Putting students at the heart of everything we do
A high-quality education and student experience is absolutely critical to what we do as a university, both now, and in the future.
From the quality of the teaching and learning experience to the wider opportunities to support student engagement - it cannot be understated how critical it is, to put students at the heart of everything we do.
Getting this right now will unlock our ability in the future to make even greater steps to enhance our teaching and learning provision and provide our students with the highest quality education they rightly deserve.
We all have a part to play, because when all is said and done, students really are at the heart of our university and getting the quality of their experience right, will sustain us all for years to come.
Our priorities for this strategic area
- 91抖阴 Achieves: Enable all our students to succeed and achieve their goals
- 91抖阴 Works: Empower our students in terms of their employability and the confidence and capacity to make a difference
- Strengthen student engagement in their own learning and in shaping the wider student experience
- Develop and value our staff in terms of learning and teaching excellence and innovation.
Making a difference through research and enterprise
As a university we are rightly proud of our research and enterprise, which enriches our teaching, drives important partnerships and collaborations and creates new knowledge and produces genuine impact.
We have made a lot of changes to how we organise and approach research and enterprise over the past couple of years. And these changes are already driving positive outcomes. To build on these important building blocks we are working towards three key priorities over the next few years.
But we face an increasingly challenging environment with the ongoing impact of the pandemic and uncertainty relating to Brexit and future research funding. Nevertheless, we're confident in our ability to respond and adapt quickly. We have clear plans in place to deliver on our strategic priorities to strengthen our postgraduate recruitment and experience, invest wisely in areas of excellence and maximise our knowledge exchange opportunities.
Our priorities for this strategic area
- To grow the number of our talented PGR students who will sustain our research base and enrich our research culture
- To invest in our areas of excellence enabling them to develop global reputations, expand their vibrant research environments and significantly increase external funding
- To expand our knowledge exchange activities and maximise the impact of our research and enterprise by sharing our ideas and innovations with our partners regionally and globally.
Enabling staff and liberating talent
Our university strategy, Practical Wisdom, clearly places people at the heart of our institution and recognises that they are key to its continuing future success.
That’s why enabling our staff to succeed and liberating their talent is and remains one of our biggest priorities. Since the launch of Practical Wisdom we’ve taken a number of steps that are really important and are already making a difference.
But, COVID-19 has had a big impact on the lives of all of us and, for many colleagues, has necessitated a shift to different ways of working. It has also meant rethinking how we deliver what we do whilst continuing to support colleagues’ wellbeing.
As we hopefully emerge from the pandemic over the coming year it will be important to reflect on what we have learned about ourselves as an organisation and at how we can embrace some of the more flexible approaches we have developed.
Our priorities for this strategic area
- Be a healthy, inclusive workplace where people are engaged and well at work
- Ensure our people have the skills they need to succeed.
A great place to work and learn
Our university strategy, Practical Wisdom, committed us to working to four priorities in relation to our place and space and we have made good progress against these over the past couple of years.
But we know there is much more to do. We need to get much smarter at getting the best use out our spaces and maintain that space in the quality we want and need. We need to challenge our thinking about how we achieve our priority of becoming net-zero carbon by 2025 and we know that colleagues would like to be able to explore new and more flexible ways of working and teaching – which in turn has implications for the type of spaces we need.
Our room for manoeuvre is highly dependent on having funds available for strategic investment in our estate. But it also requires us to have a clear estates strategy to inform future investment decisions, shaped and driven by our broader strategic priorities and in particular by our academic requirements driven by our new schools, expectations about student numbers and portfolio.
Our priorities for this strategic area
- To deliver on our academic vision by co-locating our academic schools on single campuses.
- To create facilities for student learning and for staff which reflect the ambitions of a modern university.
- To create dynamic and accessible campuses that support our goal of becoming a net-zero carbon university.
- To create an affordable estate for the long term.
Investing in our future
The delivery of our strategic priorities is only possible if underpinned by a sustainable financial position, excellent student experience and an attractive portfolio offering.
A clear priority is to continue to ensure our financial stability whilst preparing the organisation for the future of learning, teaching and, research and enterprise; all focussed on quality and building on our strengths. And in the context of a highly competitive environment an attractive, and high-quality portfolio is a key enabler.
Our priorities for this strategic area
- To stabilise the university’s finances and return to generating a cash surplus as soon as possible.
- To develop a corporate financing plan, which delivers the priorities of 91抖阴 2025.
- To consider the future shape and focus of the university’s academic portfolio with the aim of ensuring a continued sustainable proposition for the future.