Dear colleagues, I hope the first Semester is going well.
Our campuses are buzzing – the atmosphere is fantastic and it’s great to see our students enjoying all the facilities we have to offer. This month, I wanted to mention our most recent Open Day, share some good news in relation to the USS pension scheme and reflect on our performance in the Knowledge Exchange Framework.
However, I must begin with a few words on the escalating situation in the Middle East. I was horrified to learn of the attacks on Israel on Saturday morning and of the conflict that has ensued. My thoughts are with all those affected. We are putting in place support for our students and staff who may be affected by the conflict. It is vitally important, at a time like this, that our diverse and proud community here at Queen Mary comes together to fully support each other. I also want to be clear that, regardless of the circumstances, we will never tolerate racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, abuse, incitement or harassment. For more information, including the support available to all students and staff, read our statement.
Open Day
Many thanks to all of you who supported our Open Day on Saturday. It was another joyful and successful event, demonstrating once again the popularity of Queen Mary as a place to study. We had over 8,660 students registered to attend either in person or online, with international students representing over 2,000 of those. That’s a huge increase of 64% compared to last year’s October Open Day.
The experience on the day was also remarkable. Our Mile End campus was buzzing with activity throughout the day, helped in no small part by over 21 Students’ Union society stalls offering our future students insights (and in some cases performances) on everything from Taylor Swift to Kpop, yoga to Kendo, and much more. And the unseasonable warm weather was the icing on the cake!
Pensions
I’m very pleased to draw your attention to the recent joint statement between UUK and the trade union UCU on the USS pension scheme. There have been dramatic changes in global economic conditions since the last valuation, including high interest rates, combined with the commitment from employers for additional financial backing – or covenant support. Although the current economic conditions, in terms of high inflation, has caused a troubling cost-of-living crisis, the conditions have resulted in a positive boost to the investment strategy and thus valuation of the private USS pension scheme. This has made it possible for universities and the trade union to jointly recommend to the trustee a restoration of pre-April 2022 benefits, a lowering of contributions for individuals and universities and an additional one-off payment to members’ pension schemes. Importantly, the Pension Regulator has currently not raised any concerns with the proposed changes. This recommendation is subject to staff consultation, which is open until 24 November. There is further information on the USS Consultation 2023 website.
This is good news for USS pension scheme members. The lowering of contribution rates, which UUK and UCU are recommending, could be implemented in January 2024 and will have a significant impact on pay packets for those in the scheme. We also welcome the focus in the joint statement on working in partnership to look at other key areas, particularly ways to improve the long-term stability of the scheme so that we do not get extreme fluctuations in valuation which in-turn drive the extreme changes required in pension benefits and contributions, to ensure the pension scheme remains affordable. We also support the need for low-cost pension options to help address the high opt-out rate from the scheme and overall governance reform.
Knowledge Exchange Framework
‘Knowledge exchange’ refers to the wide range of activities universities undertake with partners – for example businesses, charities and community groups – for the benefit of the economy and society.
The results for this year’s Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) were published on 27 September. I was delighted to see another set of really strong results.
For the second year running, Queen Mary was placed in the top category, when compared to the top Russell Group universities, for Research partnerships, Public and Community Engagement, and IP and Commercialisation. We also ranked in the second highest category for Working with the Public and Third Sector.
Our performance reflects our commitment to and strength in sharing knowledge, ideas and experience to benefit both the economy and society. The results also reflect our longstanding excellence in public engagement, along with our ambition to be the most inclusive research-intensive University of its kind in the world, in line with our Strategy 2030.
Our strong results are a testament to the hard work of colleagues across Queen Mary and of those we partner with. I thank you all for your continued dedication and I look forward to us building on this success.
For more information on KEF and our latest results, please read our news story and visit our dedicated KEF webpages.
I will write again when there is a further update to share.
Best wishes,
Colin
Professor Colin Bailey, CBE, FREng, BEng, PhD, CEng, FICE, FIStructE, MIFireEPresident and Principal