​Context

In July 2012, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) wrote to all new universities and the Open University to announce that they had set aside funds of up to £5m in 2012/13 to further support regional coherence. They invited proposals for activity that would demonstrate an impact in relation to some aspect of coherence of provision, workforce development or widening access over and above existing outcome agreements. SFC further announced that monies may be available for a total of 3 years and that selected proposals would need to involve a level of collaboration, be responsive to evidenced coherence needs within a region and to have a built in evaluation strategy to ensure the impact of the Council’s investment could be used to inform good practice across the university sector. 

In response, Alistair Sambell, Vice Principal (Academic), oversaw a cross-university group to develop a bid based on initiatives to enhance graduate employability and employer engagement. Edinburgh Napier University submitted a first written proposal for £898k per year in August 2012 and a project implementation plan in September 2012 following further discussion with the SFC.  The University was informed in October 2012 that the SFC executive had agreed to fund the plan in its entirety for 2 years in the first instance (to 31st January 2015) with the possibility of further funding to 31st December 2015 subject to project outcomes being met and that students from the most deprived postcodes were prioritised and appropriately targeted for support. 

The project was awarded £2.7 million over 3 years and was launched to students in September 2013.  As this is a major, complex project, strong governance was introduced to manage the project. We established and embedded a range of structures, processes and procedures including a GEP Steering Group​ which has cross-University representation and oversees project planning, budgets, progress monitoring and dissemination. Each delivery strand has one or more Strand Lead with responsibility for co-ordinating the work in their area and for achieving a range of milestones and targets. 

Other relevant fora were set up such as the Student Development Heads Group, School Mobility Forums and formal evaluation and monitoring structures. A School Evaluation Group was formed specifically for the project and has been central to establishing common understandings around data definitions and for agreeing baseline data formats and reporting templates.