President's weekly update
7 May 2020
The Government has now announced that universities will be required to limit recruitment of undergraduate/EU students to the forecast target plus no more than 5%, though there will be a further 10,000 places across the sector, including 5,000 extra places for nursing and subjects allied to medicine. This was part of the proposal to Government from Universities UK which also included a request for a doubling of Quality Related (QR) funding to provide an additional £2bn to fund research in the next academic year. To date the Government has announced an uplift in QR funding of £100m across the whole sector (likely to be about £4m for us) brought forward from next year, but has established a ‘task force’ to look at the sustainability of research funding. From our Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) analysis (which provides information to help us understand the costs of our activities), we have a gap in funding for our research of £160m pa. This will be difficult to meet if, as predictions indicate, there is a major loss of income from reduced numbers of international students in 2020/2021. Obviously we are working very hard to maximise student recruitment for next year.
Earlier this week we published on StaffNet a more detailed explanation of the assumptions behind the financial impacts that I outlined in my message on 23 April.
In addition to the fortnightly Board of Governors update on COVID-19, we held meetings of the Board Finance, Remuneration, Nominations and Staffing Committees. Finance Committee reviewed the known and potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations, our staff and students, our core goals, and of course on our financial position. It also considered the draft budget for next year, though this can only be a guide until we have certainty about student recruitment in the autumn and options for a short term loan.
Staffing Committee was updated on voluntary options to manage pay costs, and discussed the latest data on our gender pay gap which has improved slightly though not as much as we would want. Remuneration Committee reviewed the latest data on our gender pay gap which will be published shortly, and Nominations Committee considered re-elections to the Board of Governors.
I had a Zoom meeting with the Lord Lieutenant of Great Manchester who was keen that we recognise our many staff and students who have supported others during the pandemic -please do send in those that we should be recognising to Deborah Black in my office.
In a Russell Group call with the Minister for Universities, Michelle Donelan, we raised our concern about international student recruitment, the need for advice and guidance on reopening research facilities and uncertainty about when face-to-face teaching will resume. We have sent a message to staff outlining our proposed plans to begin the new academic year and this will be communicated to returning and prospective students early next week.
The Chinese Consul General, in another Zoom meeting with me, expressed concerns about the ability of Chinese students to obtain visas since all the UKVI offices remain closed. I have also raised this with Ministers. He did praise us for how well we have looked after our Chinese students who remain in Manchester.
In a virtual meeting of the board of Health Innovation Manchester we heard of the many activities and repositioning of health and social care providers in Greater Manchester to deal with the pandemic.
I joined a Cancer Research UK Strategy meeting. They are expecting to lose about 25% of their income this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak and are having to make very significant adjustments to their activities due to their reduced funding.
We held a joint meeting with leaders of Greater Manchester Combined Authority which focussed on the response to the pandemic current crisis and the recovery plan for Greater Manchester (GM). Similar topics were discussed at the GM Local Enterprise meeting. You may have seen that GM authorities have made a major loan to Manchester Airport.
Please do watch our Making A Difference Awards which will be broadcast on Facebook tonight (Thursday) starting at 5.45pm (you don’t need to have a Facebook account to watch).
I hope that you all manage to take a well-deserved break over the extended weekend.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor