As governments grapple with deficits, the landscape of higher education will change. As has already happened in Britain, public support will shrink. Continuing to deliver high-quality teaching and research will require universities to find additional income streams while improving efficiency. Before the financial tsunami, the University of Hertfordshire recognized the importance of business engagement. We became what we have termed a “business-facing” university, focusing our educational activities on supporting business and enabling social and economic growth in our communities and nation.
It is with great pride that areas of the university that were initially suspicious of our new business-facing mission, such as the School of Education and our philosophers, have excelled in this environment. The School of Education has engaged in commercial training opportunities worldwide, while our philosophers are now winning significant funds for their innovative commercial applications involving ethics and the Internet. Our experience has proved that a business-facing attitude can be effectively embraced and operated by all academic areas.
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Learning Change 