We are delighted to launch our University Strategy Green Paper and share this with our staff, students and wider community.
For our new strategy we are planning to take a rather different approach to suit the rapidly changing context we face. Instead of a long document which tries to set out our ambitions across all of the different aspects of our work, we want to work with students, staff and other members of our community to develop a high level and durable statement of our vision and values, supported by specific plans for different areas which can be updated as needed.
Many colleagues participated in our 21st Century University events in November and their ideas have been invaluable in shaping the Green Paper. A full report on these events is available on the New Strategy website and the ideas generated are referred to throughout this document. In a few cases we have highlighted where something suggested has been ruled out, and why.
This next-stage consultation document – the Green Paper – is a key step in developing our strategy for the future. It is designed to provoke discussion and capture views on the most significant choices we need to make, and we now welcome your individual responses to the questions in this paper.
Our objectives from this consultation are to fully engage our community in the development of the new University Strategy; articulate decisively a core set of principles and values that we wish to promote as a community; and allow the opportunity for comment in full on our aspirations and direction of travel in all aspects of our core activity.
As you will see this document is broken down into different sections - Mission; People, Culture and Organisation; Student Life; Our International Geography; Our Civic Role; Learning, Teaching and Assessment; Research and Knowledge Exchange; Financial Health; and Our Infrastructure - each with a limited number of questions which we are asking you to consider. We invite staff, students and our wider university community to submit their views and comments through the consultation questionnaire by 30 April. You are welcome to respond to all of the questions, or just those in the sections which most interest you.
Throughout March and April there will also be a number of face-to-face opportunities to discuss the issues raised in this document. As well as University Committees and a number of Town Hall meetings, open to all in the UK, China and Malaysia, we would like to encourage as much discussion as possible in team meetings, committees and learning community forums.
Once the Green Paper consultation is complete, we will prepare a response to the views raised and use this to produce a draft strategy. This will take the form of a White Paper for final consultation and consideration within our community. Following this consultation UEB will recommend the new strategy to University Council by December.
There is no question that we are living in changing and challenging times but our new University Strategy needs to recognise the social, political, cultural and economic contexts in which we are operating, while being true to our core mission and values. Global Strategy 2020 has served the University of Nottingham well by ensuring that we have a broad international outlook, are able to take bold decisions and are financially sustainable. In order to thrive in this complex landscape, it is crucial that our strategy stays true to our heritage and history while adapting to present-day needs.
I hope that as many of our staff, students and wider community as possible will contribute views to the debate. I look forward to personally discussing the content of this Green Paper and hearing your views through our consultation events and website. As our Vice-Chancellor has written in her Foreword to the Green Paper: “These views will prove critical in shaping our new University Strategy to navigate the challenges ahead, retain our unique identity as an institution and write the next successful chapter in the University of Nottingham’s history.”
Professor Andy Long
Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor
14 March 2019