President's Weekly Update
4 May 2017
The HERB has now attained Royal Assent, which means it will become law. It was passed by both Houses of Parliament after some concessions, notably to delay the relationship between the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and variable fees, to strengthen the autonomy of universities and to add further quality assurances to new higher education institutes. The amendment, suggested by the House of Lords, to exclude international students from the UK’s net immigration numbers was not included in the Bill. The approval of the Bill means that the formation of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will proceed. This organisation will include the seven Research Councils, Innovate UK and a new body, called Research England that will include responsibility for the Quality Related research funding to universities that is currently managed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The Office for Students (OfS) will now also be established to deal with all aspects of teaching (at undergraduate and masters levels) that is currently dealt with by HEFCE.
I visited the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute on The Christie site where the serious fire occurred last week. I was taken through most of the building by Professor Richard Marais, Director of the Institute; Kenny Nolan, Deputy Director of Estates and Facilities; senior staff from the Institute and staff involved in the recovery phase. Parts of the building (notably the roof and top floor) have suffered serious damage but other parts appear completely intact. It is hoped that, owing to the quick and very hard work of staff and the emergency services, many very valuable samples and a lot of expensive equipment have been saved. Assessments are ongoing and relocation of staff is already being planned. Richard and Kenny were full of praise for the Fire Service which they said was incredibly helpful.
At the Board of Governors meeting this week, in addition to normal Board business, we discussed health and safety in some detail; delivery of our ambitious Manchester 2020 plans – which we will provide further updates on shortly; and revisions to our Socially Responsible Investment Policy (SRIP) which we will need to work with our investment managers to make the changes effective. You can find out more at:
Earlier in the day I had a regular meeting with Edward Astle, to update him on major issues in the University including the work after the fire at the Paterson Building. This was the last Board meeting and indeed the last day in the University for Martin Conway, Deputy Secretary, who is moving to Sheffield Hallam University and who we will certainly miss, and also the last meeting for Naa Acqua, General Secretary of the Students’ Union who has been a great contributor to the Board and will stand down soon.
We have been informed that 49.6% of our eligible undergraduate students completed the National Student Satisfaction Survey for 2017. In previous years the response rate has been rounded so we are seeking advice from HEFCE whether we have met the threshold that 50% or more of the student body has to complete the survey for it to be considered relevant. We do not know if the results for The University of Manchester will be published this year nor how this will impact on the next round of TEF. We think that this will also be the case for a number of other comparable universities.
The Staff Survey has now closed and we are pleased that 72% of staff across the University – which is our highest ever response rate – took the opportunity to tell us what they think about working here. The results are now being analysed by Capita, who managed the survey on our behalf to ensure all comments remain anonymous, and we will share these with you as soon as we can. We will use the results to determine actions and improvements for the University which we will implement over the next two years.
I spent several days in London at the Council for Science and Technology, which I co-chair with Professor Sir Mark Walport. At the Russell Group of Vice-Chancellors’ meeting the discussions inevitably focussed on the HERB, the TEF, UKRI, Brexit and the forthcoming general election. Mark Walport was the guest at the Russell Group dinner and we discussed his role as Chief Executive of UKRI and what UKRI aims to deliver.
In London I met with Rory Brooks, Chair of our Global Leadership Board, and also with Professor Ian Jacobs, who was previously Vice-President and Dean of our Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences and who is now Vice-Chancellor of the University of New South Wales in Australia.
I was interviewed for Bloomberg media about the implications of Brexit and other political changes on UK universities, and also by CityUK about the value of the financial services sector to Greater Manchester.
I attended the Health Innovation Manchester (HInM) Board meeting. HInM is the innovation arm of ‘Devo Health’ and is led by Rowena Burns. We discussed progress on further integration of health structures, the importance of health data, interactions with companies, early areas of driving innovation into practice and funding opportunities.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor
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