President's weekly update
30 November 2023
Board of Governors’ annual accountability conference
All members of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) presented to our Board on our performance over the past year in key areas including: teaching, learning and students; research; social responsibility; equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI); zero carbon; and delivery of underpinning Professional Services. Information that fed into this included the summaries of ‘deep dives’ into each area, the annual performance reviews and the more detailed interrogation by pairs of Board members (one lay and one elected) into each area. Student experience was a planned focus running through all the discussions.
The Board reported that they recognised we have had to deal with significant difficulties over the past year, including the cyber incident, the marking and assessment boycott, inflation and the impact on cost of living for our staff and students, and the changes that we have brought in which have impacted on some of our operations. They also acknowledged many successes and where we had achieved or exceeded our targets, though noting the one where we have significant work to do is in achieving our 2038 zero carbon target. SLT also noted that while our financial position this year was strong, it was insufficient to meet the needs of maintaining our estate and critical infrastructure and achieving zero carbon. Several Board members had seen the press coverage of a number of universities facing financial difficulty, due largely to the fixed undergraduate fee for 10 years while all universities have faced escalating costs. We have discussed our financial priorities with the Board previously. One Board member commented that this was the most effective and joined up conference they had attended over quite a number of years.
At the regular Board meeting that followed the conference, members signed off our financial accounts for the past academic year. They have been published today.
Professor Dame Nicky Cullum gave an excellent presentation to the Board on health inequalities. This is one of our University-wide research platforms which Nicky leads, and which involves research from across all three Faculties.
In my report to the Board on Senate, I said there has been a long discussion about the Student Experience Programme (SEP) and that we will submit a membership and terms of reference for the independent evaluation of SEP for discussion at an extra Senate meeting on 20 December. We have also established a separate Task and Finish Group to consider wider operational issues.
Task and Finish Group on operational activities
The temporary Task and Finish Group, comprising colleagues from across the University, including Directors of Faculty Operations, representatives from our Heads of School, Heads of Departments, and Professional Services leaders, along with representation from our Students' Union, has been established in response to feedback from across our Faculties, schools, and departments concerning ongoing operational challenges and specific issues felt at the start of this academic year. While we know positive strides have already been made to resolve some of these issues both locally and centrally, the Group, over the coming weeks, will aim to help swiftly identify and address any remaining University-wide issues ahead of Semester 2, resolving outstanding blockers wherever possible, and most importantly working to prevent their recurrence in the future. The Group will be complementary to, and not overlap with, other existing groups, and it will remain in place from now until at least the end of January 2024.
If you have any immediate questions or concerns that you would like to escalate to the Group, please contact Patrick Hackett, Registrar, Secretary and Chief Operating Officer: patrick.hackett-registrar@manchester.ac.uk
Bicentenary
It is now less than five weeks until the start of our bicentenary year. I met with colleagues this week to discuss the themes and profile of our many activities that are planned over the next year including the THE World Academic Summit which we will host in October 2024. The bicentenary website, refreshed in the last two weeks, has received nearly 10,000 views so far, with more than 230 students applying to be Ambassadors for the Light Up event in January. We also have an open call for volunteers for our bicentenary festival, Universally Manchester, which has had 6,000 visits to the application site.
Our North American Foundation (NAFUM)
I am presently travelling to our NAFUM meeting and to meet current and potential donors to the University, which I will report on next week.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor