Strategic Plan 2022-27 – Transforming Lives and Communities

Thank you to colleagues across the University who have contributed to the development of our new Strategic Plan 2022-27: Transforming Lives and Communities.

I am pleased to confirm that on Thursday (28 July 2022) the University’s Board of Governors approved the strategic plan. This is a significant milestone for the University which provides us with fresh direction and impetus for the next five years and beyond.

A copy of Transforming Lives and Communities can be found on the webpage here where you can also download it as a PDF file.

Hundreds of staff members from across the whole University have taken part in shaping the strategic plan and its supporting strategies. Over the last nine months colleagues have attended my Town Hall talks, answered a set of weekly questions on different aspects of our University’s activities, logged into virtual meetings, and shared comments on early drafts. The process has proven again the University’s greatest strength is its people.

We have set a long-term ambition for the University, the first stage of which is to be firmly in the UK top 40 and global top 500 by 2027. To attain this target we must improve most of the metrics related to student intake, student progression, student satisfaction and graduate outcomes. We must improve the volume and quality of our research. We must grow the size of the University, its income and its surpluses. We must invest to make us fit for the 21st Century: in digital applications; in moving towards a carbon net-zero campus; and in improving the environment for our research.

We have also been candid about the external pressures bearing down on the higher education sector and that improvement in our performance will rely on us doing things differently.

To thrive in the years ahead, we must be able to attract, develop and retain excellent staff. We must ensure our University’s structures and processes let us focus our energies and expertise on activities that matter most; we must be agile enough to respond to new opportunities and threats; and we must renew our commitment to building strong and meaningful strategic partnerships that genuinely serve the needs of our communities. Over the summer I will be creating a small team to help us make the improvements needed if we are to achieve our ambition.

In the new academic year, I will again invite University staff to join me for a Town Hall event to formally launch the new Strategic Plan and look ahead to how we can deliver on the goals we have set out.

I hope many of you will join me to discuss how we can make the most of the opportunities that will present themselves whilst navigating the inevitable challenges. In the meantime, please do enjoy your summer.

Professor Neal Juster Vice Chancellor