Back at work this week, after I was on leave last week. Though I did write up a blog post on electrification, decarbonisation and smart energy based on my recent attendance and presentation at an (online) event looking at estates and work we did on the past on the intelligent campus.

Many in the sector, as part of their net zero ambitions are looking at decarbonisation of their campuses. One method is to move from oil and gas use to electric in the main for heating and hot water. Generation of electrical power can be then derived from sustainable and renewable resources such as wind and solar. I was reminded of some of the work we did a few years ago on smart energy.

I read a couple of reports this week and reflected on what this meant for higher education and for Jisc.

I read the Government response to the Education Committee Report – Higher Education and Funding: Threat of Insolvency and International Students.

There was nothing new in here, as we had heard about the Education Committee Report earlier in the year, this was about the Government response. One of the key messages for me from this report, was the reinforcement and emphasis on the responsibility for the financial situation within the sector lies with the sector. 

…higher education providers are responsible for managing their finances and must have robust contingency planning in place to protect students…

Though with the many different constraints on the sector, this isn’t always easy or straightforward.

The other report I read was from the Institute for Government who published a report titled Government and academia: How government can better engage with researchers. The message here was that the research sector and government could work together much better and that both sides need to work out how to function more effectively.

Again, I was involved in various consultancy meetings this week. My main role in these are about quality assurance.

I managed one day in the Bristol office this week. I wasn’t planning to to do more than one day. I do enjoy working in the Bristol office, but at this time of year, it’s a little bit quieter than normal. Working with a geographically distributed team, in-person working as a team is a rare event.