I believe AHEP is brilliant. Every higher education professional should join. As the incoming Chair of AHEP’s Board, I don’t just say this because of my role, I believe it deeply. AHEP is an organisation built on collaboration and my vision as Chair is to see that spirit of collaboration drive its growth both in members and collaborations with the sector, to support professional services staff to thrive even in our present challenging times.
Why is AHEP brilliant? Because its members make it so.
We collaborate, seek solutions, solve problems, and challenge each other to improve. We sweat the small stuff because we know it matters.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that change is a constant in higher education. Two years ago, when Thea Gibbs became Chair, AUA reimagined itself as AHEP to better reflect members’ roles. At that moment, the sector faced big challenges, and AHEP was born to meet them.
Today, those challenges have grown. They are truly fundamental challenges and changes to the way Higher Education works. Governance is more complex. Regulation feels burdensome. In Scotland and Wales it’s a Tertiary Education sector, not just Higher Education any more. The university funding model faces unprecedented strain. Student funding, whether from loans or government (lucky Scotland!), hasn’t kept pace with the cost of teaching, leaving universities to do more with less. While we may not see tuition fees as high compared to delivery costs, students experience them as vast and life-changing amounts. To justify those costs, the sector must articulate the value of that education, something it currently struggles to do.
The massification of higher education relied on certain teaching and assessment models, but artificial intelligence and in particular large language models now disrupts that system. Although AI offers potential to do more with less, it also challenges academic integrity and threatens some of our roles.
Can student number growth help balance the books as it has in the past? In today’s political climate, international student recruitment has become harder. Home student numbers may grow until UCAS’s predicted 1 million students in 2030, but by 2040 growth plateaus. Longer term, primary school admission numbers are already shrinking and those future applicants simply haven’t been born.
We also need to prepare for the possibility of a Reform government in four years, or possibly even sooner. If we struggled in the headwinds from a Conservative government influenced by Reform positioning, a Reform government could be very challenging indeed. We only need to look across the pond to the United States to see how in less than 12 months the position of Harvard and Columbia has shifted dramatically under unfavourable leadership for a glimpse of where we could find ourselves.
We, as experts, must determine how to adapt our work in response to these challenges. We must keep sweating the small stuff because it becomes the big stuff. We must shape what the sector tells government about professional services, what the sector itself thinks about its professional services staff, and inspire new solutions and conversations for the way ahead. AHEP gives us the platform to influence those conversations.
For inspiration, we can look to the women who worked as “computers” for NASA, as depicted in Hidden Figures. When IBM machines threatened to replace them, they learned to use the technology and evolved their roles. Similarly, our AUA forebears moved from writing letters and stuffing envelopes to mastering email, Teams, and SharePoint. Adaptation sits in our member’s and our organisation’s DNA.
The sector will need engaged, skilled, and connected professionals to drive change and put strategic responses into action. Our members provide precedent and inspiration. YOU provide precedent and inspiration for colleagues across the sector, through AHEPs Special Interest Groups, conference sessions, and mentoring. You are part of the value of that education students are paying for.
But strength lies in numbers. So here is my first call to action as Chair.
Let’s double in size and strength to meet the challenges ahead. Every one of you- find colleagues or even a colleague who hasn’t yet joined and persuade them to become members. How? Work together with other members to do this; invite colleagues to an event, attend a SIG meeting, share what AHEP means to you. When people ask what they’ll gain, tell them that for the price of a coffee each month they receive not just benefits themselves, but opportunities to contribute. They will shape AHEP, and their contributions, like ours, will strengthen the whole. It’s not simply what AHEP can do for them, but what they can do for AHEP.
I am proud and privileged to step into the role of Chair. I’m excited to support the AHEP team and to collaborate with Colin Ferguson, our Executive Director, and my fellow Board officers: Vice-Chair Jim Irving, Treasurer Lucy Hayward, and Honorary Secretary Nikki Pearce, to collectively meet the challenges ahead.
By the way did I mention I think AHEP is brilliant?
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