Heads of University Management & Administration Network in Europe

Seminars, Webinars and Conferences in 2024

Throughout their history, universities have always relied extensively on data to drive decisions and shape academic strategies. Today digital innovation offers many new ways to make data-driven decisions. These advancements have profound implications for data autonomy and they pose real risks to universities.

The seminar will explore the benefits and (legal) risks of analytics for teaching and learning and the use of artificial intelligence; both are transforming the educational sphere. Participants will gain a better understanding of these latest developments and associated challenges to shape the future of European higher education.

Public trust in Higher Education is decreasing. Governments, the general public but also the private sector are doubting the capacity of universities to deliver. We are seen as self-centered, relying on public funding yet failing to demonstrate sufficient economic, social and societal impact.

As a sector we need to enhance our brand and value proposition to regain public confidence and be more future-proof. How can universities develop new business and operating models to be more agile and creative as organisations? How can we design more relevant and flexible educational pathways for (lifelong) learners and the labour market? How can we contribute to the fourth technology-driven Industrial Revolution through our research and innovation to drive change in society?

We need to attract, develop and retain high skilled people and talent to make profound changes in our universities, transforming education and research. We need to invest in capital infrastructure to build capability to address the challenges of our times. How can we do this?

The programme will develop the management capacity of those involved in internationalisation, enhancing their skills to cultivate strong strategic international partnerships based on robust evaluation.

It will be structured around the following key components:

  • Understanding the current drivers in international partnerships and different responses by institutions based on their different contexts 
  • Learning techniques, methods and practical tools to assess partnerships (working with value mapping, stakeholder register, power & influence methodology, KPIs) 
  • Reflecting and considering best approaches to evaluate your own partnerships in your institutions. 

In a context of stagnant or decreasing public funding, Artifical Intelligence can offer new approaches for increased performance and profound transformations of professional services to deliver on strategic priorities and higher stakeholder value in universities.  It can help to make operational productivity gains: staff workload reduction, streamline issue resolution and improve customer satisfaction. AI also has the potential to enable powerful data driven decisions and to elevate student experiences through personalisation.

But many digitalisation initiatives overpromise and underdeliver, very often because they are not sufficiently conceived with users in mind, from the initial steps of designing new approaches to the full implementation.   

How can universities develop responsible and ethical approaches to introduce human-centered AI approaches in their daily operations; how is staff upskilling and reskilling currently done, and should be done in the future to support these development; what are the opportunities and the risks?  

With experts and senior university leaders of professional services the webinar will discuss these issues and explore potential applications to leverage the potential of AI in the following areas:  

  • Student admission and enrolment
  • Managing the smart campus and infrastructure in the 21st century   
  • Recruiting and developing people (using GenAI and people analytics)
  • The benefits of AI in financial processes and services