Looking back and looking forward - a message from the Vice-Chancellor
Friday, 17 July 2015
Sir David Bell KCB, Vice-Chancellor
As another academic year ends, I can hardly believe that I have now completed four summer graduation rounds. It doesn’t seem any time since I joined the University in the cold and dark of January 2012.
Of course, the summer ‘vacation’ is a somewhat nebulous concept in university life. The University is an all-year-round enterprise with many colleagues working extremely hard over July, August and September. But I know that many of you will be taking a well-deserved break over the coming weeks. Above all else, I want to thank you for your continuing commitment to the University of Reading. I appreciate it hugely.
In my end of year message, I want to focus on a number of headlines:
Student numbers
On the undergraduate front, our applications are up strongly on last year (21% relative to last year, compared with 2% for the sector overall). Our admissions, offers and conversion operation is now very professional, so I am confident we will have a strong showing come September. The task next year is turning more of our insurance choices into firm acceptances. But, overall, this is highly encouraging in a year in which the cap on undergraduate numbers has been lifted.
The national 2016 undergraduate recruitment advertising campaign is now well underway. I am delighted our first two Open Days were such a great success as we welcomed more than 6000 visitors. Open Days, Visit Days and the day-to-day business of student recruitment requires an extraordinary team effort across the institution.
Alongside the main undergraduate advertising campaign, we are running a strong parallel campaign for the School of Architecture. The proposed redevelopment of the URS Building, as part of our ongoing capital investment programme, and a £3,000-a-year scholarship for each student who commits to the BSc Architecture as their first choice reflects the University's own commitment to the success of this new venture.
Our postgraduate numbers are broadly in line with last year. This is a tough market and, again, we are thinking hard about how best to improve our position in the future. We are planning a new national, annual postgraduate taught advertising campaign, to mirror the approach we have taken for undergraduates. We will be saying more on this in the coming months.
It is worth underlining that the University Executive Board (UEB) is looking in detail at longer-term student number projections. We need to strike the right balance between growing our income without undermining teaching quality, the student experience and the power of our research. Recklessly expanding our numbers at the expense of quality would be a bad move.
Major developments
The 2015/16 academic year will be hugely significant for the University across many different fronts.
We will see the opening of our state-of-the-art, purpose-built campus University of Reading Malaysia; the celebration of our 90th anniversary on Thursday 17 March 2016; major buildings work begin; and the launch of a 10-year, multi-million-pound fundraising campaign in the run-up to our centenary year.
There are also a number of significant developments coming into effect ahead of the autumn term starting. These include:
Research Deans: From 1 August, the five new Research Deans begin their term of office. Each Dean will head up work in our interdisciplinary themes and across a new network of Research Divisions and Centres. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Steve Mithen, gave a detailed update earlier this month on the progress we have made in implementing the 2020 Research Plan.
Teaching & Learning Deans: Also from 1 August, a new team of Teaching and Learning Deans begin work and a new streamlined planning and leadership structure comes into force. The Deans will have specific responsibility for leading major cross-institution projects including internationalisation, student experience, quality enhancement and technology enhanced learning.
New Deans of Diversity and Inclusion: We held a series of very positive Ask the Board sessions in May as we discussed how to create a more inclusive and diverse environment for students and staff at all levels of the University. Last week, we announced the new Deans for Diversity and Inclusion from 1 August. They will help us take forward a wide range of work in these crucial areas.
University Charter: The new University Charter and Ordinances have been approved by the Privy Council and come into force from 1 August. This follows an extensive consultation over the last 12 months with UCU, the Staff Forum and the wider University community. Academic staff (lecturers, associate professors and professors) will be sent their new contracts this month to sign and return. Other members of staff will be issued with new contracts in due course. New employment policies will be published at the same time as the employment contract and will be available for staff online shortly.
School of Systems Engineering: You will know by now that the University Council has approved a major reorganisation of the teaching and research activity now within the School of Systems Engineering. This includes opening new departments for Computer Science and Bio-Engineering by September 2016 as well as a reallocation of research activity to other parts of the University. A Restructuring Committee will now begin work in the coming weeks to implement the changes, consulting with staff.
Closing a stand-alone academic school was not a decision taken lightly. However, we are now in the best position to ensure that areas of strength currently within SSE can flourish into the future. In what has been a very difficult few months for all those affected, I want to acknowledge again the professionalism of academic and support staff within SSE.
Professional Administrative Services Review (PAS): Following detailed analysis and over 150 workshops and meetings during the last 18 months, UEB and University Council have now agreed the future broad operational models for non-academic services. These consolidate teams across Finance; Human Resources; Marketing, Communication & Engagement; Technical Support; Teaching Operations Support; and Executive Support.
The Director of Human Resources, John Brady, will provide an update in the coming days on the decisions to date and the implementation timetable. This will include a comprehensive consultation and engagement programme from the autumn with colleagues across the University so that we get these changes right.
Higher education reforms
The system is still adapting to the rapid ‘marketisation’ reforms begun by the Coalition Government. And lest we thought there would be any let-up in the pace of change, the new Conservative Government has set out an ambitious programme for HE.
I gave Senate a detailed update this month on the outlook for the sector over the new Parliament. However, the Budget last week has rather overtaken some of my observations – just proving that if a week is a long time in politics, two weeks is sometimes an age!
First, the government has stated it will allow "some" universities to raise tuition fees in line with inflation from 2017/18. Potentially, this will be a 'reward' for institutions which score well in the government's planned Teaching Excellence Framework. As ever, the devil will be in the detail and the University will seek to play a key role in getting this policy absolutely right.
Second, we will need to look carefully at the combined impact of the proposed freezing of the £21,000 repayment threshold for tuition loans (in effect, a tax rise) and the replacement of all maintenance grants with loans from 2016/17. Living costs is the burning issue for prospective and existing students. So we will be looking in detail at the impact of the Chancellor's announcement and what we need to do to ensure access to our University to talented students from all backgrounds.
Third, the Chancellor has pledged to create a new compulsory National Living Wage of £7.20 an hour from next April 2016 for all over 25s, rising in stages to at least £9 an hour by 2020. Again the devil will be in the detail but this gives us a clear minimum pay benchmark for future financial planning.
It is worth adding that the vast majority of the University's contracted staff are already paid above the pay levels set by the Living Wage Foundation, in addition to receiving a competitive pensions, holiday and reward package. We had already begun to look further at this issue and so the Budget announcement will provide further impetus to that work.
And finally………
When I spoke to the Friends of the University recently, I returned to the theme of the University as a community. I did that partly as I reflected on both the joys and sadness of community life. So in June, we celebrated members of staff being recognised in the Birthday Honours in the same month as we mourned colleagues who died. Throughout, we demonstrated our strength and solidarity and I know that this was deeply felt across the University.
As we look forward, I restate my view that the University should be bold in its ambition and confident in being one of the leading research-intensive universities in the UK. Yes, I recognise that the pace of development is challenging and not always easy. But we are a strong community and I am sure that this will serve us well into the future.
As for me, I shall be heading off on my ‘stay-cation’ in Stratford on Avon and Norfolk in the next week or so. I have an alarmingly large pile of books to read. Yet, I am always on the lookout for recommendations as I find it too easy to get comfortable reading the kinds of books I have always read.
Let me end pretty much where I began. Thank you for all that you do for our great institution. I look forward to continuing to work with you as we head into our 90th anniversary year.
Sir David Bell KCB
Vice-Chancellor