1997-1998 Annual Report

Annual Report

Principal's Report - Highlights of the Year

The University of Dundee is fortunate in its location and its facilities: the main campus in the Nethergate; the extensive and expanding research and teaching complex in the Medical School at Ninewells Hospital; the reassuring quadrangles of the Nursing School in Kirkcaldy; the West Park Residences and Conference Centre; the Centre for Medical Education housed in Victorian Gothic splendour overlooking the peace and beauty of the Botanic Garden; the Tay Estuary Research Centre; and shortly the Visual Arts Research Facility in the new City Arts Centre. Each has its own character and all have attractions. For example the main campus - coherent and central, but attractively landscaped - has many idiosyncrasies and much else to please the eye including the spectacular views over the great panorama of the Tay estuary to the hills of Fife and Perthshire beyond.

Campus Development
Over the recent years these sites have been the scene of major building activities, ranging from the Wellcome Trust Building, accommodating 250 additional research scientists from around the world and the development of the Cancer research and treatment Centre at Ninewells Hospital made possible by phenomenal support from the local community, to the new coffee shop at the Botanic Garden. This intensive, complex building programme has placed very heavy demands on the Estates & Buildings Department - demands which have been met effectively and with good-will.

Outstanding Achievement
The construction activity has of course reflected the dynamism of the activities within the buildings and, while the facilities are essential, it is the strength and nature of the activities by which a University must be judged. There are many good things to report again this year as will be apparent from the pages which follow. It has been a year of outstanding achievement - one of the great pleasures of being Principal of the University is to walk round the campuses reflecting with pride on what is happening on all sides.

The Three Knights
Public recognition of the Universityís achievements and evidence from ìperformance indicatorsî came in a variety of forms. Pride of place among individual distinctions must go to the three Knighthoods conferred on Professor Sir Naren Patel, Professor Sir Philip Cohen and Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri. To have three such honours in one year is very unusual, if not unique, for a University the size of Dundee and we congratulate them warmly. As we go to press, news has reached us that Sir Naren has been elevated to a Life peerage, placing him in a very rare category of eminence. Furthermore, hot on the heels of his Knighthood, Sir Alfredís work on minimum access therapy led to the award of a Queenís Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education to the University - a highly prestigious and coveted accolade.

Teaching Quality and Research Funding
At the level of individual subjects, the University continued its successful run in Teaching Quality Assessments conducted by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, achieving another ìExcellentî (the highest category) for Psychology and a score of 21 out of 24 for Town and Regional Planning (the highest achieved by any of the Departments assessed) under the new procedure recently introduced. Moving up in scale to the University as a whole, the value of research grants and contracts attracted during the year soared up to the remarkable figure of £42 million placing us clearly in the uppermost band for research funding per member of staff. Much of this funding was from industrial sources and it was gratifying to be commended by the Scottish Secretary, Donald Dewar, as an example of science and business working well together. Certainly we regard the commercial exploitation of our research for the benefit of the local and national economy as an essential responsibility and see increasing possibilities for spin-out companies, joint research projects and licence arrangements. Our position as largest shareholder in the Dundee Incubator Company, formed to facilitate the start-up of embryo companies, is testimony to this policy.

Wider Access
The results in the Teaching Quality Assessments demonstrate that our commitment to teaching parallels our enthusiasm for research - the interdependence of these activities is a key element of our mission. Another facet of this commitment which is a source of great pride is the pioneering work by the University to improve access from groups who have no tradition of participation in Higher Education. We were particularly pleased that the Universityís summer school was selected as an example of best practice for presentation at a National Conference. More generally the current discussions with Northern College open up exciting possibilities for enhancing our involvement in Educational Studies and Teacher Education.

Quality Assurance
But from the standpoint of a Principal, perhaps the most heartening ìindicatorî during the year was the result of the 5-yearly Continuation Audit of the Universityís activities by the Quality Assurance Agency. Preparation for the audit, the process itself and the conclusions gave us much to think about, and the report overall was very favourable. To be commended for ìan ethos of openness and dialogue between all levels of its structureî and for ìfirm guardianship of standardsî is very reassuring, for this must be a primary aim of University management - to create the conditions in which all individuals can achieve their full potential.

Achieving this aim, both for the University and for its individual members is not easy in a climate where pressures and competition are continually increasing. The environment in which we operate is ever more challenging, not just because of external demands but because we continue to set ourselves higher standards and seek to improve the quality of all our activities - academic, administration and support services. It is a pleasure again to record appreciation to all staff for responding with commitment and vigour to all these challenges - from the way maintenance staff turn out at unsocial hours to deal with frozen pipes to the burning of midnight oil by research workers to complete projects which do not recognise office hours.

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