Supplementary memorandum submitted by
Professor Tim Wilson, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, University
of Hertfordshire
DIFFERENTIATION WITHIN
THE SECTOR
There is growing recognition that, as the UK
and other developed nations focus on achieving a knowledge economy,
their HE systems need to evolve. These changes are needed to both
research and teaching activities. Universities have a role to
play not only in the generation of new knowledge through their
research activities, but also in the application and exploitation
of such knowledge, supporting innovation in business partners.
In terms of teaching, universities must now go beyond their traditional
didactic role and provide graduates with the skills on which a
knowledge-based economy depends. This is a hugely diverse agenda
and no one university can fulfil the entire spectrum of roles.
Explicit differentiation of mission, purpose
and approach is vital, not only to delivering on the knowledge
economy but also to securing the sector's sustainability. Such
differentiation needs to be recognised, endorsed, promoted and
financially supported by Government.
Business-facing universities will play as significant
a role in the UK economy as research-intensive institutions. The
latter are critical in sustaining our world-class research standing,
expanding our knowledge base and working with business in specific
leading-edge research fields. The former's importance lies in
engaging with business in a consistent and comprehensive manner,
supporting innovation in product and process and delivering the
skills and competencies that business values.
RESEARCH AND
INNOVATION
There have been significant changes in research
funding for the sector in recent years and an increasing emphasis
on the exploitation of university research. The new RAE funding
stream and the creation of the Technology Strategy Board are both
to be welcomed. But innovation is about more than academic research;
it must also consider the application of new knowledge. The country
cannot afford to neglect the vast potential contribution that
universities can make to the innovation agenda in terms of putting
new and existing knowledge to work in new fields.
The Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and other
relatively small grant programmes can, and do, make a huge impact
upon business competitiveness. There is an issue of efficiency
in the evaluation of the proposals for such grants, but that must
be improved through process change, not by raising the threshold
for grants, a step that may inadvertently exclude many small and
growing companies from working with business-facing universities
to improve their competitiveness through innovation.
SOFT SKILLS
FOR SUCCESS
Surveys of employers regularly emphasise the
critical importance of non-cognitive skills—soft skills—such
as team working, problem-solving, self-management, speaking and
listening and creative thinking. I have just returned from visits
to China and India; employers there expressed the same concern
with graduate skills. While graduates come into businesses with
strong technical skills gained from an education system focused
on delivery of knowledge, they often lack the interactive and
discursive skills that group projects and work experience bring.
It is these skills that universities such as Hertfordshire develop
and promote in their students, through project-specific placements
with companies, through problem-solving activities bringing together
teams of students, staff and businesspeople, through an explicit
focus on employability and entrepreneurial skills throughout the
curriculum.
It is these skills that will also provide students
with the platform for career development, allowing them to make
career changes as the global job market itself changes over time.
We see no conflict between a university's purpose to develop the
individual and business need. By encouraging the ability to be
analytical, innovative and a team player in an individual, we
are also listening and responding to business need.
INCREASING THE
ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY
OF BUSINESS
During the evidence session, CIHE colleagues
highlighted the issue of the absorption capacity of business.
It's not enough to invest public money in the supply of skilled
graduates—businesses must also know how to deploy those
graduates, to translate their skills into enhanced productivity.
We believe that our system of placements can help to address this
issue also. Placements don't just benefit the student. The companies
have the opportunity to experience incorporating an employee with
contemporary, high-level skills, to explore how best to exploit
their talent. We see placements as an exchange rather than a transfer,
with companies gaining as much from the process as the students.
As you heard in the evidence from CIHE, knowledge is most effectively
transmitted through people; our students, our staff are our key
assets.
HEFCE FUNDING
I would like to take this opportunity to provide
the Committee with further information on our use of the £4
million of HEFCE money. We believe that our "third stream
as second mission" and "employer engagement" projects
lead the way in terms of effective use of public funds to develop
a model of a business-facing university. The funding provided
is being used to accelerate cultural change, re-engineer processes
and secure in-depth engagement with business partners.
The Committee was particularly interested in
the question of cultural change, and whether the repositioning
of certain universities as business-facing depended on committed
leadership. While effective leadership is always a critical success
factor, I also believe that this challenge must be addressed holistically
if it is to be effective. It is only when staff and students embrace
and support the ethos that its full potential can be realised;
Government commitment of resources will secure the embedding the
new culture across a whole institution. We have dedicated funding
to the permanent embedding of a business-facing culture at Hertfordshire.
In business-facing universities, students are
exposed to and engaged with business from the beginning of their
programmes. This commitment is exemplified through internships,
short and long industry placements and accredited work experience.
At Hertfordshire we are taking this a stage further; offering
not just careers advice but an Employment Centre that matches
business needs to graduate skills.
THE REVOLVING
DOOR
The acquisition of Exemplas, Hertfordshire's
Business Link, in 2006 linked the University to a network of 50,000
local businesses, the majority of which are SMEs.
It is important that the relationship between
businesses and the University is one of exchange, a two-way process
in which business need is identified and addressed in partnership.
It is also the means by which businesses not currently involved
with the University can be exposed to the new thinking, expert
advice and advanced facilities on offer. The release of such latent
demand will be key to realising the Leitch ambitions for an employer-driven
post-19 education and skills system. Success depends on stimulating
demand for higher skills in all types of business, including SMEs
and public sector organisations, and meeting that demand with
tailored solutions. It is worth noting that in the majority of
cases, the solutions that have the greatest impact offer incremental
innovation, process improvement that brings sustainability and
growth. This is where the University of Hertfordshire can add
most value.
In a differentiated sector, business-facing
universities will need to be agile enough to gather, understand
and deliver against changing needs amongst the business communities
they serve. The model designed at Hertfordshire is proving effective
and we will build on our current programme of annual evaluations
with a comprehensive evaluation and impact assessment in 2011-12
to demonstrate the value-added of this approach.
WORKPLACE LEARNING
As the Leitch report indicated, over 70% of
the 2020 workforce has already completed their compulsory education.
The Review recognised that upskilling the existing workforce will
be key to achieving our productivity and competitiveness goals.
Business-facing universities must take their
place, in collaboration with FE colleges, at the forefront of
delivery, providing education, training and CPD to employees on
campus and in the workplace. At Hertfordshire, we understand that
responding to this need means being flexible. We work with our
business clients as partners, designing provision to fit in with
the demands of the workplace.
Being able to deliver short courses and "bite-size""
units of provision—for example 15-30 credits—is key
to effective workplace learning. This will require significant
changes to both national quality assurance frameworks and to HEFCE
funding models.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
In his recent Budget, the Chancellor of the
Exchequer reaffirmed his commitment to the promotion of entrepreneurship
as part of the drive for productivity and international competitiveness.
In a business-facing university, such skills are embedded within
the curriculum—enterprise is the context in which all teaching
and learning take place.
However, we also directly support entrepreneurial
activity through our Innovation Centre, which provides office
space and access to high-level expertise within the University
to both start-up and established SMEs, including graduate and
academic entrepreneurs.
A business-facing university has a key role
in the economic development of its locality and region. For example,
the University recently opened BioPark Hertfordshire in Welwyn
Garden City, which combines world-class bio-science research facilities
and opportunities for knowledge transfer between University academics
and SMEs. We welcomed the opportunity to work with the East of
England Development Agency to secure high-tech employment in the
local community and flexible solutions for many ventures through
short- and long-term usage agreements. It is perhaps significant
that the Local Strategic Partnership, Herts Prosperity, is Chaired
by the University, exemplifying the role that the University plays
in the economic prosperity of its community. The University also
houses the Chamber of Commerce on campus; an IOD office is expected
soon.
NETWORKING
Being business-facing inevitably means both
local and global reach. At Hertfordshire we recognise that we
need to prepare students for an increasingly internationalised
labour market. But we also acknowledge that we are part of a global
education market.
We actively encourage a multi-cultural campus,
with 97 nationalities represented amongst our students and 54
amongst our staff.
There is a temptation to see alumni primarily
as potential donors. This is too myopic. Alumni provide an international
network of successful people, with the potential to contribute
immensely to the mission of the University in a wider sense. For
example, many of our international alumni are now employers themselves.
As such, they offer a rich resource not only in terms of business
networking for other graduates but also for the University in
the delivery of its mission, bringing internship, placement and
sponsorship opportunities.
I recently hosted four international alumni
events in China and India; my staff team and I met over 450 past
students, each wishing to maintain connections with each other
and with the University. Many see the value that both the University
and our 120,000-strong alumni community can add to their business
development. As part of our business-facing agenda, we have launched
alumni websites that allow past students to log their employment
history and network with others across the world. This will also
help to ensure current and future students will be able to benefit
from the connections, expertise and experience of their predecessors.
The UK has a mature, well-developed and respected
University sector. If it is to realise its full potential in a
twenty-first century knowledge-based economy, its capability must
be fully exploited. It is time to recognise, promote and fund
diversity in higher education. Within an explicitly differentiated
sector, Hertfordshire will champion a new model of a University:
a business-facing university.
April 2007
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