Dear Colleagues,
With the Christmas holiday nearly upon us and a potentially very snowy end to 2010 fast approaching, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for your fantastic efforts again this year. The University will enter 2011 in a strong position, both reputationally and financially, and this is down to the commitment of colleagues across campus.
We began the year with extremely challenging weather conditions and we are ending the year in a similar fashion. On both occasions, colleagues across the campus responded magnificently. I would particularly like to thank colleagues involved with retail, accommodation, estates, security, communications, the Sports Training Village and others who have made heroic efforts during the periods of bad weather to maintain key services and make the campus as safe as possible for the rest of us.
Although 2010 saw us challenged by harsh weather, it has been the harsh public funding climate that has preoccupied much of my year. It has been a truly momentous 12 months in the Higher Education sector, with a new Government taking tough financial decisions which have had, and will continue to have, a far reaching impact on us all.
Following the Government’s announcement of a £2.9 billion reduction in public funding for Higher Education during the Spending Review period, 2011-15, Parliament voted in favour of raising the higher level at which universities can charge fees. The Government’s proposal is that increased income from higher fees should offset the reduction in public funding, moving a greater fraction of the cost of HE from taxpayers to graduates.
Yesterday, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) announced that public funding will continue to be withdrawn from the HE sector in advance of the phasing in of new income from increased tuition fees from the 2012/13 academic session. In 2011/12, the funding HEFCE has available for teaching will be reduced by six per cent and the funding for research by four per cent. We are not clear about how this will impact on us financially and are awaiting decisions by the HEFCE Board on 28 January 2011 regarding how these cuts will be implemented.
It is certain that we will need to be creative if we are to ensure that we can maintain the quality of the student experience on a lower level of resource over the coming years.
The new HE funding regime will bring a fresh set of challenges for all universities. The quality of the student experience is absolutely key as we move forward into this new era as we will need to compete with other excellent universities to recruit the best students.
The high quality experience we already offer our students was further enhanced in the past year through significant investments in the physical infrastructure of the campus.
The opening this autumn of our new £5.5 million Student Centre has provided students with a wonderful space to meet, socialise and work. We have also completed a major refurbishment of our teaching accommodation.
Other factors which clearly demonstrate the quality of the experience we offer students include high completion rates, varied opportunities for personal development, and, of course, the fact our students leave with excellent career prospects. Of those who graduate from Bath, 80 per cent go into graduate level jobs and the average salary of our graduates is significantly higher than the national average.
These achievements are only possible through the hard work of colleagues across campus.
2011 will certainly have its own challenges but I believe that we will tackle them with our characteristic determination and initiative.
It just remains for me to wish you and your families a very happy and peaceful Christmas, and all the very best for the New Year.
Professor Glynis Breakwell
Vice-Chancellor