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oom UNIVERSITY OF GLAMORGAN STAFF MAGAZINE
S U P P L E M E N T
Brand Perception Survey We reveal what our external stakeholders think of us
And the introduction of the
University Strategy 2010-15 From the Vice-Chancellor, Julie Lydon
University of Glamorgan Prifysgol Morgannwg
Brand Perceptions and Awareness Survey
Introduction In recent years, we have undergone a significant period of change in order to raise our profile and ensure our long-term sustainability. New faculties, new campuses and new partnerships have been established with the aim of being a more market-facing institution, responding to student expectations, employer and industry requirements and community interests. I am confident that we have made a real difference locally, nationally and beyond, but it is always interesting to know what others think – do our partners and stakeholders consider our contribution to be as significant? And, are we in their eyes, ‘on the up?’ To provide answers to these questions, we commissioned external consultants EURO RSCG Heist during the summer to undertake in-depth research to establish whether the reputation of the University has changed in the eyes of our key stakeholders those individuals and groups who have the most interaction with us, or influence opinion. The extensive findings were presented to Directorate in early Autumn; what they reflect is the commitment and enthusiasm of our staff in making Glamorgan an excellent institution of higher learning. The results reveal that awareness of our activities is high and, more importantly, that there has been a positive shift in perception amongst all stakeholders, including schools, colleges, business, government and community groups and journalists. Almost three-quarters of respondents indicated that our reputation has either improved or significantly improved in the last three years. What’s more, those who are closer to the University or know more about the University are more likely to indicate such a shift -- this is categorical proof that effective stakeholder engagement pays dividends. As you will see for yourself in this supplement, the findings from this exercise were largely positive. You will also see that there are areas on which we need to reflect further and take appropriate action to improve. We have already begun this process by considering the findings as part of the review of our strategic direction. A strong steer from our stakeholders, one which we have always embraced, is that maximising student employability is a fundamental role for the University going forward. To this end, our new University Strategy, which is introduced at the end of this publication, explicitly outlines our commitment to our students and their future employers in providing professional, employment-focused higher education. I trust you welcome the opportunity to see these research findings and I advocate full and open dialogue with colleagues and your respective stakeholders in these matters. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of effective stakeholder engagement going forward; our long term sustainability will be contingent on a range of factors, not least our ability to adapt to an environment in which our resources will increasingly be earned from the value and benefit we can offer to our partners and stakeholders. To conclude, I believe the following stakeholder statement from this research neatly sums up where we are now: “... it’s a good university. I think it’s got a really good history and has some great people there, but it’s got a real chance now to give what the economy needs and work with others to do it.” I would, of course, contend that we are an excellent University, but we do have an opportunity to make a difference by playing to our strengths, realising the full potential of our staff and unleashing hidden talent and enterprise wherever it can be found, for the benefit of our students, our partners and our communities.
Julie Lydon Vice-Chancellor
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Brand Perceptions and Awareness Survey
Methodology Independent research company Euro RSCG Heist carried out a series of data collection surveys on behalf of the University between May and July 2010. A phased approach to data collection was adopted to achieve the objectives of this Project. Phase one comprised 103 in-depth interviews conducted over the telephone with five stakeholder groups. These interviews took place during May and early June 2010. Phase two comprised 255 short telephone interviews with the same stakeholder groups and took place during June and July 2010. The interviews comprised a range of closed and open questions in order to quantify responses and also to gain unprompted feedback from those stakeholders taking part. Phase two was designed following an initial debrief by Euro RSCG Heist after the completion of phase one in order to test the findings from the earlier responses. In both phases, respondents were invited to take part in the research, firstly via email and with subsequent follow-up by telephone to either make an appointment or carry out the interview itself.
Scope
Stakeho lders inc luded re following sponden groups: ts from th e • Schoo ls – Care ers Advis • FE Co ors, Head lleges – s of Sixth P rincipals Form • Busine or Vice-P ss rincipals • Welsh Governm ent (loca • Journa l and cen lists tral) Additiona l research was carr general p ied out a ublic by R mong the esearch & Marketi ng Plus.
The table below illustrates the scope of the survey. Numbers in brackets indicate volume of interviews undertaken with each stakeholder group. Stakeholder Group
Example organisations/contacts
Sample Size
Schools (115)
Heads of Sixth Form, Careers Advisors
30 Depth 85 Short 30% English Borders 30% Valleys 10% Cardiff 30% Rest of South Wales
FE colleges (20)
Principals/Vice Principals of Further Education Colleges
10 Depth 10 Short 30% English Borders 30% Valleys and Cardiff 40% Rest of South Wales
Government & Community (70)
AMs, MPs, HEFCW, WAG, Cardiff and RCT councils
20 Depth 50 Short
Business (139)
Major employers, CBI, Business Clubs, Chamber of Commerce, Institute for Welsh Affairs etc., plus specific named individuals
39 Depth 100 Short
Journalism (14)
Local journalists, national HE journalists
4 Depth 10 Short
General public (1013)
Cardiff, Merthyr, Swansea, Newport, Bristol, Truro, Plymouth, Exeter, Gloucester, Cheltenham
1013 street interviews 10 locations
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Brand Perceptions and Awareness Survey
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74% of all respondents say Glamorgan’s reputation has improved or significantly improved in the last three years
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Student employability and staff professionalism are key factors behind a major shift in the University’s profile. One of the key findings of the survey shows that almost three quarters of the University’s stakeholders consider Glamorgan’s reputation to be better now, than three year ago. Amongst the groups, schools show the highest level of improvement (85%) – quoting schools’ liaison activity, appeal of courses and accessibility as key strengths, while the 81% improvement cited by FE colleges is built heavily on the strength of personal relationships between institutions, according to the survey. Graduate employability was identified as the most important factor for all stakeholder groups except journalists, who rated it second. As you might expect, employability was a particularly
strong influence for businesses and schools, who consider this more important than league tables when forming an opinion of a university’s reputation. Employability is an area where the University is particularly strong, with 94%* of our graduates in employment or further study within six months of graduation. It is particularly pleasing to find that 44% of businesses who were able to comment said that they considered Glamorgan graduates more employable than those from other universities in Wales, citing the University’s comprehensive range of vocational courses as among the key factors. Almost half (48%) of all respondents also stated that Glamorgan was better than other universities in Wales at working with businesses.
Table one: Glamorgan -- Employability 44% of respondents said Glamorgan graduates are more employable than those from other institutions in Wales. Employability of Glamorgan Graduates (Business only)
4%
1 - Worse
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52%
30%
2 - Same
3 - Better
14%
4 - Much better
Brand Perceptions and Awareness Survey
Professionalism and flexibility were cited as key strengths encountered by all stakeholders in their dealings with University staff. The survey identified that support for the University is also built upon quality of personal relationships and the ‘can do’ attitude of Glamorgan staff across all areas of activity. Our relationships with schools was singled out as particularly strong, with three quarters (75%) of schools saying they are more likely to recommend Glamorgan as a university choice now, than five years ago. So what’s behind these improvements in our reputation? We saw a real rise in satisfaction levels in some key areas in this year’s National Student Survey (NSS). Glamorgan has the best rated ‘overall satisfaction’ scores in Wales in many subject areas including: Law (92%), Others in Social Studies (90%), Marketing (90%), Nursing (91%), Forensic & Archaeological studies (82%) (includes Forensics and Police Sciences/Studies courses), Tourism, Transport & Travel (81%) and Social Work (78%). The £130m we are investing in our capital developments programme – the new Students’ Union building; student accommodation; the Aircraft Maintenance Centre and the new indoor sport science teaching facilities at Glamorgan Sport Park – is transforming the student experience at Glamorgan. These developments are also cited by respondents as key factors in
their changing perception of the University. There have also been improvements in other parts of the Glamorgan Group, with new construction workshops being opened at Merthyr Tydfil College and a £22.5m redevelopment of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Glamorgan has also developed excellent research partnerships with other universities, industry, charities and organisations such as the BBC, aided in part by our excellent results in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), which rated more than 70% of our research activity as being of a quality recognised internationally for its originality, significance and rigour. We lead the field in hydrogen research and earlier this year secured over £6.6m in funding to develop our expertise in this area. This was part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the European Union’s Convergence programme, administered by the Welsh Assembly Government. Recognising the need to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to address key issues, we are now developing cross-faculty centres to draw together research expertise from across the University. The first of these are in Disaster and Resilience, Enterprise and the Digital Economy.
Table 2: Findings -- Reputation 74% of all respondents say we have improved Change in the reputation of the University of Glamorgan in the last 3 years Got significantly worse 1%
Got worse 1% Neither improved not got worse 24%
Significantly improved 23%
Key Findings
74% - th e overall percenta Univers ge who ity’s rep said the utation or impro had sign ved ove ificantly r the pa improve st three d years. By stake holder g roup: • 85% of Schoo ls agreed 0% got w - 15% n orse o chang e • 81% of Furthe r Educati 19% no on Colle change ges agre 0% got w ed orse • 67% Welsh A ssembly agreed Governm 26% no ent and related change 0% got w orse • 66% of busine sses agre 2% got w ed - 32% orse no chang e• 66% of journa lists agre 0% got w ed – 33% orse no chang e-
Improved 51%
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Brand Perceptions and Awareness Survey
In terms of our ranking against other Welsh Universities‌ Respondents were asked to mention universities they considered to be in the Top 5 in Wales, ranked in order and unprompted (i.e. not shown a list of universities). The table below shows the total number of mentions for each university and the average ranking each was given, where 1 indicates that it was ranked first and 5 that it was ranked 5th.
Average Ranking (where 1 is ranked first)
Total Number of Mentions
Cardiff
1.4
250
Swansea
2.6
217
Aberystwyth
3.0
197
Glamorgan
3.2
228
UWIC
3.4
84
Bangor
3.9
124
Newport
4.1
38
Swansea Met
4.2
9
Lampeter
4.4
18
Trinity
4.4
9
Wrexham
5.0
2
Barry
2.0
1
Carmarthen
4.0
2
Glyndwr
4.3
3
Llandudno
5.0
1
University
Base: Total of 1183 Responses NB: Those mentioned under 5 times have been shown below the red line as the average ranking is not reliable.
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Brand Perceptions and Awareness Survey
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Almost three quarter of schools are more likely to recommend Glamorgan to their students than five years ago. Schools
The survey reveals that Glamorgan is highly regarded by the overwhelming majority of schools, and that there’s a direct correlation between the level of regard a school has for the University and the frequency of exposure they have to us, through schools’ liaison and other activity. Frequency of contact was cited as second most important factor amongst schools, in forming an opinion of a university, after employability. There was high praise for the school’s liaison service in general, recognition that Glamorgan “goes the extra mile” in the service we provide to schools. The outreach and liaison was described as “professional, influential and very well received”. This favourability correlates with an increased level of activity undertaken by the schools liaison team over the past three years with four main on-campus open days per year now attracting over 4000 students in 2010 (up 8.2% from 2009) and the team leading around 282 direct sessions up 10.5% from 2008/09 with students at schools in England and Wales, which also has contributed some way to the 7.3% increase in applications to courses as of 1st July 2010.
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Overall, schools perceived the University as having significantly more strengths than weaknesses, citing capital investment both at Treforest and at the ATRiuM, our marketing and schools liaison work and our commitment to the Welsh language as contributing factors to a raised profile and strengthened position as a quality institution. There is still some negative association with the University’s polytechnic past but this appears to be reducing. The adjectives used to describe Glamorgan by schools included “friendly,” “accessible,” and “supportive.” It’s plain that the close relationships built up with schools pay dividends when it comes to teachers recommending Glamorgan to their students, seemingly overcoming our relatively low league table ranking to become a first choice destination. 74% of schools now say they are more likely to recommend Glamorgan to their students than five years ago. The improved perception of Glamorgan has also migrated to schools in the English border regions, with 81% saying they are now more likely to recommend Glamorgan to their students.
Table 3: Findings -- Schools Don’t know 2%
Less likely 2%
74% of schools more likely to recommend Glamorgan
No change 23%
Change in likelihood of recommending Glamorgan to students in the last 5 years (schools and colleges only) More likely 74%
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Brand Perceptions and Awareness Survey
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Almost all stakeholder groups rated employability as the most important factor affecting the impression of the University.
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Table 4: Employability is critical Factors affecting the impression of a University (mean scores out of 5) 3.7 3.6
Journalists
3.8 2.5 2.6 4.38 3.76
Welsh Government
3.42 3.72 2.8 4.28 3.51 3.51 3.54
Business 2.77
4.14 3.66 3.49
FE Colleges 3.17 2.43
4.38 3.65 3.62
Schools 3.16 2.96
1
2
3
Not at all important
4
5 Very important
Employability of graduates Frequency of contact with a university Position in league tables and rankings How close the University is to your location How long the institution has had University status
FE Colleges Amongst FE colleges, there was some concern with a perceived move away from widening participation and at the speed of the University’s franchise withdrawal. Although 81% of respondents from this sector still felt that Glamorgan’s reputation has improved in the last three years, the survey highlighted the need to do more to help our partners understand our strategic direction.
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“The University of Glamorgan is trying to raise perceptions of its academic standing. It’s trying to change from a recruiting institution to a selecting institution. It’s trying to change from a teaching institution to a research institution. As somebody who is involved in the widening participation agenda all of those things are contributing to make it more remote to the work I am trying to do.” Neath Port Talbot College
Brand Perceptions and Awareness Survey
Business Importantly, the status of the University as a former polytechnic was not a concern to this group, with some respondents referring to us fondly as “Glam poly”. As you would expect, the employability of graduates is everything to business, citing it as the most important factor in forming an impression of a university. Encouragingly 44% of businesses who had experience of employing Glamorgan graduates said they were more employable than those from other Welsh universities, with a further 52% saying they were ‘as employable’ and only 3% saying not as good. Looking to the future, there is optimism amongst business stakeholders that Glamorgan is well-placed to meet the challenges of the current economic difficulties. Respondents were keen to see a match between courses offered, employment opportunities and skills shortages, with a significant emphasis for capitalising on the strong base for delivering vocational courses and skills. The University’s key areas of strength to focus on in the future were considered as “hard technology” such as electronics, digital media and physics.
Businesses show a high level of satisfaction with Glamorgan where they have had personal contact with the University – 82% saying they’re satisfied or very satisfied with the professionalism of the University; 65% with our proactivity and two thirds (66%) with our range of services on offer, including the training, consultancy, innovation and technology and knowledge transfer activities operating through the University’s Commercial Services Office (CSO). “Helpful”, “open”, “proactive” and “professional” were some of the words most frequently used to describe Glamorgan as an organisation that makes an effort and puts energy into its activities. When asked to comment on their dealings with Glamorgan Business School and CSO, a very impressive 89% said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their experience, compared to a very credible 72% who felt that the University responded well, or very well to the needs of Welsh businesses. This stakeholder group also placed personal experience over league table rankings, valuing local access and the number of local students being recruited to Glamorgan over our academic research.
“I think they have a strength in being able to go into a business and deliver. You tend to think of training providers being good at that and I think the University of Glamorgan is one of the first universities that have managed to build a reputation for being able to do that.” Royal Mint, Training Manager
Table 5: Business Satisfaction Business satisfaction with the University of Glamorgan
Professionalism Understanding of your needs
Quality of graduates
1% 12% 3% 4%
19%
1% 2%
11%
Ability to contact a relevant person in the University
1% 8%
How proactive the University is in working with you
4% 6%
Range of services offered to you
45%
3% 3%
37% 38% 33%
17% 21%
27%
33%
32%
44% 2
3
12%
37%
20%
1 - Not all satisfied
28%
4
22% 5 - Very satisfied
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Brand Perceptions and Awareness Survey
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80% of respondents in this group stated they know more about us than any other University in Wales. Government and Community Glamorgan scored highest amongst this group for awareness, with 80% of respondents stating they know more about us than any other University in Wales. This, along with the two thirds (67%) of the group who regard our reputation to have improved or significantly improved, suggests a high regard for the University. However, the survey showed a poor understanding of the University’s current position, with some respondents having almost a nostalgic view of Glamorgan as a former school of mines and a Valleys-only provider which “provides a University for those who might not have thought it was achievable.” This was coupled with concern over a perceived move away from widening access. Local press coverage and PR activity has helped to build our reputation, but there is lack of awareness and knowledge about the characteristics of the University today.
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Glamorgan is seen as an important resource in the region and there is an established authentic emotional attachment with local people; the flipside is concern about the number of international students and how this may impact on the community and local recruitment. These underlying tensions need to be addressed by developing closer ties with the community, including local councillors, who were often not wellinformed about the work of the University. The good news is that the quality of relationships with Glamorgan compared favourably to relationships with other HE institutions, but there is a huge opportunity here for more engagement and relationship-building. There was repeated mention amongst stakeholders of the possibility of an ‘open day’ for the local community.
“A third of respondents 33% described the university as modern and only 11% of respondents used negative descriptions.” (Street responses only).
On the street Face-to-face interviews were carried out with over 1,000 members of the public in ten locations in South Wales and the south-west of England. The findings showed many regional differences with, as expected, respondents in Wales much more likely to know about the University and what it offers than their English counterparts. In prompted responses, Glamorgan is the third most well-known university in Wales, but only two-fifths (39%) of those interviewed could accurately pinpoint our location. It is also of
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concern that there was a relatively low level of awareness about the ATRiuM, with just a third (35%) of those who had heard of it associating it with Glamorgan, compared to over half (51%) who associated it with Cardiff University. Overall, the public respondents had a positive but rather bland view of Glamorgan, providing generic comments that could apply to any institution. Two fifths were unable to offer any comment about us at all, suggesting we need to improve our ‘distinctiveness’ agenda in order to gain a greater recognition for what we do, in the minds of the public.
Brand Perceptions and Awareness Survey
Journalists This is a particularly important stakeholder group, as journalists have so much influence over how Glamorgan is viewed by other stakeholders and opinion formers. The fact that two thirds (66%) felt our reputation had improved and none thought it had deteriorated over the past 3 years is therefore significant. Many respondents in other stakeholders groups said they used the media to obtain information about, and to evaluate, universities. Journalists were the only group in the survey to regard league tables as the most important factor affecting the impression of a university – possibly a reflection of the fact that the tables are largely media-generated – the challenge now is to persuade the media to cover Glamorgan in a more rounded light.
There was agreement amongst all the journalists questioned that Glamorgan has the best media relations operation of all the Welsh universities, with the press office praised for its proactivity, relevance of stories and responsiveness to queries. This is the University’s greatest strength amongst this stakeholder group and further opportunities lie in us continuing to develop our experts in certain subject areas to further strengthen our leverage with journalists.
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100% of stakeholders agreed that Glamorgan has the best media relations operation of all Welsh universities.
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Table 6: Journalists
Knowledge of universities in Wales (Journalists only) 50%
Swansea University
Cardiff University
20%
Aberystwyth University
10%
UWIC (University of Wales Institute Cardiff)
10%
University of Glamorgan
10%
University of Wales, Newport Swansea Metropolitan University
50% 80%
40%
50%
50%
40%
20% 30%
10% Never heard of it
70% 60%
20% Heard only of the name
10% 70%
Know a little about it
Know a lot about it
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University Strategy 2010-15
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The employability of our graduates will be a key indicator of our contribution to the social and economic wellbeing of Wales.
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Julie Lydon
My appointment as Vice-Chancellor in April provided an opportunity to take stock of our significant progress in recent years within the context of dynamic external and internal environments and thereafter fine-tune the University’s strategic direction – its mission and purpose – where appropriate. This is why, during summer 2010, I consulted with students, staff and key stakeholders (via the brand survey) on the following fundamental questions: • Where are we now? • What makes the University distinctive in a national and global context? • What are our core values? • What will ensure our long-term sustainability? The survey results that you’ve just read and the feedback from my consultation exercise both strongly indicated “employability” and “innovation and business engagement” as key themes that will differentiate the University and could provide a focus for
shaping innovative, professional services that meet the needs of our students and stakeholders. The employability of our graduates will indeed, going forward, be a key indicator of our contribution to the social and economic wellbeing of Wales and a tangible return on their investment in studying at Glamorgan. Acknowledgement of our emerging research capability, for example through membership of the St David’s Day Group, has been a source of inspiration for our staff in recent years; the key task going forward will be to channel this capability towards activities that will drive innovation and business engagement, enabling us to make a major contribution to the economic renewal of Wales and beyond. The outcome of these exercises, allied to consideration of external and internal situational analysis and best practice from other universities and sectors, was the development and subsequent approval by the Board of Governors on 15th November 2010 of a new University Vision and Strategy for the period 2010-15. Julie Lydon
Our Vision and Strategy The Board has determined that the University must be bold with its vision for the period 2010-15:
“By 2015, the University of Glamorgan will be unrivalled for its professional, employmentfocused education and research-informed innovation and business engagement.” If we are to raise our reputation and profile whilst ensuring our long-term sustainability during what will be challenging times,
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we will need to focus our activities, be distinctive and create value for our students and key stakeholders. In addition, focused collaboration will also be critical; existing partnerships will be reinforced and innovative collaborative activities developed. A new University Strategy – including a new mission statement, core values, strategic priorities and revised Critical Performance Indicators – will be implemented based on the balanced scorecard approach. A “Strategy Map” has been developed to illustrate this as follows on page 13.
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University Strategy 2010-15
Glamorgan Balanced Scorecard Within the higher education sector, there has recently been increasing interest in the balanced scorecard approach which transforms an organisation’s strategic plan from an attractive but passive document into the "marching orders" for the organisation on a daily basis. It provides a framework that not only provides performance measurements, but helps managers identify what should be done and measured. Specifically, delivery of the University Strategy will be channelled through the following strategic enablers, which illustrate the organisational efficiency and effectiveness necessary to achieve our vision and strategic priorities and provide a focus for planning activities:
• • • • • •
Professional Higher Education Excellent Learning and Working Environment Financial Sustainability Our People Effective Partnerships Our Reputation and Profile
Each strategic enabler has a list of aspirations or objectives that will be taken forward through key University strategies or, more generally, the faculty and corporate department strategic plans. This approach will ensure alignment between our long-term strategy and our short-medium term operations, i.e. translating the content of the strategy into more immediate activities and targets. In this way, each part of the University will make a contribution to the achievement of our vision and strategic priorities as laid out in the University Strategy.
“
we will need to focus our activities, be distinctive and create value for our students and key stakeholders.
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Vision & Strategy 2010-15
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University Strategy 2010-15
Table 7: The Glamorgan Balanced Scorecard
Vision
Short-medium term operations
Long-term strategy
By 2015, the University of Glamorgan will be unrivalled for its professional, employment-focused education and research-informed innovation and business engagement
Mission Transforming lives through professional, employment-focused higher education and distinctive research and innovation relevant to economic, social and cultural needs
Our Students
Our Research, Innovation & Knowledge Transfer
CPIs
CPIs
Strategic Enablers
Our Engagement
CPIs
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