President's weekly update

27 May 2021

I have been involved in several internal and external discussions on the latest consultation on the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension, of which we have about 6,500 members. We asked our staff members and those who are eligible to be members to complete a survey from Universities UK, nearly 1,000 responded to this which informed our own institutional response, which is now available. There is however much work to do to get the scheme on to a longer term sustainable basis and work will continue ahead of the next valuation. The Russell Group has released a statement, unanimously agreeing to ways in which we can preserve the current hybrid scheme which is partly defined benefit, where the level of pension is fixed and partly defined contribution where the level of payments is fixed but the pension depends on performance of the scheme, while trying to ensure that the pension is affordable to both members and employers.

I have attended four Russell Group meetings. One was with the chairs of each of the sub-groups (Deputies, Pro-Vice-Chancellors, Registrars, Heads of Finance), where we discussed USS, the government’s Freedom of Speech bill, international security issues, planning for the next academic year and the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR). In further meetings with small groups of other Russell Group Vice-Chancellors, I met Iain Duncan Smith MP, to discuss partnerships with China. In a meeting with Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, we discussed the next CSR and the return of students in the autumn; and in the third meeting with Mike Webb, a special advisor to the Treasury, we discussed innovation, regional prosperity and widening participation.

At our meeting of the five Vice-Chancellors across Greater Manchester (GM), we were joined by senior staff from the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS) who told us about their planned new platform for recruitment of international students.

I spoke at a conference on civic universities about the work across GM which coincided with the release of a survey undertaken by Public First to assess the views of people across the region about our universities, which was very positive but highlighted regions of GM and activities where we can do better. We aim to publish our Civic Universities Agreement between the five universities and GM Combined Authority (GMCA) in the summer. I discussed this with the Chief Executive of GMCA, together with our work on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We have also published a statement on our aims for partnership across the five universities and the nine colleges of further education in GM.

I attended the first meeting of The Times Education Commission, of which I am a member. We heard the aims of each of the members, how an 11-year-old had been impacted by the pandemic and how the UK performs in educational attainment compared to other nations.

I chaired our External Relations Strategy Group where we considered the views of stakeholders on the performance of the University. This was extremely positive for external stakeholders from all sectors but was quite negative from our own students, particularly undergraduates. The survey was conducted from October 2020 to January 2021 and we discussed the many actions that we will be taking to address the issues raised, particularly around student communications.

At a meeting with the Chinese Consul General, we reported that applications from Chinese students to study with us in the next academic year had increased again. He asked about options for remote study next academic year, which will be an option in some disciplines, and we discussed flights coming in from China in the autumn. He was pleased to learn about progress on our China Gallery in our Museum.

We held a meeting of about 70 leaders from across the University at which I gave a general update. We also had sessions on our report from the Foresight Group, the results of our latest pulse survey of staff, diversification of our international students and the return to campus in the short term and for the next academic year. Please look at and respond to the consultation on our Foresight work.

I spoke at a meeting on ‘What could Manchester look like in 2030?’ along with several other leaders in the region. We all spoke about the importance of skills, infrastructure, achieving net zero carbon emissions and innovation across the region.

I met with Global Philanthropic, an external organisation which is helping us to consider the approach to a potential fundraising campaign around our 200^th anniversary in 2024 and areas of future focus and priority.

I spoke at one of the ‘Pint of Science’ sessions on ‘Broken brains’ about our work on stroke and inflammation, from discovery science to potential treatments.

You can now collect COVID home test kits from three locations at the University. We are issuing further guidance on the need for regular testing and working from home where possible, given the high rates of infection in some parts of Greater Manchester.

Next Thursday, 3 June we will be livestreaming an event to announce the commercial partner selected for our development of Innovation District Manchester, the transformation of our North Campus.

Monday is a Bank Holiday so I hope you are able to take a well-earned break. Next week has been designated ‘meetings light’. Important meetings will still go ahead but hopefully with fewer commitments than normal.

Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor

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