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Archive for the 'Finance, management information and value for money' Category

LCCOS all-staff Sustainability event

By Benjamin Meunier, on 23 March 2023

Earlier in Term 2, a number of colleagues from across Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science gathered to explore sustainability in the department. I wanted to share the video from the event, which has been niftily organised into chapters by Meghan Flight in the LCCOS Comms (I hasten to add that the video has been available for some time, but I have been tardy in putting together this short write-up!).

The session opened with a presentation from Max Vidotto (Sustainable UCL Business Partner for LCCOS), followed by talks from Sarah Lawson (Queen Square Library) on sustainable action from a site library point of view, and Collette Lawrence (LCCOS Facilities & Projects) on the LCCOS Sustainability Reference Guide. I thoroughly enjoyed the interesting presentations and the engaged interactive parts of the meeting, which I compered as chair of the Sustainability Committee with support from Meghan and Rowena on the Q&A session. What came across in the event was that there is a significant interest in sustainability and a lot of creative ideas from colleagues on how we can make LCCOS even more environmentally responsible. I hope that this will be the first of a series of events, which might become an annual occurrence.

As I have written about previously (in 2022, 2021, 2020, – you get the idea!), I am very proud of our achievements in the sustainability arena over the years. We are one of the best performing departments in UCL and I would argue one of the most active academic library services in the UK when it comes to sustainability. It has been an absolute privilege coordinating some of the work, and mostly keeping abreast of the committed efforts of Green Champions across the department. Within LCCOS, colleagues in the museums and the Theatre are initiating Green Impact in new areas, and I am sure there will be more good practice developing over the coming months and years.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Michelle Wake for agreeing to take the Chair of the LCCOS Sustainability Committee, with effect from my departure from UCL (tomorrow).

All the best in your endeavours to make LCCOS a beacon for sustainable libraries!

Do you know how to…

By Sandra I Enwesi, on 22 August 2022

… pay your supplier

Infographic explaining the process of paying a supplier. Contact lib-fin@ucl.ac.uk for assistance.


Helpful resources

Something new : Updated guides for paperless process for staff and student expenses

By Sandra I Enwesi, on 28 October 2021

The Library Services Finance team would like to bring to your attention a few updates to the Libnet Finance page .The Finance Transformer launched a series of  service improvements last year and one of these enhancements includes that staff  and students across UCL can now claim their expense digitally.

Staff and students can now follow a fully paperless process for the submission of expense claims in iExpenses. Claims can now be submitted and processed using receipt images only, removing the need to send paper receipts to Accounts Payable.

The Myfinance guide on the Libnet Finance page has recently been updated with these new guides which  explains the step by step process for making a general expense claim digitally for UCL staff  and for UCL students .

Non-UCL staff and Non UCL students still need to complete a manual expense claim form which needs to be submitted to AP.

All links can be found under Myfinance  here  https://www.ucl.ac.uk/libnet/finance   

 

SCONUL 20/21

By Sandra I Enwesi, on 7 June 2021

The SCONUL (The Society of College, National and University Libraries) return is an annual insight which provides a detailed picture of the workings of UCL Library Services , allowing us to take stock, plan and benchmark our performance against our peers. In total there are 34 sets of measurements which are reflective of the different areas of the library.

I have collected the stats for the past 9 years and we ( UCL Library Services) have never missed the submission deadline and the timely submission as well as the success of the annual return has been possible because of the collaborative spirit of UCL Library Services staff ,even in the thick of the lockdown last year with many many staff working from home , basking in the joys of home schooling (phew!) , literally taking the phrase “hanging in there” to a whole new level , we still delivered the annual return on time with Zero queries and for this I am very grateful and proud.

This year’s return 20/21 will soon be open and as always I will be collecting promptly, if you provided any stats in the last return but will not be doing so this year please let me know in an email  s.enwesi@ucl.ac.uk and advise who has taken over.

Aggregate figures for the academic year (1 August to 31 July) are generally required. Thank you 

Library Committee

By Paul Ayris, on 23 February 2021

Library Committee (February 2021)

On 17 February, Library Committee met for the first time in 2021. Because of restrictions caused by the pandemic, the meeting was held virtually in MS TEAMS. I was honoured to be asked to chair it, as Professor David Price had been called away to another meeting. The text of my Pro-Vice-Provost’s Report can be read behind the link.

As usual, I described the work of the Library against the Key Performance Areas of the Library Strategy. Of particular note was the report under section 4, Finance and Management Information, on the SCONUL Statistics for 2019-20. UCL compares its performance against a select group of Russell Group universities. Here the stats show that in 2019-20, UCL Library Services was by some way the most heavily visited Library in UK Higher Education, with 3,011,764 visits.

I was also sure to underline for colleagues on UCL Library Committee the tremendous contribution which Library colleagues have made in the last 11 months during the various lockdowns. With the Prime Minister’s announcement on 22 February of a staged plan for withdrawal from lockdown, we have signs that life by June may return to something more like normal. I look forward to the days when I can be back in my Office and talk to colleagues in real life once again. Stay safe, well and positive.

Paul Ayris

Pro-Vice-Provost

 

SCONUL RETURN 19/20-It’s all in the numbers

By Sandra I Enwesi, on 19 August 2020

                                                                   

It is important that decisions made within the library are primarily supported by data , not only to improve productivity but to make operations more efficient.

The SCONUL (The Society of College, National and University Libraries) return is simply an annual insight , it provides a detailed picture of the workings of  UCL Library Services , allowing us to take stock, plan and benchmark our performance against our peers. In total we collect 34 measures some of which have been featured in my word cloud and are reflective of the different areas of the library.

The SCONUL RETURN 19/20 will soon be open and as I always do I will be collecting promptly, if you provided any stats in the previous return but will not be doing so this year please let me know in an email and advise who has taken over.

In the next couple of weeks I will be sending out emails requesting the stats you have collected (Aggregate figures for the academic year (1 August to 31 July) are generally required) against these set of measurements which continue to provide the information that the Library has found useful for bench marking, internal advocacy and strategic planning .

Sandra Enwesi

s.enwesi@ucl.ac.uk

(Still working remotely somewhere in north London)

UCL 2034 Progress Report

By Benjamin Meunier, on 4 December 2019

UCL has published the Progress Report 2019, highlighting some of UCL’s key achievements and steps towards realising the vision set out in UCL 2034. Highlights in this year’s report start with a Library Services initiative, the UCL Open megajournal as an example of academic leadership. You can see the review on the 2034 website at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/2034/progress-report-2019

Here’s a summary:

Principal Themes 

  1. Academic Leadership
    UCL Open’s Megajournal – The Constitution Unit’s role in a think-tank for Northern Ireland – Forming closer ties with the European Space Agency
  2. Integration of Research and Education
    Posters in Parliament – UCL’s 1000th Arena Fellow – the Bloomsbury Theatre and Performance Lab
  3. Addressing Global Challenges
    Antiretroviral treatment preventing the transmission of HIV – Developing a legal tool to protect refugees’ rights – Helping an indigenous community restore parts of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
  4. Accessible and Publicly Engaged
    Public art at UCL – Growing community-university partnerships in East London – Building robots inspired by nature
  5. London’s Global University
    Working with Camden to drive innovation and social change – planning approval granted for new UK Dementia Institute – “Cosmic Coffee”
  6. Delivering Global Impact
    The RELIEF centre working to better integrate the forcibly displaced – Tackling chronic pain in children – Biogas project awarded Horizon 2020 funding

    Key Enablers

    1. Best Student Support – the Accommodation team’s Welcome programme
    2. Valuing our Staff – Welcome to UCL programme for onboarding new staff
    3. Financing our ambitions – an update from the It’s All Academic campaign
    4. Excellent systems – new UCL Staff Intranet
    5. Sustainable estate – Transforming the IOE
    6. Communicating and engaging – the #MadeatUCL campaign

Claim your cash back : iExpense process

By Sandra I Enwesi, on 2 July 2019

Ever had to travel to another location for training but have paid from your own pocket? How many times have you needed to claim back for some money but didn’t know how? Have you logged into Myfinance and proceeded to submit a claim but halfway through the process confusion strikes and you abandon it altogether, what in the world is a project code I hear you say? Why won’t it let me?

We at library Finance get emails daily from library staff asking for guidance when it comes to claiming back expenses on iExpense and in a recent survey run by the library finance team, out of 75 responses, we found that 14% used iExpense 5 or more times in the past year, 7% have had claims but don’t know how and 10% of you found the process extremely difficult.

This is why we the library finance team have decided to run a help session  to help staff with iExpense, this would cover the major aspects of how to raise an iExpense claim this could be seasons ticket loans, expenses , travel fares etc.

This session would be run by Jean Munroe, she will be on hand to answer any questions relating to iExpense, so you are encouraged to come along , bring your question or issues and we would do our best to iron these issues out.

If after the session you still find it unclear or daunting, there would be a drop in half a day session where you will be assisted by a member of the finance team with your claims.

The date and time would be communicated within the next couple of weeks, so watch this space!

 

The Pro-Vice-Provost’s View

By Paul Ayris, on 30 May 2019

Increased student support for UCL Library Services

UCL takes student feedback very seriously. We have a range of student surveys, and participate in national surveys, to measure the level of happiness students feel with their UCL experience.

The Student Experience Survey was conducted between 1 March and 10 April 2019 and included all penultimate year undergraduate students. 5,185 students were invited to complete the survey, and 20% responded (n=1037).

Questions are arranged under 9 main headings, one of which is Learning Resources. This general category was the best scoring category out of all 9, with 83% of respondents saying they were satisfied, an increase of 3% over 2018 and an impressive increase of 7% over 2017.

The most important question concerning library resources and services is this one – the library resources (e.g. books, online services and learning spaces) have supported my learning well:

Question 2019 2018 Difference
The library resources (e.g. books, online services and learning spaces) have supported my learning well. 85% 80% +5

This is a great result, showing an increase of 5%. Indeed the result is so good that the score to this question made it the highest scoring question in the whole of the survey. One of the reasons for the increase is, of course, the addition of the Student Centre to the library footprint, with its 1,000 new learning spaces. The Centre had just opened when the survey was held and, already, its impact is being felt in rising levels of student satisfaction.

Many congratulations to all members of UCL Library Services – all of whom have contributed to the reputation of our services and the impact they make on the student body. It’s a great performance and bodes well for the future.

Paul Ayris

Pro-Vice-Provost (UCL Library Services)

Develop your entrepreneurial skills – free training available to UCL staff

By Benjamin Meunier, on 15 April 2019

UCL Innovation & Enterprise is here to support the UCL community to develop their ideas and entrepreneurial thinking. That includes all Professional Services staff, as well as academics, students and alumni.

If you are interested in learning how to think in an entrepreneurial way, or have an idea you want to build into something real that impacts the outside world, please take advantage of this free programme of activities. 

Examples of Professional Services staff who have already had support from UCL Innovation & Enterprise include Alice Chilver, who has developed a national network for women in HE and Rachael Corson and Joycelyn Mate whose natural haircare business recently won $500K in a competition.

Here are some upcoming events that may be of interest.

 

Enterprise Bootcamp 12-14 June

Learn what it takes to be an entrepreneur. A free 3 day bootcamp to introduce you to how businesses operate. You will learn practical business orientated skills in a supportive environment details and apply here

 

Explore £5,000 – Explore your business idea – starts 14 May 6-8pm

Test the potential of your business idea in eight free interactive Tuesday evening sessions and get the chance to pitch for £5,000. Details and apply here

 

Launch £10,000 – Launch your business venture – starts 12 June

Get your business ready to go live in eight evenings of hands on workshops, gaming activities and one to one support, then pitch for £10,000. Details and apply here

 

First Monday – Networking next 3rd June

Everyone is welcome at our monthly networking evenings. Be inspired by successful entrepreneurs and form lasting connections with peers that could help you start or grow your business.  Details and register here

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/enterprise/staff