HE-Business and community interaction survey 2007-08

October 2008 | ref: Circular letter 29/2008

To:

Heads of HEFCE-funded higher education institutions, Heads of universities in Northern Ireland

Dear Vice-Chancellor or Principal

1. I am writing to let you know the arrangements for the 2008 annual survey of interactions between higher education institutions (HEIs) and business and the wider community, and to ask for your help in ensuring that the survey is completed fully and on time. The survey will be available online from 7 November 2008, and responses are due by Monday 26 January 2009. Please pass the extranet codes to the relevant member of staff, as outlined in paragraph 6.

2. This is the eighth such survey, and the final one to be conducted by HEFCE on behalf of the UK higher education funding bodies in advance of the process being migrated to the Higher Education Statistics Agency¹. HE-BCI data have been used since 2003-04 in calculating the formula allocation of the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), and providing such data is a condition of grant between HEIs and HEFCE².

3. Allocations under the current (fourth) round of the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) were based on 2006-07 HE-BCI data and will continue until July 2011³. HEFCE 2008/02, 'Higher Education Innovation Fund round 4: invitation and guidance for institutional strategies' notes that the Government has set out its intention to continue HEIF into further rounds beyond this funding period, when increased emphasis will be given to the performance component of HEIF (the majority of which is drawn from HE-BCI data). HEFCE 2008/02 further stresses the view of HEFCE and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills that it is very important that robust and accurate data are returned every year to the HE-BCI survey, to inform policy, institutional management and funding decisions. We intend to take into consideration use of data from the HE-BCI survey from 2007-08 onwards in devising and calculating funding methods under future rounds of HEIF.

4. The questionnaire remains largely unchanged from last year, apart from minor improvements to the guidance and some additional frequently asked questions.

5. The survey will be available on the HEFCE extranet, in two parts. Part A is an online database with questions relating to institutional strategy and capacity. These data are relatively stable and need be updated only where changes have taken place - thus minimising the administrative burden. We will extract the information for publication at the same time as Part B, so it is important that all updates are made by Monday 26 January 2009. Numerical and financial data, based on academic year 2007-08, should be returned in Part B, a Microsoft Excel document.

6. Details and access codes for the HEFCE extranet are at Annex A. Important note: In previous years these codes were e-mailed to your institution's HE-BCI contact. However, new security guidance means that we will not send the extranet codes by e-mail. Therefore please pass the codes at Annex A to the appropriate member of staff (named at the end of this letter), who will receive a copy of this letter by e-mail without the codes.

7. The most recent report (for data from academic year 2006-07) is HEFCE 2008/22.

8. If you have any queries about the survey, please contact Adrian Day (a.day@hefce.ac.uk).

Thank you for your support and co-operation.

Yours sincerely

Professor David Eastwood
Chief Executive

cc: HE-BCI Contact

Notes

Details are available from www.hesa.ac.uk under 'Data collection'
In Northern Ireland, HE-BCI data were first used from the 2005-06 survey in calculating the formula allocation of the NI Higher Education Innovation Fund (Round 2) and providing such data is a condition of grant between HEIs and the Department for Employment and Learning.
In Northern Ireland, NI HEIF 2 runs for three academic years until July 2010.