Michaelmas Term open meeting

This week’s open meeting for University administrative staff saw several hundred people make their way to the Computer Laboratory to hear about the latest news from within the higher education sector and key challenges facing collegiate Cambridge.

Speaking in his final open meeting, the Registrary, Dr Jonathan Nicholls, started by summarising Cambridge’s current standing, which he described as a top ten global University, financially strong, with an excellent track record in providing the very best undergraduate education. He made special mention of the work this year of CUDAR and the Colleges, which collectively have enjoyed the most successful fundraising year in Cambridge’s history.

He warned, though, that Cambridge and the higher education sector was facing considerable strain. Brexit, political uncertainty in the US, and the rapid rise of Asian and American universities, meant that Cambridge was something of a ‘Red Queen’ – forever under pressure to adapt, innovate and perform just to stay abreast of fleeter, often better resourced, peers.

Dr Nicholls also spoke of the challenges that higher education institutions are likely to face as a result of the reform outlined in the Higher Education and Research Bill, due to be debated in the Lords on 6 December. He also gave a summary of the University’s key priorities, and the role that administrative and professional service staff have to play in supporting them.

Following the Registrary’s presentation, there was a lively and informative panel discussion on the effect that Brexit and the HE Bill are likely to have on Cambridge. Staff can tune in to an audio recording of this here. The panellists were: Professor Dame Athene Donald, Master of Churchill; Dr Rob Wallach, Director of Postdoctoral Affairs; Alice Benton, Head of Educational and Student Policy; and Steve Davison, Head of Public Affairs in the Office of External Affairs and Communications.