Future Connect: ‘What is your vision for the University in 2020?’
Background
At phase 1 of the Future Connect World Café event on 8th February 2011, 53 students, board
members, senior management, academic and support staff at the University where invited
to vision Sustainability around three themes: Campus, Community and Curriculum. The
outcomes were presented in the below banners, and as part of phase 2 of the Future
Connect event, over 250 staff and students were asked to add their opinions on:
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What’s the most important?
What’s the most easily achieved?
What adds the most value?
Black dots were added to the stickers given to students so we can differentiate between
student and staff views.
Future Connect: Phase 2 report
Methodology
This report is an interim summary of the key findings; a complete data set of the results is in
the attached spread sheet. The banner showing the results of phase 1 of Future Connect
consisted of main ‘themes’ and associated ‘topics’. The aim of this report is to highlight
some of the most significant findings and these results are shown in tables below. Under
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each of the three areas, the key themes are listed below but not all ‘topics’. It is interesting
that the in the vast majority of cases both student and staff opinions were the same.
It may be useful to remind ourselves of the process that informed the results set out above,
before attempting some form of interpretation and analysis. Phase one was a conversation
that participants translated into text and drawings on table cloths. These were moderated
and reported on by the ‘table host’ at the end of the event. Following the presentations, a
small team then translated this information into a representational banner of the main
themes and topics that rose from the conversation. This process by its nature lent to a
distillation and interpretation and simplification of the data in the initial phase. Phase two
introduced a process that allowed participants to show support and importance to the areas
and discussion topics or themes. Students and staff were invited to stick coloured stickers
near the theme/topics that were most important to them. Responses could be added
anywhere on the banner, to any or all of the three subjects (campus, community,
curriculum), and there was freedom to choose to the number and ‘colour’ stickers to add.
Results
Campus
The most popular discussion themes on the Campus were:
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Energy
Water
Travel
Procurement
Buildings
IT
Students
Staff
Access
Social Sustainability
Waste
Food
Green infrastructure
Biodiversity
Most important
Buildings: 24 hour
access.
Travel: affordable
travel
Most easily achieved
Waste: recycling
waste.
Adds the most value
Procurement: with
local companies.
Social Sustainability:
contact with people
Travel: affordable
travel
Buildings: 24 hour
access.
Waste: recycling
waste.
Waste: reduce waste
to landfill.
Energy: controlled
heating
Procurement: with
local companies.
Community
The most popular discussion themes on the community were:
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Common spaces
Wider community
Communication
Student engagement
Most important
Students
Wider community:
relationships with
schools.
Communication:
sharing best practise.
Staff
Common spaces:
diverse use of
spaces.
Student/staff: work
placements.
 Student/Staff
 ‘University city’
 ‘University village’
 Culture
Most easily achieved Adds the most value
Student/staff:
Student/staff:
student
student
opportunities to
opportunities to
work for the
work for the
university.
university.
Student/staff:
Common spaces:
develop internships
quiet social spaces.
further.
Student/staff: work
Student
placements.
engagement:
Wider community:
volunteering.
links with local
University village:
business.
shop to sell student
and staff items.
Curriculum
The most popular discussion themes on the curriculum were:
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Economics
Individualisation of learning
Future impact of technology
Students
Staff
Most important
Individualisation of
learning: making
learning relevant.
Economics: graduate
employment
prospects.
Individualisation of
learning: making
learning relevant.
Future impact of
technology: student
support
Ethics
Tinker or transform
Most easily achieved
Individualisation of
learning: Teaching
practical skills
Tinker or transform:
flexible learning.
Adds the most Value
Staff and students
should be role
models for the wider
community.
Economics: finance.
Individualisation of
learning: making
learning relevant.
Economics: earn as
you learn.
Individualisation of
learning: Teaching
practical skills
Tinker or transform:
diversity
Overall figures:
200
Total staff
3
627
Total
students
Total students stickers:
Total staff stickers:
Total amount of
stickers:
627
200
827
Discussion
Campus
The most active topics were: waste, social sustainability, procurement, travel and energy.
The total number of stickers placed on the banner in the campus section was 291. Of these
206 were students and 85 were staff. 24 hours access and affordable travel was identified as
the most important topics by both students and staff. Moreover recycling was also
identified as the most easily achieved topic by students and staff, which shows a common
interest in both groups. Procurement from local companies was identified by staff and
students that could add the most value.
Community
The most active topics on community were: employability, communication, culture and
common spaces. The total number of stickers placed on the banner in the community
section was 254. Of these 202 were students and 52 were staff. On the community topic,
student opportunities to work for university by the students were identified as the most
easily achieved and as adding the most value. However staff as the most important and the
most easily achieved identified work placement topic.
Curriculum
Economics, individualisation of learning, the future impact of technology, ethics and a
debate on whether to tinker with or transform the curriculum were the headline topics
discussed in phase one. The total number of stickers placed on the banner in the curriculum
section was 282. Of these 219 were students and 63 were staff.
All topics attracted lot of attention from students and staff, but the most popular topic was
“making learning relevant” which is easy to see from table above. This topic was chosen by
the students and staff as the most important and also by staff as the most easily achieved.
Also students as the most easily achieved chose teaching practical skills, where this topic
was chosen as the adds the most value by staff.
Domas Jackevicius
May 2011
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