Rector's Away Day 2011

The evening before the Rector’s Away Day, Heads of Department were asked to consider the challenges facing the College. Each group reported back at the Rector’s Away Day, which prompted a number of discussions. The main suggestions and ideas, building on those covered in other sessions of the Away Day, were as follows:

• The College should be prepared to buck the prevailing sector trends to increase its competitiveness, as, for example, through advertising and recruiting to the new Imperial College Lectureships at a time of economic uncertainty.
• The College needs to manage the expectations of students who are paying higher fees and to consider the broader educational experience offered. Developing students’ teamwork skills and training them for job interviews should be part of the package of an Imperial degree. Increasing the opportunities for students to interface with industry should be another priority, for example through internships.
• The College should develop a clear position on the funding of Master’s courses, which are an important feeder of PhD students. Access should not be limited by the expectation that students must pay the full cost for Master’s courses. Industry partners provide extensive support to students on earth sciences Master’s courses and a similar model could be introduced for other subjects if appropriate relationships are developed.
• The College should reconsider its financial planning process which means that departments are not permitted to run a deficit one year in order to make a significant investment the next. For departments to take a strategic approach to activities over a number of years it would be beneficial for them to have some form of savings account within the College’s systems so they can carry funds forward.
• In the past the College has established interdisciplinary institutes with great enthusiasm and, while they range in size and scale, they are important to Imperial’s reputation in demonstrating a focus on the big challenges facing society. When they are working well they enable the College to do more by complementing the work of departments, but there should be careful thought about the benefits before setting up further institutes.
• The College should consider the impact of the change to the retirement age on its activities. A flexible approach will be required as more people work beyond the age of 65, for example entering retirement may become a more gradual process as staff cut down their hours and commitments over the course of a number of years.
• The length of the probation period should be reviewed if it is failing to provide suitable opportunities for a thorough appraisal to take place before a staff member’s appointment is confirmed. From that point training and development assessments should be made through the PRDP (Personal Review and Development Plan) process, which should be a priority among management responsibilities. Changes may be required to ensure there is engagement in the PRDP process across all departments.
• Imperial should be sensitive to changes in the NHS which may impact on the College’s approach to training doctors.

Summing up the wide-ranging session, the Rector said: “In many ways this is an opportune time to hold discussions about the College’s strategy. It’s clear that the issue of fees is going to dominate in the future and we need to focus on the expectations our students will have. With research there has been a shift in the landscape and recruiting and retaining talent are issues of strategic importance. I encourage you to put fresh thoughts and initiatives on the table during the planning round.”