A pioneering initiative at the University of Manchester is swelling the ranks of highly qualified state school governors.
Led by Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, a distinguished life scientist who is also the president and vice-chancellor of Manchester University, the idea was to increase significantly the number of talented staff and former students who contribute to the lives and success of young people at school.
The university had already established a school governor initiative to attract academic staff to school governor roles but wanted to give additional support to the strategic development of UK state schools through volunteering.
School governors in the UK support and challenge head teachers, help set the strategic direction of schools and monitor progress. But many schools are unable to recruit people with appropriate skills and experience.
Manchester University's aim is to get well-qualified staff and alumni with academic, estate management, finance, law, human resources and student welfare expertise into the right volunteering roles for the right schools.
It is well placed to do so. Manchester is the largest single-site university in the UK. It has 22 academic schools and hundreds of specialist research groups undertaking teaching and research of global significance. According to the results of the 2008 research assessment exercise, it is rated third in the UK for research behind only Oxford and Cambridge.
In 2013, Manchester became the first UK university to partner with SGOSS, a national charity whose goal is to match prospective governors to schools.
The two began data sharing, doing campus events and a full-time regional SGOSS manager was appointed. SGOSS handles administration for the scheme, with two days a week input from a university staff member.
The partnership did awareness-raising, profiled potential new governors, created a staff network for the scheme, devised supporting social media and held recruitment events on campus. It held a first annual conference to share best practice and help staff stay abreast of developments in school governance and widened the initiative to former students.
The impact has been swift. Starting with 52 governors, the university achieved its five-year plan in one year, doubling its network of school governors. This generated the highest growth in governors in the UK for all single-site employers and the best growth among campus-based higher education institutions.
The vast majority of respondents to a survey agreed that their school governor experience had exposed them to new skills and knowledge.
Manchester receives no financial compensation for staff time but puts the economic value of volunteering during 2012-13 at more than £760,000. Participants donated an estimated 20,412 hours.
Lynn Beavis is part of the wordworks network
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