It has been a privilege to be entrusted by colleagues to Chair our Association and represent our interests at a nation level during this past year. To say that 2019/20 has been a tumultuous period for the sector and AUDE is perhaps an understatement. However, this has only added to my personal enthusiasm for the role and our collective determination to succeed.
It is unlikely that the political environment we operate within will settle any time soon and to remain relevant and influential we must also remain engaged and agile. In additional to Brexit we are embracing the implications of the demographic dip, student fees, student numbers, potential sector fragmentation around research vs. teaching, immigration policy and pension deficit to name a few. 'It is unlikely that the political environment we operate within will settle any time soon and to remain relevant and influential we must also remain engaged and agile. In additional to Brexit we are embracing the implications of the demographic dip, student fees, student numbers, potential sector fragmentation around research vs teaching, immigration policy and pension deficit to name a few.
We represent our members first and foremost ensuring they have what they need to thrive in their respective HEIs. We also offer sector solutions to the big issues facing the sector, we innovate, lead and act as a representative voice of HE estates and FM through government liaison and policy consultation.
First and foremost, my ambition as Chair has been to support our members and consolidate our position within the sector as the single source of authority and knowledge about Estates and Facilities Management. This gives a platform to influence policy and enhance the standards and reputation of our profession and institutions.
Now with 181 institutional members, individual registrations up by 300 to 1500, five carefully selected business partners, Twitter followers up by 26%, a doubling of our LinkedIn follower numbers and significant improvements in key stakeholder relationship such as WonkHE all serves to extend our reach further to strengthen our position to act as the representative voice of estates and FM professionals in the HE sector.
Last year collation of data for the EMR was dropped from the OfS reporting and the subject of a sector consultation. The relevance of this data to the sector (UUK, HESA, DfE) is unrivalled. Ironically, the future of the EMR collection has in fact strengthened our relationship with sector bodies, raised the profile of its importance with Vice Chancellors and afforded AUDE an opportunity to review its fitness for purpose in the coming years.
In addition to the EMR report, our other publication delivery includes the updated AUDE strategy and for the first time a member engagement e-report and a volunteers handbook. We have also continued to develop our events portfolio and enjoyed success with the Summer School with, for the first time, an increasing international cohort including attendees from our Southern African partner organisation, HEFMA.
Over the next twelve months you can expect a greater focus on sustainability, through the Sustainability Special Interest Group, our new Strategic Facilities Management Special Interest Group, Summer School 2021, a new space management website and an online Centre of Excellence that puts you in touch with members who are willing to share experiences and expertise on topics you need support with.
Finally, it has been a real pleasure to work with our international partner organisations in North America (APPA), Southern Africa (HEFMA) and Australasia (TEFMA) to develop a joint proposal to share resources. This together with our new Memorandum of Understanding with HEDQF to develop joint research projects will enable AUDE to be at the leading edge of issues facing our members and the HE sector on a national and international scale for the first time.
I would like to sincerely thank all of the members and in particular the Executive and the AUDE team for their support during the year and I look forward to the Association building on the success of 2019/2020 in the future.')
The third AUDE Big Conversation event took place on 24 January 2019 at the McEwan Hall, The University of Edinburgh. 150 delegates attended, a mix of directors of estates, directors of finance and commercial organisations. Focusing on two main themes - HE finance and state of the estate, provided an open forum and opportunities for discussions and exchanges for the delegates attending to consider and reflect on
AUDE's 2019 annual conference took place at the Lancaster University from 15th-17th April. The flagship event for HE estates and facilities management professionals welcomed 225 delegates and 50 exhibitors
The University of Huddersfield were among the winners at the 2019 AUDE Awards which took place on 16 April 2019 at the annual AUDE conference, held at Lancaster University. Each year the awards celebrate and highlight the achievements of universities and best practice in the industry, including those who lead the way in estate and facilities management. See the full list of winners.
Craig Nowell, AUDE Chair 2019/20 and Director of Campus Infrastructure and Operational Support Services, University of Exeter became AUDE chair for 2019/20. One of his key priorities is strengthening engagement with members and solidifying AUDE's role as ‘the voice’ of estate and facilities management professionals in higher education within the UK and elsewhere. Read more about Craig's appointment.
Our second residential programme to nurture emerging talent in higher education estates and facilities management took place at the University of Warwick in June 2019. Delegates heard from current estates directors and sector experts on key topical areas of estates and facilities management over three and half days, followed by a year long group project work including assignments and presentations with smaller groups of delegates. This residential provides a network of peers to initiate working relationships with, which for many will be sustained into the future. Watch the highlights video.
The first annual Sustainability Leadership Scorecard Report launched in June 2019 and summarised data submitted by 45 institutions in the UK. Institutions who have used the tool were clearly able to point to concrete gains from use of the tool, whether in terms of benchmarking to similar universities, gap analysis, or better high-level reporting of sustainability information. Find out more.
AUDE published its annual Estates Management Report (EMR), developed in collaboration with global real estate advisor CBRE in October 2019. After gathering and analysing data reflecting the key activities and targets of estates management teams in more than 180-member universities across the UK, the report showed that the overall performance level of university estates is better than ever. Read more.
The AUDE Capital Cost Database launched in November 2019 enabling estates team within universities to access the UK’s largest database of higher education projects and building types, while providing cost and design benchmark data, thereby enabling them to make more informed decisions about capital projects. More info >
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 181 institutions in the UK, ten oversees institutions and alternative providers and five carefully selected business partners. In total, we have over 1500 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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189 new followers
27,000 views on the member discussion board
818 resources added to the AUDE website
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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, Craig Nowell 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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