SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE AND FINANCIAL PLANS
Our ambitions will be enabled by the delivery of several supporting plans
Central to our strategy is the financial sustainability of the University. The University has a long history of sound financial management: as well as enabling significant investment over a long period in the people and buildings that are crucial for the University’s academic mission, this strength also provides us with resilience to manage during unexpected circumstances. We will continue to steward the University’s finances and resources carefully during the period of the Strategic Framework, recognising that this provides us with the ability to invest in our academic research and education priorities, including people and the physical and digital infrastructure. We will seek to increase and diversify our income streams whilst controlling costs, targeting annual cash generation of 10% of income to enable this investment.
We will continue to refresh and develop our campus facilities and IT infrastructure through our capital and digital strategies, recognising that high-quality facilities, space, and equipment are crucial to the teaching, research and innovation ambitions of this strategic framework. Approximately 60% of our non-residential estate is over 60 years old, so a significant programme of upgrade and refurbishment will be required. We will invest in new forms of space, to support more flexible and collaborative working. In light of changes to how we teach, research, and work, our investment in technology, through our Digital Strategy [link when published], will form a greater proportion of our infrastructure investment.
Our strategy will be underpinned by a clear ambition for the future size and shape of the University and our student population. We will continue to grow the number of overseas students that we welcome, while sustaining our strong and valued UK student population. Globally, we will continue to grow our new Dubai campus, whilst also expanding our programmes in China, Singapore, and other countries. Drawing on the lessons of bimodal teaching and the increasing need for flexible postgraduate education, we will expand our distance learning portfolio with full degrees, micro-credentials and CPD delivered on a variety of platforms.
Many of the key themes of this framework are supported by Birmingham In Action, the University’s fundraising and volunteering campaign, which aims to transform lives for our generation and the next by tackling the world’s biggest challenges, today. The campaign supports some of the most important areas of work in the University, including access to education, youth mental health, cancer, and the environment. As well as ambitious financial targets, the campaign also seeks to harness one million volunteering hours from staff, students, alumni, and friends.