Introduction
Over the last decade, the University has grown substantially and delivered a significant amount for our students, staff and the wider community. We are now proud to be home to over 25,000 students across three different campuses and working with a number of key collaborative partners in the UK and overseas. Our course offering has broadened and we continue to meet the emerging needs of the region, supplying the workforce with a talented pipeline of graduates in health,education, arts and humanities, social sciences and law, as well as newer areas such as engineering, medicine and digital arts. We have also provided opportunities for wider participation and increased much needed diverse representation across a range of careers.
Professor Rama Thirunamachandran, OBE DLVice-Chancellor and Principal
The impact of our research and enterprise is felt nationally and internationally as recognised by the recent national Research Excellence Framework and the Knowledge Exchange Framework.
We are proud to have invested over £100M over the past decade in our facilities and to have opened our award-winning building for science, technology, engineering, health and medicine, the Verena Holmes Building and our creative and cultural hub, the Daphne Oram building on our Canterbury Campus. We have acquired the new Lucy Fildes Building in Tunbridge Wells and invested in laboratory and simulation facilities on our Medway Campus.
As we emerge from the global pandemic, the world is changing around us and the needs of our students, staff and industry partners are changing too. As we have done for the last 60 years, we must continue to evolve and innovate to meet those changing needs.
Our new strategic framework was developed with you at its heart. Over 500 staff attended workshops in the Spring 2022 year and, in the months since, they have continued to contribute and engage. Our students have been at its heart too working alongside Christ Church Students’ Union. We have also worked closely with our external partners to understand their perceptions of the University, and what more we can do to serve them and the wider community.
So I proudly present our strategic framework for the next 7 years – Vision 2030. It places collaboration, courage, and creativity at its heart as we seek to enrich communities and shape sustainable futures. The strategic framework has four clear strategic aims – student learning, life and futures; research, enterprise and innovation; people, culture and community; and impact – all underpinned by our commitment to sustainable futures.
With best wishes.
Rama