President's weekly update
4 April 2019
At Senate we heard proposals from the Senate Effectiveness Working Group and in particular a proposal for a Standing Committee of Senate. The Group was not united in its views and we heard a case presented by one member for a new Standing Committee of Senate and another presented the case against. We had a lengthy and helpful debate which indicated that there is a diverse range of views amongst Senate members but provided some helpful input to the Working Group.
I am not a fan of league tables (because most have flaws) but it’s hard to ignore a new one (the THE University Impact Rankings) where we come third in the world and top in the UK and Europe! Congratulations to all who contributed to this achievement, in particular Director of Social Responsibility Julian Skyrme and Danielle Murtagh from the Planning Office.
On a visit to the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering students asked about progress and funding for our Campus Masterplan and future priorities, scholarships for overseas PhD students, the likely implications of the Augar review and wider financial planning for the University and access to the Eddie Davies Library in the Alliance Manchester Business School. Staff raised concerns about the agility of our processes in ordering and procurement, particularly for new computers. They also raised the importance of pensions and we discussed the current position and possible outcomes.
Students in the School of Health Sciences said that they chose Manchester because of its high global rankings in many of the subjects in this School (so I’m afraid those rankings do have impact) and because of the city. They raised disability support and international partnerships and are promoting a brilliant idea to become the first university to teach all of its first year students basic life support skills. In the open meeting with staff we discussed pensions, Brexit, the Augar review and apprenticeships of which we have some, mainly in Professional Services.
In the School of Biological Sciences, students were very keen to become more engaged in Stellify and particularly in taking courses offered by UCIL (University College of Interdisciplinary Learning), participating in volunteering and learning about our work on sustainability and the environment - we said to look out for the THE University Impact league table. Staff asked about how the Augar review might impact our University - financially and on the balance of our student intake, treatment of EU students after Brexit, the position on Universities Superannuation Scheme pensions and research funding. We stressed the importance of fundamental discovery as well as applied research.
I travelled to the University of Keele to give a public lecture to the Keele World Affairs lecture series on: ‘The Role of Universities in the 21st Century’. The audience of nearly 400 was very engaged and I spent 45 minutes answering many questions about a wide range of topics including widening access, grade inflation, vocational skills, ‘safe spaces’, universities’ engagement with business and their local communities and their international role.
Professor Graham Lord, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, and I met with Sir Mike Deegan, Chief Executive of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), and his colleagues to discuss their ambitious plans for development of the multiple MFT sites.
I met Raj Jain, the newly appointed Chief Executive of the Northern Care Alliance (which includes Salford Royal Foundation Trust), to consider stronger alignment and collaboration in research and education and investments in staff and infrastructure.
Juergen Maier, Chief Executive Officer of Siemens UK, and I met to discuss the national industrial strategy (we are both members of the Industrial Strategy Council), the Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy which we co-chaired and collaboration between our University and Siemens.
Eamonn Boylan, Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), visited to discuss partnership with the city and GMCA on our developments such as North Campus, which is now called ID Manchester, and our next Strategic Plan. We also discussed how we can best work with GMCA on key areas such as research, skills, infrastructure, transport and health.
I gave first year lectures to biology students - which were very well attended with several questions!
I urge you all to complete the 2019 Staff Survey which closes in a few days (Monday, 8 April). You can see the actions which resulted from the 2017 Staff Survey. We need to hear your views to follow up on further actions.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor