The student affairs administrator needs to be legally-aware, but not legally-qualified. This article seeks to cover the key legal concepts or principles underpinning the University-Student (Business2Consumer) contract that is at the core of the University's legal relationship with its Students. It does so by exploring the leading cases setting out…

The importance placed on student engagement strategies within higher education (HE) and the emphasis on sophisticated and expensive polices by universities has been well documented. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, the main aim of such resource intensive aims is fundamentally to attract students to their institutions. This study…

Reviewing institutional governance arrangements through a European lens has the benefit of broadening the argument away from differences between pre-1992 and post-1992 constitutions or between research-intensive and teaching-led university perspectives. In the last two decades in Europe is a massive increase in student numbers and institutional…

This article draws on literature related to university leadership and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer plus (LGBTQ+) identities to argue for LGBTQ+ specific leadership programmes in higher education. The article considers how the skills and attributes for university leadership have changed in response to marketisation and widening…

This literature review discusses management approaches British higher education institutions (HEIs) have adopted in their attempt to survive the turbulence of the last 20 years. From substantial changes in regulatory and financial frameworks to changing fundamental perceptions of whether higher education is a public or private good, HEIs are under…

Over a number of years, universities have needed to become more adept at managing change as internal and external factors affect their longer term financial sustainability. That sustainability is, for many institutions, closely linked to how straightforward (or otherwise) it is to recruit student numbers of the right quality from often diverse…

The quality of working life (QoWL) has preoccupied practitioners and management scholars since the 1960s [Grote, G., and D. Guest. 2017. "The Case for Reinvigorating Quality of Working Life Research." "Human Relations" 70 (2): 149-167. doi:10.1177/0018726716654746], while satisfaction and occupational stress for professional…

In 2011, David Willetts issued a White Paper with the title "Students at the Heart of the System". In 2011 the headlines were, inevitably, about the new tuition fee regime which, it was hoped, would change the thinking of university leaders so that they focussed less on research excellence and more on the needs and aspirations of…

With recent changes in how UK higher education is funded, universities are operating in a context in which finances are uncertain. It is more important than ever that university leaders are able to manage the finances of their organisations in ways which both provide long-term security and allow for investment in strategically important…

In December 2014, the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) introduced the "Good practice framework for handling complaints and academic appeals" which will inform external judgement on each university's approach to conflict management from the current academic year 2015-2016. The framework aims to improve the complaint process for…

Professor Sir Ian Diamond is Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, an appointment he has held since 1 April 2010. He was previously Chief Executive of the Economic and Social Research Council. He was also Chair of the Research Councils UK Executive Group (2004-2009) the umbrella body that represents all seven UK Research…

It is becoming increasingly important to understand multi-campus arrangements in the rapidly changing higher education environment. Some attention has been given to the academic perspectives of such arrangements; however, there is limited published work relating to administrative and professional services. Different approaches are evident and…

This paper presents a lecture given at the 17th Annual Lecture of the Association of University Administrators (AUA). The subject of the lecture is equality and diversity in higher education (HE) leadership, or possibly the absence of equality and diversity. The author focuses on what can be done to ensure that capable women enter HE leadership…

The article explores the role of the Registrar (Chief Operating Officer) in a university, and the ways in which we value the contributions of professional, managerial and administrative (PMA) staff. It assesses the conditions in which PMA staff work and describes the professional development opportunities they enjoy. The article goes on to analyse…

The understanding of gender inequality for women entering work has not been subject to significant research or theorizing. This small study indicated that young women entering the workplace are subject to direct discrimination and by using an intersectionality approach this paper proposes that the intersection of gender and young age results in…