Back in February, Tim Blackman, OU Vice-Chancellor, and Stephen Talboys, who is the Chief Operating Officer for Campus 2030, presented to Student Representatives at the Monthly Student Voice Forum about the Campus 2030 project. This was an incredibly informative hour, where Student Representatives were able to ask questions directly to these senior leaders.
Below are some notes from the session:
Campus 2030 is a programme of activity looking at a possible huge change at the Open University: a future ‘how’ and ‘where’ the University will work. Ultimately, this will be decided on the key question:
Should the OU in Milton Keynes (MK) stay at Walton Hall, the current campus, or move
to a new site in the city centre?
In the presentation, Tim shared opportunities that present themselves in case of a move, which include providing in-person courses to students attending on campus, in addition to the typical distance-learning provision. Tim also discussed the benefits of teaching, learning and working as part of a vibrant city centre, with better access to key transport links, retail, social and leisure facilities, and to businesses which will be seen as key attractors for this opportunity.
This would not be traditional face-to-face teaching – it would be designed to be hybrid and enabled by next-generation technologies, with students learning and working in the community and with employers as part of their experience.
The OU has taken the initiative to do this scoping for several reasons. These include:
- To remain true to the OU’s mission and achieve greater reach.
- Consideration of its long-term future amidst a gradual decline of its core part-time market and changing student demographic.
- Regard to growing competition in the distance-learning market since the pandemic.
- Cuts in real terms of regulated funding (not keeping pace with inflation and pay costs).
- The unsustainable continued use of Walton Hall, with underutilised office accommodation and increasing costs of de-carbonisation.
- The thorough consideration of a face-to-face provision through a business case which enables us to properly examine teaching methods, research, the wants / needs of students to learn in a city centre location / commutable location, whilst retaining graduates as lifelong learners.
The new Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Campus 2030 is leading a team drawn from across the OU (supported by external consultants) to consider the viability of either staying at Walton Hall, or moving to a campus in the centre of MK. This city centre option is supported by Milton Keynes City Council (MKCC) and its development arm Milton Keynes Development Partnership (MKDP) who are working alongside the OU to develop the business case.
MKCC’s consultation will include special sessions and time in existing forums. While this has gathered momentum since February 2024, there have already been discussions in Senate and Council, and in the workstream areas set up to develop propositions for consultation. There will also be further discussions with the senior management team, faculties, nations, the unions and the Students Association, and information including town halls for all staff.
After the presentation, Student Representatives in the room had a range of questions and concerns, including:
- Concerns about how accessible a new city-based campus would be for students with various disability requirements.
- Further concerns about the safety of students on campus in the city.
- With a focus on building a campus, how would the OU ensure that funding is still used for the core principle of the Open University (which is distance-learning) and enhancing that?
- Losing the buildings at Walton Hall, especially those named after significant people in history.
- Concerns about people living in the area.
Tim mentioned that they will work towards encouraging more student engagement in this process, and would welcome an invitation back to the Student Voice Forum later to discuss Campus 2030 progress.
What do you think? Would you be interested in a city centre campus? Let us know
0 Comments