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External engagement
Our external engagement work is reflected in and driven by our University strategy, Impact 2022, and the imperatives it contains for the University to become better connected and more permeable, ever more student and customer focused, business-oriented, strategically aligned and, above all, impactful. An essential aspect of the strategy was for the University to build strategic partnerships and alliances, especially locally and throughout our region, but also further afield as well.
To support our strategic intent to expand the healthcare offer, BNU secured funds from the OfS which has enabled the refurbishment of the third floor at our Aylesbury campus. This development will enable the University to establish a Centre of Excellence in Digital Healthcare. The state-of-the-art teaching facilities include an immersive virtual reality room. The audio-visual capabilities enable different immersive environments to be generated, for example public spaces, acute hospital wards, operating theatres and community home settings. The functionality also allows for interactive screen engagement with patient scenarios and data. This exciting teaching and learning innovation not only brings efficiency in space usage but also provides opportunities for inter professional learning. It is anticipated that the changes to the third floor will enable increased external engagement, particularly with the local Buckinghamshire NHS Trust and Buckinghamshire Council. For example, students linking into digitally enabled live case conferences, co-delivery of staff training and the hosting of community health and wellbeing events.
Helping to drive the skills agenda
The University’s improved engagement with the Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership (BLEP) reflects our commitment to help drive the skills agenda for the county and meet the needs of the local employers and the region. We also work closely with the unitary Buckinghamshire Council to support them in progressing many of their ambitions.
We play our part in responding to the needs of the Skills for Jobs white paper in partnership with local FE colleges, the UTC, as well as primary and secondary schools. BNU is also proud to belong to the Arc Universities Group of nine universities that is driving forwards the research and education needs of the South of England.
We provide incubation spaces at our High Wycombe and Aylesbury campuses, enabling entrepreneurs and business start-ups to work flexibly and at low cost.
Our executive team’s contribution
External engagement is deeply reflected in the activities of the senior team as they lead the delivery of Impact 2022 and its commitment to strengthen engagement with key strategic partners.
The University is a member of GuildHE, one of two officially recognised representative bodies for higher education which enable the voices of universities to be heard, the other being Universities UK, of which the University is also an active member, through the contributions of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Braisby. The University is also a member of the All Party Parliamentary Universities Group.
The Vice-Chancellor has a number of external roles which help ensure the University’s voice influences national and regional policy. During 2021-22, Professor Braisby served on the Universities UK senior leaders group to produce an update to its Closing the Gap report, two years on, and which was published by UUK in July 2022. In 2021-22, Professor Braisby joined the joint UUK and GuildHE Climate Action Group, and continued his role as a member of the Executive Board of GuildHE, and also as a member of UUK’s Audit and Risk, and Resources Committees.
Within the region, the Vice-Chancellor joins other senior leaders of higher education institutions as a member of the West London HEI Vice-Chancellor’s group, a group aimed at ensuring higher education plays a significant role in the economic regeneration of West London, a region especially badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. He also serves as a member of the Arc Universities Group Governing Board. Withing the county, the Vice-Chancellor became a member of Buckinghamshire Council’s Levelling Up Programme Board in 2022, and continues his engagement with Buckinghamshire Culture as a member of its Board of Trustees and with Buckinghamshire Council as a member of its Strategic Partners Board.
The Vice-Chancellor is also a member of the Learning Analytics and Innovation Board sponsored by Civitas Learning Inc. and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the University College of Estate Management.
BNU is part of the Heathrow Skills Partnership, helping to adapt and reskill the existing workforce and create a pipeline of talent not only to benefit Heathrow but also the wider infrastructure industry. Our Commercial and Business Development Director, Ian Harper, has been a member of Buckinghamshire College Group’s governing body since 2014, maintaining strong working relationships between the two institutions such that our offers are complementary and that college students have a seamless progression route to their local university if they choose to progress to higher education.
Working with NHS Trusts and social care providers
The University has very strong links with NHS Trusts and social care providers in the region. Our expansion of the health and social care programmes we offer, and the establishment of the Institute for Health and Social Care (IHSC), will help to address the health needs of the county, and the UK more widely, by playing our part to shape and support the health and social care agenda in the region and across the UK. The strategic partnering and leadership shown by the University has helped to establish the Buckinghamshire Health and Social Care Academy, which will have a key link into the newly established BOB (Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West) Integrated Care Board.
The North-West London Health Academy, which the University is a member of, is being developed and will be linked into the North-West London Integrated Care System. As part of the government’s health and social care reforms, regional Integrated Care Systems (ICS) have been created, each having an Integrated Care Board (ICB) which is the statutory organisation responsible for bringing the NHS together with local authorities to:
• further the integration of health and care;
• improve the health of local populations; • transform the quality of care provided; and • ensure they are sustainable within allocated funding. In addition to the ICB engagement, we are continuing to work with FE colleges and healthcare service providers to co-create and deliver, relevant work-based training programmes and meet the health needs of the region, demonstrating our commitment to being an anchor institution within our county and the towns in which our campuses are based.
The University is proud to work with BNU Students' Union, Swim England, and Wycombe District Swimming Club, as a national performance centre for swimming to promote dual career development for athletes. The University is also accredited by Sport England and the Football Association Women’s Super League Academy programme (linked with Reading Women’s FC Academy) to deliver sport science services and support players’ academic and sporting aspirations. In 2021, BNU joined a small number of UK universities in achieving Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) Dual Career Accreditation in recognition of the support and reassurance we provide to help talented athletes to reach their potential in education alongside achieving success in their sport.
BNU is amongst 140 employers nationwide to receive the prestigious ‘Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award’ from the Ministry of Defence. The award celebrates the University’s outstanding support for those who serve, veterans and their families and is recognised as the ‘highest badge of honour’. The University’s focus is to develop career-ready graduates and support military students with programmes led by employed veterans and reservists. BNU is a committed supporter of military and veteran employability, and of the families of service personnel who are often subject to job and school disruption due to postings around the UK and abroad.
BNU has a significant number of former service personnel in full time employment, teaching on various courses and partnership activities, and is proactive in its engagement with students to develop links with, and understanding of, military opportunities. The University employs serving military personnel as associate lecturers and within affiliate parties such as Oxford University Air Squadron and Oxford University Officer Training Corps, both of which recruit from BNU’s student body.
In our Access and Participation Plan submitted to the OfS, we emphasise a commitment to supporting service families through events for children/students from military backgrounds. External engagement includes membership of the Buckinghamshire Armed Forces Covenant Civilian and Military Partnership Board. BNU also works with the British Legion, RAFA, NHS and various charities including Hounds for Heroes.
Wider advocacy continues with BNU’s ongoing membership of The Service Children’s Progression (SCiP) Alliance: a partnership of organisations focused on improving outcomes for children from military families. The University is working collaboratively in a government-funded outreach project working with universities, schools and colleges in Oxfordshire, Swindon, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. BNU also offers dedicated programmes for military personnel such as the highly successful BA (Hons) Organisational Capability Development and BSc (Hons) Strength and Conditioning Armed Forces. Both programmes are designed to be cost viable opportunities for military personnel to gain education and career enhancement.
