our work
Bucks new university
Project: Define individual Faculty value propositions.
When: 2007.
What: Buckingham Chilterns University College wanted to be seen as the ‘new generation’ university in south Buckinghamshire. Its ambition was to make a significant social and economic contribution to the region, with a growing national reputation for its work and achieving international recognition for its expertise. The relatively new CEO (Ruth Farwell) had introduced much needed sweeping changes to the entire organisation, including reducing the number of faculties from 12 to 3. Needless to say this had predictably led to a very unsettled culture and clarity for the vision and what it meant for each of these faculties was essential before university status could be achieved.
How:One by one worked with each of the three new Faculties to understand their individual offerings. We did this by working closely with the various heads of schools (who represented the previous 12 faculties), professors, teachers and a sample of students. We also spoke with local businesses, including Wasps RFU and key representatives from the advertising industry that had a close working relationship with the college, to gain an outside perspective. We shared our findings with the senior management teams of each faculty and we collectively shaped a vision and purpose to transform culture, galvanise staff and inspire the students. Once we had defined the core proposition of each faculty we were able to create the over arching university proposition.
Outcome:Each of the three new faculties is now much clearer about their role and purpose within the bigger vision. As a result, the individual teams are more cohesive and singularly minded around a shared narrative. In July 2007 the institution was awarded ‘university’ status, which has led to the new name and visual identity of Bucks New University. We continue to stay involved and are pleased to see the way the university is now establishing a good reputation on the international stage and becoming more commercial across its whole operation; developing innovative new courses and contributing to the region on both a community and societal level. Peter Thomas, the Marketing Director said the following of our work “Their wide organisation skills and know how of brands allow them to bring the necessary insight...Their work has been a great help to the overall strategy in particular."