Welcome to Caja’s Uni Assess Tool

Welcome to your UNIAssess

This tool represents a quick and free self-assessment version of our comprehensive UNIAssess diagnostic tool, providing an operational and strategic health assessment.

UNIAssess is designed to give a basic assessment of maturity against 9 key domains: -

Strategy & Vision, Finance, People, Process, Technology, Organisational Change Capability, Students, Measures & Analytics, Research Impact

The assessment will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete.

Your results are completely confidential and will not be shared with any other organisation or third party other than in an anonymised format as part of quantitative benchmarking insights.

Strategy & Vision

The university should have a clear organisational vision and mission, understood by all, with aligned cascaded objectives

Which of the below statements best represents your current situation:

There is a lack of clear vision and poor communication, resulting in a fragmented work environment and confusion over roles and responsibilities.

The vision and mission are communicated but not fully grasped or integrated across departments, leading to misalignment of objectives and inconsistent communication, hindering effectiveness and cohesion.

The vision and mission are clearly understood, guiding staff behaviour and objectives across the institution. This creates cohesion and a shared purpose, supported by effective communication that promotes collaboration and aligns with the growth strategy.

The university's vision and strategy guide all decisions, with stakeholders embodying its core principles. Objectives are fully integrated, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement. This approach positions the university as a model of excellence in higher education.

Finance

The university should have a 3-5 yr financial plan that recognises investment opportunities for future growth, has diversified income streams and delivers financial sustainability

Which of the below statements best represents your current situation:

Lacks a strategic long term financial plan for sustainable growth, relying heavily on traditional funding and facing frequent budget constraints without effectively managing long-term fiscal challenges.

A forward-looking financial plan is in place and starting to contribute to future sustainability and growth, with an emerging income diversification strategy

Has a robust 3-5 year plan highlighting strategic investments for growth, with diversified income streams from grants, partnerships, donations, and endowments. Cost control and prudent fiscal practices are deeply embedded in the university's culture.

Integrates a comprehensive financial plan and sustainability ethos into its operations, focusing on innovative investments and financial agility to maintain excellence and navigate economic changes, establishing itself as a leader in innovation and resilience.

People

The university staff should be engaged with the organisation, be clear on expectations and are rewarded for their contribution

Which of the below statements best represents your current situation:

Surveys show low staff engagement, motivation, and satisfaction, reflected in high turnover rates and talent attraction.

Communication channels are developing but cascade of messages needs embedding, staff do not recognise their contribution to the overall goals, leading to confusion and uncertainty.

Staff feel empowered, well informed, and clear on roles, responsibilities, and performance expectations, resulting in lower turnover rates,

The University is recognised as an employee of choice and market leader in staff communication and engagement, expectation setting, recognition, and wellbeing, underpinned by an environment of continuous learning and career progression.

Process

The university business processes should be student centric, effective, efficient, standardised and repeatable and are underpinned by AI/Technology

Which of the below statements best represents your current situation:

Fragmented systems and processes, with poor access to student and operational data. Minimal access to digital processing and lack of AI integration for staff and students

Process optimisation and digitisation is underway but there remains some gaps, progress has been made on standardisation but there remains scope to leverage technology to enhance the student experience.

Processes are standardised and consistent and underpinned by robust optimised systems, with a strong emphasis on lean and continuous improvement.

The university has a seamless, high quality, efficient, integrated administrative ecosystem, underpinned by AI & cutting-edge technology, focussed on enhancing the student and staff experience and is seen as an exemplar of innovative operating models in the HE sector.

Technology

The university should have a clear digital roadmap that encompasses a move to cloud based technologies, AI and cognitive computing

Which of the below statements best represents your current situation:

The university is yet to significantly invest in digital transformation, AI and Cloud Computing and has yet to develop a digital roadmap for staff and students.

The university has developed a digital roadmap and is transitioning to cloud-based technologies as a foundation for wider transformation.

The university has implemented a cloud-based platform and is now implementing advanced cutting-edge technologies such as AI and Cognitive computing, to transform and enable the delivery of effective and efficient operations and experiences

Cloud-based solutions, provide scalability and flexibility and a sophisticated AI infrastructure is in place with cognitive computing applications seamlessly contributing to a highly intelligent and adaptive learning environment. The university is seen as a leader in digital academia, enabling innovation and academic excellence.

Organisational Change Capability

The university wide change portfolio should be understood, with decisions made on priorities based on robust business cases and formal governance

Which of the below statements best represents your current situation:

There is a lack of governance processes for initiatives across the institution, business case development is limited and inconsistent, leading to ad-hoc and ill-informed decision making.

Has an overall understanding of the organisation wide change portfolio but has yet to embed governance around business case development and delivery of benefits.

The university’s change portfolio is well established underpinned by strategic alignment and governance. There is a culture of transparency, efficiency, and effective resource allocation, enabling the university to navigate complex challenges with clarity and agility.

Exemplifies excellence in organisational change processes and practices. It excels in developing robust business cases for proposed initiatives, meticulously analysing benefits, costs, risks, and resource requirements. Effective communication and collaboration fostering a culture of accountability and transparency. academic and administrative functions.

Students

The university student experience and associated student outcomes should be widely recognised as outstanding

Which of the below statements best represents your current situation:

Recognised for its academic rigor but falls short in providing sufficient support systems, resources, and extracurricular opportunities, leading to subpar graduate outcomes and a lack of focus on student development. Hindering its ability to be acknowledged for student experience and outcomes.

Offers a satisfactory student experience with adequate support and resources for growth, yet struggles with external recognition and reputation, which may limit the acknowledgment of student achievements. Provides an environment conducive to learning and personal development.

Student experience is highly rated, evident in NSS scores, and is recognised for excellence in certain disciplines. Its environment fosters holistic development, leading to good graduate outcomes. The strong reputation acts as a catalyst for success, providing access to opportunities and networks, and paving the way for students to excel in their fields.

Celebrated for its exemplary student experience and outcomes, with a holistic approach that balances academic excellence and well-being. Strong support systems and diverse extracurriculars enrich the student experience, alongside a commitment to a vibrant, inclusive community that encourages growth and leadership. Student needs are central to organisational decisions.

Measures & Analytics

The university data should provide a single source of truth that is easily accessible by functional owners, is at the heart of all decision making and is used to drive performance.

Which of the below statements best represents your current situation:

Lacks centralised unified data management system, resulting in disparate data sources and inconsistencies across departments.

Acknowledges importance of data accessibility and integration but has variable outcomes due to inconsistent utilisation of data in performance improvement initiatives.

Prioritises data-driven decision-making with functional owners having access to centralised data repository for quick decision-making.

Has a robust data infrastructure, pivotal for operations. Data-driven insights drive strategic planning, resource allocation, and performance assessment with Advanced analytics and predictive modelling anticipating trends and enhance outcomes. Data is strategically utilised across the institution to drive excellence and innovation.

Research Impact (Research, Teaching, Knowledge Exchange)

The university should have a route map to either maintain or achieve REF Gold status.

Which of the below statements best represents your current situation:

Faces challenges in research and academic performance due to inadequate adaptation to global challenges, lack of evidence in collaborations and funding, limited public outreach and partnerships, and low student outcomes and post-graduation engagement, reflecting a lack of ambition for improvement. It has not been awarded a TEF or REF rating.

Faces some challenges in research and with the quality of academic delivery, aiming to gain or has just gained REF and TEF Bronze recognition but with below-average academic performance and low student employment rates, mixed feedback on students being workforce ready, limited positive feedback for academics and low to medium student retention and completion rates.

The institution exhibits diverse performance in research and academic teaching performance, securing moderate funding and maintaining average to above-average pass rates. It prioritises enhancing outcomes for students through external recognition REF, TEF and KEF (probably at silver level), with plans to drive future improvements in both research impact and student success metrics.

The university excels in research, academics, and teaching, evidenced by its success in securing significant funding, amplifying research impact through various channels, and gaining external recognition through the awarding GOLD REF and TEF ratings, supported with excellent student outcomes as a result. It has excellent relationships with external businesses collaborating on ensuring their future skills needs are met and to create innovative solutions.

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