Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Top of in-tray: getting city to love its students
Getting on with the neighbours
The University of Kent has ruffled a few feathers with the release of its 50-year development masterplan, and the ongoing rift between students and residents showing no sign of easing.
Its new vice-chancellor Prof Karen Cox – who replaces Dame Julia Goodfellow – says the latter is nothing new for a university city.
But the 48-year-old former nurse is determined to forge a harmonious relationship with locals. “This is not straightforward, but we do have to make it work,” she said.
“There may be tensions from those who live here who feel there are individuals coming in on a transient basis, changing the way the place feels.
“We have to make sure we have channels of communications and understand where both the students and locals are coming from.
“There is a win-win that can benefit everyone, but there has to be compromise.”
The university opened in 1965 with 500 students and has grown to 20,000 spread across its main campuses in Canterbury and Medway.
It has led to a high concentration of student housing in the city, with critics saying this has a negative impact.
Prof Cox said: “Students have the right to choose where they live, and there will always be an appeal to living in a student house.
“Of course there is nothing worse than walking down the street to see it’s not cared for, but students are encouraged to be good citizens, to live and act responsibly.
“I think they make a big contribution through volunteering, entrepreneurship and some students will also return here as graduates.
“They have a hugely positive impact economically, socially and culturally.”
She adds that the university works closely with landlords, the city council and planners on housing and also looks at providing accommodation for students throughout their time.
Prof Cox, who is former head of the school of nursing at Nottingham and a nurse by profession, believes she brings a wealth of experience and is excited about the future.
“The city wanted to have a university and people put a lot of effort into securing it. It’s important to build on that in a sustainable way,” she said.
She accepts that the university does face many challenges, with funding being one of them. Following government cuts in 2012, it increased its fees from £3,000 a year to £9,000 to ensure it could continue to provide a high-quality level of teaching, facilities and resources.
“Society has to decide where it wants to spend its money and whether the taxpayer wants to fund universities or should students pay it back during their working lifetime,” she said. The higher tuition fees are a bitter pill to swallow for some, particularly with vice- chancellors being paid six-figure sums.
With a £240,000 salary, Prof Cox will earn £32,000 less than her predecessor, but feels the pay of university heads reflects the work.
“Vice-chancellors are running huge and complex organisations with tens of thousands of staff and students,” she said.
“They have to think about the long-term sustainability, the contribution the university makes to the city, region and nationally, to promote it and be an ambassador. This is my role and I will be judged on achieving targets, objections and visions.
“I will give 120% and think about the university 24/7. I hope the contribution I make will be good value for money.” Last year the university unveiled its “masterplan” setting out its vision for the next 50 years.
It involves a redesign of the centre of the campus, development in the parklands and a possible satellite campus in Blean, as well as housing.
But the ambitious vision came under fire from some, with the university accused of going too far.
Prof Cox hopes to forge a good relationship with its neighbours and show them it is their university, with facilities open to all.
“For me, it’s about taking the concept and saying what are the things in here that are going to be the priorities,” she said.
“How can we work with students, staff and the local community to identify the ideas we can get behind.
“I understand there are things that people want to protect. I would like to see face-to-face engagement. There is a lot of uncertainty, this is a process we’re all going through. I want to be absolutely engaging with the communities – it won’t work unless we’ve got support.”