· University of Kent - Economic Development Role by Mr Marcus Wright, Enterprise Manager, accompanied byPhillippe De Wilde (Pro Chancellor for Research and Innovation).
Minutes:
1. The Enterprise Manager, Mr Marcus Wright, and the Pro Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Mr Phillipe De Wilde, from the University of Kent were welcomed to the meeting by the Chairman and Members.
2. Mr Wright advised that the University of Kent had:
· 20,000 students
· 3500 staff
· £250 million income per year
3. The University of Kent offered a wide range of subjects from the History of Art to Engineering. Students who graduated from the University had a good employability record to date as they gained transferable skills whilst on their courses. The University’s vision was for the students to have a fifty year career ahead of them and was keen that what it offered to the students allowed them to perform well and evolve over the fifty year period.
4. The 3,500 staff [not all full time] supported the local economy and influenced the leisure facilities on offer and shops provided in the town. Mr Wilde considered that the retired staff also contributed to the economy as many remained in the local area. Some staff lived in London and commuted to Kent.
5. Mr Wilde explained how the £250m income per year was spent. The student fees were £9,000 per year and they expect high student to teacher ratio which was costly. Members of staff were recruited at an international level and the university had to have competitive salaries and pension funds etc. Mr Wright considered that the universities income was well spent. He added that the university did not have the resources to set up a Venture Capital Fund.
6. Mr Wright gave brief biographical details of his career to date advising that he was from Belgium and his studies were Computer science. He was appointed by the University of Kent in 2014.
7. Mr Wright and Mr De Wilde responded to questions by Members as follows:
a) Mr Wright explained that the living accommodation was rented during the undergraduate student’s holidays. The University facilities were also hired for conferences although it made little profit from this.
b) Mr Wright made the following comments:
· There were no plans to have a large engineering school at the University
· He explained that the university course were market driven eg if there was a need for more doctors the University would offer more courses in medicine.
· The University was student focused.
· It was hoped that students would remain in Kent when they completed their studies.
· Property prices and transport prices and efficiency were a consideration for where people decided to work.
· The University ethos was that we have a free market opportunities, skills/innovation.
· Mr Wright advised that it was his role to research innovation by talking to representatives including companies, charities, museums and health and social services.
c) Mr Wright considered that it was a free market where people chose where they wanted to work and it was not the University’s focus to fill the skill gaps for local employers in Kent. He said that he had read the report headed “Working together with Kent Universities: Scoping report” to be discussed later on the Committee’s agenda and considered that what was proposed in the report made sense. Mr Wright explained that the University spent £1m of its budget per year on working with staff and students to be entrepreneurial. This was to cultivate the right attitude towards risk taking.
d) Mr Wright agreed that there was a lot to do in the field of Information Technology (IT) which was relatively cheap to set up. The University was looking to set up cyber security courses and there was a need to understand psychology behind computer crime.
e) Mr Wright explained that the government determines the courses and the numbers of student places and these were not in the gift of the University to steer. Therefore if the government limits the number of psychology students and expands engineering the University would provide the courses. The courses were also driven by student demand.
f) Mr De Wilde advised that the Kent Enterprise Hub on the University campus was an inherited space and although it served a purpose it was insular. This had now been rebranded as the Innovation Centre. Mr Wide said that the Discovery Park was on his radar.
g) Mr Wilde said that he would welcome business people to the university campus including SMEs to discuss how they could work together. He said that although the University did things that had a varying degree of risk, setting up a Venture Capital Fund would be too high risk.
h) He concluded that the courses on Arts and psychology would be sustained.
8. RESOLVED that the information given by Mr Wright and Mr De Wilde in the presentation be noted with thanks