Places and Spaces - Planning for the next academic year in uncertain times

Adrian Ellison is Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor and CIO at the University West London, where he is a member of the Vice-Chancellor’s Executive and responsible for Academic Administration, Academic Registry, Academic Quality and Standards, Library and IT services and the Institute for Policing Studies. He has been in UK higher education for 24 years at four universities. Adrian has written about and spoken widely on the use of technology and analytics in the HE sector.

Caroline Low is Director of Planning& Corporate Strategy at the University of Lincoln and is a member of the HESPA Executive. She has worked in the planning arena in Higher Education for over 20 years. She has responsibility for both operational and strategic planning across the institution as well as having institutional responsibility and oversight for Timetabling. Risk Management, Business Continuity and Careers and Employability.

Dave is a space management professional with over a decade of experience. As the University of Exeter space manager he has transformed the quality, understanding and strategic influence of space data, whilst developing policies and processes to support the institution during a period of both rapid growth and change. In 2009, Dave founded HESMG (Higher Education Space Management Group), promoting best practice and collaboratively creating tools and approaches to shared operational space management challenges within the HE sector. In 2018 he was appointed as a Chair of the newly created AUDE Space Management Special Interest Group, to provide strategic support regarding space management information, initiatives and developments. Currently heavily engaged in workplace transformation, he combines innovative thinking and collaborative approaches in the pursuit of the delivery of spaces which are efficient, effective and engaging. Dave gets particularly enthusiastic when visualising data, or exploring innovative solutions which are low cost yet high impact, contributing towards an improved student experience. Outside of work he likes to explore the great outdoors and bread making.

James Smith is Chief Information Officer at Birkbeck, University of London, where he is responsible for the delivery of Library and IT services that are relied upon by Birkbeck’s staff, students, and commercial customers. The services provided support student engagement with the life-changing educational opportunities that are central to the institution’s mission, internationally recognised research, and the administration of the enterprise. Prior to his current role, James has worked on corporate system implementation projects (on both the customer and supplier side), small and large scale institutional change projects, process discovery and improvement. James has been a UCISA trustee since 2021 and is chair of UCISA-CISG.

Kirsty joined the University of Leicester in 2010 and has been Director of Campus Services since September 2016. She was previously Deputy Director of Residential and Commercial Services. At the University of Leicester, Kirsty is the strategic lead for Accommodation; Print Services; Leicester Conferences; Campus Operations, including Portering and Cleaning, Grounds and Gardens, Post, Fleet; and Security. Kirsty is also a Board Director of College Court Conference Centre and Leicester Services Partnership, (the Student Union and University catering partnership) and the University lead on Prevent. Kirsty joined CUBO Executive Board in March 2019, initially picking up the conference portfolio. Kirsty is now Chair Elect and has represented CUBO on the Board of the Universities UK Accommodation Code of Practice since October 2018. Prior to joining Leicester, Kirsty was a Senior Project Manager at the Russell Partnership. In this role, Kirsty worked with well-known organisations such as the BBC and Goldman Sachs to improve their catering offer. She also worked with a number of universities, including Leicester. It was while working for Leicester as a consultant that Kirsty began the journey of transforming the University’s catering service, which led to her being offered a permanent role at the institution. Her early career was spent in hotels including a spell as a Hotel Manager working for Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries. She also spent ten years at the University of Warwick, firstly as Catering Manager and then as Head of Catering Services. Kirsty is a former winner of a Caterer and Hotelkeeper Acorn Award and was named Cost Sector Caterer of the Year in 2001. She received her MBA from the University of Leicester in January 2017, having combined her studies with a very busy job.