President's Weekly Update

7 May 2015

At our Board of Governors' meeting we discussed the outcomes from the recent Planning and Accountability Conference, the planned ‘refresh' of our Manchester 2020  strategic plan and I gave an update on progress on many ongoing activities, including our budgeting for 2015-16. There was discussion about the impact of the outcome of the general election and potentially major changes in funding to universities. This was the last meeting for Charlie Cook, General Secretary of our Students’ Union and she presented a very impressive paper summarising the future strategy of the Students’ Union which aligned well with the University’s strategy.

Prior to the Board, I had my usual update with our Chair of Governors, Anil Ruia. I was pleased to report that all of our students who were in Nepal at the time of the earthquake are safe and well.  We also talked about the good news received last week that the Headquarters of the Square Kilometre Array will be based at Jodrell Bank Observatory. Then we interviewed two external candidates for future membership of the Board.

Along with several University colleagues, I attended a dinner hosted by the Chinese Consul Mr Li Yongsheng at his residence in Manchester. After the delicious food, Professor Kostya Novoselov and Consul Yang Wing (the Education Consul), painted two absolutely beautiful Chinese paintings, one of which will apparently be sent here to the University. While the artists were busy at work, one of our students, Ms Wang Yibo from China, who is doing a PhD with Kostya, played the zither for us - again it was very beautiful. The whole evening was a wonderful mixture of cultures!

I hosted one of our regular ‘Heads’ meetings, where I gave an update on the main issues  discussed at our Planning and Accountability Conference and summarised the Board’s comments. Steve Mole, Director of Finance, presented our current financial position, known and potential additional costs or cuts in income and plans to make savings and generate additional income. Karen Heaton, Director of Human Resources, updated on our People Strategy and the proposed changes to the operation of our redeployment register.

I gave a lecture to MBA students at Manchester Business School on the role of a non-executive director of a company, particularly in periods of mergers and acquisitions. I used my nine years’ experience on the AstraZeneca Board and the attempted take-over of the company by Pfizer last year to illustrate all of the non-confidential aspects of being on a board. The students asked many questions and had clearly done their homework on the company.

At the Russell Group Board meeting in London there was much discussion about the likely impact on universities of various potential outcomes of the General Election; open access data; the costs of publishing; the recent visit of several Vice-Chancellors to Brussels to argue against the proposed cuts to the Horizon 2020 research budget; and the Group’s response to the ‘Nurse’ review of Research Councils.

While in London I had lunch with Dame Janet Beer, the recently appointed Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool University. In addition to comparing notes on the various activities and challenges that we share, we discussed collaborations between our two universities and across the N8 group of northern universities.

I met Barry Clare, who has just taken over as Chair of the University Hospital of South Manchester (UHSM) in Wythenshawe. UHSM is a partner in the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC) and many of our students train there. Barry was very excited about devolution of the health budget to Greater Manchester and the opportunities it creates. He has a very strong background in industry which will be of great value to MAHSC and the wider health agenda. I suggested a number of people in the University that he may want to talk to.

In a visit to the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work with Professor Clive Agnew, Vice-President for Teaching Learning and Students, the nursing and midwifery students praised the support and responsiveness of the staff in the School. We were surprised to hear that they often have work placements at least three weekends in each month. In the meeting with staff we discussed international students, distance learning and market research on demands for programmes in other countries.

I also visited the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Professor Richard Reece, Associate Vice-President for Teaching Learning and Students. We met students from at least six different countries, all of whom had chosen Manchester for the reputation of the University, the School and individual staff. In the staff meeting we discussed degree attainment and the apparent ‘grade drift’ upwards in many universities and the value of MOOCs (mass open, online courses).

By the time of my next message we should know the result of the General Election - though the nature of our next government may be less certain.

Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor

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