The secret of our success

June 2017

Volume includes an array of news and features that give just a flavour of Loughborough – from our pioneering research to the arts, culture and sport that are an integral part of our University. Higher education today is more expansive than ever before, so in this constantly evolving sector, how do we define what constitutes success?

Much is made of the plethora of league tables that are published each year and rank us on a range of criteria. Heavy emphasis is placed on the National Student Survey, which garners the views of final year undergraduates on their academic experience. We have the Research Excellence Framework, which assesses the quality and impact of universities’ research.

Alongside that we now have the TEF, the Teaching Excellence Framework, which ‘classifies’ our teaching as gold, silver or bronze.

The heart of a university

These are, of course, all significant indicators, but crucially they do not capture the impact of one hugely important factor – the people, who I believe lie at the heart of any university’s success.

At Loughborough, the hard work and commitment of our staff, students and graduates have undoubtedly helped us to position ourselves as one of the country’s best universities. They are great as individuals, but it is when they work together towards a common goal that they become truly excellent.

Such partnership working is very much part of our ethos. Whether it is University staff working with one another, or teams from Loughborough working with global companies, our collaborative approach enables us to deliver everything that exemplifies Loughborough today.

Our students and graduates are a key part of the equation too. They are very much our partners. While universities might these days be operating in a more commercial market, at Loughborough our students never have been, nor ever will be, considered as ‘customers’. From day one we engage with them to be involved in every aspect of their university experience and it is an approach that I believe is working incredibly well.

Students today are no longer content to be passive about their education. They are investing in the future; they want access to world-class knowledge, to learn from those at the cutting-edge of their subject area, to gain a qualification of real value of which they can be proud.

Dramatic transformation

They also want opportunities to get involved in life-enhancing activities outside the curriculum. By volunteering, raising money for charity, organising dance performances and playing sport, our students seek to gain transferable skills that will give them the extra edge in the competitive graduate employment market.

Essentially students want to leave university with the skills, knowledge and capabilities that will help them on that all-important first step of their chosen career ladder. Successful universities should enable them to do that.

Over the last 20 to 30 years the transformation of this country’s higher education has been dramatic and I do not anticipate it coming to a halt any time soon. Different governments, the post-Brexit era and global political shifts will undoubtedly bring further change.

Universities will have to be more nimble than they have ever been before. If they are to continue their success, they will have to anticipate possibilities, respond swiftly to the unforeseen and seize new opportunities that any changes might afford.

That approach is very much part of Loughborough’s ongoing agenda – and our staff, students and graduates sit firmly at the centre of our plans.