Unsuccessful - what me? A summary of feedback on - UCAS

IN SEARCH OF A
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Burgess was keen to explain a little
about the recruit<strong>me</strong>nt <strong>of</strong> the new Chief Executive
for UCAS …
When Anthony McClaran telephoned <strong>me</strong> to say that
Perrett Laver, the search consultants who were working
on the appoint<strong>me</strong>nt <strong>of</strong> a new Chief Executive for the
Quality Assurance Agency, would contact <strong>me</strong> for a
reference, I knew that I would shortly be searching for a
new Chief Executive at UCAS.
By the end <strong>of</strong> February, Anthony’s appoint<strong>me</strong>nt was
made public and I wrote, on behalf <strong>of</strong> the UCAS Board,
to four search consultants inviting them to tender for the
work. Inevitably this took a month (despite deciding that
the selection would be by post based upon the
submissions).
When the UCAS Board <strong>me</strong>t in March it was clear that
the ti<strong>me</strong>table was very tight. Anthony was to leave at the
end <strong>of</strong> September and under the UCAS constitution we
had to be able to agree the appoint<strong>me</strong>nt <strong>of</strong> Chief
Executive at a formal Board <strong>me</strong>eting which was
scheduled for mid-June. The Board therefore agreed to
delegate authority to the appoint<strong>me</strong>nt panel (Sir Muir
Russell and Pa<strong>me</strong>la Taylor and <strong>me</strong>). In addition, the
Board supported my request to add the Chair <strong>of</strong> the
UCAS Staff Council.
We worked as a group with Perrett Laver who had won
the UCAS contract. They spent ti<strong>me</strong> in UCAS and
interviewed key stakeholders in order to develop the
further particulars. On the basis <strong>of</strong> the search 34 people
expressed an interest in the position and the
appoint<strong>me</strong>nt panel long-listed 12 people for Perrett
Laver to interview. On the basis <strong>of</strong> their reports and a
discussion by the panel on the qualities we expected,
we decided to shortlist six candidates (<strong>of</strong> whom two
dropped out). The selection was based on three
interviews and two presentations after which we were
delighted to appoint Mary Curnock Cook who has great
experience <strong>of</strong> the 14-19 curriculum and the skills
agenda, all <strong>of</strong> which have implications for the future <strong>of</strong>
UCAS.
Mary Curnock Cook,
UCAS Chief
Executive Designate
The recruit<strong>me</strong>nt from the eyes <strong>of</strong> UCAS staff – from
Kathryn Farley-Osborne, Chair <strong>of</strong> the UCAS Staff
Council …
On the 26 March I heard that I would be joining
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Bob Burgess, Sir Muir Russell and Pa<strong>me</strong>la
Taylor on the panel to recruit the new Chief Executive <strong>of</strong>
UCAS. Their CVs included Chair and Deputy Chair <strong>of</strong> the
UCAS Board, Principal <strong>of</strong> the University <strong>of</strong> Glasgow and
Principal <strong>of</strong> Newman University College; I was
impressed and slightly daunted! But I was encouraged
by the number <strong>of</strong> emails from staff supporting <strong>me</strong>. They
were really astonished that I was going to be on the
panel to represent their views. What a state<strong>me</strong>nt from
the Board, to invite the Chair <strong>of</strong> Staff Council into such
a key position!
I soon realised that it would be down to <strong>me</strong> to gather the
views <strong>of</strong> everyone at UCAS and incorporate them into
the recruit<strong>me</strong>nt process. Initially a daunting thought but
I was encouraged by the enthusiasm and interest <strong>of</strong> my
colleagues.
Enthusiasm continued when we surveyed staff to
gather their views. This identified characteristics and
qualities that staff would like to find in their next Chief
Executive; these were incorporated into the initial
search criteria. The survey also asked staff to suggest
questions that they would like to ask; these were used
to guide the topics for the candidate’s presentations
and the questions I asked at the formal interview!
One <strong>of</strong> the selection activities involved a panel <strong>of</strong> UCAS
staff (all volunteers!), including myself, <strong>me</strong>eting
individual candidates to discuss their views on
employee engage<strong>me</strong>nt and how best to recognise and
encourage potential staff talent and ambition. Each
candidate stimulated an interesting debate and the
pr<strong>of</strong>essionalism <strong>of</strong> everyone was exceptional!
I had never <strong>me</strong>t any <strong>of</strong> the panel and was naturally
apprehensive. But having spoken to them on the
telephone during conference calls I was encouraged at
how I had been drawn into the process. My journey to
London was spent pulling questions together from our
survey and getting excited at the prospect <strong>of</strong> working as
part <strong>of</strong> the interview panel.
Throughout the whole process Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Burgess
encouraged staff involve<strong>me</strong>nt and I was very impressed
by the way staff responded to their opportunity to
participate and ‘have their say’; this was recognised by
the panel and greatly appreciated.
For <strong>me</strong>, the experience has been fantastic and I’ve
learnt a great deal from the process. I would like to think
that we’ve now set a precedent for greater staff
involve<strong>me</strong>nt with high pr<strong>of</strong>ile recruit<strong>me</strong>nt at UCAS.
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Bob Burgess,
Chairman <strong>of</strong> the UCAS
Board and Vice-Chancellor
<strong>of</strong> the University <strong>of</strong>
Leicester
Kathryn Farley-Osborne,
Chair <strong>of</strong> the UCAS Staff
Council and Custo<strong>me</strong>r
Service Team Coordinator
UCAS news 5