1 Striving for Excellence Professor Jim Ward Registrar & Deputy President

2 Performance Analysis for NUI Galway NUI Galway has collaborated with 80% of the Top 50 Universities in the World and 9 out of the Top 10, since NUI Galway is in the Top 1% of Universities in the world in the field of Clinical Medicine. NUI Galway’s published papers in Clinical Medicine have increased by 104% since NUI Galway citations in Clinical Medicine have increased by 589% since 1998.

3 NUI Galway out performs every other Irish University in the field of Business, Management and Accounting in the terms of citations per paper. Top 2 in Ireland Earth and Planetary Sciences (NUIM 1) Energy (UCC 1) (Almost equal on this) Economics, Econometrics and Finance (UCC 1)

4 Top 3 in Ireland: Environmental Science (UCC 1, DCU 1) Psychology (TCD 1, UCC 2) Chemical Engineering (DCU 1, UCD 2)

5 Source: Managing Successful Universities, Michael Shattock

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7 Conclusion from League Tables Most striking conclusion is that a group of seven universities seem consistently to perform better than the rest, whether in research alone or in the tables which give much greater weight to student related measures. Source: Managing Successful Universities, Michael Shattock

8 Contextual Factors The association of the age of the university with research prestige Only 8 per cent of Europe’s most research intensive universities were founded in the post-war period. Of The top cluster of 64 universities, the majority had their roots in the Middle ages. Source: Managing Successful Universities, Michael Shattock

9 Older institutions can have a halo effect based on historic reputations which attract the best staff and the best students and it is the interaction of these two constituents which can create an outstanding intellectual community, generate leading research, produce excellently trained students and provide continued self- reinforcing success. Location in large centres of population appears to offer considerable advantages Elites tend to be self perpetuating Source: Managing Successful Universities, Michael Shattock

10 Managing Universities for success Teaching and research represent the core business of universities and those universities that excel in these areas also tend to attract the best qualified students and lead the field in industrial supported research or in extending the boundaries of the university in social and economic activities There are no absolute predictors of what makes a university successful, whether age of foundation, location or disciplinary base, although these factors may make a large contribution, institutional management in its broadest sense make a critical contribution. Source: Managing Successful Universities, Michael Shattock

11 Maintenance of financial stability is an important component in achieving academic success but can only be attained from a diversified funding base Leadership is essential but distributed, rather than charismatic or personal, leadership will be most likely to produce sustainable high institutional performance Institutional reputation and image is a far more important corporate asset than many universities realise Ambition is a key to success but institutional ambition must be translated into all those activities which are essential components of institutional performance

12 1.Bias for Action Problem Solving Experimenting Working Groups 2.Being Close to our Customer / Those we teach & provide services to Providing unparalleled quality, service, reliability. Listening –eg, Student Evaluations, KPI’s 8 Attributes that characterise excellent innovative organisations

13 3.Autonomy & Innovation Leaders & innovators at all levels Creativity & risk taking Support risk – takers 4.Everyone is a source of ideas Respect & dignity – a pervasive theme in excellent organisations

14 5. Value – Driven What do we stand for? What do we do that gives everyone more Pride? Every excellent organisation is CLEAR on what it stands for.

15 UniversityWorkshop Conclusion Proposed Brand Values for NUI Galway University Workshop Conclusion Proposed Brand Values for NUI Galway Real World Learning Discovery-led: inspiring creativity Connected – a vibrant city community networking with the world Challenging: Challenging you to achieve your potential Driver of Innovation and Development

16 6.Build on Strengths & Competences 7.Simplicity in Structure 8.Simultaneous Loose – Tight Properties Autonomous units, driven by clear central values