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Research Posts

University Information

Introduction

Teesside University is a dynamic and modern university dedicated to delivering quality programmes of academically stimulating study and supporting the continued development of excellent research in key areas. The University is widely recognised as one of the United Kingdom’s leading business engaged universities, having forged close relationships with industry, and in particular to the process, engineering and manufacturing sectors, as well as to local authorities, the National Health Service and a wide variety of Third Sector organisations.

The University’s strategy for research is to focus our efforts on areas of demonstrable excellence. Overall, 70% of work submitted to the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008)was judged to be at least internationally recognised, with 30% assessed as internationally excellent or world leading.

Furthermore, the leading national role of the University in employer engagement, in the enhancement of teaching and learning, in staff development and workforce development, is widely acknowledged.

The University particularly prides itself on its inclusive, consultative and open approach and on the positive social and economic impact it has upon both the local economy/community and the wider North East region.

Brief History

The University has its origins in the period after World War I, when, 81 years ago, Joseph Constantine, a local shipping magnate, made a gift to the town to stimulate the establishment of a technical college, formally opened in 1930, to support Middlesbrough’s booming engineering and shipping industries.

In 1969, the college became Britain’s thirteenth Polytechnic, and then in 1992, the Polytechnic received university title.

Subsequent years have been characterised by rapid expansion of student numbers, diversification of academic provision and research expertise, continuous enhancement of the University’s reputation, and major campus development, which has seen 10 new buildings and 11 major building refurbishments within the last decade at a cost of over £120 million.

In addition, the University recently opened purpose built University Centres at the new campuses of Darlington College, Middlesbrough College, Redcar and Cleveland College, Stockton Riverside College and Hartlepool College. A particular current initiative is the very recent opening of a University campus in Darlington co-located with Darlington College, allowing students in the west of the sub-region much easier access to higher education.

In October 2009 the University was named as both the Times Higher Education ‘University of the Year’, and winner of the ‘Outstanding Employer Engagement Initiative’ award.

In the 2011 New Year Honours list, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Professor Graham Henderson was awarded the CBE for services to local and national higher education.

The University’s recent period of exceptional success has most recently seen student numbers reach almost 30,000 and the University achieve a number of significant accolades, including:

  • Times Higher Education University of the Year (2009)
  • Times Higher Education Outstanding Employer Engagement Initiative Award (2009)
  • The Northumbrian Association Hotspur Award for ‘Bold Endeavour’ (2010)
  • Business Incubation Champion of the Year (2009)
  • Over 100 companies launched from the Digital City Fellowships scheme
  • Highest ranking UK university in the ‘i-barometer’ international student survey
  • Eight staff holding National Teaching Fellowships
  • Four national Business Leaders of Tomorrow
  • The only UK university to hold Investors in People accreditation at Level 3

Mission and Vision of the University

Throughout the period from its establishment as a university, Teesside University has developed an increasingly strong national and international, reputation for the quality of its provision in relation to research, learning and teaching and student support.

2010 saw the University’s Mission modified to reflect its growing reputation for excellence, partnership and employer engagement resulting in the statements set out below (with associated vision, character and values also detailed):

  1. Mission

Providing Opportunities, Driving Enterprise, Delivering Excellence

Working in partnership to enable individuals and organisations to achieve their potential through high quality learning, research and knowledge transfer

2.Vision

To achieve regional, national and international recognition as the UK’s leading university for working with business, and to be amongst the UK’s top institutions of higher education in relation to:

  • being a vibrant and effective learning community with students at the heart of everything that we do;
  • enhancing academic and professional standards and producing highly employable graduates for the benefit of both individuals and organisations;
  • contributing effectively to the economic, social and cultural success of the communities that we serve; and
  • demonstrating a real and continuing commitment to social inclusion.

3.Values

Teesside University aims to be a caring, fair and supportive institution where everyone takes a shared pride in its mission and achievements. We seek to optimise and enhance the experience of our staff, students, partners and external clients by:

  • Encouraging and embracing diversity, equality of access, esteem and opportunity, and actively opposing and eradicating prejudice.
  • Empowering individuals to develop themselves and enhance their contribution to the future aims and strategic direction of the University.
  • Communicating openly and effectively in all directions.
  • Being open, transparent, honest and reflective.
  • Valuing team-working and the expertise and the contribution of individuals.
  • Celebrating and promoting individual contributions and the achievements and wider successes of the University.
  • Working proactively and flexibly with all stakeholders and the wider community.
  • Working in partnership to welcome, own and adapt to change.
  • Fostering creativity, innovation and enterprise.
  • Being committed to sustainability and the protection of our environment.
  1. Core Principles

The following fundamental principles will be used to guide and inform the future work of the University:

  1. The primary importance of remaining autonomous and ‘financial viable’ in the increasingly turbulent UK higher education environment.
  2. Retaining, and further reinforcing, Teesside’s character and status as a ‘University’ (not a ‘college’ or training company) that invests in, values and capitalises upon applied research, innovation and knowledge exchange.
  3. Maintaining, and further enhancing the University’s position as a ‘business facing’, ‘business engaged’ University.
  4. Retaining a focus on excellence and the provision of the best possible student learning experience within the global context necessary for future success.
  1. Providing opportunities for those individuals with the potential to succeed in HE, and who wish to stay in the Tees Valley, to use access to HE to enhance their contribution to the health, well being and social, economic and cultural future of the area and
  1. Maintaining, and celebrating, its position as a ‘people led’ organisation that recruits, values and invests in high quality staff.

The Schools of the University

Academic activity within the University is organised within six academic Schools, namely:

  • School of Arts and Media
  • School of Computing
  • School of Health and Social Care
  • School of Science and Engineering
  • School of Social Sciences and Law
  • TeessideUniversityBusinessSchool

Research

Research at Teesside is focussed around five Research Institutes, namely:

  • Digital Futures Institute
  • Health and Social Care Institute
  • Institute of Design, Culture and the Arts
  • Social Futures Institute
  • Technology Futures Institute

which seek to build on the success of the University in the RAE 2008 by providing a focused structure for cross-disciplinary research and collaboration between Schools and Departments, developing a programme of support for their members and building on the expertise of the University’s finest international and world class researchers.

The Graduate Research School (GRS) provides a focal point for the support of all aspects of research activity in the University, including research funding and projects, research degrees and examination, policy and strategy, and research ethics and integrity. GRS also works to promote research undertaken at Teesside to external audiences, within an overall aim of linking closely with the Research Institutes to support their members.

The University seeks to ensure that its programmes of study are appropriately underpinned by research, scholarship and evidence-based contemporary professional practice. A strong emphasis is placed upon engendering an ethos of applied research and development capable of responding to regional needs through knowledge exchange and the development of strong partnerships with key stakeholders.

Business Engagement

The University has a strategic aim to become the UK’s leading business-facing university through provision of a comprehensive business solutions service for business, industry and the public sector. Our reputation in this area is very high and to achieve this, we have developed an environment that supports, promotes and celebrates enterprise and entrepreneurship, featuring:

  • Leadership of major regional initiatives, including Digital City, the Science to Business Hub and a large-scale graduate internship programme for smaller companies.
  • Integration of all services to business, from employer-led learning programmes through to Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, to ensure a seamless approach.
  • Professional business systems and processes, including a team of Business Account Managers, a well-embedded Customer Relationship Management System and a strong focus on quality (with Putting the Customer First accreditation).
  • A strong focus on developing entrepreneurship amongst staff and students.

Learning and the Student Experience

Central to the pursuit of the University’s mission has been a belief that widening opportunity and quality can co-exist within the higher education system and all University learning takes place within a context of continuous quality enhancement, whereby the University seeks to improve both the quality of its academic provision and the quality of the whole student experience on an ongoing basis.

Over the first six years of the National Student Survey the University has consistently received excellent feedback. Similarly the results of the “i-barometer” international student satisfaction survey – a survey of international students across the world has consistently placed Teesside as one of the top universities for overall student satisfaction.

Seven priority areas have been identified, in order to enhance specific areas of learning, teaching and the student experience in the period of the present strategy:

  • Feedback and assessment
  • Learner engagement, support and success
  • Learning environment
  • Research informed teaching
  • Supporting teaching excellence
  • Technology enhanced learning
  • Work based learning

In their most recent (2009) Institutional Audit, QAA commended the pro-active use of a range of outcomes from external evaluations to enhance learning opportunities for students.

QAA also particularly complimented the strength of the relationship between the University and the Students’ Union.

Key Strategies

The University’s Institutional Plan has been based around the University’s Mission, Vision, Corporate Objectives/General Institutional Aims and threePrimary Strategies which set out in more detail the University’s aims and strategies in relation to each of the core aspects of its work, namely:

  • Academic Strategy
  • Research Strategy
  • Business Engagement Strategy

The Institutional Plan is presently being revised for 2012-14 and will also include a new Partnerships Primary Strategy.

Board of Governors

The Board of Governors is responsible for determining the overall strategic direction of the University.

Mr Sandy Anderson OBE is currently the Chair of the Board of which there are presently 21 other members (including the Vice-Chancellor, 3 elected staff representatives and the President of the Students’ Union).

The Vice-Chancellor’s Executive

In 2003 the University appointed Professor Graham Henderson CBE as Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive. Professor Henderson has over thirty years experience working in this sector, including four as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Development) at Teesside prior to which he spent 10 years in senior management roles within University Business Schools at Northumbria University and the University of Sunderland.

The Vice-Chancellor is presently supported by an Executive Team including five other senior colleagues, namely:

  • Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Business Engagement)
    Professor Cliff Hardcastle
  • Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Partnerships and Standards)
    Professor Caroline MacDonald
  • Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Student Experience)
    Professor Eileen Martin
  • University Secretary and Registrar
    Mr Morgan McClintock
  • Executive Director (Finance and Planning)
    Mr Alan Oliver

The University Corporate Executive Team

The Vice-Chancellor’s Executive (VCE), the Deans of School and the Directors of the University’s Central Support Departments form the University’s Corporate Executive Team(UCET). This is the University’s senior management team, who assist the Vice-Chancellor by advising on strategic developments, determining the means of implementation of policies and carrying out the annual planning and review activities that underpin the development and delivery of the Institutional Plan.