Since the formation of JISC Collections in 2006, we have been guided by our Board of Management.
The Board, which meets four times a year, includes representatives from our key stakeholders.
Two positions are available to representatives from our institutional members and, early in September, we will issue a call for nominations. Institutional member directors are elected to the Board by the membership and nominations are required because the term of office for the current directors comes to an end in November this year.
Full details about the role and requirements will be provided in the call, but please start thinking about possible candidates now.
The successful candidates will commence their duties immediately after our AGM in November.
David Scott, Head of Learner Services at Dundee College has served on the JISC Collections Board since 2007 and in the brief interview below, describes his role at the College and his experiences of working with JISC Collections as a member of the Board of Management:
1. You are Head of Learner Services at Dundee College. What does the role involve and how long have you been in post?
My role as Head of Learner Services is wide ranging, challenging and "most of the time" enjoyable. I have responsibility for a range of services which all impact on the learner at college:
Learning Resources team providing Library and AV Services across four campuses; e-learning development staff who maintain the VLE and provide support to lecturers.
Wider Access team who provide the college curriculum to school, community and distance learners.
Guidance team who provide the full range of guidance, advice and counselling services to students.
Supported Learning team who provide additional learning support to learners; use of support workers such as communicators, scribes, educational psychologists, provision of assistive technologies and the co-ordination of alternative assessment arrangements.
Student Funding team who ensure that our students have the financial support such as bursaries, childcare, accommodation and travel costs to complete their studies.
Our focus over the past year has been to integrate the work of these services as far as we can to provide an integrated service and thereby improve the student experience. We are currently undergoing major estate changes with a reduction from four campuses to two large campuses. In planning these moves I have been heavily involved in attempting to locate all of these services close to one another to continue the process of integration and to ensure that our services are central to student success.
2. As funding gets tighter, what are the implications for you and your colleagues on the resources development side?
All colleges are tightening their belts. This is happening at a time when our services are in very high demand. Demand has been even higher recently due to the economic downturn and even more recently the squeeze on university places. This makes us focus even more on the usage of our services and specifically our development of resources; the resources we purchase as well as the resources we make available to support staff develop materials for their students. It has made our library service think even more about the promotion of services - JISC Collection resources, online teaching resources. We actively promote our resources much more actively than in the past and this is no bad thing. Still we ask ourselves whether we are we getting value for money. To a degree we have moved away from the costly provision of e-learning materials to the provision of tools to enhance student interaction and learning. The old adage of "content is king" is becoming less appropriate for us; our students have access to resources (subscription based as well as free) that we could only dream of ten years ago. Our aim is to make them use them more effectively and help them develop their learning skills whether it is in a library or using our VLE.
3. "Let's not waste a crisis" has been uttered a number of times recently by various people of the 'glass half full' persuasion. Are you a glass half full or half empty person and do you buy into the 'not wasting a crisis' mentality?
Yes I've heard that phrase regularly said only half jokingly (depending on the response it gets from the audience). I'm half full most of the time but I'd be lying if I said that I don't get the odd half empty moment – listening to "new" educational policy as relayed on the Today programme quite often induces the latter persuasion. I think this is a time where it forces us to think creatively and look for more efficient and, you always hope, more effective solutions to service provision. Managing staff and resources is undoubtedly more challenging today, when you are having to question all spending, but without overstating the case it is satisfying to review practices that have perhaps outlived their usefulness. Without those financial pressures I'm not sure we would look quite so closely at what we do and, more importantly, how we do it. It's tough though and it isn't going to get better soon.
4. When did you first come into contact with JISC and JISC Collections?
We've been users of JISC Collections for a number of years and I have had involvement with resource issues through work with the Scottish Qualifications Authority, our JISC RSC, CILIP, the Scottish Library and Information Council and COLEG which until recently was a further education college co-operative organisation, producing learning materials which were made available to the sector as whole. It worked well (though not always successfully) at reducing the reinvention of wheels and was moving into the collective development of e-learning resources when it folded as an independent organisation. I've always had an interest in the development and provision of e-resources.
5. You've served on the JISC Collections Board of Management for three years. Can you say a bit about what is involved?
It is very much a strategic and governance role. All of the real work is done by the JISC Collections staff. Coming from an FE background it has involved becoming much more involved in understanding the nitty gritty of negotiating competitive agreements to provide resources to the benefit of the HE and FE community. It has also given me the opportunity to see the emerging trends in information provision and the competing demands placed on us as a company. I have enjoyed immensely the regular Board meetings and being able to contribute to discussions on strategic decisions affecting the whole academic community but specifically ones that affect the FE sector.
6. What are the key challenges facing JISC Collections in the next 3-5 years?
The key challenge to JISC Collections is the economic squeeze placed upon all sectors. This will have a serious effect on institutions' ability to subscribe to the range of resources that their users expect and provides JISC Collections with the challenge of continuing to carry on the work of negotiating hard on behalf of its users. It is what is expected of us. Another challenge will be to build on the growing demand from the FE sector for appropriate resources. The JISC Collections e-books initiative has tapped into a major resource which has excited a large part of the FE sector. It is a resource that is meeting a clear need as opposed to a "nice to have" luxury. It is one that we can build on and develop. Most importantly JISC Collections needs to be "fleet of foot", responding quickly to any foreseen and unforeseen challenges.
7. What would you say to anyone thinking of standing for election for a position on the JISC Collections Board of Management?
I'd say "go for it"! It is exciting being part of a company which has progressed quickly into an organisation which is held in high regard and provides an excellent service to its users. It listens and responds and makes decisions based on sound judgement and consideration of the issues. It also has a young, enthusiastic and friendly team of staff full of ideas in London and Oxford who are good to be around – I just can't keep up at the Away Day though.
