Sarah Howls

To lead on the development of a Group wide framework for access and participation:

• Conceptualising a Group wide approach to access and participation in light of the most recent reforms to access and participation plans by the OfS
• Negotiating with the OfS on the approach and how it would work in practice
• Building the framework which enables the development of a Group access and participation plan covering all educational entities in the Group
• Ensuring that the individual higher education entities in the Group are able to develop their own access and participation plans when necessary with clear line of sight to the Group plan and strategy.

To undertake a comprehensive review of services to students across Coventry University Group. This involved:

• Developing knowledge and understanding of the range of services
• Understanding how processes and services vary within the different entities in the University Group structure.
• Identifying points of failure in the delivery of services to students.
• Engaging with colleagues and students across all entities within the Group to develop a comprehensive picture of what works well and what does not work well and in what contexts.
• Developed case studies of approaches to the delivery of services to students in other Universities both in the UK and overseas.
• Examined the research and literature with respect to effective student engagement and support to ensure that an evidence based approach to service and process development and delivery is adopted.
• Examined broader customer engagement research to draw on effective practice from other industries or sectors.

The review was overseen by the Provost of the University and delivered a full report with a series of recommendations for change to the Vice-chancellor and the Group Leadership Team. It also developed a suggested framework for services to students with identified Group wide strategic priorities against which all services will be expected to deliver. The report and framework has informed the development of the Group's Academic Services Company.

• Led the development and implementation of the organisation's approach to the regulation and funding of activity in universities and colleges to widen participation and promote equality of opportunity.
• Successfully worked with internal and external stakeholders to build processes and communicate requirements.
• Used exceptional planning and organisation skills to manage multiple, large-scale projects.
• Used strong negotiating skills to secure high levels of ambition from universities and colleges to improve equality of opportunity for students.
• Motivated staff across multiple teams to deliver novel activity to a high standard and to challenging timescales, monitoring and providing feedback on individual performance.
• Applied expert knowledge of legislative and regulatory frameworks.

• Led the funding council's policy and strategy for widening participation in higher education.
• Developed and oversaw national programmes to widen access and improve higher education outcomes for students.
• Led on reforms to grant funding to universities and colleges for widening participation including student premium and disabled student premium funds.
• Led the development of the Government's national strategy for higher education access and student success.
• Extensively engaged with external stakeholders including through keynote speeches at conferences and events.

• Encouraged dialogue about policy changes, leveraging information to better target initiatives and serve identified needs.
• Outlined recommendations in detailed reports founded on data-driven insights.
• Managed multiple programmes and projects to widen participation in higher education.
• Commissioned and managed external research and evaluation contracts.
• Initiated and ran a review of disabled students policy and funding.