2012 annual report P1 contents Vice-Chancellor’s Introduction 2 5. We created nearly 350 new jobs last year. The total number of (full-time equivalent) staff increased from Research 8 3,077 to 3,421, an increase of 11.1 per cent. As 1. We accepted an invitation to join the Russell Group of January 2013 we were advertising a further 170 Teaching and Learning 12 of leading research-intensive universities. posts. The vast majority of these were lectureships, Finance and Investment 16 professorial posts and research posts. the year 2. Exeter was named the Sunday Times University of the Year and rose to seventh place in the newspaper’s International Exeter 18 6. In the National Student Survey, which measures league table, its highest ever position in any league student satisfaction at 118 Higher Education Contribution to the 24 table. Institutions, we ranked sixth overall in the universities South West region in brief list and third for teaching quality. 3. Our Chancellor Baroness Floella Benjamin welcomed Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Fundraising and Alumni Relations 26 7. Our annual research income from grants and Highness the Duke of Edinburgh to Exeter to open contracts grew to around £50 million – double what it Sport 32 the Forum, our new £50 million student services was in 2008. centre, witnessed by 10,000 staff, students, alumni and Environment 36 8. Our fundraising campaign, Creating a world-class visitors. University together, closed a year early having raised in People 40 4. We delivered our £380 million capital programme, excess of £25 million. including a £25 million investment in Biosciences, a 9. Our students voted History’s Tim Rees ‘Best £25 million Business School building, a £47 million Lecturer’ and English ‘Best Department’ in the international students centre, more than £100 million Students’ Guild Teaching Awards. Senior Designer of new student accommodation and, of course, the Delphine Jones was voted ‘Heroine of the Year’ in Forum. In Cornwall, we opened our £10 million new the Professional Services Awards. student services building, the Exchange, and the £30 The next Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change million Environment and Sustainability Institute. 10. Cover: Our Chancellor Baroness Floella Benjamin welcomes has seven contributors from this University – more Her Majesty the Queen to the University. than any other academic institution in the world. We strengthened our position as a Nearly 600 of our lecturers were P2-3 Vice-Chancellor’s top 10 UK university nominated by their students for We further cemented out position among the UK’s top 10 Teaching Awards introduction universities, making it to seventh in the Sunday Times league It was fantastic to see our students vote in such numbers in the The highlight of the year was undoubtedly the opening of the Forum. Our Chancellor Baroness Floella Benjamin table and tenth in the rankings produced by The Guardian Guild Teaching Awards. A record 2,021 individual nominations welcomed Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. After seemingly weeks of and The Times. This led to a top 10 position in Times Higher were received for 588 individual members of staff. The Awards Education’s ‘Table of tables.’ The magazine described Exeter torrential rain the sun shone for the 10,000 students, staff and visitors who witnessed the occasion. It was a huge celebrate excellence by both teaching and support staff. as ‘one of the big winners’. We also rose in the international Amongst the winners were Tim Rees, of History, who was effort to organise the visit and a great example of teamwork: from the cleaners, maintenance and grounds staff who rankings and are now ranked in the top 200 universities in voted Best Lecturer whilst English was voted Best Department. ensured the campus looked stunning, to our award winning chefs who cooked a Devon and Cornwall themed both the THE and QS world university rankings which puts The Teaching Awards illustrate the University’s continuing us firmly among the world’s top one per cent of universities. lunch, to our students who gave a number of fantastic music, dance and drama performances. It was truly a day that strong performance in teaching quality and overall student Exeter climbed 28 places in the THE international league table experience. This was further underlined by the National will live long in the memory. and from 207th to 182nd in the QS. League table position has Student Survey, which measures student satisfaction at 118 UK contributed powerfully to strengthening our brand: the number Higher Education Institutions. Exeter is ranked sixth overall in We delivered more than £380 million We joined the Russell Group of of external visitors to our website, for example, increased by the universities list and third for teaching quality. The University worth of investment in new facilities leading research-intensive universities 80 per cent in 2012 to 5.7 million. Nearly three times as many has never been outside of the top 10 since the survey people visited our website on A Level results day compared to 2011/12 was the year in which we delivered our £380 million The most significant event of the year was Exeter’s invitation to was launched. the previous year. capital programme. In addition to the Forum, which provides join the Russell Group of leading research-led universities. This new library, learning and retail space, we added a fantastic is great news for staff, students and alumni and reflects all of the new Business School building, a transformation of facilities in hard work that has gone into strengthening the University over Biosciences, a new Mood Disorders Centre and the INTO the past ten years. Further good news quickly followed when international students centre to our academic facilities. We also we learned we had been named Sunday Times University of the completed a new ‘student village’ at Birks and Duryard and Year. The newspaper said Exeter had ‘consistently embodied finished the major part of new residences at the other end of the best in British Higher Education’ over the past decade. the campus at Lafrowda. In Cornwall we watched the new Environment and Sustainability Institute rise from the ground and opened the Exchange, an expansion of library and other student-focused facilities. The highlight of the year was undoubtedly the opening of the Forum Vice-Chancellor’s P4-5 introduction We celebrated the success of our Professional Services staff Our Professional Services staff, who work across fields from Finance and HR to Campus Services and Academic Services, also make a vital contribution to our success. The second annual Professional Services Awards saw Senior Designer Delphine Jones, from our Communications and Marketing team, named ‘Heroine of the Year’ and the Forum project team were named ‘Outstanding Team of the Year.’ We launched the University of Exeter Medical School One of the biggest developments of the year was the decision We were named Sunday Times by Exeter and Plymouth universities to end their partnership University of the Year in the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry. The Winning the Sunday Times University of the Year award demerger, which took place in the summer, saw the creation highlighted for me how many people contribute to the of the University of Exeter Medical School (UEMS) and the University’s success. Not just our staff, but also our governors, Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and our students, our alumni, our suppliers, our research funders, Dentistry. From 2013 Exeter will admit 120 UK medical our business partners, local councils and communities. students and 10 international students a year, with Plymouth admitting 80 UK medical students and six international students and 64 dental students a year. Exeter students will continue to None of this could have been work in healthcare settings around the South West, including, achieved without our talented and Exeter, Torbay and Truro. The formation of UEMS has gone extremely well with the first round of applications exceeding hard-working staff The University’s staff have performed marvels to transform last year’s total for PCMD. We had 1,770 applications, which Exeter over the last 10 years. During this period student equates to nearly 15 for every place. numbers have increased by 50 per cent, turnover has more than tripled and research income has risen fivefold. This has We increased our market share of meant a lot of hard work and we realise many staff members have had to perform under a great deal of pressure. We have the top students in a challenging done our best to be a family-friendly employer and to support environment staff with difficult and challenging roles. We have also launched The introduction of £9,000 tuition fees for UK Home a staff association, which now has nearly 1,100 members, and undergraduates and the government’s decision to allow a range of wellbeing initiatives through our Sports Park. We universities a free hand in recruiting students at A Level grades recognise there is more to do in this area and one of the major of AAB and above meant a very challenging year for admissions themes of 2013 will be to better support staff and reduce in 2012. A highly competitive recruitment round saw many workplace stress. We want a happy, healthy and engaged universities seeking to free themselves of government number workforce as well as a high performing one. controls by recruiting as many AAB students as they could. Fate also took a hand with a fall in the number of students nationally achieving AAB grades, leaving many universities short of their admissions targets. Exeter did well in such a fierce environment increasing its market share, albeit with a slightly smaller intake than in 2011.