After spending three years in the thick of it, Alistair Jarvis?has a fresh understanding of the scale of change needed for UK universities to survive their current crisis.

The former chief executive of Universities UK left the sector¡¯s main lobby group in 2022 to go in-house at the University of London, where he was pro vice-chancellor of partnerships and governance.

There he saw how it is a ¡°really challenging time for the sector¡±, he said, with no ¡°obvious financial help around the corner¡±.

Jarvis is now back in more of an overseer role as the new chief executive of professional membership body Advance HE, but change is still high on the agenda ¨C as much for the organisation he now leads as for the universities it supports.

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The body, which provides leadership training and equality, diversity and inclusion accreditation schemes, has historically been seen as a ¡°development agency¡±, Jarvis believes, but the crisis facing universities means it needs to ¡°pivot¡± into becoming an ¡°agency for enhancement, transformation [and] change¡±.

It needs to help universities answer the ¡°big question¡± many are facing, said Jarvis: ¡°How do we transform and change at pace?¡±

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¡°The financial pressures are greater now than they have been for a very long time,¡±?said Jarvis, who last month replaced?Alison Johns following her retirement after seven years in the role.

¡°Those pressures are real and acute, and institutions are having to change quite dramatically in their shape, their size, their structures, what they offer students and what they invest in, to be able to maintain quality and to survive in the current environment.¡±

A focus on transformational change is not only one of Jarvis¡¯ strategic priorities for Advance HE over the next few years, but he believes it should be ¡°at the heart of what we do¡± ¨C including its training, consultancy advice and events.

The financial crisis has had a ¡°profound impact¡± on the skills needed for modern leadership, he said, adding that it will have to review and ¡°modernise¡± its leadership courses in light of the current environment.

¡°I think we¡¯ve got some great expertise and a really firm base on all of those programmes, but we need to explore whether all of those programmes are about what leaders need now and in the future.¡±

Advance HE could also make better use of its international membership body, Jarvis said, adding that ¡°solutions are not necessarily just on our doorstep¡±, ¡°and I think we can draw more benefit from the fact that we are global¡± by developing greater dialogue between members. Ultimately, he believes that the body needs to?demonstrate ¡°high value¡± for universities and ¡°demonstrable impact¡± to stay relevant.

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¡°We¡¯re in the space of trying to offer solutions¡­Institutions can¡¯t afford to spend time or money on things unless they are things that are going to help them.¡±

Outside of its leadership development role, Advance HE has faced enhanced scrutiny and pressure in recent years, especially after the Office for Students issued a?record fine to the University of Sussex?earlier this year.

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A policy template created by one of Advance HE¡¯s founding members was used by Sussex, among others,?as the basis of one of its equality statements at the centre of the case, which?resulted in the university being fined for failing to uphold its academic freedom obligations after protests called for the dismissal of gender-critical professor Kathleen Stock.?

Universities are now also reviewing their trans policies?in light of rulings by the Supreme Court on single-sex spaces, and Jarvis conceded that it is a challenging period for universities as they ¡°navigate a number of things that may on the surface seem like they are competing with each other¡±.?

But, Jarvis said: ¡°The law and the regulation in these areas have changed in recent times¡­It is not Advance HE¡¯s job to take an ideological view on these issues. It is our job to ensure that we help institutions to take sensible actions which promote equality, diversity and inclusion which are aligned with the legal framework that we have.¡±

While he believed significant sector change is already under way and will continue for the ¡°next few months or years¡±, this needn¡¯t be a daunting prospect for universities, he said.

¡°There¡¯s still going to be an awful lot more change to go¡­because I don¡¯t think we have any choice. There is not the money there for things to stay as they are. But there are other good reasons to change, because actually what students want is changing. Digital developments are changing. The international picture is changing.?

¡°So I don¡¯t think change is a bad thing. Change is something that is necessary for universities to be relevant and high impact.¡±

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juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com