Year: 2017

Ensuring members of the public can explore, understand, value and gain from research is vital to universities today. Public engagement makes university research and researchers more accessible to wider society, increasing public support for research and opening up new partnerships and ideas. Public engagement supports recruitment and research excellence, with 47% of REF2014 university impact case studies including public engagement.

The University of Lincoln is launching the Vice-Chancellor’s Public Engagement with Research awards to recognise staff and students who have made outstanding contributions to engaging people and communities beyond the university with knowledge, invention and discovery.

Members of the public, and staff and students at the University of Lincoln are strongly encouraged to nominate individuals and/or teams for awards using the forms and guidelines available on the PEARL website. Completed forms should be submitted to Rosie Damarell in HR by email rdamarell@lincoln.ac.uk.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email the PEARL team pearl@lincoln.ac.uk or Rosie Damarell rdamarell@lincoln.ac.uk.

Thank you to everyone who answered the ‘Public Engagement for All with Research at Lincoln’ (PEARL) Survey in October. An impressive 277 staff and students answered (our target was 250), providing invaluable insight into the university’s perceived performance in the different areas required to produce great Public Engagement with Research (PER). This allowed identification of areas where the additional effort provided by RCUK’s 2017-18 PEARL grant can most usefully be deployed.

Questions in the survey were taken directly from the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) and covered aspects of the university’s PER effectiveness in 3 broad areas: (1) how effectively it communicates its purpose regarding public engagement, (2) how effectively it supports the process of public engagement and (3) how effectively it provides opportunities for people. There were three questions in each category, and respondents could select one of four answers to each question describing the university’s performance for that area.

Overall, one of the questions which received the most responses in the top category was in respect of ‘leadership’, with 26% of respondents agreeing with the top-ranked answer to Question 2 “The VC acts as a champion for public engagement and a senior leader takes formal responsibility. All senior leaders have an understanding of the importance and value of public engagement to the institution’s agenda”.  In the survey overall, the ‘Purpose’ section scored best, with 454 responses in the top half of the table, compared with 345 and 332 for the ‘Process’ and ‘People’ sections respectively, which is in line with trends found across UK Universities (RCUK 2016).

In the ‘Process’ section ‘Recognition’ (Question 6) in particular was identified as lacking (or patchy) with 69% of respondents placing it in the bottom two categories, perceiving  either absence of reward or recognition for PER (27% of responses), or a very ad hoc system for this in some departments only (42% of responses).  However, just over 30% of responses did rate ‘recognition’ in one of the two top answer categories, confirming that formal recognition/reward of PER activity is noted in some areas. This suggests that while the university has support in place for PER, it should look to further develop this through increased CPD opportunities and reward for PER.

The responses in the ‘People’ section were also mixed, with the majority feeling that public needs and interests regarding engaging with the university had not been effectively assessed, and nearly the same rating opportunities for staff to get involved in PER in the bottom half of the table. Views regarding opportunities for students to get involved were much more positive, with this question receiving the joint-highest number of top-rated responses, 26% of respondents agreeing that “All students have the opportunity to get involved in public engagement, and are encouraged and supported to do so. The institution offers both formal and informal ways to recognize and reward their involvement.”

There were no major trends or significant differences between colleges in their answers to questions, but analysing the data by occupation suggested that students’ responses were on average most positive and academics’ views were least positive (Figure 1). Overall, the picture which emerges is one of a university community strongly aware of the need to engage with wider publics and appreciative of senior management’s commitment to this, but also aware of the need for greater support and formal recognition for staff (in particular) to fulfil these ambitions within already busy professional lives. The picture at Lincoln reflects the national one in which PER often happens in fragmented pockets and constant pressure on academics’ time leaves little room for PER especially when this is often not necessarily recognised and rewarded. The PEARL grant for 2017-18 will help address these issues at Lincoln, running a second survey to identify precisely what training and CPD university members would like to have available, bringing in new reward systems for PER and finding out more about how wider publics would like to engage with the university.

What happens next?

Survey results will inform PEARL as it adds support, visibility and opportunities for PER at Lincoln.  A follow-up survey coming soon will look to further identify how staff and students would like to see PER change e.g. training/CPD, and begin to link up PER activities at the university by asking you to tell us about any PER work you are doing.

Beyond this, you will very soon see additional PER opportunities will start to become available; to join our Public Engagement Researcher Directory, receive PER training and apply for funding. You can follow us on; Facebook (@UniLincolnPublicEngagement); Twitter (@UniLincolnPEARL) and our new website (http://pearl.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk) to keep up to date with all the latest.

If you have any questions or if you’d like more information, please email on pearl@lincoln.ac.uk, and we can provide further information. If you’d like to get involved or would like to join our newsletter, we would love to hear from you on the email above.

The Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner is running a survey looking into crime and policing in the county.

Open to all residents of Lincolnshire, including students living in on campus and off campus accommodation and housing, the survey will take no more than ten minutes to complete.

To complete the survey visit: https://youtu.be/pdz5kCaCRFM

Founding Director of the Centre for Culture and Creativity at the University of Lincoln, Sukhy Johal MBE, has been appointed Chair of the Arts Council’s Midlands Area Council.

Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections.

New appointments to ACE’s Area Councils were made by an assessment panel that included Sir Nicholas Serota, Helen Williams (Head of Heritage at DCMS), and William Shawcross (Chair of the Charity Commission), and approved by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

With more than 25 years’ experience working in a range of senior roles across the arts and cultural sector, Sukhy offers a wealth of experience in local government including cultural services and economic development. Born and raised in Nottingham, he started working as a volunteer at Nottingham’s Apna Arts at the age of 16 and steered the organisations transformation in becoming the New Art Exchange. Locally, he has supported a range of ground-breaking projects across the city, including Lincoln’s Frequency Festival of Digital Culture, The International Bomber Command Memorial Centre and, as part of 2015’s city-wide Magna Carta 800 celebrations, was appointed Director of the 1215.today digital arts platform.

He was appointed as the Founding Director of the Centre for Culture & Creativity at the University of Lincoln in 2016. The Centre is the first of its kind in the UK, aiming to foster new opportunities for partnerships between organisations and individuals working across art, media and technology, engineering, science and design disciplines locally, nationally and internationally.

Sukhy, who will continue in his role at the University after joining the Area Council as Chair,  said of his appointment: “England has a world class reputation for creative excellence and Arts Council England is integral to supporting its growth. I’m delighted to be joining National Council as Chair for the Midlands. This part of the country has an ambitious and outstanding cultural ecology alongside an exciting energy of talent pushing innovation and new ideas in taking great art to all communities. The Midlands has a distinctive proposition through our diversity of people and places, from our dynamic cities to the riches of our rurality.”

Professor Mary Stuart, Vice Chancellor of the University of Lincoln, said:  “I am delighted that the Founding Director of the University of Lincoln’s Centre for Culture & Creativity, Sukhy Johal MBE, has been appointed to this prestigious and important role as Arts Council England Midlands Area Chair. It is testament not only to Sukhy’s stature and standing in the UK arts sector, built through his outstanding commitment and contribution to developing the arts and cultural sector in this region over many years, but also the high esteem in which Lincoln itself is now held regionally and nationally as a vibrant and exciting cultural destination where arts, heritage and the creative industries thrive.”

Peter Knott, Area Director, Arts Council England, said: “Sukhy has a wealth of experience within the cultural sector and I’m looking forward to working with him to ensure that arts and culture across the Midlands continues to thrive.”