King's College London (KQC) newsletter
61 DAYS INTO ORBIT .. A D STILL COUNTING ... PRl CIPAL'S OPE I G OF SESSIO DDRESS TO STAFF A D STUDE TS LOOKS FORWARD WITH OPTIMISM In the rust three days of the new session the Principal. Professor Stewart Sutherland. gave a warm and energetic welcome to members of the new College. In introducing new students to key members of staff on the three campuses he offered congratulations on their achievement - in just being here - and emphasised their role as foundation students of a new institution: the future of the merged College began with them and in many ways relied on them.
His message for staff was also one of congratulation- for the time effort and emotion they had invested in making the merger possible and for the excellent academic results achieved this year 46% of students achieving first or upper second c1as honours), a sure sign that despite upheavals and uncertainties the quality of work has never wavered. King's now, he said had every right to feel optimistic - a cautious optimism, but optimism nonethele s. A quote from Marx (Groucho, not Kart) summed it up - "Don't let's be pessimists, always spending time building dungeons in the air!". In bringing staff up-to-date with some of the major developments in issues affecting the College, Professor Sutherland demonstrated the progress that had already been made and highlighted the advantages with which we begin the first Michaelmas Term of a very new session.
THE CO RT
D THE
GC
The cademic Plan was submitted to the COUIt on time and has been forwarded to the UGC for urgent consideration. King's seems to have been successful in impressing upon the Court the wisdom of its plans and their importance to the University as a whole; the Report goes to the UGC with the Court's support. The UGC does not have the necessary capital funds to hand now, but hopefully can make a commitment to support King's in their need to integrate as soon as possible. There is a GC meeting in ovember so we might hope for an initial response this term. A ovember meeting is also planned with Peter Brooke (Under Secretary of State) and Sir David Hancock (Permanent Secretary) at the DES in which they can be formally briefed on the King's position; Sir Keith Joseph has shown an interest in this meeting and may, hopefully, also attend. These developments show that we are moving at the right speed, in the right direction and, although there can be no promises where there is no certainty, the support is there where it counts. Any opportunity to press our case must be taken and that includes individual members of staff explaining our needs and plans to their own personal contacts in Research Councils and the like. FI ANCE
The Principal in conversation at a reception for overseas student held at the tart of session.
Thanks to the expertise and forward· planning of our Finance Department we have a financial plan that fits the academic plan and one which is taking realistic account of current policies. The prospect of an overall 2% reduction in funding over the next few years has been anticipated in our forward planning and, hence, we are not teetering on the brink of the financial abyss that now dismays some of our colleagues, locally and nationally. Our deficit at the end of the financial year was £310,000 • not an overdraft any of us would relish personally, but a lower firgure for the College than had been expected. The projected deficit for this year is £200,000, with