Sarah Featherstone is Director of Operations for Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) and has held several roles at the University of Manchester over the last 20 years – including 15 years with AMBS, during which she has supported teaching, learning and student experience at a leadership level. She shared more details about her role during her recent first visit to Dubai. In her current role, Sarah works alongside the head of school, Ken McPhail, and is responsible for professional services and the delivery of the elements that enable the achievement of the strategic core goals, through the effective day-to-day running of the school. This means focusing on a clear set of operational priorities and then managing the budget and making sure there is good governance across the school. It’s all about people but also includes the physical campus infrastructure and a built estate that is always being enhanced.
“Part of my role is about delivering infrastructure that enables all of our people to do great things, whether those people are students, academics, professional services or technical staff, we want to create the conditions and the environment and infrastructure to enable them to be the best versions of themselves and to deliver excellent work. And support all of our executive education delegates and stakeholders who use the school conference facilities.
“But really, it's the people that matter. So, my leadership role across professional services means ensuring that we are developing our people, listening to colleagues and acting on feedback, and then implementing this in our day-to-day work, as well as our strategic plan.
“I've got teams in the school that support all of the University’s key activities – teaching/ learning, research and social responsibility - so ultimately, I see that as the role of professional services in the school. We wear many hats but really at our core is how are we ensuring that the University - and the school and faculty - achieve its strategic aims and its core goals of excellent research, excellent teaching and learning, and then how social responsibility is embedded across all that we do. So that's at the heart of what my teams focus on and what we deliver for the school.
“Professional Services covers everything from marketing and the recruitment of students and ensuring an exceptional student experience for all, including for our delegates on Executive Education programmes. For all, we want to give them a superb Mancheser welcome and make sure they have the best experience wherever they are studying. For the MBA and Global MBA in particular, the postgraduate careers service also falls under my remit.
“Then, in terms of lifelong learning, we have our Executive Education portfolio where the team delivers either bespoke customised programmes or short open programmes for a range of external stakeholders. Our school operations team delivers everything from guest reception and conferencing to building management, social responsibility activities, compliance, health and safety – all the core functions you have when you're running the operations for a large school. We also have strong connections with our corporate partners, as well as on the research side through our business engagement activity. (I should also do a ‘shout out’ to our research institutes at the school which we also support, alongside faculty. We're also host to a large research institute in the school - The Productivity Institute.”
The accreditation triple crown
“The triple crown of accreditation for the business school (EQUIS, AMBA, AACSB) is incredibly important for AMBS and we are soon to have a new Accreditations Manager in school operations. I want to forward think accreditations- we do them very well at the moment but there are opportunities to look at other charter marks, especially in the business school landscape. We are looking at what more we can do to raise the profile of the school and be recognised externally which gives us many exciting opportunities. Of course, our rankings and the positioning of the school are incredibly important and we need to make sure we have really strong positions in rankings for the MBA, for Executive Education, and also for Master’s in Management.”
Global centres and the international dimension
“The global locations are very important for the business school. The Global MBA is the biggest programme we deliver through the locations and whilst are institutional centres/branch, the relationship with the business school is really highly valued in Manchester. All the centres/branch have different landscapes, so we need to understand what they deliver on behalf of the University and what they need from the school to help build their story.
“This is my first visit to Dubai. I'm fortunate that the centres/branch are so important for the school that I get the privilege of visiting each of them. I have visited Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong and I wanted to come to Dubai to build a face-to-face relationship and ensure that they feel a valued part of our institution - that's so important for us.
“The University of Manchester - Dubai is an impressive unit and works so hard on behalf of the University and particularly for the school. They do phenomenal work in the region with our prospective students, our students, and particularly our alumni. It is impressive for the size of the team and we should applaud the work that they do representing The University of Manchester in the region.
“I arrived during workshops and I surprised a couple of academics from Manchester (who didn't expect to see me on a Sunday in Dubai). I went to Abu Dhabi with Xavier Duran (MBA Programmes Director) for his masterclass and met prospective students and some of our alumni, thanking them for what they do for the University and the Centre. This is the richness of the personal visit. It's amazing to meet the team here in Manchester and spend time with our alumni and student communities, it's what it's all about.
“Each location has its own personality but also a very strong common commitment and loyalty to the University of Manchester. It's always wonderful to come to different parts of the world and walk into a building where you instantly know you are connected to The University of Manchester and feel at home. There’s a shared commitment to bringing the very best students onto our programmes and then look after those students through the learning journey. The alumni community is a huge strength of each centre and they all have such a vibrant and engaged alumni community. It makes you realise how much our alumni give back when you hear about their contributions to the centres and we really value the work they're doing in the regions.
“The Global MBA is the common, long-standing programme delivered through the centres and for the school, our relationship with the centres is a critical component of our purpose and what we do. So, when we're thinking about the longer-term future for programmes, the school, the business community and the future of purpose-led education, the centres are an integral part of that thinking. As a University, we have recently opened a new building which supports the delivery of flexible programmes. It’s an exciting evolution of where degree programmes and lifelong learning are going for a global audience. And now with AI impacting the curriculum and delivery model, I think we are at the start of a very exciting journey.
“The University of Manchester - Dubai’s social responsibility initiatives for the University are phenomenal. It's inspiring and I can see the common threads connecting with women, women in leadership positions, women in business, and how we empower women in organisations to improve, evolve, and lead. I see this as a particularly distinctive activity at the branch in Dubai and the breadth and scale are truly impressive - and it's all for the University of Manchester, all for the greater good and it's absolutely purpose-led. You can really feel that when you're here and it makes you very proud to work for an institution with such strong advocates across the world.”