Sally has over 25 years of experience in strategic planning, 20 of which have been spent in higher education. Alongside offering consultancy services, she also undertakes interim roles, recently including providing support to the Strategic Planning team at the University of the West of Scotland; the Strategic Planning and Analytics team at the University of Plymouth; the Strategy and Organisational Enhancement Directorate at the University of Wolverhampton and acting as Interim Strategic Planning Director at the University of Hull.
Sally’s work covers the full range of strategy (development, delivery and evaluation), planning and use of data (including data maturity, governance, quality and performance assessment / communication). A current area of focus is the Lifelong Learning Entitlement and the opportunities (and challenges) that the changes this brings offer to higher education providers.
Sally spent 13 years leading the planning function at UCLan, latterly as Director of Planning and Insight, covering a broad range of planning activities, including policy and data analysis, business intelligence, data returns, performance metrics, assurance and market research. Active across the HE sector, Sally was instrumental in the establishment of HESPA and has held a series of advisory roles relating to the use of data in UK HE.Before working in HE, Sally worked with the public, private and third sectors in economic regeneration, developing strategic responses to social challenges relating to housing, health and young people.
Sally’s recent higher education publications:
Sally has a strong interest in how data on higher education are used to inform the public narrative about the sector and has authored two publications on the topic:
- Graduate Outcomes: a guide to using and interpreting the data, June 2020, HESPA publications. To support good understanding and use of the new Graduate Outcomes data, this guide offers a comprehensive summary of the survey, the background to its inception, how its findings will be used and by whom.
- A Guide to UK League Tables in Higher Education, January 2018, HEPI Report number 101. This report looks under the bonnet of the three main UK league tables – The Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide, the Guardian University Guide and the Complete University Guide. Intended as a reference tool for governors, managers and policymakers, it reveals how the wealth of data is used by league tables compilers. It also highlights some limitations of league tables in the hope that greater awareness will lead to more effective and appropriate use – by governors, policymakers and others.