Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

ConvocationSaturday 15 June 2013

Professor Eric CrossDean of Cultural Affairs

Strategic Challenges for 2012/13 and Beyond

During 2012/13 HaSS focused on critical tasks required to:• Achieve & sustain research excellence • Improve our international reputation with investment in

new academic, including professorial, appointments• Deliver a high quality student experience across our

undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes• Develop the relationship with Durham, embedding the

Social Sciences Doctoral Training Centre within faculty structures and bidding for a new DTC in arts and humanities (c. £15m) with Durham and Queen’s University, Belfast

Cont’d• Deliver high quality improvements to the estate,

including Armstrong, Fine Art and Building Science buildings

• Launch the Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal and Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice

• Develop international strategic partnerships• Maintain a strong financial performance

During 2013/14 we will, inter alia, continue to deliver on these tasks

Challenges in Research

• Ensuring uniformly high level of performance across the Faculty in terms of quality of publications and REF submissions

• Developing ambition and capability for responding to research funding agencies’ increasing focus on large- scale, inter-disciplinary collaborative projects

• Developing a strategic approach to the rapid and continuing development of the “impact agenda”

• Creating clusters of international excellence which build reputation and enable us to attract the best people through targeted recruitment strategies

Challenges in Learning & Teaching

• Meeting rising student expectations with the £9k fees• Ensuring that students are at the heart of what we do• Variable performance in national student surveys (Media

and Cultural Studies top of Guardian 2014 table)• Contact regimes and consistent delivery of our “offer” –

Faculty framework for contact hours; more small group teaching; research-led teaching a strength

• Volatile undergraduate recruitment: managing variability across subjects (Law, Geography and Fine Art up locally; Modern Languages, Archaeology and Music down nationally)

Current Undergraduate Recruitment Position

Data up to 30 April 2013 compared with same point in 2012• Applications + 1,528 (14.2%)• Offers + 1,978 (23.0%) of which:

– Firm accepts + 181 (9.4%)– Insurance accepts + 271 (26.2%)– Declines + 724 (21.2%)

• International applications + 455 (24.3%)– Offers + 426 (38.2%); firm accepts + 101 (63.5%)

• Increased focus on visit days, post application open days and conversion activities across all schools

• New programmes: English Literature & Creative Writing; undergraduate Translating and Interpreting; e-learning provision in Heritage Management and Tourism

Specific Faculty Objectives

• Lead the University in developing Social Renewal as a societal challenge theme

• Develop an internationally recognised Business School (EQUIS re-accreditation achieved for a further three years; entering into final stage of AACSB accreditation)

• Deliver a high profile and internationally recognised Doctoral Training Centre

• Establish the Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice (NICAP) and realise the full potential of capabilities in distinctive areas of creative practice

• Strategically strengthen and deepen international activities, projects and reputation

High Profile Appointments: Business School

Professor John Wilson Director

Frank MuellerProfessor of Strategy & International Business

Strategy, Organisations and Society Research Group

Andrea WhittleProfessor of Management and Organisation Studies

John SillinceProfessor of Strategy

High Profile Appointments: Business School

Markus BlutProfessor of Marketing

Professor Kathryn HaynesNorthern Society Chair in Accounting

Steve VincentProfessor of Human Resource Management

Alan McKinlayProfessor of Human Resource Management

High Profile Appointments: Other Schools

John Bowers Professor of Creative Digital Practice

Mark Tewdwr-JonesProfessor of Planning

Danny MacKinnonProfessor of Urban and Regional Development and Economic Geography

T.T. ArvindProfessor of Law

Qian JunDirector of the Confucius Institute and Professor of Chinese Studies

Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal (NISR)

How can individuals, communities and societies thrive when faced with rapid, transformational change?

Professor Mark Shucksmith started as Director in April 2012. Progress during

NISR’s first year:

• Launch Year events included Great North Build, public lectures, debates, exhibitions, internal events and presentations, and honorary degrees

• Extensive engagement across the University to explain NISR and to identify expertise, enthusiasm and potential. Selection of ten initial priority themes and the appointment of theme champions

• External engagement, nationally and locally (eg councils, LEP, community & voluntary organisations) and profiling, including strong media coverage

• Some initial impacts: Street Law; Rural Economies; Community Champions Awards; and Self-Organised Learning Environments (TED prize)

Launch Year

Launch Year

• Launch the Confucius Institute last month with events in city and appointment of Director/Professor of Chinese Studies and Co-Director

• Promotion of teaching of Chinese language and culture• Development of major strategic partnership with Xiamen University

involving many project strands• International profile being developed with Xiamen Strategic

Relationship and Confucius Institute around cultural exchanges

Confucius Institute at Newcastle University

Confucius Institute at Newcastle University

• To support transdisciplinary teaching (including new MA in Creative Arts Practice), research and research projects (eg Ageing Creatively)

• Establish a more coherent approach to external partnerships• Strengthen PGR training for creative practice• Launch on 5 June 2013 to link into Festival of North East• Programme of events and cultural exchanges with Confucius

Institute

Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice (NICAP)

Hatton Gallery Major Development Plans