Realignment of ASEO and Commercial Functions

From 1 August, teams within our Alumni and Support and Engagement (ASEO) and Commercial Functions will move to other professional service teams to help us address our changing focus in these areas.

From that date:

• the Knowledge Transfer Centre will move to Research Services to align more closely with wider research support
• Campaign & Supporter Engagement and Development Services in ASEO will merge with teams in MCE
• the Fundraising Team will merge with remaining colleagues in the existing Commercial Function to create a new Commercial Development Function.

This realignment is designed to bring together those parts of our professional services that can work most constructively and effectively together to deliver the University’s strategic goals. We remain fully committed to our alumni and supporters and to our pathway towards greater commercialisation. The substantive work of the teams will continue, and these changes will not involve any redundancies.

Why are we changing?

The Strategic Foundations Programme (SFP) includes work to better define what strategic success looks like in both Schools and Functions. This work is now getting underway for Schools, with two departmental pilots, and the work to define professional service requirements will follow later.

However, in the last 12 to 18 months, we have seen major changes in our non-academic commercialisation activity, in particular the development of TVSP, the resulting change in focus of the commercial projects team, and the departure of Commercial Director Darren Browne.

At the same time, the expectations of UK public funders of research have started to shift, with greater emphasis on business engagement, including commercialisation, in research partnerships.

As a result, UEB felt it was important to consider sooner that the timeframe of the SFP how we respond to these specific changes and opportunities, resulting in the above changes.

Members of UEB and the Directors of the relevant functions have met with the affected teams to outline next steps, and they will continue to engage with affected colleagues as the transition progresses.