Developing an institutional engagement strategy for a research-intensive civic university in the UK
Paul Younger (Newcastle University)
Abstract
Only four English towns have had higher education longer than Newcastle upon Tyne. What is now Newcastle University was originally established in 1834 to respond to civic needs in the rapidly expanding city at the heart of what was then by far the largest industrial conurbation in the world. 175 years later, the economy of the region has changed beyond all recognition, and the University has embarked upon a process of ‘reinventing the notion of a civic university’. Central to this process is the creation of the University’s first-ever institutional engagement strategy. This is being built upon three foundations:
• A survey of existing engagement activities throughout the university (436 responses received)
• A critical review of global best practice in university / society engagement (c. 100 pages)
• An independent assessment of the socio-economic and cultural status and needs of our host city and region.
A collaborative process has been designed with the aim of garnering as much internal engagement as possible in developing a strategy to fulfil a declared mission to “play a leading role in the economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England”. The final engagement strategy is conceived to comprise a set of justified priorities which will define the specific ways in which the University will marshal its intellectual and physical resources to address civic needs in future.
