Demonstrating the public benefits of higher education (benefits statements and metric development micro-studies)

To:

Heads of HEFCE-funded higher education institutions

Dear Vice-Chancellor or Principal

1.   I am writing to seek participants for a pilot programme and micro-studies that will help to improve methods of describing, measuring and disseminating information about the public benefits of higher education (HE). The deadline for expressions of interest is Monday 17 August 2009.

2.   This year, we are planning a pilot of annual benefit statements, as recommended by Professor Paul Wellings in his review report to the Government on intellectual property and research benefits (the Wellings Review), a contribution to the HE Framework debate¹. We now seek higher education institutions (HEIs) to volunteer to participate in the pilot.

3.    In parallel, we aim to fund a number of micro-studies led by HEFCE-funded HEIs. The micro-studies will explore, at a highly detailed level, aspects of HE interactions with business and the community that are not well described by existing metrics. We aim to fund some small-scale projects (of around two months’ duration) to a total programme value of around £100,000 in this first-stage exercise. You are invited to express interest in conducting a micro-study.

Annual benefit statements

4.   HEIs participating in the pilot will be required to submit annual benefit statements alongside this year's Annual Monitoring Statement. This will provide an opportunity for HEIs to demonstrate to Government, users of knowledge and expertise, and the wider public, the great range of benefits that HE creates in the economy and society. This may also provide some assurances that HEIs seek to optimise economic and social impacts in their use of public funds. We intend that HEIs participating in the pilot would be prepared to publish their statements for the information of a wide range of stakeholders. The pilot will focus on all the benefits from HE, and not just those arising from research, as originally recommended by the Wellings Review. We hope that the statements will particularly highlight the benefits from HE for communities, society and the wider public, which may be overlooked in the current economic climate.

5.   It is envisaged that following a successful pilot this approach might form part of subsequent Annual Monitoring Statements.

6.   Please contact Jenni Chambers (j.chambers@hefce.ac.uk) by Monday 17 August 2009 if your institution would like to participate.

Micro-studies

7.   Annex A² describes our proposed programme of work to commission micro-studies from HEFCE-funded HEIs. The programme will work towards development of a broader range of metrics of HE interactions with business and the community (beyond those presently collected through the HE-Business and Community Interaction Survey (HEFCE 2009/23)). The programme aims to increase understanding at a detailed level of the public benefits of HE, and hence to improve methods for measurement and description.

8.   Areas invited for micro-study are:

• social, community and cultural (public/community/civic engagement)
• public policy
• student enterprise/social enterprise
• exchanges (people-based)
• measuring impacts
• other areas proposed by study teams on an exceptional basis.

9.   The programme of work will be overseen by a joint HEFCE/Universities UK Sounding Board of HE representatives with particular interest and experience in this field, of which I will be chair (details of membership are included in Annex A). We aim to complete studies and for the Sounding Board to submit a report on findings and next steps by spring 2010.

10.   If your institution wishes to express an interest in submitting a proposal for a micro-study, please write to Adrian Day (a.day@hefce.ac.uk) by Monday 17 August 2009. The expression of interest should include detail of the area(s) your institution’s proposal would address (see paragraph 8). Expressions of interest will enable us to provide more detailed guidance to those planning to submit a proposal and to plan the work to assess submissions.

11.   Further details of the programme, the requirements for proposals for micro-studies, and the process and proposed timetable are contained in Annex A.

Yours sincerely

David Sweeney 
Director – Research, Innovation and Skills

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Notes

1.   Details of the Government's debate on the future of HE, including a copy of the Wellings Review report.

2.   Annex A is available to download from the HEFCE web-site.

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