Dear colleague,
We are fast approaching the end of an academic year that has been financially troublesome and emotionally stressful for most of us in the UK higher education sector. I recognise how exhausting our external context, and the responses we’ve needed to make, have been at times this year and that some anxieties persist. I’m deeply grateful to all of you for your perseverance, creativity and determination to provide an outstanding educational experience for our students and very high-quality research that makes a positive difference to the world around us.
The substantial progress we have made towards achieving our goal of financial sustainability is the result of a collective and collegiate effort across the whole university. The implementation of our Financial Recovery Plan has made a big difference to our financial stability. Thank you for supporting early, rapid and effective action to reset our finances in the face of significant cuts in our public funding and a sharp drop in the number of international students in the UK.
Even more importantly, thank you for continuing to achieve so much during a time of such turbulence and uncertainty for higher education. Our University-wide achievements are too numerous to list here, and many, many more achievements are specific to individual Schools and Directorates. Some examples from the last twelve months include:
- Being named within the top 10 universities in the UK and top 50 in the world in the Times Higher Impact Rankings, which highlights our success in contributing to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
- Continuing external recognition of the quality of the education we provide – particularly being ranked very highly for student satisfaction in each of the last 4 years (National Student Surveys 2021-24);
- A major increase in the value of research funding applications submitted (over £260M requested from external funders which is the highest ever value of bids in any financial year) and in the awards achieved (£64M by July 2024 which is 23% more than in 2022/23);
- Reaching a collective agreement with the recognised Campus Trades Unions on the harmonisation of terms and conditions of employment and thereby addressing long-standing and unacceptable differences in entitlement to annual leave and sickness leave;
- Implementation of sector-standard policies and innovative approaches to enhance academic commercialisation, particularly enterprise and innovation which will support regional and wider economic development and enhance our research impact and performance;
- Being awarded our first Race Equality Charter Bronze Award in recognition of our commitment to advancing race equality; and
- Supporting the growth of our international student recruitment by establishing new global articulation partnerships and enhancing our profile and presence in Southeast Asia.
Court-approved priorities for the next academic year
At its meeting last month our governing body, the University Court, discussed strategic priorities for 2024/25 and identified three areas of particular significance for the whole university:
Quality
The standard of our research and education, and the standard of our professional services that support and strengthen these core activities, is fundamental to our purpose and values. Maintaining this focus on quality is essential regardless of our external political and economic context. We need to apply our collective creativity to the challenge of continuing to improve the quality of our work despite the recent deterioration in the financial circumstances of the higher education sector. This is very closely connected to ‘ways of working’ (see below).
New Revenue
The main sources of revenues to support our work are on-campus education and external research grants, so we need to continue to work effectively to improve our share of the available resources. This is, however, no longer enough to secure our financial sustainability so new revenue from alternative sources of income is essential to investment in the quality of education and research. Key priorities for next year include extending our Transnational Education partnerships and growing our online offering. We will also focus on supporting Schools to grow academic commercialisation activities, including contract research, and expand the commercialisation of our services and our estate to meet the needs of staff, students and visitors on campus. Furthermore, our philanthropic fundraising gives us the opportunity to strengthen links with our generous donors and supporters around the world.
Ways of Working
A fresh focus on new ways of working will help our whole community to keep pace with best practice within the university and with internationally sector-leading practices that allow us to reduce workload, free up time for innovative developments in education and research and secure our financial sustainability. Our core values are very strong and highly relevant to the contemporary context of higher education; we must ensure that our working practices are equally contemporary and matched with these values.
The new UK government: better days ahead for higher education?
The University and the sector as a whole can reasonably expect to embark upon a positive relationship with the new UK Government and influence policies relating to the role of universities and the importance of international students. I’ll be taking every opportunity to make the case for our university and the higher education sector with politicians in the UK and Scottish governments.
Recent statements by members of the incoming UK government imply a change in tone that recognises the inherent value of higher education, our contribution to political priorities such as health, environmental sustainability and economic growth, and the significance of international students for the UK’s global reach and influence. We have good reasons to hope for a more positive context for our work. I’ll keep you updated on any significant movements in UK government policies, and Scottish government policies, that relate to higher education in the coming months.
In conclusion, after all we’ve been through in the last few years (including Brexit, Covid, the cost-of-living crisis, cuts in public funding and restrictions on the recruitment of international students), it has never been more important that we look after each other and ourselves – which includes taking a break to support our physical and mental wellbeing. I’ll be taking time off to do just that, but I know that the work of the University continues across the summer. I hope you are also able have a break from work soon. Our holiday entitlement is crucial to our work-life balance, so I strongly encourage you to make the most of it.
With best wishes
George
George Boyne
Principal & Vice-Chancellor