UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN

STRATEGIC PLAN 2002 – 2006

University of Aberdeen Strategic Plan 2002-2006

Part 1: ENVIRONMENTAL AND STRATEGIC ANALYSIS

1 THE REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT 2

2 THE POLICY ENVIRONMENT 2

3 THE TEACHING AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 3

4 THE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT 4

5 THE HUMAN RESOURCES ENVIRONMENT 5

6 THE FINANCIAL ENVIRONMENT 6

7 THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT 7

8 STRENGTHS AND NEEDS 7

PART 2: STRATEGIC VISION AND INSTITUTIONAL OBJECTIVES, 2002-2006

INTRODUCTION

1 ACCESS, RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION 8

2 LEARNING AND TEACHING 10

3 Research Excellence and Commercialisation 12

4 Effective Governance, Organisation and Management 15

5 Developing Links With The Community 18

12

ENVIRONMENTAL & STRATEGIC ANALYSIS

1 THE REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

1.1 The University of Aberdeen is the major institution of Higher Education in the North of Scotland. From this distinctive position our aim is to lead the development of education and research across our region. While much activity is properly directed to the region and nation, it is always in an international context by outlook, scope and interest. One example is our powerful commitment to life sciences, health, and bio-medical research, where in a series of major investments we have built on the advantages of a large hospital campus serving a region that is unique in the UK for its size and character.

1.2 Academic activity takes place in an increasingly competitive and borderless environment. In many areas achieving international excellence depends at least in part upon acquiring an appropriate level of critical mass. We recognise that our current size inhibits opportunities to become internationally excellent in all areas. Given our breadth of coverage, we believe the way ahead lies in pursuing a policy of institutional alliance with other regional and national providers with the expressed intention of becoming a full-spectrum university, covering levels from widening access to outstanding research. We believe that this will enable us to achieve the critical mass necessary to be internationally excellent in those areas in which we pursue research and to provide a range and breadth of coverage that enables us to respond to Scottish Executive, Government and Council priorities.

1.3 In October 2001 an inter-university group on collaboration between The Robert Gordon University and the University of Aberdeen was established consisting of senior management from each institution. With the assistance of a Strategic Change Grant from the Council, the two universities engaged the advice of consultants on preliminary due diligence, and gave consideration to five collaborative options. A joint report, approved by both institutions' governing bodies in June 2002, recommended that the two universities explore in detail the option of a merger to establish a new model institution, undertaking a thorough risk assessment of this option. There will be wide consultation with staff, students and other stakeholders.

1.4 The University has been in discussions with a number of institutions in the Further and Higher Education sectors, including those within the Aberdeen Research Consortium, in particular the Scottish Agricultural College, and the UHI Millennium Institute. With the latter negotiations are underway with a view to the University becoming its preferred partner in developments across a wide range of activity.

1.5 We shall continue to strive to make the university sustainable, accessible and inclusive - a place that frees up human potential wherever it is found. In line with our research ambitions we wish to see a much higher proportion of our students engaged in postgraduate study, with activity at all levels increasingly linked to the changing economic, social and cultural needs of the wider community. However, we also recognise the importance of equipping our graduates with generic skills to enhance their employment prospects, to enable them to adapt to changing forces in the national and international markets and to contribute their skills to the emerging Scottish knowledge-based economy.

2 THE POLICY ENVIRONMENT

2.1 The Scottish Executive has continued to focus on the priorities of: modernising the sector, with support for collaboration and partnership; promotion of excellence in leadership in institutions, in particular the improvement of Human Resource management; widening access and enhancing retention and progression; and supporting excellence in research and developing and supporting research in areas of strategic importance to Scotland. We are strongly committed to all these objectives and shall set out our plans for further strengthening our work in these areas in the second part of this Plan.

2.2 We are concerned about the implications arising from the Scottish Executive Education Department's (SEED) recent decision to revise its guidance to the Council for projected intakes to Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses. The timing of this decision and the subsequent notification of intake targets by the Council to institutions has generated enormous turbulence in institutions' recruitment and admissions processes for ITE intakes for 2002/03. This uncertainty relating to education numbers post 2002/03 threatens to undermine the financial basis upon which the merger between the University of Aberdeen and the Aberdeen campus of Northern College of Education was agreed, and the future development of teacher education and research in the North and North-East of Scotland.

2.3 Progress towards widening access requires Higher Education to work with partners in the community and other sectors of the educational system. We continue to strive to attract to the University the students who have the potential to benefit from higher education, and we are committed to recruiting them in ways that remove barriers for groups that are currently under-represented in our student population. However, while the North of Scotland lacks large conurbations it does include major rural areas where access presents distinctive challenges. We welcome the increased emphasis on support for students once recruited, an area to which we have already given priority.

2.4 We also welcome the support for excellence in research wherever it is found. We believe that selectivity is essential to avoid wasteful dispersal of funding, while emphasising that new, strategically important research areas must be identified and cultivated, irrespective of location or type of institution. Our only concern would be if the boundaries of economic importance were so tightly drawn as to diminish the social, economic and cultural role of the humanities and social sciences.

3 THE TEACHING AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

3.1 The University has a well-founded reputation for providing high quality generalist and specialist graduates. Demand for our full-time undergraduate programmes continues to grow, with undergraduate home applications rising this year by a further 2% (excluding the increase attributed to the new Faculty of Education), building on the substantial 20% increase achieved in the previous year. The addition of Education and the full-time MBA to our portfolio of vocational programmes will increase our capacity to meet the needs of the economy and society for professionals educated in a multidisciplinary university environment.

3.2 However, although we perform well and appear to satisfy the needs of a significant number of off-campus students, we believe we can improve their access to the full range of opportunities available to on-campus, full-time students. Whilst our performance against the performance indicator benchmark for participation of part-time and mature students is good, we have struggled to meet our target of increasing the part-time undergraduate population by at least 5%. Following identification of a weakness in the accessibility of our on-campus courses to part-time students, KEY Learning (the unit charged with promoting wider access) will work with academic departments and our Learning Technology Unit to develop additional provision, including the conversion of existing courses for web-based delivery. We are heartened by the continued improvement in our overall performance against the national benchmarks for participation levels, although we still fell short in 1999-2000 of our benchmark for social classes IIIM-V. We shall continue to pursue our policies and strategies to improve our performance in this area in collaboration with our partners to target low participation schools and to offer alternative routes into our degree programmes through articulation agreements with local FE Colleges. Increasing the number of students from social classes IIIM-V remains a challenge across the sector and we would encourage the Council to consider widening its policy for distribution of additional funded places from only part-time numbers to include full-time numbers from social classes IIIM-V. Our Annual Fund, generated from donations made by Alumni, has raised to date almost £1M. We will continue to dedicate this to improving and enhancing student recruitment and retention, and alleviating student hardship.

3.3 As a consequence of the challenges facing schools following the introduction of Higher Still, the University has participated in a series of discussions with Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Councils to determine whether, and to what extent, the University can provide practical assistance in this area. Specific issues relating to size, scale and range are particular challenges to those schools where only a small number of students progress to higher level study and therefore only progress low numbers to Further and Higher Education. To develop further relationships with local schools and maximise the benefits from this, the University will establish the S6 Enhancement Unit which will have responsibility for liaising with schools, education departments and academic departments to develop a support programme.

3.4 We are committed to the continuous enhancement of quality through the promotion of a culture of critical reflection on learning and teaching, informed by best practice, in which soundly based innovation is embedded in everyday academic practice and teaching continues to be informed by scholarship and research. We have reviewed and revised our policies and practices in a number of areas in the light of the guidance contained in the QAA Code of Practice and plan to complete this process in the coming year. We have also made a number of structural changes to improve our capacity to manage the continuous improvement of learning and teaching. These include a revision of the remit and composition of the University Committee for Teaching and Learning to strengthen its links with the academic community, and the establishment of a Quality Enhancement Strategy Team to develop policy and monitor our performance in this critical area. However, this commitment to the continuous improvement of teaching and learning has only been achieved through the substantial investment of academic staff time. Three key elements will therefore underpin all new procedures: a clear focus on quality enhancement, an imperative to reduce the administrative burden on academic staff while retaining the robustness of our procedures; and the need to ensure that consideration is given to the resource implications (not just in terms of staff time) of implementing new procedures.

3.5 We welcome SHEFC's acknowledgement that institutions have robust internal quality assurance procedures, the efficacy of which will be audited through Institutional Audit, and its decision not to continue with Subject Review. We support particularly the emphasis given to the importance of student input in the new quality process, through representation and feedback and a clear focus on quality enhancement in the new quality processes.

3.6 We are committed to achieving the optimum balance between traditional and technology-enabled resources that will maintain the University's reputation in research and full-spectrum learning. Consequently, in addition to enhancing our new student portals we shall examine options for the future provision of student computing and network connectivity and develop options for the introduction of a managed learning environment.

3.7 As we indicated last year we have concerns about student retention. In response this has led to changes which include: the revision of our general progress regulations; improvements to our advising system and mechanisms for monitoring student progress, enabling earlier intervention where a student's performance gives cause for concern; and the provision of additional learning support. A Retention and Progression Team will be established to develop strategy and policy relating to ensuring improved retention and progression rates. Other measures will be developed in partnership with the Scottish HE sector as a whole.

3.8 We are committed to developing the competencies of our staff both as teachers and researchers. We will revise our probation system to enable all members of staff in their first three years to develop their professional competence as teachers as well as to demonstrate their research potential. We will conclude our review of our promotions and discretionary award systems, and seek to implement robust mechanisms for identifying and rewarding excellence in teaching as well as research.

3.9 Our First Destination Returns for 2000-01 shows our excellent record in the employability of our graduates. Nonetheless, we have recently reviewed and revised our provision of Careers Education, Information and Guidance in the light of the relevant section of the QAA Code of Practice, with a view to raising still further service standards. The drafting of programme specifications by departments, as part of our current re-validation of all degree programmes, has also focussed attention on transferable skills. These include the development of C&IT skills, a number of which are now incorporated into the learning outcomes of all our programmes.

3.10 Globalisation and borderless education remains a significant challenge to all universities. At a local level, our biggest challenge lies in maximising opportunities to use e-learning technologies to widen participation, both on and off-campus. However, our wish to deliver a pedagogical experience using the latest IT developments is constrained, as ever, by the significant capital investment required in both the physical and intellectual support infrastructure of communication and information technology.

4 THE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT

4.1 The North of Scotland needs and will support a major internationally competitive research institution. Building on our increase in research income, proportionately the highest in Scotland last year, we will develop further and enhance our excellent research capacity. Aberdeen has a unique concentration of institutions carrying out research, and through the Aberdeen Research Consortium (ARC) we seek to encourage new interactions, such as the Fish Health and Gene Discovery, Northern Studies Centre, and ACERO (Aberdeen Centre for Energy Regulation and Obesity), that facilitate multidisciplinary and applied research and seek to maximise added value from both facilities and expertise. The University will pursue a policy of increasing concentration of resources on those selected areas that are capable of sustaining a necessary level of critical mass and achieving levels of high quality research. Concurrently, we will withdraw core research support from areas of under-performance. We will maintain our strategy of recruitment of the best possible staff, developing them to their full potential, and seeking to give them a supportive research environment and access to high quality resources.