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SECTION 7: Strategies
7.6 ICT Strategy
7.6.4 Potential Benei ts to Students,
Staf and Other Stakeholders
Best Practice - Throughout the FE
sector there are many examples of best
practice. Where appropriate, Sector
Leading Innovative Practices (SLIPs) will
be incorporated within the Information
Systems strategy. As an example, the
provision of self-service facilities will
enable students to manage their own
proi le and simultaneously reduce
administrative overheads. There is also
the opportunity to develop a sectorleading virtual
learning environment and
associated tools, combining best practice
from the three Colleges and the wider
community.
Innovation - The use of appropriate
learning technologies and the rapidly
growing i eld of mobile roaming
technology will allow teaching and
learning to take place in innovative and
l exible ways.
Staf - The larger organisation will
provide opportunities for career
progression and sharing of skills. An
enhanced pool of staf could potentially
lead to more creative ideas and therefore
better services for learners. There are
also benei ts relating specii cally to
Information Services staf :
Technical - Since the existing colleges
utilise a mixture of common and
individual systems, the new college will
gain a pool of technical staf possessing
wide-ranging skills. This will enhance
the opportunities for specialisation and
at the same time eliminate the risk of
dependency on individual staf .
•
Library - The combined pool of
expertise, experience and talent could
potentially be better utilized in a joint
service. Senior staf could be freed
from the more routine tasks which
they necessarily undertake in a smaller
service and their professional expertise
could be more ef ectively employed in
developing research services, resource
collections and support for learners.
With the correct stai ng structure in
place extended opening hours could
be of ered which are currently not
possible in smaller services.
An enhanced pool of staf will allow
opportunities for the appointment of
subject specialists to work with staf
and students in specii c curriculum
areas. This would support the
continuance of personal contact
with staf and students (currently in
evidence in smaller services) while
utilizing the signii cant existing
expertise of library staf and the
development of resource collections
specii c to subject areas.
Learning Resources - Sharing/pooling
of staf expertise would allow the
new organisation to build on existing
strengths, particularly in developing
/ expanding the use of technology to
support blended learning and l exible
access to lifelong learning.
The enhanced pool of staf may allow
for more targeted support, designated
e-learning champions and/or the
creation of additional content, leading
to better resources and support for
learners. Staf would be freed up
to take on a fuller role, potentially
incorporating a helpdesk, drop-in
sessions and targeted induction for
staf and learners.
•
•
Economies of Scale (Financial)
- At present each college undertakes
computer-related purchases
independently with quantities varying
according to college size and curriculum.
Within the merged college economies of
scale will operate benei ting purchases
such as computer hardware, software
licences and consumables. There
could also be i nancial savings as a
result of greater purchasing power for
books, journals and e-resources and
consolidation of license arrangements
and fees. In general all procurement areas
should benei t from an enlarged college.
Greater choice for learners - Students
will benei t from more library access
points, access to the extensive combined
collections of the three Colleges, more
staf and potentially longer opening
hours. Additional services, which
cannot currently be of ered due to time
constraints and lack of staf could be
introduced. The combined collections
will of er a broader and more in-depth
resource to students.
Backroom - Ei ciencies in supporting
'backroom' functions. Standards for
cataloguing and the application of
metadata standards would be agreed and
centralised.