Looking back on the year 2021-22 we are thinking of course about the second full year of Covid – a year in which sanitation and ventilation regimes have again been at the front of our minds, but also a year in which we’ve begun to believe we are past the worst of the emergency, and can gather our thoughts and learnings as we plan ahead for living with an ever-changing pandemic background to university life. As we transition into such “next stage thinking”, there was no better time than this year to look at the amazing work of our estates and facilities teams during the crisis, and to thank our AUDE Covid Heroes for their admirable efforts
AUDE does its very best to react to the issues on the ground as it works to support university members. We’ve dipped our toe into the world of live events once again, starting with our Big Conversation in Autumn 21. It’s vital, when we believe it is safe to do so, to give members a chance to rekindle those personal relationships: peer support is at the very heart of what we do. We used every format available to us to think about a future world of hybrid working this year, and as the dual challenges of Covid and Brexit continue to play out, we’ve looked at emerging issues such as difficulty in recruitment to specialist roles.
AUDE does its very best to react to the issues on the ground as it works to support university members. We’ve dipped our toe into the world of live events once again, starting with our Big Conversation in Autumn 21. It’s vital, when we believe it is safe to do so, to give members a chance to rekindle those personal relationships: peer support is at the very heart of what we do. We used every format available to us to think about a future world of hybrid working this year, and as the dual challenges of Covid and Brexit continue to play out, we’ve looked at emerging issues such as difficulty in recruitment to specialist roles.
We very much hope that 2022-23 will be a year of reasserting some of the norms of AUDE life. Summer School is running once more, our special interest groups and regional networks carried on throughout – if online, and our Professional Development Group continues to examine ways to support CPD at every level of a member’s career. We increasingly work with partner organisations across the sector, including with HEDQF on a range of research projects; and with other professional service organisations to help us think more about HE efficiencies and collaboration. Our Business Partner organisations continue to offer valuable insights to our members. In the year of COP26, our students support us in our ever great focus on climate change and the need for an urgent response across every aspect of the sustainability agenda.
If we can get one thing right this year it should be in our efforts to re-shape and re-establish the data that underpins our Estates Management Report. AUDE is leading a sector-wide review of the data, the purpose of its collection and its value to us all as a strategic tool. We need that report, we’d miss it hugely if we didn’t have it, but at the moment the process doesn’t have the full confidence of all stakeholders, and it needs to.I would like to thank three groups of people as my time as AUDE Chair comes to an end. Our office team, led by Jane White; our Executive, made up of volunteer members of the association, who work to keep us focused on the right priorities; and the wider membership of the organisation for their support and engagement with AUDE. As we head into our 30th year, AUDE has more members than ever before and more impact too. Thankyou for everything you do to make our professional association a success.
Stephen Wells - AUDE Chair, and Director of Estates and Facilities at the University of East Anglia
AUDE Video review of 2022
The Association of University Directors of Estates (AUDE) is the representative body for higher education (HE) estates and facilities staff. Its members are the directors of estates and facilities from 184 institutions in the UK, ten oversees institutions and alternative providers and seven carefully selected business partners. In total, we have over 2,726 individual members from across these sectors.
AUDE works closely with other sector representatives, charitable, and regulatory organisations for the benefit of its members. It is run under the umbrella organisation Professional HE Services Ltd (PHES). PHES is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee and is owned entirely by its member HE institutions.
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AUDE's statement of accounts for the year ending 31 July 2021.
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AUDE would like to acknowledge and thank all those who have given their time and expertise to participate in and support the activities of the association. Special thanks goes to the chair, Stephen Wells and members of the executive committee for their hard work and dedication in bringing the AUDE aims and activities to life. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to our business partners, event sponsors and exhibitors for supporting our work.
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