BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY
As a result, empowering managers to execute bold strategies requires confronting the stark economic environment facing the sector.
Building financial resilience for the future Gerry stepped into the COO role with a clear mission – to make sure that Bournemouth University fulfils its potential“ to be an exemplar of operational and financial excellence within the higher education sector”.
Achieving that benchmark, however, requires confronting an industrywide crisis head-on.“ The financial pressures facing UK universities are well-documented and, for some institutions, existential,” he warns.“ Tuition fees frozen for many years, rising costs and increasing competition have fundamentally altered the landscape. Standing still is not a neutral position; it is simply a slow retreat.”
For BU, the starting point for any credible strategy has to begin with an honest reading of the data. Benchmarked against its sector peers, the data revealed that BU had historically underperformed in the exact areas where the most financially resilient universities traditionally excel: diversification of income, generation of commercial revenue and cultivation of philanthropic support. Rather than viewing these as structural flaws, Gerry sees them as closeable gaps that can be fixed with“ structured roadmaps, clear deliverables and leadership prepared to be held accountable to measurable outcomes”.
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