MyGlasgow News

The University of Glasgow's Jane Broad, Director of the Student Lifecycle Support and Development team, has been appointed President of the international Oracle Higher Education User Group (HEUG).

On Thursday 2 March, in front of an audience of 4000, Jane was formally inaugurated as HEUG's next President. HEUG is a global organisation consisting of Higher Education institutions that use application software from the Oracle Corporation. This software forms the basis of the University of Glasgow’s MyCampus and CRM activities.

The HEUG represents approximately 31,000 users from over 1100 campuses located in 36 countries across 6 continents. It is the largest independent, industry-specific user group in the world, whose objectives can be summarised as providing a mechanism for sharing information and experience about selecting, implementing and using Oracle applications; to advocate to Oracle on matters of common interest and influence product development; and provide a channel for communication with Oracle management, developers, partners and the HEUG membership. 

Jane told Campus e-News: "The role is a great honour for me. Because we are all volunteers in the organisation, but also because many of my colleagues are based outside of the UK, I do most of my HEUG work in my personal time - evenings and weekends - but as I am a night-owl by nature this is far preferable to me that the early mornings that the Board members based in Australia and Singapore cope with!

"I am passionate about HEUG and its extraordinary ability to connect users from around the globe and facilitate them to help one another. Through the HEUG our technology and our ability to extract value from it improves at a much faster pace! To have the opportunity to lead HEUG through a period when so much in technology and higher education is changing at such a pace, is extraordinary but fantastic!"

Jane is the first President elected from outside North America

Jane has been involved with the HEUG since attending the Alliance conference in 2008 and in 2011 she joined the HEUG Board as the elected representative for Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Since that time, she has developed a strong passion for, and deep sense of commitment to, the HEUG and this has led to her increasing involvement in the strategic projects and work groups of the Board of Directors. In her role for the EMEA region, establishing the community and the Charter, establishing the annual EMEA Alliance conference and working with other Oracle User Groups in the region, she has made a significant contribution to the community and to achieving the HEUG’s global objectives.

In 2014 Jane was appointed Vice President-Product with responsibility for leading the work of the HEUG Advisory Groups - often referred to as the ‘heart’ of the HEUG organisation as these groups play a central role in delivering HEUG’s dual mission of Education and Advocacy. In this role Jane led the initial restructuring and resizing of the Advisory Groups in a fiscally sustainable way in order to create the capacity and capability to engage with Oracle and HEUG membership in a more agile and responsive way – on new products, new initiatives and strategic projects.

'Splendid ambassador'

As Jane starts her two-year term as President she is focused on ensuring the HEUG engages with the right people within Oracle, both as they have changes in leadership within their organisation, and as they diversify the products and technology that our current and future members utilise. This engagement at the Oracle executive and HEUG Board level is central to HEUG’s value proposition to its stakeholders and to HEUG’s ability to achieve its mission.

Over recent years HEUG’s global growth has continued, and existing international regions are maturing. There is a strong foundation upon which to build but also a need for further clarity on the mechanisms for communication between the international communities, the international regions, the HEUG Board and Oracle in order to build a sustainable global community – Jane has played a key role in determining the future organisational structure to achieve this and will continue to do so during her term of Office.

Welcoming Jane’s appointment, Christine Lowther, Director of Student Services, said: "Jane’s role as HEUG President is a significant personal and professional achievement for her and also raises the University’s profile in this international community – Jane is the first President elected from outside North America. Jane is a splendid ambassador, building strong and lasting relationships with large sections of the global higher education community. We congratulate her."

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First published: 16 March 2017