Good evening, everyone and thank you for inviting me to speak. I recognise some faces in the audience as I have had the pleasure of meeting some of you quite recently in London and at the launch of the AUA CPD framework in Exeter in April this year. Thank you also to the Barbican for kindly hosting this event. Thank you also to Maureen for such a warm welcome – I always enjoy the opportunity to engage with AUA members.
When I spoke to many of you in April I made three statements about the higher education sector:
- That further change was on the way in nearly every sphere in which Higher Education Institutions operate. I don’t think anyone would argue that that prediction was wrong.
- That finally the economic contribution of universities is being recognised, I will come to this again shortly, and;
- That it was time the university sector went on the front foot to ensure that its voice could be heard about the strengths of the UK HE sector. One of my main aims as I have taken up the Presidency of Universities UK is to do just this.
I have begun my Presidency at a very busy time, with challenges and opportunities in every area for the sector, not only here in the UK, but also as we compete on the global stage.
Internationally, we face growing competition from Asian universities, themselves growing in size and confidence (see their rise in the THE/QS international league tables two weeks ago), and have already seen an increase in overseas higher education providers choosing to operate here. We cannot rely on our reputation, the fact that we speak English or indeed anything else. But we have to compete through high quality infrastructure, facilities and people – and this will only come through continued investment.
In the UK of course, we know we’re heading for a general election in 9 months or so. But whichever party gets in, we face the certainty that there are going to be some tough decisions to make about public spending for many years to come. We are all aware that the Government has now moved on from talking about efficiency gains to cuts and the Conservatives are talking of ‘a new age of austerity’. Let me stress that the big difference of what is coming with the state of the public finances is that politicians of all parties talk of there literally being no money. Nearly all of us in this room have become used to arguing about the relative gains within an increasing budget, and ‘defeat’ has been only getting 2% over inflation when others get 3%. What is coming around the corner feels very different indeed and I think we will soon be in uncharted waters.
Added to this context is the fact that although we have welcomed the increased numbers of students coming into higher education overall this year, we know we’ll face a demographic downturn from 2012, and of course, it’s already begun in parts of the UK (Scotland). And, unless we can raise the attainment levels of 16 year olds, the numbers coming into higher education from the lower socio-economic groups won’t increase at the pace we would like them to.
However, I do not want to give you the impression that I am discouraged by all this. Not at all! If you look back over the last ten years we have seen a decade of unprecedented investment in higher education, most notably by a doubling of the science budget and, largely, rectifying, by SRIF and by fEC, the backlog in the maintenance of our research facilities. This has not just been a result of increased national wealth but through a recognition by politicians that UK universities are fundamental to the continued success of the UK today as a world class, knowledge –based economy and society. We must build on this understanding and continue to make the case that universities are central to national life – not only in economic terms, but in their cultural and social contributions too.
Although it is clear we are entering a more difficult climate, my theme for this evening is that we all share the same aspirations in wanting to remain a world class higher education sector. I strongly believe that this is achievable if we all work together to respond to these challenges. And by that I mean Vice-Chancellors, academics and professional services staff - and not necessarily in that order!
I want to start this by briefly reprising the argument I have been setting out on a number of stages recently. I will then move on to highlight some of the key challenges, building on what Lord Mandelson said at Birkbeck back in September. (I had hoped at this point to refer to the highly anticipated HE framework! but unfortunately that is not now expected to emerge until November.) To finish, I would like to set out the important role and contribution of professional services staff within this new climate and draw attention to some of the changes this is likely to mean, particularly in terms of the way we all work.
Firstly, I believe that no government, or incoming government, in any part of the UK, can achieve their core goals without a thriving, strong university sector. This is clearly reflected in Scotland whether the Scottish Government has identified higher education as one of seven priority sectors.
Universities can pull the country out of recession, but this requires continued and indeed further investment in teaching and learning. I believe the UK’s investment in its universities has been repaid many times over through its contribution to national and regional economic development. Let me give you an idea of what I mean.
New UUK figures, to be announced in November, show that the sector’s impact on the wider economy now amounts to over £59 billion a year, a massive increase of £10 billion since 2004. We now calculate that UK universities generate about 2.3% of UK GDP, this despite the UK showing a below average level of investment in higher education when compared to other OECD countries. The more that is invested, the more we can generate.
And let's not forget the employment effect of higher education activity. This is substantial with around 668,500 jobs being created throughout the economy in 2007/08. Of these some 372,400 people were directly employed by universities.
In 2007-8 higher education institutions in the UK provided ideas and services worth £2.8 billion – the highest level on record and a rise of 6.5% on the year before.
In the last two years alone we have seen an increase in the number of undergraduate acceptances of 72,000 and if you look back further over the last decade, we have seen a 25% increase in the growth of undergraduate enrolments across the UK, as well as a year on year increase in the number of students from minority ethnic groups.
And importantly, evidence shows these students get a world class experience – our student satisfaction surveys and completion rates bear this out. The latest OECD figures show that only 2.2% of our graduates between the ages of 25 and 64 were unemployed in 2007, placing us 7th in the OECD. It is also encouraging to hear that a recent CBI survey found that over 80% of employers are satisfied or very satisfied with the graduates they recruited in the last 12 months.
UK higher education is experiencing an unprecedented period of internationalisation. This internationalisation provides significant academic, cultural and financial benefits. In 2007-08, 229,640 international (non EU students) studied at UK HEIs drawn from over 150 countries. At the same time around 200,000 students were studying on UK programmes outside the UK.
International student fee income provided 8%, around £1.8billion of the total sector income. Personal off campus expenditure of international students attending UK universities amounted to £2.3 billion. International students account for 40% of all postgraduates in the UK.
But we cannot be complacent and assume that all the things we do will speak for themselves. We know, for example, that quality is our most valuable asset. The recent report by the Financial Sustainability Strategy Group has shown that quality will come under increasing pressure unless we can find a way to resource better our teaching activity. Whereas research infrastructure may have been ‘sorted’, teaching infrastructure has not, and the FSSG estimates that the unit of teaching resource needs increasing by between 15-20% if quality is not going to suffer. So, in terms of increasing teaching funding, we simply have to deliver, and to be seen to deliver. We cannot afford to compromise.
It is also clear to us that we cannot take for granted that the political prioritisation of higher education will continue. It is therefore vital that we use all the opportunities we can to all politicians to put forward the argument as to why higher education should not only be protected from cuts but that there should be growth in investment in teaching and research, not despite the current economic crisis, but because of it.
We are a national asset, not a drain on public finances and we provide the essential bridge to future social mobility, social inclusion and economic prosperity.
Put directly if we want to compete in the global knowledge economy, which institutions create the inventions, the intellectual property, the spin-outs, better than our universities? If we want to attract international customers, then the UK’s universities are an outstandingly effective export industry. If we want a highly skilled workforce, capable of getting the jobs of tomorrow, not the jobs of yesterday, who better than the universities to achieve it? If we want a society that values social justice and enables social mobility, which institutions are better at delivering that mission than universities?
How well we do in all these areas was brought home to me again just last week when I attended the THES awards. The display of talent in UK higher education was incredible, from tackling the disadvantages faced by students with disabilities after graduation, through to working with families and children as young as three to raising lifelong learning aspirations, to engaging with the local business community. If you haven't seen the projects which won in each category I do urge you to take a look. As one of the judges said "You know, we really do work in a great sector" and I fully endorse that!
Building on this strong base I would now like to focus on the key challenges going forward. You will be acutely conscious of the speed of change in the external environment. Although in England we are still waiting for the HE Framework, if it is as Lord Mandelson described at Birkbeck, then the major themes of the Framework are likely to include: funding; the New Industry, new jobs agenda; greater flexibility of provision and social mobility. I expect the focus to be on the last of these.
As I stated earlier, it is clear that public funding will be heavily constrained over the next 10-15 years and the sector will need to work hard to retain the funding it has at the moment. I am also aware that the Government is still interested in moving towards greater contestability of funding in higher education; contestability is spelt competition. Please note that this contestability is most likely to relate to making universities link their work to the needs of the economy, and will be funded by reducing other areas of current expenditure.
Although we understand that the announcement of the Independent Review of Fees will be separate to the Framework we do expect a signal to the Fee commission that the Government wishes to narrow the differential between the support available for full-time and part-time students. The support available for part-time students has been a long running area of concern so it would be good to see some further thinking in that area. But of course, some very very difficult choices will have to be made, especially as England is going to spend 30% of its HE spend on student support; we already spend the 4th highest percentage on student support in the OECD, according to the latest comparative (2007) figures (when it was 25%). The recent CBI report puts the spend on student support at £2.32bn a year, with the T budget being about £4.5bn and the research budget about £1.6bn.
Following the publication of New Industry, new jobs in April this year, the Framework is likely to place more emphasis on the role of higher education in creating the conditions for the successful growth of companies working in areas of the global economy where we have the chance of a clear competitive advantage. The areas which have been singled-out to date include: low carbon products and services; Digital industries; life sciences and pharmaceuticals; and advanced manufacturing.
Produced as a direct response to the recession, New Industry, New Jobs said that the Government intended to act to ‘complement markets to produce better outcomes for the aggregate productivity and growth of the British economy’ through intervention in infrastructure, training or investment in innovation ‘where the market left to itself may under-invest’.
This policy approach, described as ‘industrial activism’, builds on the emphasis in the Sainsbury and Leitch reviews on addressing the challenges to the future competitiveness of the UK, with a particular focus on skills and innovation.
This would seem to imply that university teaching, research and knowledge exchange activities are likely to be significantly affected by industrially activist policies – and they are not uncontroversial. Already Lord Drayson has initiated a debate about how the science budget could be better targeted towards those areas most likely to lead to future economic success. And the recent announcements of additional (albeit unfunded) places this summer, restricted to STEM subjects, business and economics, also clearly indicated the Government’s intention to manage growth in teaching in areas which they believe will be economically valuable.
There is also likely to be a strong emphasis on increasing the flexibility of provision. We know the Government is very keen to implement a full credit accumulation and transfer system and Lord Mandelson talked about increasing 2 year programmes, part time and modular higher education. Lord Mandelson also made references to incentivising excellence in teaching, but he has not yet specified what this might involve.
Moving on to social mobility, Lord Mandelson’s Birkbeck speech made it clear that social mobility remains at the heart of the Government’s thinking on HE. He said he was “impatient about [...] progress and intends to turn the spotlight on university admissions”, and made specific reference to the use of contextual data in admissions. I am pleased to say that from my work with the National Council for Educational Excellence it is evident that universities are doing much work in this area.
I would also expect a continued emphasis on encouraging university links with schools and colleges – perhaps in more formal ways. Again, this is another area where I think the sector has a good story to tell as was demonstrated by Universities UK's report: Higher education engagement with schools and colleges: partnership development.
Lord Mandelson also suggested that increasing fees and access will have to be considered as part of the same question, with a clear statement that ‘there must always be a link between what an institution charges and its performance in widening access’. However, it is not yet clear whether Government will explicitly re-commit to the 50% and Leitch targets.
Those institutions that will thrive and prosper when faced with the challenges I have discussed are those where there is commonality of purpose amongst their staff – both academic and professional. Institutions that go in with a ‘them and us’ attitude are not going to get where they need to go.
I started this speech by stating that no government can achieve their goals without a thriving University sector and this must mean both academic and professional services staff.
In the undoubted HE success story that I have set out, professional services staff play a vital role. The generation of ideas and the delivery of services might appear to fall predominantly within the domain of academics, but without the teamwork and the concerted efforts of marketing and business development specialists, finance and contract officers and business facing professional staff one can only speculate on how much knowledge transfer would actually take place in our universities!
To ensure that this continues universities will need staff who are increasingly innovative, creative, and entrepreneurial. If we are not fleet of foot in grasping new opportunities we will be overtaken by our competitors.
It is true that the quality of teaching in our universities is amongst the best in the world – I have mentioned the evidence for this already in terms of student satisfaction. It's not just what academics do that achieves this but also your work in developing, maintaining and reviewing Quality Assurance mechanisms that is essential here.
Universities UK, is working along with other stakeholders including GuildHE, AOC, QAA, HEFCE and HEA to improve the QA and enhancement system. In December there will be a consultation on the future of the QA framework and we want your views. It is important that we end up with a system which is more flexible, but also rigorous and transparent, and builds on our current strengths while addressing the weaknesses whether real or perceived.
We will also be conducting a review of external examining arrangements to ensure that they are fit to face future challenges and again we hope you will help us in that process.
Furthermore, HEFCE with support from UUK, NUS and others are researching into what it is that prospective students need to know as they consider entering higher education, and how to enhance transparency around the higher education offer. We expect to consult on what should be published by institutions, and where, in 2010 and again look to you for support on this.
But quality of teaching is only part of the story. Students satisfaction – or otherwise – depends on the quality of the whole student experience.
The quality and responsiveness of the student services departments, providing pastoral and academic careers advice, the efficiency of admissions and the enrolment processes, the quality of libraries, and information and technology support and the physical environment itself are all vital ingredients in the recipe for an excellent, and indeed world class, student experience. And, as we now know, some of you in this very room, will have played an important role in helping some students work through the difficulties of the late arrival of their student loans – particularly those who have family commitments. Others will have tried to battle with the new immigration arrangements to ensure new international students can enter the UK in time to start their courses.
We should not forget that in a student’s journey through university – from initial enquiry to graduation and beyond – they will interact with many more members of the institution’s professional services staff than they will with members of the academic staff. And without your professionalism and dedication – the uniquely excellent experience enjoyed by students in UK institutions of higher education would not be the reality it clearly is. Indeed, it was encouraging to hear Lord Mandelson endorse the quality of our institutions in September following the publication of the IUSS Select Committee Report on Students and Universities, which took a rather different view!
I recognise that it is sometimes not easy to quantify the value and success of the work professional services staff do and that is why I am pleased that UUK is working with AMOSSHE – the student services organisation to develop metrics to evaluate the vital work of student services teams. You will know as well as I that any future review of variable fees will have to take account of the whole student experience.
In the contribution that universities make to social justice and social mobility, professional services staff have an essential role to play. The operation of fair and transparent admissions processes, successful outreach activities and our work with Aimhigher, our partnerships with schools and colleges, all depend on the work of the professional services staff. Let’s face it, if we – in higher education – are going to make a real difference to social mobility in this country the work you do will be at the heart of achieving this very worthwhile goal. And, we all know this is a political priority and will remain in place whoever wins the election. Those of you who know me will know that I am very keen to ensure that the focus must genuinely be with widening participation and not simply fair access, (fair Access and Widening Participation are different, that they relate to vastly different numbers of affected individuals (3000 versus 360,000 a year).
As I have gone round the party political circuit during the last month politicians have made it clear to me that we must all engage with the agenda to improve Information, Advice and Guidance for those aspiring to enter universities, and in the provision of apprenticeships within universities. And of course these can only be delivered by professional services staff like yourselves.
And as you all realise, your contribution to the broader social cohesion agenda, through community engagement, will continue to be widely valued as well as being a major political imperative.
On a positive note it is also notable, that careers in university administration and management are increasingly egalitarian and without barriers to entry and it is good to know that AUA is championing this development through the (PARN) Professional Association's Research Network.
If you still find colleagues out there who continue to believe in ‘them and us’ I would urge you to point them to David Allen’s piece which will be published in next week’s Times Higher. David is registrar and deputy chief executive at the University of Exeter and I think you will find that his article is excellent in articulating the importance of professional staff in the HE world that we face today. As I have said to you before, anyone who talks about ‘them’, whether the them are academics or professional staff, is speaking in terms that belong to the 1980s, not this century. We can only move forward as a sector, both to deal with the pressures that are likely to be on us in the coming years, and as institutions, if we drop the old binary opposites of us and them, and try to find solutions as an ‘us’, as a set of professionals with merged and blurred skills, mixtures of the academic and the professional.
So let me conclude briefly, before inviting questions; Universities can deliver a range of outcomes that no other part of society can deliver and – critically - governments cannot deliver their core economic and social policies without a vibrant, autonomous and well-resourced university system. We all have our role to play, and professional services staff are just as much a part of this as are the academic community.
But the future is likely to be very demanding, and I expect the size and shape of the HE sector to change a lot in the coming years, with more HE going into FE, with resourcing under significant pressure. Not only are we likely to face cuts, but we are very unlikely to see these implemented in a uniform manner. Gone, I think, are the days of units to units of resources across the board, either in T or in R.
And, here is the challenge: how should we face these challenging financial times? Well, you won’t be surprised to find that my answer is that the sector has to take its arguments to government and society alike. I fear that both audiences may not be fully appreciative of what this university sector does for economy and society. I think that often politicians and publics do not understand us, but to be honest that must mean that we have not succeeded in getting our messages across.
As President of UUK, I am very busy dealing with both these audiences, and my job is to show them both that universities are not some luxurious extra, but are the essential route forward for this country and its economy and society. I passionately believe that no political party can achieve its goals without a thriving, strong, diverse and excellent university sector. I will make that case every time I get the chance to do so.
But there is much you can do. The challenge, it seems to me, is to convince the public at large that universities are worth the £12bn they and their students consume from public funds each year. That means that we all have to take our story to the public on our web sites, in all our communications, and in the ways we relate to our local and national communities. That is a job for all in HE.
We also have to make sure that our students get the very best student experience possible, and again that is not simply the preserve of academic colleagues.
As I look around the sector, I know that we have the skills and abilities needed to achieve these goals. I am so very proud to be President of UUK, and I want to be a President of all groups of staff and students who make up that community. I think our sector is as strong a sector as the UK possesses, but the coming funding environment is going to challenge us in our ability to continue this success. We have to do so, not for our own sakes, but for the sake of the society that funds and supports us. In doing that we must work together as a united sector, celebrating difference, not seeing it as hierarchy, and always celebrating excellence in all its forms. That is our collective challenge, and I hope that you are as up for it as I am. We are, as someone recently said, in this together and we will either survive by hanging together or fail by falling apart.
Thank you.