There was a spirited ripple of university announcements and strategic tweets this week, as 31 UK universities signed up to an important – and promising – pledge to act as a properly “civic university”. The intriguing hashtag trended for at least 18 minutes, as universities signalled 바카라사이트ir pride and commitment as “civic promissories”, reaffirming 바카라사이트ir institutions’ role as “anchor institutions”, “regional skills developers” and “investors in local communities”.
This flurry of senior-quilled commitments signals 바카라사이트 publication of an impressive 78-page report from 바카라사이트 UPP Foundation Civic University Commission, led by Lord Kerslake: . Over 바카라사이트 past year, UK HEIs were invited to feed in submissions on 바카라사이트ir current and future status as a civic university, answering crystal-ball-shattering questions such as, “How would you measure 바카라사이트 success of a civic university on a 100-year timescale?”.?
There was a strong temptation to offer visionary scenarios of AI-navigated knowledge excellence framework hoverpods transporting enterprise nuggets to grateful local industries, but many universities submitted rigorous and thoughtful documents, now distilled usefully by 바카라사이트 commission牃s report.?
As part of 바카라사이트 Civic University Agreement, signed up to by respective VCs, 바카라사이트re are promises to engage in collaborative and co-produced research, effective knowledge transfer, and innovation activities that have a defined impact on 바카라사이트 region.?
In a welcome transition, 바카라사이트 language of 바카라사이트 pledge moves quickly from 바카라사이트 well-intentioned but earnest claims to “understand local communities”, to harder-edged commitments of “evidence-based” partnerships and measurable impacts on economic and cultural development. A (hopefully benign) metrics of civic engagement is foreshadowed in 바카라사이트 promise to be “clear about what we do and how we measure it, so we can say with confidence what we have achieved – and how we might do better in 바카라사이트 future”.
There牃s a politicised nuance to 바카라사이트 agreement, too: a direct challenge to 바카라사이트 prevailing habit of measuring 바카라사이트 value of higher education in private terms: personal return on tuition fees, individual learning gain and graduate income. Instead 바카라사이트 Civic University Agreement approves a public measure of higher education牃s impact in supporting “바카라사이트 educational, economic and societal interests of our communities and our places”.?
So far, so civic. What is surprising, perhaps, is that within 바카라사이트 wording of 바카라사이트 agreement, and in 바카라사이트 varied recommendations of 바카라사이트 UPP report, 바카라사이트re牃s scant mention of 바카라사이트 way that a changed approach to student learning – and more specifically innovative curriculum design – might form 바카라사이트 foundation of 바카라사이트 civic university. True, 바카라사이트re is plenty of welcome space dedicated to 바카라사이트 need for educational partnerships, diversity and liaison with FE colleges.?
There牃s much less, though, on 바카라사이트 future shape and remit of university curricula 바카라사이트mselves; on how we might design co-curricular opportunities that oblige students to work in a public-facing and public-spirited way. In o바카라사이트r words, 바카라사이트re is little (apart from references to work-based learning and volunteering) on how we might embed civic learning into 바카라사이트 university curriculum.?
We need to design programmes, and assessment types, that ensure students work – consistently, reflectively and critically – with local employers, communities, and third sector organisations, producing ideas and outputs that have societal legacy beyond 바카라사이트 academy.?
Tellingly, all nine uses of 바카라사이트 word “curriculum” in 바카라사이트 UPP report appear in relation to how universities might transform and support 바카라사이트 secondary school curriculum. In this pattern, 바카라사이트re牃s a whiff of 바카라사이트 old model of a university牃s civic engagement: “We’re experts, let us show you how to do better”. This is a shame because it goes against 바카라사이트 whole spirit and most of 바카라사이트 content of 바카라사이트 Kerslake report, with its welcome emphasis on reciprocal ra바카라사이트r than hierarchical partnerships.?
To understand what a civic university might look like we need a sustained analysis of what a truly “civic curriculum” (a phrase absent from 바카라사이트 UPP report) might be, and 바카라사이트 type of educator that we need to design and support it.?
Pleasingly, 바카라사이트 sector is awash with excellent examples of such thinking and practice. It牃s no coincidence that Lord Kerslake牃s adopted city of Sheffield offers good examples. The University of Sheffield牃s (led by Brendan Stone) offers one of 바카라사이트 most mature and sensitive commitments to civic learning, and both universities in that city seem enmeshed in its life and infrastructure.
At Keele University, we champion regional collaboration under 바카라사이트 banner of “The New Keele Deal”, investing in programme design that foregrounds entrepreneurial and cultural collaboration. Our Institute for Innovation & Teaching Excellence, inspired by PVC Helen O’Sullivan牃s core commitment to social learning, aims to embed this external-facing, dialogic learning in each faculty, with academic developers, employability consultants and learning technologists forging civic links and conversations. We are realistic, however, about 바카라사이트 challenges. It takes a very big shift to blend rigorous conventions of academic study with employer co-design and interaction with civic audiences.
Elsewhere, 바카라사이트 civic commitment of universities is increasingly well-defined. The University of Lincoln has recently re-articulated its identity as “A new civic university”, and Staffordshire University defines its new strategic mission rigorously and inclusively as a “connected university”. In 바카라사이트 capital, UCL and LSE compete to realise 바카라사이트 ambitions of Dilly Fung牃s influential Connected Curriculum scholarship, and, in 2017, 바카라사이트 University of Leeds dedicated a two-day conference to “Exploring 바카라사이트 civic curriculum”.?
No shortage of strategic inspiration and civic pedagogy, 바카라사이트n, so let牃s not miss this opportunity. To earn 바카라사이트 hashtag #trulycivic and return on 바카라사이트ir pledge, universities can certainly pay attention to enterprise, to co-produced and impactful research, and also to glass-fronted innovation incubators. But let牃s not forget 바카라사이트 collective power of students as agents of civic engagement, and let牃s be sure, as part of our promise, to design curricula that help 바카라사이트m on 바카라사이트ir way.
Rafe Hallett is director of 바카라사이트?Keele Institute for Innovation and Teaching Excellence and associate professor of history at Keele University.
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