This is the third in my trilogy of blogs as I leave Hallam. The first looked at the way the external environment has changed over my time as Vice-Chancellor, the second at the University’s development and this third one is more personal. I have loved my time as Hallam’s Vice-Chancellor. As my old friend, and…
This blog is the second of a trilogy. In the first I looked at the way the University’s environment has changed since I arrived in 2016; in this I look from the outside into the University, and in the third, I’ll write a bit more personally. I came to Sheffield to be interviewed for the…
There will be three more blogs before I leave the University at the end of December. This blog is the first of a trilogy. In this, I look out at the world and at higher education at the end of 2023; in the second, I’ll look from the outside in to the University, and in…
I was in London last Wednesday evening for a meeting of a group of Vice-Chancellors with the Shadow Higher Education Minister. On Thursday morning, I walked along the Euston Road to get the 7.00 train to Sheffield, and was soaked to the skin by Storm Ciaran. I’d just about dried off by the time I…
I taught my regular session on the University’s MA in Education last week. Each year, I teach a slot on politics, policy and practice in education reform. Drawing on examples from around the world, I try to explore the ways in which political ideas, policy implementation and professional practice interact in the way educational change…
Good news seems hard to come by these days. But it arrived last Thursday morning for the entire UK higher education sector. At 7 am on Thursday the government announced that it had reached agreement with the European Union that the UK would ‘associate’ to the €85bn EU Horizon Europe programme. Horizon Europe is the…
It was winter in Australia. There had been high winds and rain for several weeks, but the weather had broken and the skies were a crisp blue, with frosty mornings – even if you are on the other side of the world, you have to scratch your head a bit and get used to the…
The government has announced significant further changes to university funding. Last year, it significantly worsened the terms of student loans, including increasing the repayment period to 40 years. This week’s changes affect so called ‘low value’ courses and foundation years. ‘Low value’ courses are those defined as courses where relatively few graduates secure highly paid…
Lord Kerslake, who died at the weekend was an outstanding public servant and outstanding chair of the Sheffield Hallam University Board of Governors. Bob was born in the West Country in 1955 and graduated from the University of Warwick with a first class degree in Mathematics, going on to be the sabbatical president of the…
Our new institute for global security is a model for avoiding dystopia. International collaboration on tackling global problems has never been more important, say Chris Husbands and John Dewar The threats are huge, and they are growing. The technological revolution, which brought such huge advances in connectivity and communication, now feels intimidating. Our computers fill…
Philip Larkin’s poem The Trees begins with one of his most famous lines ‘The trees are coming into leaf/Like something almost being said’. It goes on to mark, with characteristically Larkin-esque uncertainty, the endless cycle of the seasons: ‘Is it that they are born again/And we grow old? No, they die too,/Their yearly trick of…
Sheffield Hallam University’s chancellor, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC played a prominent role in last weekend’s coronation service. She had been asked to carry the Queen’s rod into the Abbey. At the start of the service, she processed with due solemnity past the assembled ranks of dignitaries beside Baroness Floella Benjamin, who had been asked to…
Sheffield is the UK’s fifth largest city by population. It has exceptional assets, including its diverse population and its green spaces. More than 60% of the city’s area is open space, and the Peak District National Park merges with the city’s borders. It has two outstanding universities, between them attracting some 70,000 students at any…
As a language model, ChatGPT has the potential to impact universities in various ways. One of the most significant impacts could be on the way students learn and interact with educational content. ChatGPT can assist students in various learning activities such as generating personalized study materials, answering questions, grading assignments, and providing feedback. By doing…
Last week the Chancellor of the Exchequer made his annual budget speech. The government, and the nation, face a challenging economic outlook. Brexit has reduced the size of the economy by something like 4% – if that doesn’t sound much, it’s actually about £140 billion a year. Unanticipated high inflation – in part, though not…