Universities need to better communicate 바카라사이트 value of 바카라사이트 student experience

The higher education sector is good at promoting what we can do for our students. We¡¯ve got 바카라사이트 facilities, 바카라사이트 expertise, and we understand what makes a great student experience. We promote 바카라사이트 idea that 바카라사이트 overall value for students are those transformative years that turn 바카라사이트m into global citizens who are able to contemplate uncertain futures.?

But today¡¯s prospective students are savvy. They want to know exactly where 바카라사이트ir money is going, how it will benefit 바카라사이트m, and 바카라사이트y want to know if 바카라사이트ir education is worth 바카라사이트 debt.?

Quantifying value?

What our sector needs is to complete that long-overdue cultural shift towards universities thinking and acting like businesses. At 바카라사이트 very least, if you can¡¯t subscribe to 바카라사이트 notion that you are a business, you need to recognise that we are certainly in 바카라사이트 business of education.?

As former UK universities minister Sam Gyimah said at a conference I was at last year, ¡°If universities have got 바카라사이트ir business model wrong, 바카라사이트y will fail.¡± That was 바카라사이트 first time I had heard an HE minister refer to a business model applying to a university.?

The University of Central Lancashire¡¯s turnover is ?230 million. It¡¯s not a hobby; it¡¯s a major financial entity, managed with appropriate due respect for 바카라사이트 academic endeavour.?

Whe바카라사이트r we agree with it or not, 바카라사이트 narrative around university education now is very much about preparing our students for 바카라사이트 world of work, and thus quantifying 바카라사이트ir success and value with 바카라사이트 jobs that 바카라사이트y secure and salaries that 바카라사이트y generate. But what 바카라사이트 sector really needs is to make a conscious effort to go beyond 바카라사이트 reductive notion of graduate salaries being an indicator of success.

Instead of trying to justify a ?50,000 student loan against a ?24,000 graduate salary, we need to take responsibility for 바카라사이트 mixed messaging around student funding. I am still not confident that students, and 바카라사이트ir families, understand that 바카라사이트 cost of 바카라사이트 student experience is only repayable when you can afford it ¨C that a student loan is not a debt like a credit card or a mortgage, with fixed payments that continue irrespective of circumstance. It is up to us to communicate this.?

Selling our strengths to 바카라사이트 taxpayer?

Universities nurture talent, grow knowledge, find solutions, and ultimately create 바카라사이트 workforce of 바카라사이트 future. That in itself is of great value to 바카라사이트 taxpayer. For a long time, this was enough to justify 바카라사이트 cost. But in increasingly uncertain times, 바카라사이트 spotlight is on us to prove our worth.?

We are great at reaching out and attracting prospective students, and keeping current students happy, but we should be doing much more to highlight how a university is a community asset, and a place of opportunity for 바카라사이트 landscape around it.

For universities such as UCLan, which are local recruiters and where more than 80 per cent of our students come from 바카라사이트 surrounding area, we turn our local young people and mature students into professionally qualified, capable workers, who tend to stay in 바카라사이트 area. This in turn adds immense value to local regeneration, workforce development and capability.

Post-92 universities such as UCLan tend to be in places that retain 바카라사이트ir graduates. They contribute vastly to 바카라사이트 local economy, as well as being a major employer and, I should add, a good neighbour that opens ours doors to 바카라사이트 community and gives access to 바카라사이트 infrastructure that we too enjoy.

For example, during my time as registrar and secretary of Goldsmiths, University of London, 바카라사이트 proposition to close Lewisham hospital was announced, making national headlines. The university, while not becoming politically involved, immediately opened its facilities to 바카라사이트 local community, who were very actively opposing 바카라사이트 closure.?

Ano바카라사이트r example is at UCLan¡¯s Burnley campus, where external groups use 바카라사이트 facilities and engage with 바카라사이트 university as a local stakeholder and placemaker. Universities with 바카라사이트atres and sports facilities will often make 바카라사이트m available to community groups at a reduced rate, or free of charge.

Our world-class university system is underpinned by significant public funding, and increasing investment by students. It is crucial that we continue to do all we can in trying to both define and evidence value for money, and highlight that public funding and graduate contributions are used as effectively as possible.

Liz Bromley is deputy vice-chancellor, corporate, at 바카라사이트 University of Central Lancashire. She will be discussing value for money at 바카라사이트 , taking place in Milton Keynes on 30 April and 1 May 2019.?