CASE National Universities Public Affairs Forum 2015

That’s it from us today as the conference closes, thank you for joining us.

Alex Miles, University of Nottingham, wraps up todays event with concluding remarks and thank you’s.

Richard Brabner, University of Hertfordshire, asks the panel for twitter recommendations.

Richard Darlington, IPPR, suggests Helen Reynolds and Shirley Ayres.

The panel answers questions from the audience and discuss the importance of twitter as a connective tool. Leonora Merry, Nuffield Trust, talks about employees tweeting through their own accounts, “If you can, try and use personal accounts and trust that people will generally do the right thing, let them make a mistake and you will learn it”.

Richard Darlington, IPPR, discusses using a corporate twitter handle. “Social media is so personally driven, to invest personality into a corporate account is incredibly hard, I would suggest using a personal twitter handle”. Tweet at work, tell people about what you’re researching, things you learn as you find them. Corperate accounts may have more followers but have far less interaction.

Mark Leach, Wonkhe, mentions Vice Chancellors using twitter, “more work can be done there, using the personal and the corporate in a way that makes sense”.

Nick Scott, UNISON, wraps up his session. Find out about more about WonkComms here.

‘Cradle to grey’, Nick Scott, UNISON, explores the steps.

Researchers in the early stages of research should network, social media can help to deliver creative ideas and give researchers further connections to more interesting people.

Give life to mature research; follow the reader and think about formats which would work for your audience. Get information to potential readers in multiple formats.

Don’t let research go to the grave. “Old does not mean useless for research, too often we forget about what we have in the back cabinet”. Keep track of what you’ve released and what your researchers are working on. If it comes up on social media you can re-release research very quickly. Extend the lifetime of research, get researchers to edit Wikipedia. Release papers under creative commons and encourage people to use it.

Nick Scott, UNISON, talks about ‘information overload’ which is changing information consumption. Research suggests that people are reading more but for less time – making information harder to digest.

Nick Scott, UNISON, “if you want your content to be found you need to engage on social media”.

Nick Scott, UNISON, mentions the challenges of digital for research which are ‘I can’t find or never see the research’ and ‘It’s not in a format I want to engage in’.

Nick Scott, UNISON, speaks now on Cradle to Grey: Putting Digital at the Heart of Research for Improved Impact. “How to get your star researchers to become as digital as possible and how that can help you”.

Leonora Merry, Nuffield Trust, “be aware of the Lobbying Act but don’t become too worried about it”.

Use twitter to get to know your audience, Leonora Merry, Nuffield Trust, suggests looking at who is talking about you, your research or events then responding and expanding on that by being helpful and offering more information. Listen and learn from your audience.

Leonora Merry, Nuffield Trust, warns about the risk of sharing information which is perhaps not as robust as you might think. Often information is shared quickly without considering the reliability of the source.

Leonora Merry, Nuffield Trust, speaks about twitter and how MPs and and other figures use the platform quoting Francis Maude, MP, “Digital and social media can help the civil service reach out to the people it serves. Gone forever is a world when an anonymous man in an inaccessible Whitehall office made decisions on behalf of others – new digital technologies help civil servants across the country engage actively with the public”.

Richard Darlington, IPPR, concludes with a summary, “The right number, displayed in the right way, deployed at the right time equals real time social media marketing”. Download Richard Darlington’s slides here Wonkhe – Why do people share.

Moving onto infographics, Richard Darlington, IPPR, discusses different styles mentioning Mapping Chech Crime and Urban health atlas: A tool for health service planning and referral as brilliant examples of interactive infographics.

The important thing about infographics is that they get shared.

Richard Darlington, IPPR, talks about the importance of making your brand integral to the story you’re telling ‘A trojan horse wrapped in the narrative”. Each time that story is retold and shared, your brand will be key and will be remembered.

Richard Darlington, IPPR, talks about triggers being important to sharing; Cherios get more mentions on twitter than Disney World because everybody eats breakfast daily.

Richard Darlington, IPPR, mentions the success of ‘Will it blend?‘ the YouTube channel promoting Blendtec blenders in an innovative way.  Prof. Martyn Poliakoff, University of Nottingham also gets a mention for making science exciting.

Richard Darlington, IPPR, begins his talk on The Psychology of Sharing: Combining Infographics and Social Media, by explaining that whereas technology moves in leaps and bounds and is always changing, what really matters is the psychology. “Don’t forget the old tried and tested strategic comms that predate the internet”

Mark Leach, Wonkhe, introduces this afternoons masterclasses.

Join us again after lunch for a Wonkhe/WonkComms masterclass chaired by Mark Leach, Director, Wonkhe.

A series of consecutive practical masterclasses led by policy and communication practitioners from the UK’s leading thinktanks. We will look how to use digital to improve research, best in class social media practice for impact and getting to the heart of the pre-election debate.

Session 1. The Psychology of Sharing: Combining Infographics and Social Media
Richard Darlington, head of news, IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research)

Session 2. Informing Policy Hashtag-Style: Getting your Ideas and Analysis Straight to the Heart of the Pre-Election Debate
Leonora Merry, assistant director of communications, Nuffield Trust

Session 3. Cradle to Grey: Putting Digital at the Heart of Research for Improved Impact
Nick Scott, digital manager, UNISON and former digital manager, Overseas Development Institute

Jonathan Simmons, Policy Exchange, “if i were a treasury official I would be looking at universities and desperately trying to figure out how to squeeze cash from them”.

Baroness Sal, Brinton, says that universities miss a connection with the media and press.

Questions are asked on the opportunities and any missed opportunities for universities.

Jonathan Simmons, Policy Exchange, pushes the importance of universities to the UK, “universities are undoubtedly the highest performing crowl jewel of our education system”. It’s a tremendously optimistic sector to be a part of.

Baroness Sal Brinton, mentions the importance that the wider community, local and national, understand the important work that universities do.

Nick Pearce, IPPR, stresses that what universities do well and should do more is deliberately sett out to blend a mixture of people, it’s it’s important to work with people unlike yourself.

The panel discuss the net migration targets and international students.

Baroness Sal Brinton, considers that the only way that this government can reduce immigration number are by reducing students because they are the only people that the government has any control over. Whatever formation of government in May 2015, work will be done to recover international students and improve that relationship.

Baroness Sal Brinton, suggests that universities need to break out of their traditional models, “institutions like Birkbeck are offering three year part time degrees”

The panel are taking questions from the audience.

Jonathan Simmons, Policy Exchange, talks about the pros and cons of a spending review, “some sort of review is now the least worse option” given the risks of the other possibilities.

Nick Pearce, IPPR, “I don’t think there will be a coalition in May, I think a minority government is much more likely”. Pearce suggests that paying attention to the dynamics of minority governments will be important.

Nick Pearce, IPPR, “No policy discussion can take place without thinking about what cuts are coming.”

Labour are much more concerned to protect capital spending, this may suggest that there is more scope for capital investment in the he sector.

Jonathan Simmons, Policy Exchange, considers that the LibDems would like to see the least change to the higher education system.

Jonathan Simmons, Policy Exchange, mentions Labours ‘mindbogglingly stupid idea to reduce tuition fees to £6K”. I would say that mature entrants falling off a cliff, issues with part time students and postgrad students, but that doesn’t seem to be the areas they are interested in.

Jonathan Simmons, Policy Exchange, warns “do not confuse the Torys love of capitalism and markets with the Torys love for all big institutions”

Jonathan Simmons, Policy Exchange, mentions the themes of the three main parties and suggests that BIS may be abolished post Election; “If the Torys come into office and they decided to more or less protect the HE budget, increase apprenticeships and science and research, I don’t think there is enough in the BIS budget for that to work.”

“In a straight up fight against schools universities may find themselves in a difficult position.”

Our next session opens with an introduction from chair Kim Catcheside, Director, Champollion Digital.

Nick Pearce, director, Institute for Public Policy Research
Jonathan Simmons, Head of Education, Policy Exchange
Baroness Sal Brinton, president, Liberal Democrats Party and vice chair, Liberal Democrats Federal Policy Committee

We are having a few technical difficulties with Michael Schoenfeld’s live stream. Bear with us, there will be a video of his stream available to watch here as soon as the session ends.

Watch the session live from Duke University.

Michael Schoenfeld, Vice President of Public Affairs and Government Relations, Duke University, speaks next in his session From the West Wing to Westminster – Higher Education lobbying on the Hill live from the US.

You can find ComRes and Universities UK’s research on what current and future MPs think abbot universities ahead of the 2015 Election here.

Only 3 in 10 future maps and about 30 per cent of mps say that universities perform well and use funding efficiently. However, only about 1 in 10 say that universities do badly, there is poor communication and understanding on this front.

Andrew Hawkins, ComRes, now takes questions.

– Will there be a referendum?

“Only if cameron is prime minister. Whatever the outcome, he’s got to dress it up positively, which leaves him open to fire from UKIP.”

Andrew Hawkins, ComRes concludes his session.

– Four party politics is here to stay: “it’s a long term trend”.

– Britain will need to have proper debates on immigration and the EU: “What’s going on politically and what voters actually want or need to hear about is not happening”.

– Britain’s universités should enjoy significant goodwill.

– You have a real opportunity to engage better with policy makers.

Andrew Hawkins, ComRes, says that whatever the outcome of the Election 2015, ‘it will be unique’. Only twice has a government increased its vote share after two years in parliament.

Andrew Hawkins, ComRes asks if the conservatives become the opposition what will happen? “All the signs are that the Torys will drop modernisation and will search to the right, but they will have to rethink their philosophy.”

Andrew Hawkins, ComRes, looks at possible results. Hawkins would still predict Labour with more seats, around 265-340. Conservatives with 230-305, LibDems with 20-35 and UKIP with around 1-8.

If David Cameron is still Tory party leader then UKIP will not go away and we will also be facing an EU referendum. Will the next government even make it to 2020? “I don’t expect there to be two elections this year but there may be one agin next year.” – Hawkins.

Andrew Hawkins, ComRes, says that Labour and UKIP voters do not feel as though they are part of economic recovery. 40 per cent of Labour voters and 37 per cent of UKIP voters don’t feel as though there is any economic recovery in their area.

Andrew Hawkins, ComRes, moves onto the economy. Until three years ago, economy was the most important issue to voters. Now ‘as the floodwaters reside’ other issues become more prominent such as the NHS and controlling immigration.

Hawkins mentions the varying opinions on immigration regionally, “immigration means different things to different people, and for most people in the country it doesn’t mean anything at all as the effects of immigration aren’t felt there”.

Andrew Hawkins, ComRes, asks where have the 2010 voters gone? 45 per cent of voters would rather have David Cameron as PM as opposed to  26 per cent who would prefer Ed Miliband. Although Cameron comes across as out of touch, he is also perceived as intelligent and good at getting things done.

Andrew Hawkins, ComRes, discusses UKIP and the damage to the Conservative brand. “As long as David Cameron is party leader, it will be very difficult to regain the voters that have left since 2010”.

More UKIP voters are favourable towards Nigel Farage than Labour are to Miliband or Conservative are to Cameron.

Andrew Hawkins, ComRes, mentions the fragmentation of government “the number of parties are increasing, bigger parties are fragmenting”.

Andrew Hawkins, Chairman, ComRes takes over to discuss the results of joint research with UUK  which looks at what the current and future MPs think about universities ahead of the 2015 Election.

Nicola Dandridge, UUK, encourages people to get involved with Universities UK’s Back Universities campaign

Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive, Universities UK begins the first session Election 2015 and higher education.

10:00 Election 2015 and Higher Education (Led by Universities UK

• Chaired by Nicola Dandridge, chief executive, Universities UK

11:00 From the West Wing to Westminster – Higher Education lobbying on the Hill

• Michael Schoenfeld, vice president of public affairs and government relations, Duke University

• Chaired by Kim Catcheside, education journalist, consultant and commentator, The Guardian. 

Kate Hunter, executive director, CASE Europe, opens today’s conference at the University of Warwick Business School. Stay with us throughout the day to keep up with conferences, panels and events.

The live blog will commence at about 9.30am.