Spheres of Influence: Ventures and Visions in Educational Development*

3-6 July, 2002
The University of Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia

Abstract

Vision vs organisational location: Does the organisational location of academic/educational development units inevitably influence and possibly limit their vision?

Chris Rust, Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom

This workshop session will provide an opportunity for participants to explore the question of how the vision of an academic/educational development unit might influence its location within the institution's organisational and management structure, and the degree to which its location may influence and possibly limit the vision.

For all development units there is the question of where they should be located within the institution's organisational and management structure. In reporting on the range and changing emphasis of what educational development units do, and the different ways they see their role, Gosling (1996 & 2001) also highlights their different locations within their different institutions. He comments that "the variety of locations would suggest that there is still considerable confusion about what the expectations are for educational development (2001, p80). Locations of units which he identifies include: stand alone, human resources/personnel, education departments, academic services, registry, library/learning resources, quality development, and lifelong learning departments.

The Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development at Oxford Brookes University was reorganised into its current form in 1996 (based on a consultancy report from Phil Candy from the University of Ballarat), with a vision to integrate both staff and educational development across the university. It was initially established as a separate support department reporting directly to a Deputy Vice-Chancellor. In 2000, as part of a university reorganisation, it was merged into a Directorate of Human Resources, but has maintained a separate identity and management structure within that. Since then, the Centre has twice had to defend the vision of an integrated staff and educational development unit and resisted senior management proposals to split it up and to separate the staff and educational development functions.

The session will start with the case study of the Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development at Oxford Brookes University. This will consider questions raised by management attitudes towards it, and a small scale research study of staff perceptions of the work of the unit, which builds on an earlier study reported at the 2nd ICED Conference in Austin, Texas in 1998. The majority of the workshop, however, will be focussed on participants exploring and discussing the session theme from an examination and sharing of their own experiences, and the contexts of their own institutions and visions.

Key words:
Vision; role; Organisational structure, Management structure

Objectives, outcomes and activities:
The main intended outcome is for participants to leave with a clearer view of whether their academic/educational development units are currently best located within their institutions to deliver their vision, and a better understanding of the role that location may play in shaping and limiting their vision.

Activities will be a mixture of presentations, peer tutoring, group and plenary discussion.

Chris Rust is Head of the Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, and Deputy Director of the Human Resource Directorate at Oxford Brookes University, England. He was Course Leader for the University's initial training course for new teaching staff for six years, and along with four colleagues he helps to provide both staff and educational development support to the University's academic Schools and support Directorates. He is an experienced workshop facilitator, and has researched and published on a range of issues, especially assessment. He is a Fellow of the Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA), and a member and accreditor of the UK Institute for Learning and Teaching.

Contact: Chris Rust, email: cirust@brookes.ac.uk