Interesting times call for inspired leadership

by Alison Johns

In his plenary on ‘Cross-cutting themes and Leadership, Governance and Management’, HEFCE Chair Tim Melville-Ross had the unenviable task of pulling out the cross-cutting themes from all the – lively and varied – conference discussions. He identified these as follows:

Are academics ready for the 3am phone call?

by Conor Ryan

Are university staff ready to take a 3am call from a student who wants help with their essay? This was one of the interesting issues raised by HEFCE Chair Tim Melville Ross at a plenary session of the conference this morning.

Winning public battles on what it means to be a student today

by Conor Ryan

New thinking about students will be needed from universities in a period of constrained public funding. But there is also an important challenge in explaining to the public both the expectations that are placed on students and the contribution that widening participation programmes make to social mobility.

Meeting the challenges of economy and employers

by Conor Ryan

Universities face significant challenges when it comes to delivering research and engaging with employers in the next few decades. Delegates brought their insights on these challenges to the conference this morning.

Encouraging words from HEFCE’s new head

by Bahram Bekhradnia

Sir Alan Langlands’ speech must have been difficult to prepare, having been in post less than 24 hours. It was measured and modest, and most of those present will have been most encouraged.

Striking the right balance in tough economic times

by Conor Ryan

Sir Alan Langlands addresses the conference

With world leaders pressing for greater regulation of the world financial system at today’s G20 conference, it was appropriate that HEFCE’s new Chief Executive, Sir Alan Langlands, was talking about getting the balance right in the university sector in his address to the conference this afternoon.