Dear colleagues,
First of all, let me wish you and yours a happy new year and here’s to a happy, healthy and successful 2023. I do hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable festive break with family and friends and are feeling refreshed and ready for the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in 2023. The extended Christmas and New Year vacation period will have served us all well in that regard.
The Executive Team began the new year with a strategy day earlier this week, during which we continued to plan towards the development of our 2030 strategy and review the priorities and details necessary to continue our successful institutional journey.
Colleagues and I spent a very constructive day covering key areas including: how we continue to support and develop our people; the shape of our digital future; maximising income opportunities; and, the distinctive positioning of Strathclyde within the national and international higher education landscape. We also reflected on how Strathclyde conducts its business and how we extend the reach of our Leading International Technological Institution, which is committed to our Socially Progressive ethos.
The process of developing our Strathclyde 2030 strategy has made it clear that we have the institutional confidence, track record of successful delivery and a clear strategic vision on which to build. Importantly, the Executive Team reflected on the professional qualities, hard work and dedication of colleagues from across the Faculties and Professional Services over many years which has put us in this fantastic position.
As we prepare to consult on our Strategic Plan, ‘Strathclyde 2030’, we are also assessing our performance in the context of our current Plan, ‘Vision 2025’. We have made excellent progress on the majority of our Key Performance Indicators, but still have work to do on a small number of them.
Now, for its fifth Grand Challenge, the Strathclyde Innovation Forum – launched in 2020 to encourage all University colleagues to share their innovative ideas to help drive the success of the University – is seeking your ideas and suggestions in two areas where further development is needed:
- As part of our drive to increase our research quality, intensity and impact, we aim to grow our population of postgraduate researchers and early career researchers. We would welcome your ideas on how we can further grow our Postgraduate Research student population and enhance their experience as part of the Strathclyde research community.
- Strathclyde has been at the forefront of environmental sustainability for many years, and there is much work ongoing. However, the pace required to address climate change requires us to redouble our efforts to have a substantial impact and deliver on our targets. We would welcome your innovative ideas on how we further reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and enhance our efforts on sustainability to achieve net zero.
Additionally, as we approach the final years of our current Strategic Plan, ‘Vision 2025’, we wish to work with our staff to produce our new Strategic Plan covering 2025 to 2030, ‘Strathclyde 2030’. There will be a series of consultation opportunities in the months ahead.
As we begin to draft our Plan, we would welcome your input on how our University can evolve, innovate and develop further by 2030 to retain our exceptional performance and institutional distinctiveness. In particular, we’re keen to hear about your aspirations and suggestions on how we build the momentum at Strathclyde through the rest of the decade, for:
- Our Staff
- Our Students
- Our Partners (e.g. our local community, business and industry partners as well as public and third sector organisations)
You can submit your ideas through the Strathclyde Innovation Forum Challenge webpage.
Strathclyde is a socially-progressive institution, and I am very pleased that this year, the University has committed to thoroughly examining its historic links to the Transatlantic slave trade by initiating a research and review project which will be undertaken through this winter and spring.
While the outcomes of that fact-finding research are still to be determined, we are committed to examining and acknowledging any links that may exist and use them to inform our future.
We plan to engage our university community – students, staff and stakeholders – to take any lessons our past offers us as we continue to develop our inclusive university, working for racial equality.
Finally, earlier this week we were delighted to host the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, at the Power Networks Demonstration Centre (PNDC) in Cumbernauld where she announced a new draft energy strategy for Scotland.
Since its opening, the PNDC has grown into a world-class innovation and demonstration facility with around 50 highly-skilled staff and has successfully delivered over 270 innovation projects in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, including large industrials, network operators, SMEs, policymakers and academic institutions.
The visit allowed the First Minister the opportunity to learn more about the PNDC and how it is supporting net zero innovation across the energy system supply chain, creating economic and job growth, and helping Scotland to deliver on its net zero targets.
Enjoy the rest of the week and have a good weekend when it comes.
Best wishes,
Jim