Jane Donachy, vice chair of CUBO and the organisation’s lead on membership, said: “As we enter a new CUBO year, we are delighted to announce our new membership model, which offers members enhanced value and benefits in these challenging times.
“The last few months have highlighted the importance and value of sharing information and solutions together via online networking. While we will no doubt return to face-to-face networking in the future, we will continue to host online networking and learning, including our free, virtual Winter Conference in early December.
“We have expanded the special interest groups to include marketing, finance, student experience, campus universities, soft facilities, conferencing, technology and outsourced catering, as well as more regional groups, following the success of the London regional group during the last year.”
The changes come at a time when commercial and campus services have never been so important within the university infrastructure, she said, both in safeguarding staff and students on campus, and in driving revenues in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The key changes include introducing institutional membership with no limit to the number of staff who can access CUBO resources, and opening up to the FE (further education) and international sectors. In addition, fees are now turnover-based, making membership more affordable for smaller institutions across the sector.
CUBO is also offering a special offer of £200 off the annual membership fee for 2020/2021 for new institutions that sign up by 30 September 2020.
She added: “There are many reasons why joining CUBO would offer institutions huge benefits, including a professional network of 550-plus peers across campus and commercial services, monthly round tables and webinars, access to best practice and research, special groups, commercial services benchmarking, discounts on training and more.”
For more information on joining CUBO visit: https://www.cubo.ac.uk/page/whyjoin