Benefits Realisation

Many of you will be aware that future funding under the JISC Capital Funding programmes has been frozen, for further details see

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/stories/2010/01/funding.aspx

This is likely to include any further benefits realisation funding under the Institutional Innovations programme. Funding for existing benefits realisation projects is not affected as far as we know.

Until we have more information we will not be accepting any more proposals for benefits realisation funding.

If you have any questions relating the JISC funding postponement please contact Lawrie Phipps (l.phipps@jisc.ac.uk) who is happy to discuss any project issues.

We will still be happy to discuss ideas for how you can realise the benefits of your projects through existing networks and supported services.

I have been asked to clarify who can be included as partner institutions within BR projects. I refer back to the original Circular for the programme which stated elibiliity for funding as: 

“Higher Education (HE) Institutions funded by HEFCE or HEFCW.  FE institutions in England that teach HE to more than 400 FTEs are also eligible to bid provided proposals demonstrate work that supports the HE in FE agenda.”

Other partners such as employers, professional bodies, JISC services, stakeholder bodies, vendors etc., institutions in Scotland or Northern Ireland, colleges who don’t meet the avove criteria are permitted but the beneficiaries should be preferably be within the eligibiliy category defined above.

Please do contact me if you need to check, as there may be a strong rationale for working with a particular partner who can assist us to bring benefits to thr wider sector.

The final invitation for ideas for benefits realisation funding has been issued today. Full details are available from http://br.inin.jisc-ssbr.net/phase-1c/.

The inivitation has rolling monthly deadlines, up to June 2010. The funding must be allocated by the end of June and if possble much earlier so get you ideas in before the money runs out (which it will).

We are particularlly interested in ideas that will link into the Building Capacity programme,  what we previously called “project fed” or Phase 2 BR. (see http://br.inin.jisc-ssbr.net/2009/09/18/project-fed-activities/) that can support other institutions to address strategic issues and requirements supported by the outcomes of your projects. We would expect the benefits to be mutual, with our institution gaining new knowledge as a result of working with other institutions. This was always the aim of the institiutional innovation programme, so share the expertise gained from the projects with the wider sector. Now is the time to try and realise the benefits from what you are learning and acheiving.

We are pleased to have received 11 ideas for benefits realisation projects from the phase 1b invitation in July. We are progressing all of the ideas received into projects under benefits realisations. So far five of these have been developed to a point where funding has been agreed. A brief overview of the funded is projects provided below.

BR1b-01, Leicester College. HELLO Peer Support Network.

Funding: £15,000 Summary description

This project will implement a online peer support network to support learners transition from FE to HE, working with DeMontford University and other institutions.

BR1b-02, Coventry University, ELTAC

Funding £15,000 Summary description

This project will further develop the ELTAC web site to support a community around lecture capture podcasting to support other institutions. Potentially working with several communities including commercial vendor products.

BR1b-03, University of Cambridge, STEEPLE

Funding £50,000 Summary description

This project is supporting effective use of audio and video podcasts across a potential 10+ institutions. The existing STEEPLE web resources will be further developed through the partners, to provide additional support and examples. They will provide a series of hands-on workshops to support take-up and provide support for tools that will make take-up easier.

BR1b-04, University of Plymouth, ASSET

Funding £15,000 Summary description

This project will implement and test the outcomes of the ASSET project, developed at University of Reading at the University of Plymouth. The lessons learned will feed back into the ASSET project and hopefully support further take-up.

BR1b-07, University of Southampton, EASiHE

Funding £14,993 Summary description

This project will implement technologies in the project around formative e-assessment at Bournemouth & Poole College, who want to explore the use of the technologies for video based formative assessments. The lessons learned will feedback into supporting take-up to further institutions and will feed into the project’s final deliverables.

Members of the Support and Synthesis team are working with the projects to develop the other six project ideas.

We welcome further ideas for benefits realisation at any stage, please contact Paul Bailey paul@jisc-ssbr.net