One (of the many) problems of being a vice-chancellor is staying in touch with reality.
I am very privileged to represent the University on a number of special occasions and the past week has been no exception. But it is challenging to keep in touch with the views and experiences of staff and students. As I reported last week, I find the coffee morning meetings a very useful way of meeting staff from all parts of the University.
In the past couple of weeks it has been a great pleasure to meet with a wider cross section of students (albeit that each is exceptional in their own way). I was delighted to have coffee with our UK champion Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team. This is a group of 130 students from across the University who run social enterprises that benefit both the local community in Southampton and communities in Kenya and Sierra Leone. SIFE is an international organisation with groups in nearly 50 other UK universities, and 1,600 groups worldwide. Our team, led by their President Chris Coates, presented their extraordinary work to a judging panel of UK business leaders and were voted the best team in the UK, in April. The students are a joy to listen to, combining their obvious interest in business and enterprise with a real commitment to social good. They represent the University and the UK at the SIFE World Cup in Washington, DC, USA, in September.
Later in the week I was a guest of the University Air Squadron at their annual dinner and prize evening that brings air squadrons from all the local universities together. Again, I marvelled at the commitment, camaraderie and character of this impressive group of young people. The University of Southampton has more than 400 students linked to the Armed Services, the majority involved with the volunteer units (Air Squadron, Officer Training Corps and Royal Naval Unit), with 120 sponsored by the Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme (DTUS). We are one of only three universities in the UK to have all four service units on campus. Many of the students have a career in the Armed Services in mind after graduation, but all are offered extraordinary extra-curricular experiences and opportunities to develop skills in leadership that prepare them well for future employment.
I was also able to catch up recently with four members of the University swim team who, returning from a training camp in Lanzarote, found themselves involved with a mid-air emergency as a passenger was having a heart attack. Led by medically qualified PhD student Kelvin Cheung, the three other students, Danni Burton, Sarah Benjamin and Adam Dales, took it in turns to perform CPR for 27 minutes before the patient revived. He was successfully removed from the plane following an emergency landing in Portugal and has since made a full recovery.
We have extraordinary students at this University. Not only are they academically gifted, but so many have made a commitment to a wider student experience. They bring to it a passion for life and the desire to make a difference in ways that exemplify our goals as an institution. It is a great privilege to get to know just a few, better.
The book ends of my week took me into the surreal end of my role. On Sunday 6 May it was my great pleasure to represent the University at Southampton Football Club to celebrate back-to-back promotions taking Saints back into the Premier League. It was a joyous (and boisterous) occasion with a broad cross-section of businesses, back-room staff and some lucky season ticket holders celebrating in style with the team and management. There was champagne, fireworks, interviews with star players and manager Nigel Adkins, and entertainment from Bjorn Again (Abba tribute band). The University is working with the club on a number of research projects to prevent and improve recovery from injury. It was a real pleasure to meet with Mo Gimpel, Sports Medicine & Science Manager at the club (and an alumnus), although our conversation was somewhat strained by the volume of the music. It is hard to have a serious discussion with Dancing Queen playing in the background! We agreed to meet at a later date in more conducive circumstances.
The week finished on Friday afternoon with tea with Prime Minister Gilani of Pakistan, who had specifically requested to meet with a small group of UK VCs to discuss future relations with Pakistan in higher education. To be honest, I am never quite sure what gets accomplished at these set piece meetings, but as my recent travels with David Cameron showed, there is much that can be achieved at the margins and I was able to make a couple of useful connections with the PM’s advisers and with British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Adam Thomson. Although our connections to Pakistan have been interrupted by continuing concerns about safety and security, our Management School is engaged in education on entrepreneurship and innovation in a partnership with the Institute for Management Sciences in Peshawar. Colleagues in Engineering are also working with the National University of Science and Technology in the design and development of low-cost water surface turbines for electrical power generation. We have a delegation visiting the relatively secure Islamabad later this month. I sincerely hope that our relationship with this strategically vital country continues to develop productively.