Unifying a global university - Mike Roch, Heriot Watt University

1. Unifying a Global University
Mike Roch

2. Unifying a Global University
Mike Roch, Director of Information Services

3. • 1821 - The world's first Mechanics’ Institute, Edinburgh School of Arts
established to “address societal needs by incorporating fundamental
scientific thinking & research into engineering solutions”
• 1966 - Royal Charter awarded
• 6 Schools, including Edinburgh Business School
• ~ 32k students studying globally
• ~10k at 3 UK campuses, Edinburgh, Galashiels, Orkney
• ~4k at Dubai Campus,
• ~1k at Malaysia Campus
• ~11k at Approved Learning Partners
• ~6k Independent Distance Learners

4. Our International Strategy
Stated aims are to:
• Increase the University’s international reputation and standing
• Promote HWU as a centre for research and innovation
• To be a global leader in high quality learning and teaching
• To provide sustainable growth in academic activities
• To grow financially viable international business

5. Students in UK Students O/S
%
Income at UK Campuses £k O/S
%
From UK 5,983 From UK (Govt Grants, Student fees &
Research)
95,713
From outside UK 3,877 40% From outside UK (Student fees &
Research)
39,800 30%
Total 9,860 Total 135,513
Students based Overseas Income from Overseas Activities
Overseas Campuses (Dubai
& Malaysia)
3,475 Overseas Campuses (Dubai & Malaysia)
Approved Learning Partners
(39)
10,148 Approved Learning Partners (39)
Independent Distance
Learners
6,223 Independent Distance Learners
Total 19,846 Total 40,000
Total population 29,706 Total Income 175,513
Total International activity 23,723 80% Total international income 79,800 45%
2012/13 Student Numbers & Income

6.  Opened in 2005 in
Dubai International
Academic City
 Now in purpose
built premises – 2nd
phase opened in
2013
 PhD programmes
recently launched
 Over 4,000
students
Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus

7. Heriot-Watt University Malaysia
 New campus opened in
September 2014
 Location in Putrajaya,
government capital
 Flagship campus with capacity
in phase 1 for 4,000 students
 Currently ~1,000 students

8. Unification challenge – Time Zones!

9. Unification challenge – Distance

10. Unification Challenge - Entropy
The idea of entropy comes from thermodynamics. Entropy is said
to increase as everything in the universe eventually moves from a
state of order to a state of disorder.

11. Unification - Global Infrastructure

12. • Student Recruitment CRM – Hobsons
• Student Record – Banner
• VLE – Blackboard (Hosted)
• Finance – Oracle eBusiness Suite
• HR – Oracle eBusiness Suite
• Email/Calendar/Desktop Apps – MS Office/365
• Shared Storage – MS OneDrive
• Video conferencing – Skype for Business
Unification - Global Information Systems

13. • Helpdesks at all campuses
• Contact in person, via email or phone
• Single helpdesk system in use to track queries
• Removing distinction between IT/library queries
• Specialised librarian support at Edinburgh, SBC, HWUDC & HWUM
• Desktop IT Support at Edinburgh, SBC, HWUDC & HWUM
• Global Skills Development
• Effective Learning Advisors
• Power Hours initially launched at Edinburgh campus
• Some presented locally in SBC, HWUDC & HWUM
• Some presented online as webinars or podcasts
Global Customer & Liaison Services

14. • One global collection:
• 160,000 physical books
• 85,000 e-books
• 50,000 e-journals
• New global Library System will offer:
• A single worldwide catalogue
• Catalogue to include all resources
• System will allow easy discovery & access
• Libraries at all HWU campuses
• Front of house for all services
• Locations to study, meet & work together
• Digital First policy allows space to be used for study not storage
Unified Resource & Facility Services

16. Senate
Interviews
Studies
Committees
Examination
Boards University
Executive
Management
Meetings
Project
Boards

17. A Unified Global University …
… is realised by its members, staff and students, visualising it as a
single, connected organisation.
Questions?

18. Contact
Heriot-Watt University
Mike Roch
Director of Information Services
m.roch@hw.ac.uk