Staff Room Special Edition Supplement December 2010

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F UNIVERSITY OF GLAMORGAN STAFF MAGAZINE

S U P P L E M E N T

University of Glamorgan

Prifysgol Morgannwg

BrandPerception

SurveyWe reveal what our external

stakeholders think of us

And the introduction of the

University Strategy 2010-15From the Vice-Chancellor, Julie Lydon

Brand Perceptions and Awareness Survey

2 staffroom supplement

IntroductionIn recent years, we have undergone a significant period of change in order to raise our profile and

ensure our long-term sustainability. New faculties, new campuses and new partnerships have

been established with the aim of being a more market-facing institution, responding to student

expectations, employer and industry requirements and community interests. I am confident that

we have made a real difference locally, nationally and beyond, but it is always interesting to know

what others think – do our partners and stakeholders consider our contribution to be as

significant? And, are we in their eyes, ‘on the up?’

To provide answers to these questions, we commissioned external consultants EURO RSCG Heist

during the summer to undertake in-depth research to establish whether the reputation of the

University has changed in the eyes of our key stakeholders those individuals and groups who have

the most interaction with us, or influence opinion.

The extensive findings were presented to Directorate in early Autumn; what they reflect is the

commitment and enthusiasm of our staff in making Glamorgan an excellent institution of higher

learning. The results reveal that awareness of our activities is high and, more importantly, that there

has been a positive shift in perception amongst all stakeholders, including schools, colleges,

business, government and community groups and journalists. Almost three-quarters of

respondents indicated that our reputation has either improved or significantly improved in the last

three years. What’s more, those who are closer to the University or know more about the

University are more likely to indicate such a shift -- this is categorical proof that effective

stakeholder engagement pays dividends.

As you will see for yourself in this supplement, the findings from this exercise were largely positive.

You will also see that there are areas on which we need to reflect further and take appropriate

action to improve. We have already begun this process by considering the findings as part of the

review of our strategic direction. A strong steer from our stakeholders, one which we have always

embraced, is that maximising student employability is a fundamental role for the University going

forward. To this end, our new University Strategy, which is introduced at the end of this

publication, explicitly outlines our commitment to our students and their future employers in

providing professional, employment-focused higher education.

I trust you welcome the opportunity to see these research findings and I advocate full and open

dialogue with colleagues and your respective stakeholders in these matters. I cannot emphasise

enough the importance of effective stakeholder engagement going forward; our long term

sustainability will be contingent on a range of factors, not least our ability to adapt to an

environment in which our resources will increasingly be earned from the value and benefit we can

offer to our partners and stakeholders.

To conclude, I believe the following stakeholder statement from this research neatly sums up where

we are now:

“... it’s a good university. I think it’s got a really good history and has some great people there, but

it’s got a real chance now to give what the economy needs and work with others to do it.”

I would, of course, contend that we are an excellent University, but we do have an opportunity to

make a difference by playing to our strengths, realising the full potential of our staff and unleashing

hidden talent and enterprise wherever it can be found, for the benefit of our students, our partners

and our communities.

Julie Lydon

Vice-Chancellor

Phase one comprised 103 in-depth interviews conducted over the

telephone with five stakeholder groups. These interviews took

place during May and early June 2010.

Phase two comprised 255 short telephone interviews with the same

stakeholder groups and took place during June and July 2010. The

interviews comprised a range of closed and open questions in

order to quantify responses and also to gain unprompted feedback

from those stakeholders taking part. Phase two was designed

following an initial debrief by Euro RSCG Heist after the completion

of phase one in order to test the findings from the earlier

responses.

In both phases, respondents were invited to take part in the

research, firstly via email and with subsequent follow-up by

telephone to either make an appointment or carry out the interview

itself.

MethodologyIndependent research company Euro RSCG Heist carried out aseries of data collection surveys on behalf of the Universitybetween May and July 2010. A phased approach to datacollection was adopted to achieve the objectives of thisProject.

staffroom supplement 3


Stakeholder Group

Schools (115)

FE colleges (20)

Government & Community(70)

Business (139)

Journalism (14)

General public (1013)

Example organisations/contacts

Heads of Sixth Form, Careers Advisors

Principals/Vice Principals of Further Education Colleges

AMs, MPs, HEFCW, WAG, Cardiff and RCT councils

Major employers, CBI, Business Clubs, Chamber of Commerce, Institute for Welsh Affairs etc.,plus specific named individuals

Local journalists, national HE journalists

Cardiff, Merthyr, Swansea, Newport, Bristol, Truro,Plymouth, Exeter, Gloucester, Cheltenham

Sample Size

30 Depth85 Short30% English Borders30% Valleys10% Cardiff30% Rest of South Wales

10 Depth10 Short30% English Borders30% Valleys and Cardiff40% Rest of South Wales

20 Depth50 Short

39 Depth100 Short

4 Depth10 Short

1013 street interviews10 locations

ScopeStakeholders included respondents from thefollowing groups:

• Schools – Careers Advisors, Heads of Sixth Form

• FE Colleges – Principals or Vice-Principals• Business• Welsh Government (local and central)• Journalists

Additional research was carried out among thegeneral public by Research & Marketing Plus.

The table below illustrates the scope of the survey. Numbers in brackets

indicate volume of interviews undertaken with each stakeholder group.

”“



One of the key findings of the survey shows that almost three

quarters of the University’s stakeholders consider Glamorgan’s

reputation to be better now, than three year ago. Amongst the

groups, schools show the highest level of improvement (85%) –

quoting schools’ liaison activity, appeal of courses and

accessibility as key strengths, while the 81% improvement cited

by FE colleges is built heavily on the strength of personal

relationships between institutions, according to the survey.

Graduate employability was identified as the most important

factor for all stakeholder groups except journalists, who rated it

second. As you might expect, employability was a particularly

74% of all respondents sayGlamorgan’s reputation hasimproved or significantlyimproved in the last three yearsStudent employability and staff professionalism are key factorsbehind a major shift in the University’s profile.

44% of respondents said Glamorgan graduates are moreemployable than those from other institutions in Wales.

Employability of Glamorgan Graduates (Business only)

1 - Worse 2 - Same 3 - Better 4 - Much better

Table one: Glamorgan -- Employability

4% 52% 30% 14%

strong influence for businesses and schools, who consider this

more important than league tables when forming an opinion of a

university’s reputation. Employability is an area where the

University is particularly strong, with 94%* of our graduates in

employment or further study within six months of graduation. It

is particularly pleasing to find that 44% of businesses who were

able to comment said that they considered Glamorgan

graduates more employable than those from other universities

in Wales, citing the University’s comprehensive range of

vocational courses as among the key factors. Almost half (48%)

of all respondents also stated that Glamorgan was better than

other universities in Wales at working with businesses.



Professionalism and flexibility were cited as key strengths

encountered by all stakeholders in their dealings with University

staff. The survey identified that support for the University is also

built upon quality of personal relationships and the ‘can do’

attitude of Glamorgan staff across all areas of activity. Our

relationships with schools was singled out as particularly strong,

with three quarters (75%) of schools saying they are more likely

to recommend Glamorgan as a university choice now, than five

years ago.

So what’s behind these improvements in our reputation? We

saw a real rise in satisfaction levels in some key areas in this

year’s National Student Survey (NSS). Glamorgan has the best

rated ‘overall satisfaction’ scores in Wales in many subject

areas including: Law (92%), Others in Social Studies (90%),

Marketing (90%), Nursing (91%), Forensic & Archaeological

studies (82%) (includes Forensics and Police Sciences/Studies

courses), Tourism, Transport & Travel (81%) and Social Work

(78%).

The £130m we are investing in our capital developments

programme – the new Students’ Union building; student

accommodation; the Aircraft Maintenance Centre and the new

indoor sport science teaching facilities at Glamorgan Sport Park

– is transforming the student experience at Glamorgan. These

developments are also cited by respondents as key factors in

their changing perception of the University. There have also

been improvements in other parts of the Glamorgan Group, with

new construction workshops being opened at Merthyr Tydfil

College and a £22.5m redevelopment of the Royal Welsh

College of Music and Drama.

Glamorgan has also developed excellent research partnerships

with other universities, industry, charities and organisations

such as the BBC, aided in part by our excellent results in the

2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), which rated more

than 70% of our research activity as being of a quality

recognised internationally for its originality, significance and

rigour.

We lead the field in hydrogen research and earlier this year

secured over £6.6m in funding to develop our expertise in this

area. This was part-funded by the European Regional

Development Fund (ERDF) through the European Union’s

Convergence programme, administered by the Welsh Assembly

Government.

Recognising the need to provide a multi-disciplinary approach

to address key issues, we are now developing cross-faculty

centres to draw together research expertise from across the

University. The first of these are in Disaster and Resilience,

Enterprise and the Digital Economy.

Significantly improved 23%

Improved 51%

Got significantly worse 1%

Got worse 1%

Neither improved not got worse 24%

74% of all respondents say we have improved

Change in the reputation of the University ofGlamorgan in the last 3 years

Table 2: Findings -- ReputationKeyFindings

74% - the overall percentage who said theUniversity’s reputation had significantly improved

or improved over the past three years. By stakeholder group:• 85% of Schools agreed - 15% no change -

0% got worse

• 81% of Further Education Colleges agreed -

19% no change - 0% got worse • 67% Welsh Assembly Government and related

agreed - 26% no change - 0% got worse • 66% of businesses agreed - 32% no change -

2% got worse

• 66% of journalists agreed – 33% no change -

0% got worse

Average Ranking (where 1 is ranked first)

1.4

2.6

3.0

3.2

3.4

3.9

4.1

4.2

4.4

4.4

5.0

2.0

4.0

4.3

5.0

Total Number ofMentions

250

217

197

228

84

124

38

9

18

9

2

1

2

3

1

University

Cardiff

Swansea

Aberystwyth

Glamorgan

UWIC

Bangor

Newport

Swansea Met

Lampeter

Trinity

Wrexham

Barry

Carmarthen

Glyndwr

Llandudno



In terms of our ranking againstother Welsh Universities…

Base: Total of 1183 Responses

NB: Those mentioned under 5 times have been shown below

the red line as the average ranking is not reliable.

Respondents were asked to mention universities they considered to be in the Top 5 in Wales, ranked in order and unprompted (i.e. not

shown a list of universities). The table below shows the total number of mentions for each university and the average ranking each was

given, where 1 indicates that it was ranked first and 5 that it was ranked 5th.



The survey reveals that Glamorgan is highly regarded by the

overwhelming majority of schools, and that there’s a direct

correlation between the level of regard a school has for the

University and the frequency of exposure they have to us,

through schools’ liaison and other activity. Frequency of contact

was cited as second most important factor amongst schools, in

forming an opinion of a university, after employability.

There was high praise for the school’s liaison service in general,

recognition that Glamorgan “goes the extra mile” in the service

we provide to schools. The outreach and liaison was described

as “professional, influential and very well received”.

This favourability correlates with an increased level of activity

undertaken by the schools liaison team over the past three

years with four main on-campus open days per year now

attracting over 4000 students in 2010 (up 8.2% from 2009) and

the team leading around 282 direct sessions up 10.5% from

2008/09 with students at schools in England and Wales, which

also has contributed some way to the 7.3% increase in

applications to courses as of 1st July 2010.

More likely 74%

Don’t know 2%Less likely 2%

No change 23%74% of schools more likely torecommend Glamorgan

Change in likelihood of recommendingGlamorgan to students in the last 5years (schools and colleges only)

Table 3: Findings -- Schools

”“Almost three quarter of schools

are more likely to recommendGlamorgan to their studentsthan five years ago.

Schools

Overall, schools perceived the University as having significantly

more strengths than weaknesses, citing capital investment both at

Treforest and at the ATRiuM, our marketing and schools liaison

work and our commitment to the Welsh language as contributing

factors to a raised profile and strengthened position as a quality

institution. There is still some negative association with the

University’s polytechnic past but this appears to be reducing.

The adjectives used to describe Glamorgan by schools included

“friendly,” “accessible,” and “supportive.” It’s plain that the close

relationships built up with schools pay dividends when it comes to

teachers recommending Glamorgan to their students, seemingly

overcoming our relatively low league table ranking to become a

first choice destination. 74% of schools now say they are more

likely to recommend Glamorgan to their students than five years

ago.

The improved perception of Glamorgan has also migrated to

schools in the English border regions, with 81% saying they are

now more likely to recommend Glamorgan to their students.

”“



FE Colleges

Amongst FE colleges, there was some concern with a

perceived move away from widening participation and at the

speed of the University’s franchise withdrawal. Although 81% of

respondents from this sector still felt that Glamorgan’s

reputation has improved in the last three years, the survey

highlighted the need to do more to help our partners understand

our strategic direction.

Journalists

Welsh Government

Business

FE Colleges

Schools

Factors affecting the impression of a University (mean scores out of 5)

1 2Not at all important Very important

3 4 5

3.73.6

3.82.5

2.6

4.383.76

3.423.72

2.8

2.77

2.43

4.28

4.14

4.383.65

3.623.16

2.96

3.663.49

3.17

3.513.513.54

Employability of graduates

Frequency of contact with a university

Position in league tables and rankings

How close the University is to your location

How long the institution has had University status

Table 4: Employability is critical

“The University of Glamorgan is trying to raise perceptions of its

academic standing. It’s trying to change from a recruiting

institution to a selecting institution. It’s trying to change from a

teaching institution to a research institution. As somebody who is

involved in the widening participation agenda all of those things

are contributing to make it more remote to the work I am trying

to do.” Neath Port Talbot College

Almost all stakeholder groupsrated employability as the mostimportant factor affecting theimpression of the University.



Business

Businesses show a high level of satisfaction with Glamorgan

where they have had personal contact with the University – 82%

saying they’re satisfied or very satisfied with the professionalism

of the University; 65% with our proactivity and two thirds (66%)

with our range of services on offer, including the training,

consultancy, innovation and technology and knowledge transfer

activities operating through the University’s Commercial

Services Office (CSO). “Helpful”, “open”, “proactive” and

“professional” were some of the words most frequently used to

describe Glamorgan as an organisation that makes an effort and

puts energy into its activities. When asked to comment on their

dealings with Glamorgan Business School and CSO, a very

impressive 89% said they were satisfied or very satisfied with

their experience, compared to a very credible 72% who felt that

the University responded well, or very well to the needs of

Welsh businesses.

This stakeholder group also placed personal experience over

league table rankings, valuing local access and the number of

local students being recruited to Glamorgan over our academic

research.

“I think they have a strength in being able to go into a business and deliver.You tend to think of training providers being good at that and I think theUniversity of Glamorgan is one of the first universities that have managedto build a reputation for being able to do that.”

Royal Mint, Training Manager

Importantly, the status of the University as a former polytechnic

was not a concern to this group, with some respondents

referring to us fondly as “Glam poly”. As you would expect, the

employability of graduates is everything to business, citing it as

the most important factor in forming an impression of a

university. Encouragingly 44% of businesses who had

experience of employing Glamorgan graduates said they were

more employable than those from other Welsh universities, with

a further 52% saying they were ‘as employable’ and only 3%

saying not as good. Looking to the future, there is optimism

amongst business stakeholders that Glamorgan is well-placed to

meet the challenges of the current economic difficulties.

Respondents were keen to see a match between courses

offered, employment opportunities and skills shortages, with a

significant emphasis for capitalising on the strong base for

delivering vocational courses and skills. The University’s key

areas of strength to focus on in the future were considered as

“hard technology” such as electronics, digital media and

physics.

Professionalism

Understanding ofyour needs

Quality of graduates

Ability to contact a relevant person in the

University

How proactive the University is in working

with you

Range of services offered to you

Business satisfaction with the University of Glamorgan

Table 5: Business Satisfaction

1 - Not all satisfied 2 3 4 5 - Very satisfied

1% 12%

19% 38% 28%

45% 37%

3% 4%

11% 33% 12%1% 2%

17% 37% 27%1% 8%

21% 33% 32%4% 6%

20% 44% 22%3% 3%



”“

Government and Community

Glamorgan scored highest amongst this group for awareness,

with 80% of respondents stating they know more about us than

any other University in Wales. This, along with the two thirds

(67%) of the group who regard our reputation to have improved

or significantly improved, suggests a high regard for the

University. However, the survey showed a poor understanding

of the University’s current position, with some respondents

having almost a nostalgic view of Glamorgan as a former school

of mines and a Valleys-only provider which “provides a

University for those who might not have thought it was

achievable.” This was coupled with concern over a perceived

move away from widening access. Local press coverage and

PR activity has helped to build our reputation, but there is lack

of awareness and knowledge about the characteristics of the

University today.

Glamorgan is seen as an important resource in the region and

there is an established authentic emotional attachment with

local people; the flipside is concern about the number of

international students and how this may impact on the

community and local recruitment. These underlying tensions

need to be addressed by developing closer ties with the

community, including local councillors, who were often not well-

informed about the work of the University.

The good news is that the quality of relationships with

Glamorgan compared favourably to relationships with other HE

institutions, but there is a huge opportunity here for more

engagement and relationship-building. There was repeated

mention amongst stakeholders of the possibility of an ‘open

day’ for the local community.

80% of respondents in thisgroup stated they know moreabout us than any otherUniversity in Wales.

On the street

Face-to-face interviews were carried out with over 1,000

members of the public in ten locations in South Wales and the

south-west of England. The findings showed many regional

differences with, as expected, respondents in Wales much more

likely to know about the University and what it offers than their

English counterparts.

In prompted responses, Glamorgan is the third most well-known

university in Wales, but only two-fifths (39%) of those

interviewed could accurately pinpoint our location. It is also of

concern that there was a relatively low level of awareness about

the ATRiuM, with just a third (35%) of those who had heard of it

associating it with Glamorgan, compared to over half (51%) who

associated it with Cardiff University. Overall, the public

respondents had a positive but rather bland view of Glamorgan,

providing generic comments that could apply to any institution.

Two fifths were unable to offer any comment about us at all,

suggesting we need to improve our ‘distinctiveness’ agenda in

order to gain a greater recognition for what we do, in the minds

of the public.

“A third of respondents 33% described the university as modern and only11% of respondents used negative descriptions.” (Street responses only).



Journalists

This is a particularly important stakeholder group, as journalists

have so much influence over how Glamorgan is viewed by other

stakeholders and opinion formers. The fact that two thirds

(66%) felt our reputation had improved and none thought it had

deteriorated over the past 3 years is therefore significant. Many

respondents in other stakeholders groups said they used the

media to obtain information about, and to evaluate, universities.

Journalists were the only group in the survey to regard league

tables as the most important factor affecting the impression of a

university – possibly a reflection of the fact that the tables are

largely media-generated – the challenge now is to persuade the

media to cover Glamorgan in a more rounded light.

Swansea University

Cardiff University

Aberystwyth University

UWIC (University of WalesInstitute Cardiff)

University of Glamorgan

University of Wales, Newport

Swansea MetropolitanUniversity

Knowledge of universities in Wales (Journalists only)

Table 6: Journalists

Never heard of it Heard only of the name Know a little about it Know a lot about it

20% 80%

50% 50%

40% 50%10%

50% 40%10%

20% 70%10%

30% 60% 10%

20% 70%10%

There was agreement amongst all the journalists questioned that

Glamorgan has the best media relations operation of all the

Welsh universities, with the press office praised for its pro-

activity, relevance of stories and responsiveness to queries. This

is the University’s greatest strength amongst this stakeholder

group and further opportunities lie in us continuing to develop

our experts in certain subject areas to further strengthen our

leverage with journalists.

”“100% of stakeholders agreed

that Glamorgan has the bestmedia relations operation of allWelsh universities.


University Strategy 2010-15

My appointment as Vice-Chancellor in April provided anopportunity to take stock of our significant progress in recentyears within the context of dynamic external and internalenvironments and thereafter fine-tune the University’s strategicdirection – its mission and purpose – where appropriate.

This is why, during summer 2010, I consulted with students,staff and key stakeholders (via the brand survey) on thefollowing fundamental questions:

• Where are we now?• What makes the University distinctive in a national and

global context?• What are our core values? • What will ensure our long-term sustainability?

The survey results that you’ve just read and the feedback frommy consultation exercise both strongly indicated “employability”and “innovation and business engagement” as key themes thatwill differentiate the University and could provide a focus for

shaping innovative, professional services that meet the needs ofour students and stakeholders. The employability of ourgraduates will indeed, going forward, be a key indicator of ourcontribution to the social and economic wellbeing of Wales anda tangible return on their investment in studying at Glamorgan.Acknowledgement of our emerging research capability, forexample through membership of the St David’s Day Group, hasbeen a source of inspiration for our staff in recent years; the keytask going forward will be to channel this capability towardsactivities that will drive innovation and business engagement,enabling us to make a major contribution to the economicrenewal of Wales and beyond.

The outcome of these exercises, allied to consideration ofexternal and internal situational analysis and best practice fromother universities and sectors, was the development andsubsequent approval by the Board of Governors on 15thNovember 2010 of a new University Vision and Strategy for theperiod 2010-15.

Julie Lydon

The Board has determined that the University must be boldwith its vision for the period 2010-15:

“By 2015, the University of Glamorgan will beunrivalled for its professional, employment-focused education and research-informedinnovation and business engagement.”

If we are to raise our reputation and profile whilst ensuring ourlong-term sustainability during what will be challenging times,

we will need to focus our activities, be distinctive and createvalue for our students and key stakeholders. In addition,focused collaboration will also be critical; existing partnershipswill be reinforced and innovative collaborative activitiesdeveloped.

A new University Strategy – including a new mission statement,core values, strategic priorities and revised Critical PerformanceIndicators – will be implemented based on the balancedscorecard approach. A “Strategy Map” has been developed toillustrate this as follows on page 13.

Our Vision and Strategy

”“The employability of our

graduates will be a key indicatorof our contribution to the socialand economic wellbeing ofWales. Julie Lydon

13

“”



Specifically, delivery of the University Strategy will be channelledthrough the following strategic enablers, which illustrate theorganisational efficiency and effectiveness necessary to achieveour vision and strategic priorities and provide a focus forplanning activities:

• Professional Higher Education

• Excellent Learning and Working Environment

• Financial Sustainability

• Our People

• Effective Partnerships

• Our Reputation and Profile

Glamorgan BalancedScorecardWithin the higher education sector, there has recently beenincreasing interest in the balanced scorecard approach whichtransforms an organisation’s strategic plan from an attractivebut passive document into the "marching orders" for theorganisation on a daily basis. It provides a framework that notonly provides performance measurements, but helps managersidentify what should be done and measured.

Each strategic enabler has a list of aspirations or objectives thatwill be taken forward through key University strategies or, moregenerally, the faculty and corporate department strategic plans.

This approach will ensure alignment between our long-termstrategy and our short-medium term operations, i.e. translatingthe content of the strategy into more immediate activities andtargets. In this way, each part of the University will make acontribution to the achievement of our vision and strategicpriorities as laid out in the University Strategy.

we will need to focus ouractivities, be distinctive andcreate value for our studentsand key stakeholders.

Vision & Strategy 2010-15



VisionBy 2015, the University of Glamorgan will be

unrivalled for its professional, employment-focusededucation and research-informed innovation and

business engagement

MissionTransforming lives through professional,

employment-focused higher education and distinctive research and innovation relevant to

economic, social and cultural needs

Long

-ter

m s

trat

egy

Sho

rt-m

ediu

m t

erm

op

erat

ions

Our Students

CPIs

Our Research, Innovation &Knowledge Transfer

CPIs

Our Engagement

CPIs

Strategic Enablers

Table 7: The Glamorgan Balanced Scorecard

Documents

Staff Room Special Edition Supplement December 2010