Foundation will help more staff to take the lead

The Leadership Foundation for Higher Education has confirmed that it is funding a second tranche of fellowships to develop the management skills of senior academic staff.

The second round of awards will be made early next year, although the foundation is unable to confirm the number of new fellowships that it will support.

The new fellowships were announced this week during a meeting of the foundation's inaugural fellows to get initial feedback on how the awards were helping senior managers to develop leadership skills in higher education.

Ewart Wooldridge, chief executive of the foundation, said: "We have not found another scheme like this elsewhere in the world in higher education, or in other sectors in the UK.

"It represents a unique and major investment in leadership capacity," he said.

The foundation was established two years ago to offer training in leadership, governance and management for current and future leaders in UK universities.

The fellowships, which are worth £40,000 each, were launched last year, with 25 awarded to senior managers working in academic institutions across the country.

They involve study trips, secondments and projects on research and business strategies.

Elspeth MacArthur, director of human resources at Edinburgh University, was given a fellowship last year. She said: "My fellowship project on academic leadership has contributed directly to our objectives and targets in human resources and moved on the debate about the role of academic leader significantly.

"The scheme helped me to develop my thinking about what constitutes successful leadership. The fellowship enabled me to stand back and look at what we were doing."