Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow, in her first major speech as President of Universities UK, will make the call at the annual gathering of university leaders, taking place this week (8–9 September) at the University of Surrey. She will address vice-chancellors at the conference alongside the Universities Minister Jo Johnson MP, who has also been invited to speak.
Professor Goodfellow, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent, will call on government to support universities in four key areas:
Delivering teaching excellence through stable and sustainable funding
Committing to closing the gap between the UK’s investment in research and innovation and that of its major international competitors
Supporting universities in attracting qualified international students and staff
Recognising the benefits of European Union membership for universities
The speech will highlight the powerful impact of universities:
Transforming people’s lives through access to higher education;
Transforming the economy through research, innovation and developing graduates;
Transforming society through the impact of our research;
Transforming local communities through interactions both economic and cultural.
On teaching excellence and student funding, Professor Goodfellow will say: “Teaching excellence can only be delivered with stable and sustainable funding. This is essential to allow universities to continue to deliver a high-quality learning experience for students. Remember, our graduates are our teachers, our doctors, our engineers, innovators and wealth-creators.”
In response to the question, ‘is a degree still worth it?’, she will say: “Official figures show that 94% of graduates are in work or study three-and-a-half years after graduation and over 80% of those employed are in professional, graduate jobs. Our graduates also earn almost £10,000 a year more than people without degrees.”
On investment in research and innovation, Professor Goodfellow will say: “The UK is acknowledged for its world-leading research power. However, the UK has invested significantly less in research as a proportion of GDP than the OECD and EU averages. There is a real question about how long this position will last, if investment levels by the UK continue to lag behind our competitors. We must act now, or the UK’s position will be further challenged.”
Addressing the issue of international higher education and visa rules, she will say: “We are committed to ensuring that international students are here legitimately to study, and to tackling any abuse. However, we are losing out to other countries. We should be presenting a welcoming climate for genuine international students and ensuring that visa and immigration rules and procedures are proportionate.
“We continue to urge the government to remove international students from their net migration target. They come to the UK, study for a period, and then the overwhelming majority go home.”
Turning to the upcoming referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union, she will say: “The UK’s membership of the European Union makes the UK’s outstanding universities even stronger, contributing to economic growth, employable graduates and cutting edge research discoveries. In the referendum debate, universities must stand up and be counted. We should be a powerful and positive voice.”