Dr Track Dinning, Liverpool John Moores University, reflects on the transformational personal and institutional benefits of NCEE membership
Working at an institution that is rooted within the city but with a global reach I have found being a member invaluable for both developing staff as leaders through to being part of something much bigger than just me and my institution.
Membership has opened up links to other universities and organisations in places such as Tunisia and China, where staff have been able to share practice and have been invited to sit on expert panels. Being part of a global policy debate is so useful enabling you to be part of the future narrative on the direction of leadership. The network promotes an openness of dialogue, which is a genuine reality. We have had staff invited to write thought leadership pieces and been able to contribute to the strategic development of enterprise-related activity for the network.
Another benefit of working with NCEE is the access to a range of leadership programmes and conferences. We regularly engage our staff in the Emerging Entrepreneurial Leader’s programme. This programme really helps build confidence in staff who are leading the academic programmes within the Business School.
On a personal note, I have participated in several NCEE programmes. Starting out on the Enterprise Educators Programme, this allowed me to immerse myself into the world of enterprise education and played a major part in me securing my first academic role. The annual conferences have been an ongoing source of creativity and passion for me and have informed by own practice and curriculum delivery.
More recently, I attended the Entrepreneurial University Leader’s programme. This allowed me the time and space to consider myself as an entrepreneurial leader and gave me unparalleled access to a network of senior leaders from universities around the country. Over the three-day programme the senior leaders presenting were all very open about the challenges their institutions faced and shared and discussed with us possible solutions to very real-world university problems and issues. The programme runs with small cohort sizes and so it provides a safe space to share ideas and learn. I consider this programme as invaluable to anyone wanting to springboard into a senior management position within a university.