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This strategic plan has been developed following extensive consultation, discussion and engagement.
Consultation began in October 2021, and we have published seven discussion papers plus the draft Strategic Plan over the past year. These discussion papers have been viewed more than 20,500 times on the consultation SharePoint site and discussed in a series of Town Halls that have been attended, on average, by more than 500 people each time. 538 students actively participated in a series of student-facing consultation events.
More than 470 feedback submissions were received from individuals, departments, faculties, special interest groups, professional staff groups and research domains, representing more than 6,600 people*.
The success of the strategic plan will be determined by the UCL community. To acknowledge the considerable time and thought invested by UCL colleagues in their responses and to summarise how their feedback has shaped the plan, it has been collated in the Consultation Report.
Feedback submissions and thematic summaries have been shared with the authors of the discussion papers and those involved in drafting the strategic plan itself. Summaries of feedback received on specific academic proposals, and suggested iterations to the proposals, have been shared with relevant committees to help shape recommendations for inclusion in the Strategic Plan and will inform those projects that are to be fully developed in the course of the delivery period. Suggestions for change or new activity have been categorised according to whether they related specifically to the initiatives included in the draft Strategic Plan or to wider continuous improvement activities as part of business-as-usual, so that the appropriate channel for action or response is identified.
The year-long period of consultation has unleashed a huge amount of creative energy throughout the university. We will keep the conversation going so this plan remains responsive to a rapidly changing environment, and will pilot new approaches to strategy implementation.
Our Strategic Plan is organised around three key sections, each broadly aligned with the sequence of the papers published throughout the consultation process. First, we set out several Academic initiatives, together with plans to focus our resources and time on activities that directly facilitate our future academic excellence in research and education (both broadly defined).
The areas within our academic initiatives are:
- UCL’s Grand Challenges Programme
- Planning for the future: education and student experience
- Targeting investment in our academic endeavours.
Second, our enabling priorities are described, including plans for targeted work on services and systems that will address long-standing structural and process issues. These are:
- A new financial strategy
- Size and shape
- Service improvement
Third, we have a section on Living our Values, which sets out actions and aspirations in relation to our culture, values, and behaviours.
Aims are described for each delivery area, and initiatives set out towards achieving those aims over the next five years. Given the timeframe for the strategy, these initiatives are at various stages of development, with some now ready for immediate action and others planned for launch within the five-year period. The status of each initiative has been indicated throughout the plan.
A final section sets out how the plan will be delivered and how progress will be monitored. Ensuring that everyone can track progress and hold delivery teams to account will be important throughout the period covered by the plan.