SUMS’ final report published from our evaluation of Office for Students’ statement of expectations
SUMS Principal Consultant Helen Baird outlines key findings from our evaluation report on the Office for Students’ (OfS) statement of expectations. The evaluation concludes that while some progress has been…
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SUMS Consulting Annual Conference 2022 – Postponed
Following the recent announcement of rail strikes, due to take place on 3 and 5 November, we have reluctantly taken the decision to postpone the SUMS conference from 4 November…
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SUMS Group’s Commitment to Responsible Procurement
SUMS Group’s Commitment to Responsible Procurement SUMS Group is committed to ensuring all purchasing activity that we are able to control or influence is of no detriment to the environment…
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Developing An Effective Strategy in Higher Education: The Critical Stages for Success
There are many definitions of strategy, but for the present purposes, we’ll understand it as an organisation’s approach to formulating and achieving its longer-term objectives, at a relatively high level.…
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How to Avoid Costly Mistakes in Higher Education IT Procurement
When procuring technology solutions, many universities use templated procurement procedures and purchases with standard contract templates. But technology solutions are a specialist purchase. They need specialist procurement processes and contract…
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An Apprenticeship Lifecycle Tailored to Your University
University of West England's Apprenticeship Approach In 2021 and 2022, SUMS worked with the University of the West of England (UWE) to review its approach to Apprentices and Apprenticeships -…
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From Pasta to Procurement: A Student’s Journey to Understanding the Need for Responsible Procurement in Higher Education
My Introduction to Procurement in Higher Education I am very new to the world of procurement, having only started interning for SUMS at the end of June 2022. In fact,…
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Why use Psychometric Assessments?
While I am admittedly an advocate of psychometric assessments, I understand the mention of ‘psychometrics’ often encourages the super-sceptics to raise concerns about their use and purpose, questioning their validity,…
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