President's weekly update
24 November 2023
Meeting with new professors
Senior colleagues and I met new professors who had either joined us recently or had been promoted. We asked their views on the University. They had many positive comments, notably about the people (staff and students), our ambition, our size and huge scope (but also a disadvantage sometimes), interdisciplinary activities in teaching and research (though again, working across different structures even within one faculty, with different regulations could be challenging). They also felt our commitment to social responsibility, research platforms and our location within Manchester and many partnerships were all positives.
Things they felt had to improve were aspects of our processes and administrative support (though all praised our Professional Services staff) which were often complex and time-consuming. One who had just moved from a competitor university said we were much better than them! Many of the problems had occurred over recent months, with several noting timetabling and changes due to the Student Experience Programme. Several staff said how they disliked generic email addresses which were not always answered, and they didn’t know who to go to. I said we recognised and were acting quickly on all these issues.
They asked me about what I thought was great to which I said collaboration, partnership, location, ambition and social responsibility. We also discussed our bicentenary, the fundraising campaign, and the financial unsustainability of the university sector.
Christabel Pankhurst building opening
I spoke at the official opening of our fabulous new Christabel Pankhurst building along with Helen Pankhurst, a descendant of Christabel and Emmeline, Professor Alex Frangi, the new Director of the Pankhurst Institute, and Professor Ben Bridgewater, Chief Executive for Health Innovation Manchester.
Students’ Union (SU) meeting
We held one of our regular meetings with officers of our SU. They told us about the very positive start to the year with over 23,000 students involved in clubs and societies. We also discussed attendance monitoring for our international students, which because of our cyber incident, currently has to be done manually. It is a UKVI requirement of all universities to monitor the attendance of all those holding student visas - failure to do so would have very serious consequences. In a discussion about transparency of our financial investments and research funding, we explained the frameworks that we use for responsible investment and research partnerships. We have a Policy for Responsible Investment that determines our investments in line with our environment and other targets.
Manchester City Council (MCC) leadership conference
At an event for about 500 employees of MCC at the amazing new Aviva Studios (formerly Factory Manchester), I was interviewed by Joanne Roney OBE, Chief Executive of MCC, about my experience of leadership. Just before me, Professor Sir Cary Cooper from AMBS spoke, and I was followed by former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, who I had a chat with.
Northern Powerhouse Partnership Board (NPP)
At the NPP Board meeting in Manchester, we discussed the impact of the decision not to take the HS2 rail link through to Manchester and the plans for Northern Powerhouse rail links between cities in the north. We also received a presentation on the gap in attainment of many schoolchildren in the North and the strong link to socio-economic deprivation.
Innovation Greater Manchester (IGM)
The IGM Board discussed cyber security and opportunities to attract businesses in the area of cyber security to the region, and the allocation of funds through the Investment Zone. The Government announced that the five year, £80m funding for Investment Zones was extended to ten years and £160m, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Autumn Statement confirmed GM as one of three new Investment Zones on advanced manufacturing and materials.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor