University of Suffolk NEWS Issue 8 Autumn/Winter 2019
WELCOME The words “degree” and “graduate” come from gradus, meaning “step”. It’s a big step to go to university to study and it’s an even bigger step to leave and move on with your life and career. There was excitement in the air as our graduation ceremonies got underway this year. Excited, relieved and sometimes emotional, graduates and their very proud families and friends all lined up to celebrate the effort and achievement that has resulted in obtaining a degree. As staff, we were also proud of our students, having watched them develop their skills and attributes and then succeed in the courses they chose to study. Yet as more people than ever before are going to university, the discourse on value for money of a university education continues. So what does it mean to us here in Suffolk? Our students remain a diverse community reflecting variety in age, modes of study, and a healthy gender balance. Our students expect to receive high quality teaching and a rich learning experience justifying the investment they have made with us and in themselves. However, there are different views and interpretations of what ‘value for money’ in higher education means. As our graduating students move on with their lives, into work and developing their careers more broadly, how will they look back on the value of their time at university? Will it just be about their studies with us or will they increasingly look at where their education enables them to go next, or what impact has their education had on their earning potential, as well as how well their education
prepared them for not only the world of work but also to cope and navigate the ever present change that they will experience. The wider discussion on the value of a university has never been more prevalent and it is good to remind ourselves of the broader benefit that we are increasingly bringing to our society. As you will read in this issue, our first independently published economic impact report has been released. As well as being a large employer in our town, we spend around £14m in our supply chain and for every £1 of income, the University of Suffolk generated £9 Gross Value Added. We have supported our community through regeneration of the Waterfront area, the delivery of key frontline public services in health and education, facilitating wider access to education for non-traditional students, bringing income into the town and county, and broader economic impact through tourism, business support and research. Given that we have had such good support from business and industry, public sector organisations, third sector and more broadly our local and regional community to ensure that a University of Suffolk could be developed, it is great that we can demonstrate our commitment and impact for individuals and our region in this way. As our students graduate and move on, they become our Alumni Community. In the UK we have not yet fully embraced the alumni concept with graduates having often limited contact with their university once they have left. We want to ensure that this is not the case for our continued on next page
University of Suffolk
NEWS
Issue 8 Autumn/Winter 2019
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