Legislation and common-practice influence and challenge the work-life of our H&FE clients. Having the opportunity to share these challenges with others is both reassuring and educational. To do this, we facilitate bi-annual University Discussion Forums (UDF) in Birmingham, Cheltenham, London, Manchester, York, and Glasgow, attended by clients involved in for AR; Credit Control; Treasury; Student fees; Income and Finance, and clients from independent student accommodation providers.
COVID-19 meant the cancellation of discussion forums across the country in 2020. We are hopeful that 2021 will see us return to our usual schedule meeting twice each year in six different locations.
Virtual forums substituted for the physical meetings, providing a new and welcome form of communication in 2020, where the unique challenges caused by the pandemic provided many discussion topics. These discussions included:
Working-from-home advantages and disadvantages
Sanction relaxation for re-enrolling and new students
International students distance learning
Blended learning situations
Increased instalment plans
Accommodation under-utilisation
Developing online enrolment platforms
When best to enforce judgments
The use and feedback on agents for international students
I wanted to say a really big thank you for inviting me to your Forum. The hospitality and professionalism, not to mention friendliness, was amazing. To top it all, I gained a lot of knowledge as well as confidence in the way our university works. Thank you again for making me feel very welcome”
Great opportunity to openly discuss issues instead of having speakers to talk about different issues. Discussion aspect to this event was key to it being useful and relevant to daily work and issues. Networking opportunities and links to improve systems was great.”
Thank you for a very informative and useful discussion forum and lunch today. It was a very worthwhile event and provided lots of networking opportunities too. Looking forward to the next one already.”
Interested in attending a future forum?
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