Heads of University Management & Administration Network in Europe

Vision, Mission statement and strategic priorities

What is HUMANE?

HUMANE is Europe’s international network of higher education professionals. Our aims are to build global networks of professionals, foster innovation in higher education services and drive professional excellence in higher education management.

Our Vision

Our vision is to transform higher education into a dynamic sector open to the world, through the transformation of professional services with contemporary approaches for dynamic service delivery, for what is needed in the academic enterprise of today.

Our Mission

Our mission is to help universities thrive in the global world by empowering their senior professional service leaders and managers to strengthen professional practices and organisational development.

Our Strategic Priorities

HUMANE’s strategic priorities guide the association in its goal to help transform professional services in universities into dynamic services building on people and on modern technology.

They are centred around connecting, developing, and empowering professionals in higher education, be it those in senior generalist positions (Head/Director of Administration, Registrar, Secretary-General, Chancellor, or Chief Operating Officer) or in more specialised ones (HR, finances, IT, estates, internationalisation, quality assurance, knowledge transfer and innovation):  

  • To elevate professionals in higher education for the key roles they play in contributing to institutional strategy formulation and implementation, to address the current challenges.
    To do so we offer a portfolio of professional development programmes and networking events, focusing on trends in higher education and ways to address the challenges leaders and managers currently experience, to help them find new solutions and empower them to deliver effectively for the university of the future.
  • To build institutional capabilities for institutional resilience and change management in universities.
    To do so we offer help to members of our HUMANE community by empowering leaders and managers in universities, providing the latest knowledge and resources on trends in higher education, leadership and change management skills. We will assist universities in making changes and transformation so that they can deliver more effectively in the complex environments in which they operate.
  • To continue to expand the range and depth of our activities.
    To do this we continue steadily to expand our membership within and beyond Europe to ensure that we are able to grow our network and events, in a manageable fashion which enables the long-term sustainability of HUMANE.

Who are we and what do we do?

Uniquely, HUMANE supports the professional development of current executive leaders within the HE sector as well as organisational development through the provision of programmes to promising senior managers and staff.

HUMANE Members are tertiary level higher education institutions recognised in their country and represented by their permanent representative. This person is an appropriate senior management staff, usually a person with significant responsibility for administrative affairs in their university. Their title will vary between institutions (Head of Administration, Registrar, Secretary-General, Chancellor, Director of Administration or Chief Operating Officer).