President's weekly update
9 September 2021
Welcome to a new academic year
I hope that you all managed to have a well-earned break over the summer as we are all now preparing for the new academic year and the return of students. As I have reported previously, we have recruited more undergraduate home students than we had planned due to a significant increase in A-level grades, though on postgraduate students we look to be very close to target.
While it is positive that our popularity grows, the higher numbers of students is requiring significant additional investment in staff and facilities which you can be assured is ongoing at pace. We have also secured additional student accommodation. There is still some uncertainty over final numbers, particularly for international students due to limitations on travel.
We look forward to welcoming our new and returning students to campus over the coming weeks for what we all hope will be a more normal year.
COVID
There are still concerns about high COVID infection rates, though the rates in Manchester have remained relatively stable through the summer and vaccinations have dramatically reduced the seriousness of the impact. We will have vaccinations available on campus from 17-24 September which we are actively promoting and hope that all staff and students will ensure that they are vaccinated. Self-test kits are also freely available on the campus and it is important everyone tests themselves twice a week and isolates if they test positive. We are also asking all to continue to take precautionary measures including wearing masks in crowded areas and sanitising hands regularly.
Royce formal opening
We held the formal opening of the Sir Henry Royce Building the completion of which has been only slightly delayed by COVID. The building was opened by Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation, and attended by representatives of the Royce partners -the universities of Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Oxford and Cambridge and Imperial College and by industry partners. We had tours of the amazing facilities and a series of presentations including a brilliant one from PhD student Mia Maric who is working in Royce.
USS pension update
Changes to the USS pension recommended by Universities UK in response to the funding challenges were accepted by the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) after the Chair’s casting vote. No formal alternative proposal was put forward by the University and College Union (UCU). The decision is subject to formal sign-off from the USS Trustee, and will then progress this autumn to an employer consultation with affected employees (current members and those eligible to join USS) and representative bodies. This process of consultation will allow the further views of recognised trade union bodies and other representatives, and individual affected employees, to be recorded and considered by employers, the USS Trustee and the JNC before any final decisions are made and changes implemented. The changes require additional commitments from employers to strengthen the covenant backing the pension and will result in some benefit changes to employee members, though the scheme will still be a hybrid (direct benefit and direct contribution) and there will be only very small increases in contributions by members and employees.
Innovation focus
We have appointed Professor Richard Jones to the new role of Vice-President for Regional Innovation and Civic Engagement which are two major areas in our strategic plan. Richard brings a great deal of experience in this area and his senior leadership skills as a former Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sheffield. Richard is also Chief Scientist for Innovation Greater Manchester.
Over the summer we were visited by Lord Grimstone, government minister for investment, to discuss innovation. He had a tour of our Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) and then held discussions with Luke, Richard and I and with several international companies that have activities based in the GEIC.
The recently appointed Chief Executive of Innovate UK Indro Mukerjee and I met to talk about plans for innovation in Greater Manchester and proposals for a new Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Rochdale (Northern Gateway).
Russell Group (RG)
At the first meeting of the academic year, RG members discussed the USS pension, student recruitment, COVID impacts and potential further restrictions, and the upcoming government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, which will take place later in the autumn. As Chair of the Russell Group I met with Amanda Solloway, Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, and attended a CBI meeting in London with government permanent secretaries.
And finally…..
It has been a positive start to this academic year, as we rose in the THE World University rankings, recording a top 50 entry. And it would really be remiss not to mention the tremendous efforts of Grace Harvey, an immunology student at the University, who won a wonderful Silver medal in the women's SB5 100m breaststroke at the Paralympics in Tokyo. Well done Grace!
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor