduate ambassadors can support student employability

Alumna, alumnus, alumni: how can graduates influence current and future students?

Are universities mobilising one of their most impactful tools to boost student recruitment, improve graduate employability and strengthen the student experience: the alumni community?

Nicole Chapman, Jessica Boxall

University of Southampton

Using design sprints to reimagine university learning experiences

With a human-centred approach and the incentive of a short time frame, design sprints can bring multiple perspectives together to reimagine modules and curricula

James Forde, Iria Lopez

University of Leeds, Independent consultant

Participants in a seminar raise their hands

How to integrate development pathways for higher education professionals

Getting the best out of all employees means taking an intentional approach to staff development. This guide outlines four CPD categories and how to scaffold them

Steve Briggs

University of Bedfordshire

Happy multiracial group of college students

Reimagining the student experience using tips from start-up culture

Start-up principles such as rapid iteration, co-creation and agile teamwork can be used to transform the student experience, enabling faster, more effective responses to evolving student needs

Melissa Padfield, Sarah Wolgemuth

University of Alberta

Why university leaders must listen differently in one-to-ones

Talk less and listen more should be a mantra for leaders and managers. When they acknowledge diverse perspectives, avoid dominating discussions and reflect what they have heard, it sets the tone for more inclusive, respectful dialogue

Annie Owen

University of Southampton

THE Awards 2025: lessons from the stars of UK and Irish higher education

Learn from leading voices, innovative teams and individuals across the university sector, whose work has been recognised in the shortlist for this year’s Times Higher Education Awards

Campus contributors, Eliza Compton

Campus

A community-university partnership is a relationship, not an affair

Long-term, mutual benefits of civic engagement emerge slowly, which can be at odds with university timelines. A ‘new’ 10-year project shows how trust and commitment need persistence to pay off

Mhairi McVicar, Ali Abdi, Corey Smith

Cardiff University

Technical knowledge and expertise is more valuable than you think

Involving technical staff in decision-making committees can lead to more efficient practices and remove siloed thinking or practices, which benefits individual technicians, institutions and the sector

Jiteen Ahmed

Aston University

Mapping employability skills across curricula

A mandatory university-wide initiative shows how mapping professional skills against all programmes can tailor students’ work readiness no matter their career path

Katy Gordon

University of Southampton

From library-focused project to campus-wide collaboration

A heritage trail to mark an anniversary event began life in the library, but how to extend its reach to the rest of the university? Here’s what one library team learned when they collaborated across their institution

Rachael Jones, Neal Buchanan, Carol Stewart

University of Strathclyde

Funding bid for research illustration concept

How research technical professionals can enhance research infrastructure funding bids

When technicians are empowered and supported, they don’t just contribute to best practice and equipment sustainability, they can boost bids for investment in infrastructure

Alex Laude

Newcastle University

Compassion cuts through polarisation

Compassion, not empathy, is the emotion that will cut through group polarisation and motivate constructive intergroup dialogue in higher education. Training in mindfulness-based compassion meditation can be scaled at a relatively low barrier to entry

Rayne Bozeman

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

AI as an access tool for neurodiverse and international staff

Used transparently and ethically, GenAI can level the playing field and lower the cognitive load of repetitive tasks for admin staff, student support and teachers

Vanessa Mar-Molinero

University of Southampton

Connecting and empowering technical staff: lessons for universities

Technicians themselves will have many of the answers to the challenges they face and can bridge staff groups, but their roles are often siloed or isolated. These suggestions build networks and communication

John Nicolson

University of Cambridge

Investing in futures: maximising legacy gifts in higher education

Legacy giving provides a valuable and sustainable source of income for charities but it’s still relatively untapped in the higher education sector. With universities and students under increasing financial pressure, now is a good time to make it a priority. Here’s how to get started

Carolyn Jones

University of Liverpool

Conversations that drive grassroots innovation in higher education

When university resources are limited, innovation doesn’t always begin with boardroom decisions or major funding. Sometimes it starts with one conversation and a willingness to act on it. Here’s how university staff can drive change through grassroots leadership initiatives

Penny Triantafillou

The University of Warwick

A podcaster interviewing a guest speaker

The power of podcasts to enhance student support

A university podcast can help cut through the noise of traditional communications. By meeting students where they are, it can be a powerful way to build community, reduce stigma and ensure support services reach those who need them

Shaunagh Moss

University of Chester

How to create snackable social media content

What makes an engaging post that delivers your key message? Here’s what university social media creators should do and what they should avoid when creating short-form content

Evan Atkinson

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

Why parents and carers networks matter to university staff

Advocacy, activities, peer support and safe spaces are among the reasons to institute a network for university faculty and staff with caring responsibilities

Claire Partridge

University of Southampton

Stepping stones to milestones: tap into micro-moments for alumni engagement

To connect effectively with alumni, bite-sized social media content must mirror the complexity of the lives it touches, writes Florence Neo

Florence Neo

Singapore Management University

Cut through the noise with impactful internal communications

Internal messaging needs to reach the right people and inspire action – whether that’s getting responses to a staff survey or changing recycling behaviour. Here, Kelly Hibbs explores practical strategies to build trust and clarity

Kelly Hibbs

University of Southampton

Airport arrival sign with welcome in English, French and Italian

How to strengthen onboarding and integration for international scientific talent

Welcoming faculty from another country requires more than adding visa information to the domestic induction process. Joanna Daaboul shares how her institution helps international researchers settle into life in France

Joanna Daaboul

Université de Technologie de Compiègne

The impact of business relationship managers in higher education

The role that bridges the gap between digital transformation and the wider university is often misunderstood. Here, Bhupinder Siran explains what a business relationship manager does, and the position’s challenges and rewards

Bhupinder Siran

University of Southampton

How to use a ‘manual of me’

This team-building activity costs nothing and will help you and your staff understand each other better. Here’s a guide to using this simple tool

Alexandra Head

University of Southampton

Is a ‘co-opetition’ model the way to safeguard higher education for future generations?

Shared support functions don’t mean the end of competition among institutions, writes Mark Thompson. Instead, collective thinking could focus effort on universities’ strengths and potentially rescue the sector from ‘an unsustainable race to the bottom’

Mark Thompson

The University of Exeter

Knowledge exchange professional services career framework

How a career framework for knowledge exchange can foster a culture of professional growth

A career framework can provide pathways for personal and professional development. Here, Jane Shepard explains how one arts-based institution identified the skills required by professional services staff who help facilitate knowledge exchange

Jane Shepard

University of the Arts London

Co-creation as a model for estate redevelopment

Campus redevelopment can offer an opportunity to reframe the ‘ivory tower’ image of a historic campus, without losing its sense of history, place and academic distinctiveness. Here’s how to bring in diverse stakeholder perspectives

Anton Muscatelli, Frank Coton, Karen Lee, Nicola Cameron, Moira Fischbacher-Smith

University of Glasgow

A new university campus as a springboard for regeneration

The development of a new Ulster University campus has been a powerful driver for regeneration and community engagement in North Belfast. Vice-chancellor Paul Bartholomew explains how

Paul Bartholomew

Ulster University

New hire shakes hands with hiring manager

Get inboarding right in five easy steps

Internal hires don’t need traditional onboarding, so how do you ensure they find their feet quickly and thrive in their new position in your university? That’s where inboarding comes in

Alexandra Head

University of Southampton

computer technician working on mainframe

Career development for technicians in higher education

Technicians need to advocate for themselves, network and seek leadership opportunities to gain the recognition they deserve, writes Mark Dabee Saltmarsh. Here, he offers career advice for the unsung heroes of higher education

Mark Dabee Saltmarsh

Cardiff Metropolitan University

Campus webinar: Recruit, develop and retain the best staff in higher education

Join three experts from Campus+ institutions in the UK, Europe and Asia as they discuss best practices for universities for identifying, hiring and developing the best people

H. C. Man, Inês Crisóstomo , Helen Ashley

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, University of Luxembourg, The University of Manchester

Can well-being programmes attract world-class talent to an institution?

Aside from competitive compensation, research support and faculty development, how can a university attract the best faculty candidates? Ron Fricker outlines two programmes that meet the recruitment challenge head-on

Ron Fricker

Virginia Tech

How to manage parental leave for university staff

Parental leave presents challenges for the parent and the workplace, writes Judith Lock. Here are some dos and don’ts for before, during and after the leave period that aim to smooth the return to work and fix academia’s leaky pipeline

Judith Lock

University of Southampton

Embedding lean practices in higher education

How can university processes be more efficient and sustainable? Here’s how one continuous improvement team took a viral approach to efficiency through lean thinking, lean leadership and lean toolkits

Tammi Sinha, Pete Rykowski , Michael Shaw

University of Southampton

How to engage your staff in just 15 minutes

You need to get updates and other messages to faculty and staff, but they don’t have much time for internal communications. Here, Kelly Hibbs offers tips to reach a busy audience in a quick, engaging, accessible way

Kelly Hibbs

University of Southampton

Two students walking down a corridor talking through some notes

Offer students a personal touch through peer support

As universities expand, they will need to take more of a personal approach to higher education – despite the huge cohorts – but how? Emma Norman suggests looking to the students themselves

Emma Norman

The University of Exeter

A team of colleagues in discussion in a meeting

Building bridges between academics and professional services

Five strategic tactics for a seamless collaboration between academics and professional staff in pursuit of a learner-centred education

Foteini Springou

University of York

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