June 13, 2011

Universities - what's the big idea?

By Kathryn Jones, Director of Marketing and Communications, Birmingham City University

Today sees the launch of the second national annual campaign to demonstrate the benefits of universities within UK society – Universities Week: What’s the Big Idea? With such widespread negative publicity about universities, this is our beacon of hope as we face “a massive communications challenge across the sector” (to quote Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis at this morning’s launch at the Liberal Club in London).

The campaign is centrally coordinated by Universities UK with input from a range of other groups, including the Universities Marketing Forum, of which I’m proud to be a member. In 2010, its inaugural year, it was supported by 110 institutions, including my own. If there are any universities who have not yet signed up to join the 2012 campaign, I’d question why not? This is our chance to shine – our justification for pushing out the stories, events and activities which highlight the real and measurable impact universities have on business, society, health and well-being.

A visit to the official website at www.universitiesweek.org.uk/ will reveal a wealth of testimonials from individuals who, let’s face it, have far more clout (in terms of popularity and personal appeal to the masses) than most university academics or marketers. It is great to see support from the likes of Sir Patrick Stewart, Sheila Hancock, Dame Kelly Holmes, Steve Cram, Lawrence Dallaglio, Greg Dyke and Natasha Kaplinsky.

For me, one of the quotes that best sums up the value of university education comes from Justin King, CEO of J Sainsbury PLC, who states: “A university education helps young people to develop the ability to think, analyse and develop sound judgment. The diversity of challenges facing big businesses today – the economic climate, technology, globalisation and the increasingly sophisticated needs of consumers – demand these skills.” Hear, hear!

The pressure facing UK universities and their future sustainability is immense. We’re in a hybrid situation where we are no longer anywhere near fully public funded and – with the exception of initiatives like the New College of Humanities announced earlier this month – we’re not fully privatised either. Our income from UK recruitment is still limited and regulated by the Government cap on student numbers and tuition fees, as well as our obligations to fair access. Our potential future income from international recruitment is another story, which increasingly looks like it won’t have a happy ending. For universities like Birmingham City in particular, whose core business is teaching with only limited niche research, our hands are tied.

There is now a genuine and growing concern that the number of students who will choose to go to university in future in the higher fee environment will reduce. If pricing research (albeit notoriously unreliable) is to be believed, that drop could be anywhere between 10 and 70%. If that happens, we’ll all lose out: businesses like Sainsbury’s, the British economy, British society and the universities who will inevitably become unsustainable, despite Government reassurances to the contrary.

Why on earth are we putting in jeopardy the British system of Higher Education that has previously been the envy of the world? Putting the national debt aside, surely there needs to be some kind of rethink before it’s too late. What exactly is the big idea here?

June 10, 2011

Against all odds - marketing British universities in 2011

By Kathryn Jones, Director of Marketing and Communications, Birmingham City University

Barely a day goes by these days without another headline screaming from the nationals about the extortionate future cost of a degree. What with the ongoing saga of the UK Border Agency and the new warnings of the risk of extremism on campus, I’m beginning to wonder ‘What next?’

I’ve been marketing universities for over 15 years – Nottingham, Wolverhampton, Northampton and now Birmingham City – and never before has it been as challenging to convey the genuine advantages of a university education as it is now. The only positive from my perspective is that Marketing is certainly in the spotlight!

The damaging publicity about the rising cost of a degree for UK full-time students is so frustrating; particularly for someone who is marketing a variable fee that we believe is fair given the circumstances and in terms of what this University can offer prospective students.

The message that you don’t have to pay for a degree up front is clearly not getting through. It is such a shame.

In fairness, the Government is trying. Its ‘Make Your Future Happen’ campaign has lots of information to counteract some of the myths about the cost post-2012 and repayment. Unfortunately, the Government has to be seen to be fair to all of the options post-18, so it isn’t conveying the benefits of university alongside this campaign – and while I accept that’s clearly the job of universities – it is a bit of a problem when all people see is the cost. There are three paragraphs on the benefits of Higher Education elsewhere within the directgov site, but that’s it.

There is so much evidence to demonstrate the value of a university education and even with higher tuition fees, the cost over a lifetime career is fractional. The student loan repayment amounts are negligible – just check out directgov’s repayment calculator at http://yourfuture.direct.gov.uk/calculate and pick a career. A Sales Executive on a salary of £25K will have a weekly take home of £379 and pay back just £8 a week on their student loan!

Concerns about UK undergraduate students aside, what is particularly worrying is the fact that there’s evidence to suggest (from colleagues elsewhere in the sector) that the popular phrase being bandied about by the media that the ‘cost has tripled’ – which incidentally isn’t the case for all courses and all universities – is now causing confusion in the postgraduate and international markets too.

It would appear that some postgraduate students are now anxious that their courses are going to triple in price – certainly not the case at Birmingham City University or the majority of other universities I am in contact with. The fact is that most postgraduate courses will probably stay at a similar price because we know that people otherwise won’t be able to afford them.

International students are worried that their fees – which have always been higher to reflect the fact there was no Government funding to begin with – are due to rise phenomenally too. Again, not true.

And let’s be honest, part-time students are completely confused. They have no idea what they’ll pay, what support they’ll be entitled to and how and when they have to pay it back.

In university marketing departments up and down the UK, we’ll keep battling on, pushing out the graduate case studies, highlighting our links with employers and what we are doing to enhance our students' employability. But at this rate it’ll be a minor miracle if anyone turns up to university in 2012 and I come back to my initial question. What next?

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