The AUA has a heritage of almost 60 years connecting and developing higher education professionals in support of the UK higher education sector. 

Looking ahead to the next phase in our development, the Board of Trustees has established a collaborative research project ‘Future HE Professionals’ to help us understand the needs of the HE professional services community into the future.   Some of the questions I hope Future HE Professionals will address include:

• how professional services roles are developing in the context of a rapidly changing HE sector
• what development, in skills and attributes, will be needed  to equip professional services for the future of HE
• how can AUA continue to support the success of UK higher education in the next phase of its work as a professional association
• what new services and activities might we need to develop and how might we best work with other HE organisations in the future.

• How can AUA best serve its members in support of the higher education sector.

The Future HE Professionals project includes background research, which we began at the end of 2019 and will continue during 2020.  A major Future HE Professionals Survey is launching early in 2020.  In-depth stakeholder engagement will follow and I’m delighted that a range of important and influential HE organisations have agreed to collaborate with us in this project.

We need your views to influence our thinking.  When you receive your invitation, please complete the Future HE Professionals Survey, which you will find at https://ahep.ac.uk/future-he-professionals/.   Will you also consider being part of a follow-up focus group discussion later in the Spring?  If so please indicate this when you complete the survey.  Future HE Professionals is part of AUA’s planning for the next phase of its work. The project is being overseen by a small group of Trustees chaired by AUA Vice Chair Amanda Oliver (Brunel University) who will become the new Chair of AUA on 1 September 2020.  Further reports on the project, and on our future plans as an association, will follow later in the year.