University of Glamorgan
NewsJuly 28, 2010
Daily Media Digest, Wednesday 28 July 2010
Good morning,
In the news
The Vice Chancellor writes today’s Western Mail Essay on the role of universities and the value of work experience to degrees
(Link not available, Western Mail p.16 – see full text below)
Peter Hodge (CCI) will talk about maintaining effective dialogues with industry at a conference on excellence in games education
http://www.develop-online.net/press-releases/61289/ProtoTeach
Steve Smith (Britain’s most successful high jumper) will launch Chambers of Commerce Week in September. The event is being sponsored by the Business School
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business-in-wales/business-news/2010/07/28/business-week-gets-a-lift-from-top-high-jumper-91466–26944615/
The Pontypridd Observer carries a photo story on the honorary doctorate conferred on Professor Stephen Milner at Glamorgan’s awards congregations
(no link available, Pontypridd Observer, p.5)
The Pontypridd Observer picks up the weekend’s story about UWIC’s rejection of a potential merger
(p.13)
The Pontypridd Observer has a photo-story covering the graduation of Ben Gwyer and Nick Mills (HESAS) who will join South Wales Police under the AAS scheme
(p.23)
Glamorgan commentators
Professor Denis Murphy took part in Radio 4’s Home Planet programme yesterday http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t3z6r
Dr Kath Ringwald (Business School) was on Wales Today last night commenting on the reopening of the Alpha Steel works in Newport (no web link available)
Also of interest
Can we lure India’s brightest back to Britain? (The Times, 28.07.10, p21)
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnists/article2662243.ece
UK Would Welcome For-Profit Colleges; They May Not Come
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100727–715111.html
ENDS
Vice Chancellor’s Essay, Wednesday, Western Mail
Universities are about transforming lives. This can be evidenced in many ways from research that pushes the boundaries of our knowledge to business engagement that exploits existing knowledge to feed wealth creation and business growth to providing high quality academic programmes that equip our students with the knowledge, skills and attributes that will maximise their intellectual and personal fulfilment and enable them to compete in the challenging economic environment that we now face.
The employability of our graduates is, and will continue to be, a key indicator of our contribution to the social and economic wellbeing of Wales; a tangible return and justification for investment in our universities going forward. We have a strong record of working with the professions, industry, commerce and the voluntary sector to ensure that our academic programmes meet their needs; producing workplace-ready graduates who possess the higher level skills required by employers to drive forward innovation and remain competitive, particularly as we now enter a period of sustained austerity in Wales and the UK.
We cannot however rest on our laurels; the attractiveness of Wales to current and new employers will depend on the continued supply of employable graduates; individuals who have the confidence to make a difference and an ability to lead, innovate, embrace new ideas and adapt to change. I firmly believe that meaningful work experience is a key element of graduate employability. For some, this will be undertaking voluntary work for local communities, for others clinical placements or research projects with external organisations. These experiences may include field trips to international partners or locations, study on work exchanges, internships or Students’ Union engagements. All give the individual student a taste of the real world, adding value to their degree and helping them be to distinctive in the highly competitive employment market.
I see this in action every day at my own University – our accountancy students studying for professional qualifications whilst working at, e.g. Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, part of the prestigious Johnson & Johnson Corporation; our aircraft maintenance students working alongside engineers at General Electric; and our business students starting their summer work placements, arranged by the University, with Rolls-Royce and Microsoft. These are major names in the business world, located in Wales and beyond, providing work experience opportunities because they are, as is the University, conscious of the importance of making students as employable as possible before they graduate.
Residual prejudice derides work experience as only for the more vocationally orientated universities. We’re proud that we started our life almost a century ago as the South Wales and Monmouthshire School of Mines serving the omnipotent local coal industry. Our commitment to producing workplace-ready graduates is as strong now as it was then. If getting them work experience helps them into employment, long will we champion this cause and challenge other universities to join us.
Turning to the research agenda, I firmly believe that contrary to recent comments on research concentration at a few universities, excellence in research should be funded where it is found. A continued policy of selectively distributing research funding, based on sustainable quality, is essential in order to continue to drive up the quality and impact of our research and secure the future health of the Welsh and UK research bases. Universities, such as Glamorgan, have an important role to play because we undertake excellent research that directly informs modern businesses and societies – it is applied, near market and user valued. For example, our research in hydrogen is a key strand in the journey towards clean, sustainable energy and our integrated communications research, in partnership with Orange and others, is contributing to the development of the next generation of mobile phone systems. Last week we honoured Professor Stephen Milner, a former British Army Surgeon, who now leads the world-renowned burns unit at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore. He undertakes joint research with our Disaster Management specialists, applying cutting-edge medical research to the real-life problems of a turbulent and unpredictable world. These are distinctive, applied research activities which achieve significant economic and social impact, and importantly, inform learning within the classroom. This is the essence of an enquiry-led, university learning environment that delivers the truly graduate-level skills needed for the economy and society.
In increasingly uncertain times for our graduates as they embark on a new stage of their lives, we must continue to develop our academic programmes such that they equip them to succeed and we must also maximise the impact of our research and innovation with partners and within the classroom. That means preserving our universities academic vitality – offering excellent learning, teaching and research – by seeking ways to be smarter about how we manage our operations so that resources are channelled towards academic endeavour. For example, in the context of graduate employability, Welsh higher education has pooled its resources to establish GO Wales which provides employability and business development opportunities for businesses and graduates in Wales. The pooling of our services should and will increasingly be the norm for Welsh higher education going forward.
What are Universities for? I repeat that they are fundamentally about transforming lives; harnessing and developing the creative and innovative capabilities of our students, staff, partners and communities to deliver a buoyant economy and social justice for all. Increasingly, this will require collaboration and the sharing of expertise and facilities, across Wales and beyond, to maximise the benefit and added value of higher education.
Julie Lydon is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glamorgan
Posted by: Press Office
