Support Process Review

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Process Owner role description

List of Process Owners

Background

To support achievement of the University’s aims as set out in the recently published Vision for the support of academic endeavour, the process owner role has been identified, and will be established.

It is important to differentiate between policy setting and process delivery. The introduction of the process owner role will not change the way in which policy is currently developed and formulated, eg by the Pro VCs, through the University’s committee structure, and Council. Process Owners will typically be senior individuals who are currently responsible for managing the delivery of the University’s processes within their specialist field of expertise.

This document sets out in more detail the process owner role described in the vision statement.

Role description

For each identified process area there will be a single process owner with clear responsibility, accountability and authority for the design, service quality and overall delivery objectives of the process and any IT systems that support it. Process owners will be given the necessary resources to exercise their responsibilities, which are to:

• specify the way in which processes are organised and delivered;
• specify the resources required to deliver processes (people and IT systems);
• direct the work of staff who deliver the process – regardless of their physical location; and
• deliver an appropriate level of service.

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1.0 Accountabilities

1. Specify the way in which their processes are organised and delivered in line with the Support Process Review objectives:
   • Efficient: thereby eliminating duplication, and ensure ‘fit for purpose’ (ie not ‘gold plated’);
   • Consistent across the University: to increase resilience and ensure best practice is shared;
   • Effective: to deliver an adequate service to students and academics;
2. Identify resource requirements needed for effective delivery, including defining role profiles and specifying the location of those resources (Division/Faculty/School).
3. Identify system development needs and opportunities for improvement in relation to support provided for their processes.

4. Initiate new change projects where appropriate, taking them to approval stage.

5. Sponsor change projects in relation to their processes/systems.

6. Ensure all staff delivering their processes are competent and adequately trained, identifying training needs where necessary, and putting in place training plans if required.

7. Recruitment of staff into process-related roles, identifying opportunities for career development for existing staff where possible.

8. Authorising changes to processes, once specified, in consultation with process users, policy makers and those impacted by the process. Only process owners will be able to authorise variations to the University standards.

9. Ensure an adequate delivery of the service to end-users that meets their needs.

10. Put in place contingency plans for absence cover.

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2.0 Management Responsibilities

1. Members of staff who are accountable for delivery of University processes will be trained and managed through the process owner line. However, where members of staff are physically located in faculties and departments, they will also be accountable to those to whom they provide a service.
2. Support staff whose roles are specific to their unit will continue to be managed from within their units. However, any process-related activity undertaken by them will be directed by the process owner, and such activity must be consistent with processes specified. 

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3.0 Method of operation

1. Process owners will operate in a consultative way to ensure that the needs of those impacted by the process are met. They will consult with all stakeholders (policy makers, process users and those impacted by the processes) to ensure that those closest to the processes are able to contribute effectively to the design and specification of their processes. In this way, we aim to foster an environment of mutual respect and trust between those who provide support processes and their ‘customers’.
2. Process owners may choose to delegate activity in relation to the accountabilities specified above, in line with their management responsibilities.

List of Process Owners

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