Dream – Believe – Succeed “Working with university systems: a case study of The Open University” Mr Phil Berry, Director, Dr Suzanna Tomassi, Deputy Director (Partnerships), Open University Validation Partnerships, The Open University
Presentation Plan: 1. Warm up question. 2. The OU Partnerships – a brief overview. 3. Academic Partnerships – why bother? 4. Principles of costings. 5. Key advantages and disadvantages. 6. Other partnership models. 7. Questions. 04/02/2018
Do you think your university covers full costs related to partnerships? Image from http://www.workplaceoptions.com/polls/1-in-3-american-workers-misses-time-due-to-financial-concerns/ 04/02/2018
OU Validations in 2016-17 Partner Institutions: 35 Incl. the UK and overseas Number of Students: 45,000+ Number of programmes: 300+ Wide range of subject areas Often with vocational aspect or PT employer sponsored Awards conferred in 2016/17: 5,260 Total conferments since 1992: 158,084 (figure at the end of 2016-17) 04/02/2018
Academic Partnerships – why bother? 1. Strengthening and supporting institutional mission statement. 2. Expansion of internationalisation/ TNE activities. 3. Alternative recruitment channels – different markets. 4. Other activities (Summer Schools, OIL, research, exchanges, field trips, placements, etc.) 5. Supporting institutions without degree awarding powers. 6. Widening access to education. 7. Promotion of UK HE. 8. Commercial - income generation. 9. Brand recognition. 10.Progression. 11.Knowledge exchange 12.Life changing experience. 04/02/2018 Image from: www.williamavon.com
Principles of costings 1. Freedom to proceed with specific types of partnerships – no need to approve individual business cases at the university level 2. Costings – key characteristics: • Full economic costs included where possible, • Staff time captured including staff directly and indirectly involved (OUVP, Legal and Finance support, etc.) • Margins – to ensure that we get a contribution back to the Uni and to cover possible risks. 3. Costings split into two stages: Pre and post-approval based on the above principles: • Pre- approval stage to cover all costs related to the approval of the proposed partnership (staff time, consultancy, travel, external fees, etc.) • Post- approval stage split by years – activity based costing rather than relying on student numbers. This covers all aspects related to the ongoing partnership support (staff time, quality assurance, travel, staff development, graduations, etc.) 04/02/2018
Key advantages and disadvantages Advantages : • Capture a lot of hidden costs; • Safe and transparent model to both parties; • Reflect the reality rather than our expectations ensuring sustainability of proposed partnerships; • Better financial reassurance for The OU; • Can include different levels of support required (low – medium – high) and varied risk factor; • Funding put aside to cover unexpected situations; • Beneficial to partners as they can significantly expand individual programmes and reduce their costs; • Annual income easy to assess for the University; • Single fee so normally no need for extra charges; Disadvantages : • Based on estimates and assumptions; • Less incentives for partners to expand unless they expect significant numbers; • Limited income growth unless additional courses/ modules are added. 04/02/2018 Image from http://ilerra.com/advantages-disadvantages-of-outsourcing/
Other partnership models used at the OU • Associated Research Centres • Joint degrees • Learning design and institutional capacity • Collaborative teaching • Progression and articulation 04/02/2018
Any questions? www.open.ac.uk/validate phil.berry@open.ac.uk suzanna.tomassi@open.ac.uk Mr Phil Berry, Director Dr Suzanna Tomassi, Deputy Director (Partnerships), The Open University Validation Partnerships Unit
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