Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
A presentation by Professor Paul Younger, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Engagement at Newcastle University, to the US Friends.
Citation preview
Professor Paul L Younger FREng
Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Engagement
May 2009
Newcastle University today: reinvigorating the concept of a civic university
Presentation to US Friends of Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne… the other Pons Aelius
Publius Aelius
Hadrianus, Imperator
Newcastle upon Tyne today
‘A brief history of (University of Newcastle upon) Tyne’
• Institution initiated as Armstrong College in 1834
• Formally declared an independent University in 1963
• Grown since then from 4,000 to more than 18,900 students, with broad, comprehensive discipline coverage
• Founder member of the prestigious ‘Russell Group’ of leading UK universities
Newcastle University today - mission
Mission statement:
To be a world-class research- intensive university, to deliver teaching of the highest quality and to play a leading role in the economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England.
Newcastle University today – key facts
• Top 20 in UK for research power and top quartile for student experience
• World leading research capabilities
• Founding partner in Newcastle Science City
• Annual income £350m
• Capital investment this year more than £50m
• 18,900 students, 4,900 staff and 124,500 alumni
• One of the North East’s top five employers
Research at Newcastle University
Recognised leader in applied research
• One of largest winners of European Commission research funding (e.g. 2004-2008: 1,300 partners, 90 programmes, €36M - more than Finland!)
• Medicine:– World leader in therapeutic stem cells– Top UK centre for cancer research– Largest campus for ageing research in Europe
– Engineering: • great strength in breadth and depth• 2nd in UK for Civil Eng• Europe’s largest School of Marine Science & Technology
– Humanities:• Largest linguistics research community in UK• UK-leading School of Arts and Cultures
£200 million investment in campus
‘Make Poverty History’ Honorary Degree Ceremony, 2007
Delivering on the regional agenda
• Cultural facilities– e.g. Great North Museum
• Ten-step plan to help the North East through the global financial crisis
Great North Museum
Newcastle University’s ten-step plan to help the regional economy
1. Make it easier for people in the region to work productively with the University as suppliers or clients.
2. Secure hundreds of construction jobs by maintaining the University’s current £200m programme of investment in its campus, which is currently mid-way through completion.
3. Bring forward other significant capital projects, including refurbishing lecture theatres and laboratories.
4. Accelerate the programming of maintenance and improvement works on our outdoor estate.
Ten-step plan (continued…)
5. Invest in improvements to the energy efficiency of the University’s residential properties, requiring installation of insulation and other measures.
6. A business voucher scheme for small and medium-sized companies in the region, where vouchers up to £5k in value will be given to businesses, which can be redeemed against training or specialist advice from the University.
7. Arrange subsidised access to courses to help re-skill people who have been made redundant, and expand the University’s curriculum provision to better meet the training and development needs of employees in regional companies.
Ten-step plan (continued…)
8. Reduce average payment times to all suppliers by nine days.
9. Expansion of the University Career Service’s successful Newcastle Work Experience scheme, which gives small businesses low-cost access to skilled and enthusiastic students to undertake specific pieces of work.
10. Expand our provision of free cultural and educational activities for the benefit of families on a tight budget.
Open Access Event – 30 January 2009
Additional investment
• Reinvestment of VAT savings (£1.6m)• First tranche announced at 30th Jan Open Access event• Ten small programmes of work in calendar year 2009
– Floodlighting, Longbenton sports grounds– Refurbishment of Heaton and Longbenton changing rooms– Pitch drainage, Henderson Hall– Window replacement, Richardson Road Flats– External lighting, Richardson Road Flats– Way finding across the campus– Eldon Sub Transformers– Machine room cooling– Server consolidation– Energy saving investments
• Estimated values from £30k to £500k
Business Voucher Scheme
Progress since launch on 1 Feb 2009:
– logged 97 formal enquiries; every one has been responded to and there are 74 enquiries at various stages of development
– 7 applications already approved (vouchers to the value of £32K on £50K worth of projects):
• Technical consultancy, product development, Exec MBA, six sigma training etc
– £24K of further vouchers now pending; more to follow
Business Voucher Scheme – example of a satisfied recipient
Business Voucher Scheme – so far so good (1)
Key points:
• Logged over 150 enquiries (although we have had many more conversations than this)
• Approved vouchers to the value of £71k with a project value of £108k
• Vouchers to the value of £34k are pending with a total pending project value of £80k
• Enquiries are steadily coming in at the rate of 4 or 5 per day
• Further advertising and promotion underway which will see this continue/increase
Business Voucher Scheme – so far so good (2)
Overall:
• Huge increase in enquiries from organisations new to the university
• Financial leverage in projects
• Most parts of the university benefitting but in particular 'commercially focussed' units and schools
• Secondary benefits to FE community and Business Support in the region through referrals
Next steps – I £8m of accelerated funding approved by HEFCE
Seven projects approved: Teaching room upgrade programme £0.6m Lecture theatre refurbishment programme £1.1m Herschel Building recladding £1.0m Energy saving installation programme £0.5m Computer cluster rationalisation programme £2.5m IT infrastructure project £0.7m Anaerobic digestion system £1.6m
Total £8.0m
Punching above our weight: this is 5% (by value) and 7% (by volume) of total HEFCE spend on this programme – i.e. about three times what pro rata award would suggest
Next steps – II Addressing Graduate Un(der)employment
• Successful bid to HEFCE Economic Challenge Investment Fund for £488K package covering:
For our own alumni of last 3 years plus those of universities outside the region who now live here:
• Widening access to award-winning Careers Service
Graduate Apprenticeship Programme (GAP):• For 50 of our alumni of last 3 years now un(der)employed: 12-week
placements focusing on the Process Industries, the Sub-sea sector, Healthcare, the Voluntary sector, and Cultural industries.
For un(der)employed graduates of last 10 years:• Courses for Enterprisers• Business Start-up Grants and Advisory Services
Coaching Postdocs (past and present) for Commerce
Next steps - III
• A further £1m tranche of work will be announced soon, along with next few years of capital programme
• Updates on our website: www.ncl.ac.uk/business/tensteps/
