Select Committee on Education and Skills Minutes of Evidence


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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Prepared 9 August 2007