Last Word:
Russ Langley, Chief Performance Officer

Quite rightly across the University over the past 12 months, the vast majority of our time has been spent on managing our response to Covid-19 and ensuring our students can continue to receive the best possible teaching and learning experience through the exceptional set of circumstances we have faced.

However, it would have been all too easy to focus so much on the here and now that we lost sight of the longer-term direction and ambition for the University that we set out in our Strategic Framework 2018-30, which was launched almost three years ago. Having that Framework in place – shaped around the three Core Pillars of ‘Game Changers’, ‘Positive Impact’ and ‘Opening Doors’ – has enabled us to maintain the excellent momentum we have achieved over the past few years in teaching excellence, research quality and civic impact, and ensure the University is in a strong position as we come out of the pandemic.

A key focal point for us, through the period of our Framework, is 2025, and we have recently defined in more detail how we want to be describing the University as we reach the mid-point of the decade. The importance of ‘Place’ is very much at the heart of this, with two particularly noteworthy elements to draw attention to.

Headshot of Russ Langley smiling

Driven by a clear sense of purpose and direction, working in unison with our key partners and stakeholders across the region, we are looking forward to continuing to build Derby as a University of impact and influence.

Russ Langley
Chief Performance Officer at the University

Firstly, our clear intent to establish a greater physical presence within the city of Derby – our main competitor group from a student recruitment perspective is made up of universities based in Nottingham, Sheffield, Leicester, Birmingham and Coventry – all well-established student destination cities. We need to be able to position our University and, importantly, our city against these. This can partly be achieved by having more students based more towards the city centre, which will then hopefully trigger investment to generate more vibrancy in the city’s student offer.

Secondly, our commitment to shaping our academic offer around the skills needs of our region. As the only University in our city and county, we embrace our role as an ‘anchor institution’ which is pivotal to the prosperity of our place. Producing graduates with the knowledge, skills, experience and attitudes employers require is an essential part of this role. As important, it means that the talent we attract to Derby have more reasons and opportunities to stay beyond their studies and make this place, our place, their home.

So coming out of the pandemic, our ambition for the University, our students, our staff and our place, is stronger and more focused than ever. Driven by a clear sense of purpose and direction, working in unison with our key partners and stakeholders across the region, we are looking forward to continuing to build Derby as a University of impact and influence. One where students, whether they are coming to us from nearby, across the country or around the world, know they will receive a high quality education in a place laden with opportunity. It should be an exciting ride.