Follow this request

There is 1 person following this request

RSS feed of updates

Offensive? Unsuitable?

Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid for FOI purposes (read more).

If you believe this request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators

Report this request

Act on what you've learnt

Tweet this request

Start your own blog

Get help investigating

Write to your politician

Pledge with others

Similar requests

Benefits of the Student Lifecycle Project

Louis Seaman made this Freedom of Information request to University of Glasgow

The request was partially successful.

From: Louis Seaman

8 February 2011

Dear University of Glasgow,
At the University of Glasgow's Senior Management Meeting of 15
November 2010, in relation to the future benefits delivered by the
Student Lifecycle Project the Director of Student Services stated:

”These 'staff' benefits were estimated to produce savings of over
£500k p.a., with additional savings in academic staff time.”

1. Could you please tell me how the figure of £500k p.a. was
calculated? Please provide a breakdown.

2. According to your own published information the Student
Lifecycle Project will cost in excess of £14m. Could you please
tell me how many years it will take for the University to recoup
the cost of this project? Please supply the assumptions used for
this calculation.

3. With regard to “savings in academic staff time”, could you
please be more specific and identify those academic activities
affected, the time saved for each, and when each saving will
materialise?

4. What will be the recurring cost of this new system? Please
itemise the cost by staff, computers, software, licences,
accommodation, consultancy, etc?

Yours faithfully,

Louis Seaman

Link to this

From: FOI Office
University of Glasgow

9 February 2011

20110209 Request Acknowledgement F0130074.pdf
29K Download View as HTML

Dear Louis Seaman,

Further to your Freedom of Information request, dated 8 February 2011 timed 19:08 hours, please find letter of acknowledgement attached.

You will find that the University's acknowledgement of your information request is in PDF (Portable Document Format) file(s) attached to this email.

The PDF file format is used for electronic distribution because it preserves the look and feel of the original document complete with fonts, colours, images, and layout. To open a PDF file you can download a free program called Acrobat Reader and install it onto your computer by clicking on to the following URL:

http://www.adobe.co.uk/products/acrobat/...

Yours sincerely,

Data Protection and Freedom of Information Office

Direct Line: +44 (0)141 330 2523
Fax: 0141 330 4920

Gilbert Scott Building
University of Glasgow
University Avenue
Glasgow G12 8QQ

The University of Glasgow, charity number SC004401

Link to this

From: FOI Office
University of Glasgow

7 March 2011

Response F0130074.pdf
45K Download View as HTML

Appendix A F0130074.pdf
280K Download View as HTML

Dear Mr Seaman,

Please find attached the University's response to your Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 request dated 8 February 2011 timed 19:08 hours.

You will find that the University's response to your information request is in PDF (Portable Document Format) file(s) attached to this email.

The PDF file format is used for electronic distribution because it preserves the look and feel of the original document complete with fonts, colours, images, and layout. To open a PDF file you can download a free program called Acrobat Reader and install it onto your computer by clicking on to the following URL:

http://www.adobe.co.uk/products/acrobat/...

Yours sincerely,

Data Protection and Freedom of Information Office

Direct Line: +44 (0)141 330 2523
Fax: 0141 330 4920

Gilbert Scott Building
University of Glasgow
University Avenue
Glasgow G12 8QQ

The University of Glasgow, charity number SC004401

Link to this

Louis Seaman left an annotation ( 9 March 2011)

The University say that this project is going to save £500K p.a. However, based on this reply the £500K p.a. saving does not include ANY of the costs listed below:

1. £264,473 (annual maintenance cost for the software).
2. £108,308 (maintenance for the hardware)
3. The cost of the post go-live support model which will include costs covering functional and technical support. This could easily exceed £1m, considering that currently there are over 80 people working on this project.
4. The cost of resources that Colleges and Schools must allocate to provide and maintain data for this system.

The document submitted to the University Senior Management Group Meeting of 17 March 2009, “Student Lifecycle Project SMG Paper 17 March 2009” made many justifications for the allocation of £13.2m to the Student Lifecycle Project for example:

In section 5, Efficiencies (page 6 and 7) it was claimed that:

“An early estimate has been made of the value of staff time that will be saved in the above 10 areas, and the figure is in excess of £1M per annum. A more robust estimate of the value of efficiency savings, together with the value of the contribution of the solution to the realisation of strategic and operational benefits, will be made once the process design phase of the Project is complete.”

From the evidence it appears that the University expected a £1m saving p.a., then one year later that figure reduced to £500K, and today it appears that big losses are on the horizon. This is total mismanagement of University funds and clearly shows incompetence within the Senior Management Group.

No wonder the University is in such a financial mess!