Day 1
12 November 2024
Day 2
13 November 2024
- Main stage
- Wonks' stage
- Woburn Suite
- Senate Room
- 8:00
- 8:15
- 8:30
- 8:45
- 09:00
- 9:15
- 9:30
- 9:45
- 10:00
- 10:15
- 10:30
- 10:45
- 11:00
- 11:15
- 11:30
- 11:45
- 12:00
- 12:15
- 12:30
- 12:45
- 13:00
- 13:15
- 13:30
- 13:45
- 14:00
- 14:15
- 14:30
- 14:45
- 15:00
- 15:15
- 15:30
- 15:45
- 16:00
- 16:15
- 16:30
- 16:45
- 17:00
- 17:15
- 17:30
- 17:45
- 18:00
- 18:15
- 18:30
- 18:45
- 19:00
- 19:15
- 19:30
- 19:45
- 20:00
- 20:15
- 20:30
- 20:45
- 21:00
- 21:15
- 21:30
- 21:45
- 22:00
Lunch is served in Macmillan Hall and Grand Lobby from 12.15 – 13.45
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 12:15 – 13:45
Location:
Everything you wanted to know about research policy but were too afraid to ask
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 15:30 – 16:15
Location: Wonks' stage
Is REF stressing you out? Don’t know your frameworks from your funding settlements? Nervous about what’s on the Horizon? Well don’t worry team Wonkhe is here to help. Join James Coe for an introduction to research policy with lots and lots of time for everything you have always wanted to ask (as long as James knows the answer)
Chair
James Coe
Associate editor
Wonkhe
Speakers
Stephen Curry
Director of Strategy
Research on Research Institute
Making the most of your festival experience
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 09:00 – 09:30
Location: Woburn Suite
If it’s your first time at the festival, you’re new to higher education, or just attending alone and want to meet some other delegates – grab a coffee and come along and meet the team, and find out how to make the most of your experience.
Speakers
Alistair Jarvis
Pro-Vice Chancellor of Partnerships and Governance
University of London
Debbie McVitty
Editor
Wonkhe
Festival opens
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 09:45 – 10:00
Location: Main stage
In conversation with: David Sweeney
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 14:30 – 15:15
Location: Senate Room
A chance to hear from higher education legend David Sweeney about his career in HE policymaking and leadership.
Speakers
David Sweeney
Professor of Research Policy
University of Birmingham
Graeme Wise
Director of Strategic Programmes and Engagement
University of London
Workshop: Radical pasts and reimagined futures: the university in a post-truth world
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 14:15 – 15:15
Location: Woburn Suite
Libraries are at the heart of higher education institutions – vital to research and teaching, with a track record of supporting student experience and skills, and key spaces for cultural and community engagement. What could libraries become if we look forward a decade together, and think radically and creatively? This workshop will feature three short provocations to get us thinking, and then convene conversations about the brightest possible future for libraries in HE, and what we need to do now to get there.
Chair
Catherine Eagleton
University Librarian, and Director of Collections and Museums
University of St Andrews
Speakers
Esme Ward
Director of Manchester Museum
University of Manchester
Catriona Cannon
Senate House Librarian and Director of the Library Transformation Programme
University of London
Nick Barrett
Executive Director, Student Journey
Royal Holloway University of London
Allan Sudlow
Director of Partnerships and Engagement
Arts and Humanities Research Council
Surviving and thriving in HE professional services
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 11:15 – 12:00
Location: Senate Room
Newly minted author and longstanding higher education professional Rachel Reeds joins us to share insight from her forthcoming book, Surviving and thriving in higher education professional services: a guide to success. Whether you are new to HE or are wondering how to reignite your motivation this session should give you some practical tools, new ideas, and reassurance that you are not alone.
Speakers
Rachel Reeds
Senior Admissions Manager
Anglia Ruskin University
Practical innovation and education change
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 11:15 – 12:15
Location: Woburn Suite
Higher education institutions have big plans to change education – to prepare students for their future careers, for a more inclusive pedagogy and curriculum, for learning that engages and inspires students to express themselves. Wonkhe and Adobe’s work on skills, curriculum and assessment, and education change explores the way that using digital tools in learning and assessment can spark fresh thinking and novel approaches. This session will invite you to imagine and design a learning experience that uses multimodal assessment to deliver on vital student outcomes in authentic and meaningful ways.
Speakers
Debbie McVitty
Editor
Wonkhe
Mark Andrews
Pedagogical evangelist
Adobe
Secrets and fries: franchising in HE
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 14:15 – 15:15
Location: Wonks' stage
#notallproviders, right? But concerns over problematic practices in franchised provision of higher education have been expressed this year from the National Audit Office, the Commons Public Accounts Committee, and as a result, the Office for Students. These point to a system that is vulnerable to exploitation by bad actors at the extremes, and even in the ostensibly legitimate end, realising generous profits from exactly the same unit of resource that universities argue no longer comes close to meeting the real costs of teaching. We’ll break down exactly what is going on, and what can be done about it.
Speakers
Jim Dickinson
Associate editor
Wonkhe
Nick Braisby
Vice Chancellor
Buckinghamshire New University
Joy Elliott-Bowman
Director of Policy & Development
Independent Higher Education
Danny Douglas
Director
Central England Cooperative
A whole university approach
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 13:30 – 14:00
Location: Wonks' stage
Every policy agenda for higher education seems to demand a “whole-institution approach” to solving it, but what does that actually look like? Liz Thomas has been researching a whole institution approach to access and participation and will explore what lessons can be learned for other hitherto siloed and orphaned institutional agendas.
Speakers
Liz Thomas
Researcher Department for Education
University of York
The pedagogy of AI
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 16:30 – 17:30
Location: Woburn Suite
The hype is easing and we’re learning a bit more about how students and university staff might use AI-assisted technology as part of legitimate learning and teaching activity. Preparing students for the reality of a world that is AI-infused and more likely to be automated, but still fundamentally requiring human intelligence requires understanding what AI makes possible in learning, where the risks are, and how can they best be navigated. How does the availability of AI tools reshape our sense of what learning is and what sort of productive activities contribute to it?
Chair
Debbie McVitty
Editor
Wonkhe
Speakers
Janice Kay
Provost and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor
University of Exeter
Emma McCoy
Vice President and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education)
London School of Economics
Robin Gibson
Director of External Affairs
Kortext
The secret sauce for lifelong learning
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 15:30 – 16:15
Location: Woburn Suite
As students’ needs change, demographics shift, and policy coalesces around the skills agenda, patterns of provision will also change in many higher education institutions, with a greater focus on meeting the needs of lifelong learners. The Open University has been leading lifelong learning provision across the UK for decades – so what’s the secret of making it work?
Chair
David Kernohan
Deputy editor
Wonkhe
Speakers
Ian Pickup
Pro-Vice-Chancellor - Students
The Open University
Natalie Baker
President
Open University Students Association
Andrew Akin Kolapo
Student Member of OU Council and Senate
Open University Students Association
How to write the perfect article on Wonkhe.com
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 15:30 – 16:15
Location: Senate Room
Come and meet the Team Wonkhe people behind the headshots, while we chat through what makes a great article for the site.
Speakers
Michael Salmon
News editor
Wonkhe
Livia Scott
Partnerships Coordinator
Wonkhe
Data Futures, redux
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 11:15 – 12:15
Location: Wonks' stage
Speaking to those who have been directly involved, we trace the story of the changes, challenges, and occasional chaos that have befallen the 2022-23 Student data collection. It’s the ultimate insider story, a tale of agency politics, project governance, and data definitions that has had a real and measurable impact on providers and regulation. And Data Futures is here to stay – we examine how sector data can move on from the data present.
Chair
David Kernohan
Deputy editor
Wonkhe
Speakers
Richard Puttock
Head of Business Intelligence and Data Analytics
University of Leeds
Andy Youell
HE data and systems specialist
Gabby McLaren
Head of Data and Insight
Point Blank Music School
Adrian Ellison
Pro Vice-Chancellor (People and Digital)
University of West London
In conversation: Aaron Reeves and Sam Friedman
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 13:15 – 14:00
Location: Senate Room
The authors of Born to Rule: the making and remaking of the British elite will be discussing the role that universities can have in reproducing or, more rarely, disrupting established patterns of social privilege – and what can be done about it.
Speakers
Sam Friedman
Professor of Sociology
London School of Economics
Aaron Reeves
Course Director - Evidence-Based Intervention and Policy Evaluation
University of Oxford
The politics of technology: in conversation with Heidi Fraser-Krauss
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 12:30 – 13:15
Location: Wonks' stage
The Jisc CEO joins us to discuss how higher education can make the most of new technologies for education and research, make itself central to the Labour government’s digital agenda, and build digital citizenship in students, while managing spiralling costs, increasing cyber threats, and the incursions into higher education of the technology futures industry.
Chair
Debbie McVitty
Editor
Wonkhe
Speakers
Heidi Fraser Krauss
Chief executive
Jisc
Tackling the Cheems Mindset in higher education
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 16:30 – 17:30
Location: Wonks' stage
Jeremy Driver joins us to discuss what it is about some professional cultures where nothing seems to progress because the otherwise intelligent people involved claim that every single thing impossible – a phenomenon he has dubbed the “cheems mindset.” Find out more about cheems and why it’s bad in Jeremy’s blog about this: https://normielisation.substack.com/p/cheems-mindset
Chair
Mark Leach
Founder and editor in chief
Wonkhe
Speakers
Jeremy Driver
Head of Campaigns
Britain Remade
Workshop: policy ideas for the new government
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 12:45 – 14:00
Location: Woburn Suite
Ask not what government can do for higher education but what higher education can do for government policy. This workshop will examine some of the core policy agendas of national governments and convene imaginative thinking about what evidence, bright ideas, and fresh thinking higher education could bring to the table.
Speakers
Alistair Jarvis
Pro-Vice Chancellor of Partnerships and Governance
University of London
James Coe
Associate editor
Wonkhe
What should the compact be with higher education staff?
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 16:30 – 17:30
Location: Main stage
Financial challenge means tougher times, and many higher education institutions are facing difficult decisions about staff structures, roles, and budgets. While national negotiations over pay, terms, and conditions continue, we discuss what is within universities’ control about the working experiences of higher education staff, and whether current higher education staffing arrangements are still fit for purpose.
Chair
Joe Cooper
Director of people and culture
University of East London
Speakers
Raj Jethwa
Chief Executive
UCEA
Jessica Wren Butler
Honorary Research Associate
Imperial College London
Kelli Wolfe
Deputy Academic Registrar
University of Roehampton
Arun Verma
Head of Equality & Inclusion
University of London
In conversation: David Behan
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 15:30 – 16:15
Location: Main stage
The interim chair of the Office for Students and leader of the government’s review of the regulator “Fit for the Future” joins us to discuss his priorities for higher education regulation.
Chair
Mark Leach
Founder and editor in chief
Wonkhe
Speakers
David Behan
Interim Chair
Office for Students
In conversation: MAC chair Brian Bell, followed by panel: resetting the public narrative on international HE
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 13:45 – 15:15
Location: Main stage
We will talk to Brian Bell, chair of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), diving into immigration policy, data and evidence with the man who chairs the committee responsible for telling the government what the country needs from immigration.
Following on from our discussion with Brian Bell, our panel will explore what universities and government might do together to put international recruitment on a sustainable footing, with political and public support.
Chair
Debbie McVitty
Editor
Wonkhe
Speakers
Brian Bell
Chair
UK Government Migration Advisory Committee
Jess Lister
Associate director, education practice
Public First
Rachel MacSween
Director of Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement
IPD Connect
Cláudia Moreira
Vice-President for Postgraduate and International Experience
Kent Union
Sophie Turnbull
Director of International Recruitment and Admissions
UWE, Bristol
You’re out of touch, they’re out of time – students under pressure
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 12:30 – 13:30
Location: Main stage
As the cost of living crisis hardens into a “new normal”, the principal impact appears to be on time – and like staff, students are now expected to maximise efficiencies in ways that few understand clearly and in ways that leave little slack. In this session a panel of students will help us to understand the pressures, the weigh-ups and the calls they’re making to pack it all in – with lessons for everyone from module leaders to academic strategists, from employers decoding barebones CVs to those in charge of the UK’s student finance systems.
Chair
Jim Dickinson
Associate editor
Wonkhe
Speakers
Alvina Imran
President
Salford SU
Amy Pile
President
Buckinghamshire New University SU
Gracie Otley
Wellbeing Officer
Manchester Metropolitan University SU
Krupa Naik
Trustee and Vice President (Wellbeing & Diversity)
University of Plymouth SU
Tito Molokwu
General Secretary
London School of Economics Students Union
Are we all tertiary now? The opportunities and challenges of coordinating regional post-18 education provision
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 11:15 – 12:15
Location: Main stage
In different ways across the UK there have been efforts to make post-18 skills and education provision more coherent, more aligned, and more legible to the students and employers who benefit from it, from funding, to quality, to curricula. But while nobody objects to collaboration and partnership work in principle, the reality can be much messier and involve more compromise than some might see as desirable. Our panel will interrogate the principles of “tertiary” education provision and the practicalities of what is needed to make it work.
Chair
Alistair Jarvis
Pro-Vice Chancellor of Partnerships and Governance
University of London
Speakers
Julie Lydon
Chair
Medr / Commission for Tertiary Education
Brooke Storer-Church
Chief Executive Officer
GuildHE
Justine Andrew
Partner, Head of Education and Skills in the UK
KPMG
Chris Husbands
Director
Higher Futures
The decade ahead: how a Labour government could reshape higher education
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 10:00 – 11:00
Location: Main stage
There’s a new government, with a new, mission-led policy agenda for higher education in Westminster centred on opportunity and economic growth. How can higher education navigate its way through funding challenges and regulatory reform while also working in partnership with the new government to deliver its national missions?
Chair
Debbie McVitty
Editor
Wonkhe
Speakers
Sally Mapstone
Principal and Vice-Chancellor
University of St Andrews
Shitij Kapur
Vice-Chancellor and President
King’s College London
Stian Westlake
Executive Chair
ESRC
Andy Westwood
Professor of government practice
University of Manchester
Wonkhe after hours – 10th birthday party – join us ’til late
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 18:30 – 21:00
Location:
We’d love you to join the Wonkhe and University of London teams at The Marquis Cornwallis pub in Bloomsbury for drinks (on us), proper food, more entertainment and special guests till late.
We’ll also be celebrating 10 years of Wonkhe.
Food will be available from 7.30pm
Find it on Google Maps (a 5-10 minute walk from Senate House)
Drinks reception sponsored by Saxton Bampfylde
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 17:30 – 18:30
Location:
Join us for some drinks and refreshments in Crush Hall
My imaginary university
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 16:30 – 17:30
Location: Senate Room
Aficionados will be avid listeners to My Imaginary University – the podcast where University of Nottingham registrar Paul Greatrix challenges his guests to describe their ideal university.
Chair
Paul Greatrix
Registrar
University of Nottingham
Speakers
Nick Hillman
Director
HEPI
Registration and refreshments
Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 08:30 – 09:45
Location:
- Main stage
- Wonks' stage
- Woburn Suite
- Senate Room
- 8:00
- 8:15
- 8:30
- 8:45
- 09:00
- 9:15
- 9:30
- 9:45
- 10:00
- 10:15
- 10:30
- 10:45
- 11:00
- 11:15
- 11:30
- 11:45
- 12:00
- 12:15
- 12:30
- 12:45
- 13:00
- 13:15
- 13:30
- 13:45
- 14:00
- 14:15
- 14:30
- 14:45
- 15:00
- 15:15
- 15:30
- 15:45
- 16:00
- 16:15
- 16:30
- 16:45
- 17:00
- 17:15
- 17:30
- 17:45
- 18:00
- 18:15
- 18:30
- 18:45
- 19:00
- 19:15
- 19:30
- 19:45
- 20:00
- 20:15
- 20:30
- 20:45
- 21:00
- 21:15
- 21:30
- 21:45
- 22:00
Lunch is served in Macmillan Hall and Grand Lobby from 12.15 – 13.45
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 12:15 – 13:45
Location:
Campus clashes and culture wars – what now for free speech?
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 12:15 – 13:00
Location: Woburn Suite
Just because planned regulation on free speech has been paused doesn’t mean that tensions on campus are reduced or that the complexity of the issues driving those tensions is any less. One person’s free speech is another’s threatening environment, and higher education institutions will continue to come under fire for being perceived to be drawing the lines in the wrong places. We’ll assess the situation and look at practical options for managing the unmanageable.
Speakers
Jim Dickinson
Associate editor
Wonkhe
Amira Campbell
President
NUS UK
Last night a chatbot eased my strife
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 13:30 – 14:15
Location: Senate Room
Student-facing support teams are always exploring how to balance volume and complexity in responding to students’ pastoral support challenges. At the same time, institutions are trying to build an infrastructure of automated information, insight and support that can engage students and direct them to a range of sources of support at the point of need. This session will explore how AI powered technology can most meaningfully be deployed in creating additional capacity and capability for universities to handle student wellbeing and student voice.
Chair
Livia Scott
Partnerships Coordinator
Wonkhe
Speakers
Navneet Johal
Director, Education GTM
Salesforce
Chris Shelley
Director of Student Experience
Queen Mary, University of London
In conversation with: Mary Curnock Cook
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 14:30 – 15:15
Location: Senate Room
Chair of the Dyson Institute and Pearson Education, former UCAS chief executive, serial NED and friend of the show Mary Curnock Cook pulls up a chair for a chat about what she’s learned from her various experiences in and outside higher education, and what it all means for the future of the sector.
Speakers
Mark Leach
Founder and editor in chief
Wonkhe
Mary Curnock Cook
Chair
The Dyson Institute
Making the most of student feedback
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 11:30 – 12:15
Location: Senate Room
There is a whole host of staff members responsible for surveying students on a whole host of topics. Asking students for feedback is an essential part of institutional workflows each year, not least because of the accountability demanded by external national surveys used for quality assessment. But knowing when and how to survey students is more complicated than it looks and surveys are deployed for a wider range of purposes.
Advancements in survey technology and data analytics have facilitated the increasing popularity of pre-arrival questionnaires. Likewise, module or cohort pulse surveys can indicate which students may be at risk, and make it possible to adapt provision to meet needs in a more “real time” manner. Plus, developing survey practice that actively engages students and ensures individuals feel listened to is essential. In this session we’ll unpick what we need to do to achieve these ends and how we can ensure there is strategic coordination, and embedding surveys across learning, teaching and the student life cycle.
Chair
Livia Scott
Partnerships Coordinator
Wonkhe
Speakers
Helena Lim
Academic Lead and Head of Opportunities
evasys Surveys & Evaluation
David Gilani
Head of Student Engagement and Advocacy
Middlesex University
Amber Snary
Education Officer
The SU, University of Bath
Solve for student engagement: making sense of quality, teaching excellence and education gain
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 14:15 – 15:15
Location: Wonks' stage
Chair
David Kernohan
Deputy editor
Wonkhe
Speakers
Mark Peace
Professor of Innovation in Education & Academic
Kings College London
Vicki Stott
Chief Executive
QAA
Susan Orr
Pro Vice Chancellor Education and Equalities
De Montfort University
Redesigning the research funding system
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 10:30 – 11:15
Location: Senate Room
Jonathan Grant hosts an expert discussion testing received wisdom on all the sacred cows of research: peer review, full economic costing, bureaucracy, and innovation infrastructure
Chair
Jonathan Grant
Founding director
Different Angles Ltd
Speakers
Molly Morgan Jones
Director of Policy
The British Academy
Rachel Persad
Head of Research Policy
GuildHE
Workshop: improving higher education
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 14:00 – 15:15
Location: Woburn Suite
Back by popular demand: the hard-thinking and straight-talking Selena Bolingbroke and Joe Cooper help you work up your best ideas for making higher education better and pitch against your peers for an investment of Wonkhebucks.
Speakers
Selena Bolingbroke
Principal
Building Crafts College
Joe Cooper
Director of people and culture
University of East London
Workshop: live consultancy with Wonkhe & Counterculture
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 09:15 – 10:30
Location: Woburn Suite
Working in higher education is very hard. It’s an endless stream of demands, challenges, opportunities, changing policy, and that nagging sense that it’s just impossible to find the capacity to day the day job. You’ve got wonderful publications like Wonkhe that go deep on the big topics but sometimes you need a bit more.
Wonkhe and Counterculture are working to bring ideas and policy solutions to even more higher education institutions. Bring your big challenges in work and we’ll work through a live workshop with other universities to bring you some clarity on what to do next.
You’ll leave this session with new ideas, new connections, and maybe even a new project that you want to commission some further work on.
Chair
James Coe
Associate editor
Wonkhe
How universities can influence the Labour government: in conversation with Marc Stears
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 11:15 – 12:00
Location: Wonks' stage
The director of the UCL Policy Lab, political strategist and speechwriter joins us to discuss how universities can use their research and insight more strategically to shape government thinking.
Chair
Mark Leach
Founder and editor in chief
Wonkhe
Speakers
Marc Stears
Director
UCL Policy Lab
The future of universities in their places – insight from the Kerslake Collection
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 13:00 – 14:00
Location: Wonks' stage
Bridget Phillipson has been clear in her communications to the sector that civic engagement and supporting local economic growth should be key priorities for universities. So what is our sector’s role here, and how can we make this a reality? Well the answers may lie in a recent essay collection published by the UPP Foundation in memory of former Sheffield Hallam University chair and public servant Bob Kerslake, who in 2018-19 chaired the UPP Foundation’s Civic University Commission. The collection includes around 30 essays from over 40 public intellectuals and sector leaders. During this session UPP Foundation executive chair Richard Brabner will be joined by contributors to the collection and others to assess Bob’s legacy, new ideas from the essays, and the role universities play in their local communities.
Chair
Richard Brabner
Director of ESG for UPP and Director of the UPP Foundation
Speakers
Michael Wood
Head of Health Economic Partnerships
NHS Confederation
Chris Husbands
Director
Higher Futures
Fiona Walsh McDonnell
Partnerships and Development Director
Student Hubs
Helen Turner
Director
Midlands Innovation
What the UK can learn from Canadian (and global) HE, with Alex Usher
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 09:15 – 10:15
Location: Senate Room
It’s often said that UK HE promotes itself with North American stylings of student experience – but on European budgets and quality expectations. Drawing on his detailed knowledge both of Canadian and wider global HE, in this session we’ll be around the fireside with Alex Usher, who runs Canada’s Higher Education Strategy Associates, to learn lessons, swap observations and generally chew the strategy and politics fat.
Speakers
Jim Dickinson
Associate editor
Wonkhe
Alex Usher
President
Higher Education Strategy Associates
Belong: the latest trends from our student insight panel
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 10:30 – 11:00
Location: Wonks' stage
Over the past year or so, Wonkhe and student insight specialists Cibyl (a part of Group GTI) have partnered with students’ unions across the UK to find out what’s really going on both on campus and in students’ wider student lives. In this session we’ll explain some of our latest findings – focussed on students and employment. Who are they working for? How much time do they spend at work? What do they get out of it? Plus insights on food, belonging, wider time pressures and more.
Speakers
David Palmer
Business Director
GroupGTI
Jim Dickinson
Associate editor
Wonkhe
How to read higher education news
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 12:15 – 12:45
Location: Wonks' stage
Team Wonkhe digests the biggest stories of the moment and how the HE news ecosystem works.
Speakers
Michael Salmon
News editor
Wonkhe
Realising the value of humanities
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 12:30 – 13:15
Location: Senate Room
Ask not what you can do for the humanities, ask what the humanities can do for you! Humanities teaching and research in higher education are under huge pressure. Facing major challenges in student recruitment, financial sustainability, the loss of specialised knowledge and skills, the expectation to show clear research impact, the challenge of preserving and reinventing humanities for the 21st century is real and urgent. Yet the humanities are an inheritance from the earliest formation of the university, are part of its essence, and must play a role in ensuring the universities of tomorrow have the breadth of understanding needed to fulfil their purpose in a complex world. How can universities make sure that they are themselves getting full value from the knowledge and methods developed through the humanities?
Chair
Jo Fox
Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Public Engagement
The School of Advanced Study, University of London
Speakers
David Amigoni
Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation
Keele University
Heather Widdows
Professor of Philosophy
University of Warwick
Graeme Wise
Director of Strategic Programmes and Engagement
University of London
UCAS: ask us anything
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 09:15 – 10:15
Location: Wonks' stage
The wonks of UCAS break out their spreadsheets to answer your questions about demand for HE, admissions trends, applicant demographics and experiences, and whatever else you want to know about the 2025 cycle. Find out more and vote for your favourite here: https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/your-chance-to-ask-ucas-anything/
Speakers
Ben Jordan
Head of policy
UCAS
Opportunity for all
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 15:30 – 16:30
Location: Main stage
Higher education retains a deep power to transform lives. But there are limits to university influence in conquering cultural prejudice and redressing systemic economic inequities, particularly as the UK continues to suffer from regional economic inequality and lagging productivity. The new Labour government has adopted “opportunity” as one of its five core missions and the structuring theme of its education policy. But as students struggle with meeting the costs of study and with their mental health, we’ll interrogate the existing assumptions around what education opportunity means and think through how higher education can continue to deliver it.
Chair
Debbie McVitty
Editor
Wonkhe
Speakers
John Blake
Director for Fair Access and Participation
Office for Students
Jo Saxton
Chief Executive
UCAS
Amira Campbell
President
NUS UK
Jonathan Simons
Partner and Head of the Education Practice
Public First
Turning knowledge into economic growth
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 14:15 – 15:15
Location: Main stage
Economic growth is the centrepiece of Labour’s mission-led approach to government, and much of that growth will depend on the UK’s ability to realise the benefits of the knowledge capital developed in universities. How can higher education, research and innovation be more joined up with regional and national industrial and public services strategies to convert aspiration into reality?
Chair
James Coe
Associate editor
Wonkhe
Speakers
Natasha Vall
Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences
University of Greenwich
Wendy Thomson
Vice-Chancellor
University of London
Ben Johnson
Professor of Practice, Research and Innovation Policy
University of Strathclyde
The Wonkhe Show: Live recording
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 13:00 – 14:00
Location: Main stage
The Wonkhe Show is your weekly way in to this week’s higher education news, policy and analysis. Join us for a live recording of the show, where we’ll be getting across the week’s policy developments and reflecting on highlights from the festival. Bring your lunch, and feel free to dip in and out. It’s all coming up!
Chair
Jim Dickinson
Associate editor
Wonkhe
Speakers
Alistair Jarvis
Pro-Vice Chancellor of Partnerships and Governance
University of London
Vicki Stott
Chief Executive
QAA
Michael Salmon
News editor
Wonkhe
Leadership and governance to steward HE through challenging times
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 11:45 – 12:45
Location: Main stage
The difficult decisions that institutional leaders and governors are making right now will determine the future shape and activity of the higher education sector including what courses are on offer, and what research is prioritised. Their ability to oversee change, build organisational capability, sustain external partnerships, and maintain the morale and motivation of their staff will determine whether the sector continues to thrive or whether it flounders in the years ahead. Our panel will assess whether the sector’s decision-makers have the right mix of skills, evidence, and values to make the best possible calls in challenging times.
Chair
Alistair Jarvis
Pro-Vice Chancellor of Partnerships and Governance
University of London
Speakers
Philippa Pickford
Director of Regulation
Office for Students
Mark Smith
Vice-Chancellor
University of Southampton & Chair of Advance HE
Seamus Gillen
Founder & Director
Value Alpha Ltd
At the geopolitical front line: university knowledge diplomacy in action
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 10:30 – 11:30
Location: Main stage
As international geopolitics gets trickier and the world more dangerous the knowledge capital generated by UK universities has the potential to aid or hinder the furthering of international relations and global stability. Universities need to be well-informed of the risks of international collaboration, as well as being equipped to tackle global challenges in the context of political change. What kind of diplomatic capability do universities need and how can they best acquire it?
Chair
Alex Favier
Founder and Director
Favier Ltd
Speakers
Phil Allmendinger
Professor of Land Economy and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education)
University of London
Geraint Rees
Vice Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement)
UCL
Alexis Brown
Head of Global Education Insights
British Council
Putting people first – using human centred design to foster an inclusive student experience
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 10:45 – 12:00
Location: Woburn Suite
This interactive workshop, a mix of presentation and activities, will introduce you to the application of design thinking in higher education and show how you can apply it to a key student experience challenge.
Speakers
Jean Mutton
Consultant
Service Design in Education Network
Becky Rothwell
Researcher & Consultant
Warwick Business School
Ann Kaegi
Lecturer and Faculty EDI Champion
University of Hull
How to fix higher education’s financial woes
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 09:15 – 10:15
Location: Main stage
There are no easy answers on higher education funding, for students or institutions. There is little political consensus on the value of public funding, fees are also contentious, alternatives are niche and non-existent. The very real threat of an institution going bust has to be weighed against the moral hazard of a public programme of government bailouts. By the end of this session, the answers will be clear.*
*not guaranteed
Chair
Debbie McVitty
Editor
Wonkhe
Speakers
Sarah Seed
Partner
Mills & Reeve LLP
Shahid Omer
Director of Policy
Universities UK
Elisabeth Hill
Deputy President & Provost
City St George’s, University of London
Barrie Davison
National Sector Head
Natwest
Festival closes
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 16:30 – 16:45
Location: Main stage
Registration and refreshments
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 08:30 – 09:45
Location:
Day 1
November 12, 2024
Day 2
November 13, 2024
- VIEW ALL
- Main stage
- Wonks' stage
- Woburn Suite
- Senate Room
Surviving and thriving in HE professional services
- Rachel Reeds
- VIEW ALL
- Main stage
- Wonks' stage
- Woburn Suite
- Senate Room
Last night a chatbot eased my strife
- Navneet Johal
- Chris Shelley
Workshop: improving higher education
- Selena Bolingbroke
- Joe Cooper