New Vice-Chancellor renews Teesside’s commitment to widening participation

The University of Teesside’s new Vice-Chancellor used the platform of the first graduation ceremony he has presided over to renew the University’s commitment to ‘widening participation’ and encouraging people from all parts of society to benefit from higher education.

Speaking at the opening of this year’s Academic Awards Ceremony in Middlesbrough Town Hall today (25 November, 2003), Professor Graham Henderson joined in the celebrations marking the return of the victorious England Rugby team and said: “I’m sure that for many of you mention of England winning the rugby world will become a permanent memory of the week in which you received your University of Teesside award.”

During his speech, Professor Henderson announced that student numbers had topped the 19,000-mark for the first time in the University of Teesside’s history.

And he predicted further growth for the University in the future through strengthening partnerships, including “the possibility of a full merger between the University and Cleveland College of Art and Design” and through the development of the new two-year Foundation Degrees.

But he stressed that the University was now entering ‘a time of great impending change’ as a result of this year’s Government White Paper on ‘The Future of Higher Education’.

Government ministers and the Funding Councils want to make big changes to the funding of teaching and research, said Professor Henderson: “Not least through the possible introduction of so-called top-up fees in 2006.”

The Vice-Chancellor said the possibility of higher fees posed ‘serious questions’ and it fell to him and other senior academic colleagues to begin to answer those questions in coming months and years.

“We must ensure that the answers that we produce will enable the University to continue to move from strength to strength in terms of both its reputation and its contribution to its students and the social and economic regeneration of the region.

“For my part, I see a University of Teesside that remains unreservedly committed to widening and deepening participation across all five boroughs in the Tees Valley; a university working in ever closer partnership with schools, colleges and communities to provide an outstanding quality of learning supported by research and scholarship and a university increasingly recognised as being of national and international excellence”, said Professor Henderson.

---