President's weekly update
2 May 2024
Staff open meeting
My senior colleagues and I held an open meeting with staff which you can watch. I gave an update including our position on student recruitment which is looking reasonable but with real concerns about the impact of any possible changes to the graduate route visa resulting from the rapid review of the Migration Advisory Committee which will report mid-May. Professor April McMahon, Vice-President for Teaching, Learning and Students talked about our planned new and refurbished student residences, student engagement and the transfer from Blackboard to Canvas.
I was asked about my proudest moment over the past 14 years, which is a very hard question because there have been so many. I answered possibly when I heard we were top in the world on the THE universities league table for meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) because this is an important part of our social responsibility agenda. I was also asked about press reports that the head of MI5 is requiring further security restrictions on universities for research involving certain countries, which was reported on following a meeting I attended as outlined below. We took further questions on remote IT access and engaging staff in change programmes.
Russell Group meetings on national security and future strategy
I attended a session with other Vice-Chancellors, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Director General of MI5, the Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and several ministers. Somewhat different to the press reports, the meeting was extremely constructive and collaborative.
The excellence of research and innovation in our universities was continually mentioned, along with the important measures we have all taken to reduce the ever-growing security risks from ‘hostile nations’, of which all attending were very well aware. They were keen to take proportionate measures which protect against hostile threats but do not damage the UK’s leading position in research and innovation. We are already taking all the steps they recommended and have had expert staff supporting ‘Trusted Research’ for several years. In addition, we have improved our research security support by redesigning the ‘Trusted Research’ page to bring together all the information and guidance you need to work securely in an easily navigable site. I took the opportunity to thank the NCSC for their support during our cyber-attack but also noted the significant costs of our security measures.
At the main Russell Group Meeting we discussed our future strategy, the challenges facing the sector, notably financial sustainability, likely outcomes and implications of a pending general election and the opportunities and challenges of AI.
Great to be back in a lecture theatre
I gave my first-year lectures to biology students on the pathophysiology of brain disease. It was so nice to give them in person. Theatre B was packed even at 5pm and lovely that they now applaud lectures!
Students’ Union
Professor April McMahon and I met Hannah Mortimer, Union Affairs Officer for our Students’ Union. We discussed handover to the next set of officers, pending exams and engaging students in senior staff open meetings in Schools.
Universally Manchester Festival approaching
Next month, we’re celebrating our bicentenary in style with Universally Manchester Festival Staff will have exclusive access to book free tickets to the most in demand events a day ahead of everyone else on Tuesday, 7 May through the festival website. There are still opportunities to get involved and to sign up for one of our staff volunteer roles.
Finally…
Let’s hope for some sunshine for the bank holiday weekend.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor