Institutional Context
Summary
Leeds Trinity University focuses on student experience, employability and regional impact through partnerships. LTU is a small, agile institution with c.4,000 students studying across undergraduate, postgraduate, foundation and apprenticeship programmes on campus, and a further 7,700 on Franchised programmes in the UK and beyond. Achieving University status in 2012, LTU has made significant achievements since its establishment in 1966. Underpinned by its Catholic values, the academic and professional expertise of LTU staff, our work-based learning focus, growing research base and accreditation and franchising of provision in the region and beyond, LTU is in a strong position to deliver under the pillars of its Strategic Plan 2021 – 2026.
Institutional context
Achieving University status just over 10 years ago, Leeds Trinity University prides itself in being a career-led institution and our connections to economy and society drive this purpose. Our Strategic Plan 2021 – 2026, developed through extensive consultation with partners, outlines an ambition to make a positive contribution in our region, the country and wider world and is built around 6 Strategic Pillars:
‘Education and Experience’,
‘People and Sustainability’,
‘Research, Impact and Innovation’,
‘Careers and Enterprise’,
‘Digital Futures’ and
‘Leeds City Region’.
Our Strategic Objective to: ‘Grow our local and global influence through the real-world impact of our knowledge and innovation’’, together with a commitment to equity and inclusivity supported by our Catholic values, informs our approach to Knowledge Exchange. Our commitment to increasing KE and enterprise work can be demonstrated by:
Increased engagement with regional business support, the local innovation eco-system and associated funding.
Developing our profile in policy engagement (e.g. responding to education policy on climate change, which has resulted in the Climate Adapted Pathways for Education (CAPE) alliance).
Our growing role within the Leeds Inclusive Anchor’s Network. Our plans to create a campus in Leeds City Centre will present further opportunities to develop our civic leadership role.
Developing bespoke Continuing Professional Development (CPD), short course and applied research to meet the needs of regional partners, particularly in the education sector (e.g. Mental Health Lead programmes).
Positioning our KE, alongside our academic portfolio and approach to employability, to ensure that students have access to real-world opportunities, which are relevant to the workforce needs of tomorrow. Building on our professional practice foundation, skills sit at the heart of our KE work, and many of our projects over the period have been focused on skills development, supporting the local labour market. We have focussed heavily upon developing our apprenticeship offer for maximum regional benefit, now delivering 14 work-based learning, and Higher and Degree programmes to c. 1,500 students which include collaborations with West Yorkshire Police, and Unlocked, delivering for organisations such as HM Prisons & Probation Service, Leeds City Council and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust.
Creating a promotional pathway for Professional Practice (Associate Professor and Professor), in line with Research and Learning & Teaching routes, which gives significance and parity for those wishing to establish a career orientated towards KE and external work.
Investing in the wider Research and KE infrastructure. In 2021/22, we made new appointments including Professors (x 4) in Faculty, 6 new support roles across RKE, Innovation, Enterprise and Business Development, and Deans of Research and External Engagement & Impact. These investments are already delivering gains in applied policy and practice research in the UK and internationally.
Introducing new systems and processes which can support colleagues to succeed with their KE work including the development of a Consultancy Policy, and an internal funds.
Establishing a directorate for Global Engagement, which as well as promoting LTU as a destination, and brokering study abroad placements, presents opportunities for international enterprise activity.
For further information, please send queries to knowledgeexchange@leedstrinity.ac.uk
Local Growth and Regeneration
Summary of approach
Leeds Trinity University (LTU) places its role within the region at the heart of its activity, with an underpinning pillar of our strategic plan being the ‘Leeds City Region’. Our approach to supporting local growth and regeneration is based on an aim to support the needs of the regional economy, through skills, applied research and consultancy amongst our wider global ambitions.
Our Regional Impact Strategy seeks to strengthen engagement with public and private sector partners, through community-based collaborations, support for businesses (including new and aspiring), developing employer-led work-based learning programmes, and facilitating networking via the Leeds Trinity Business Network. LTU provides skills-based interventions for different communities, skilled graduates for the labour market, and upskills professionals through short courses.
Aspect 1: Strategy
Our Regional Impact Strategy focuses our work within the Leeds City Region and West Yorkshire Combined Authority areas. We are engaged in regional collaborations (through e.g. Yorkshire Universities, Go Higher West Yorkshire), have close links with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (e.g. through our membership of the West Yorkshire Innovation Network), and are involved in city-sector developments such as the Leeds Inclusive Anchors Network, Leeds Digital Forum Steering Group, the Leeds Academic Health Partnership , and the Leeds Learning Alliance. Our expertise in graduate recruitment, skills development, plus our contacts across the city, help to strengthen recruitment pipelines.
Our strategic focus has been tailored to areas of academic strength and capacity. Our focus has been upon:
Public sector organisations in the education and care sectors: We provide CPD for professionals working in schools/academies, colleges and residential care settings. This includes a partnership with the Church of England Educational Office to deliver National Professional Qualifications in Senior Leadership, our own accredited education and training for a variety of audiences (e.g., residential care managers, professionals supporting young people’s mental health) and non-accredited CPD (e.g., short courses on subject teaching and school management for primary and secondary schoolteachers). LTU is a Founder Member of the Leeds Learning Alliance (LLA) which supports inclusive education across more than 70,000 learners in Leeds and underpins our Postgraduate Certificate in Inclusive Leadership.
Public sector organisations in the criminal justice sectors: Our partnerships with West Yorkshire Police and HM Prison & Probation Service/Unlocked Graduates were established in 2020 and have grown significantly over the three years since. Growth is evidenced by both number of students and participants on programmes (c.1,500 apprentices, and graduates on programme) and the reach of the collaborations which include joint working across impact measurement, outreach and evaluation projects.
Public sector agencies: Key local authority areas include Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Calderdale West Yorkshire and districts across North Yorkshire. LTU aims to secure positive social and economic impacts for these areas through outreach activities and the delivery of training.
SMEs, micro-business including new and aspiring businesses: through facilitating networking and providing workshops, training and one-to-one support.
Large companies: We provide large companies and multinationals with focused, tailored support including consultancy and project-based collaboration, workforce development, leadership and management, and change management training. We focus on application of our research expertise to real world issues, driving innovation, and catalysing growth.
Charities, community groups, and not-for-profit organisations: Our diverse portfolio of KE activity sees us engaging in mutually beneficial partnerships with third sector and not-for-profit organisations. This includes our participation in Leeds Academic Collaboration with the Third Sector (Leeds ACTS), and support via our Volunteering Network.
Entrepreneurship and social enterprise: Start-up support is available through the dedicated Hurol Ozcan Enterprise Centre. LTU has a range of activities, courses, and services that can support organisations through the different stages of their growth.
Individuals (UG and PG Students): enabling work placements which create opportunities for impactful KE activity which informs practice.
Individuals: leading skills projects for those looking to enter employment or change career through [re]boot (a 2-year digital skills bootcamp programme in West Yorkshire, funded by ESF supported 200 participants) and the current West Yorkshire Skills Connect programmes for Graduate which aims to support approach 1,000 graduates across the region.
Aspect 2: Activity
LTU has extensive links with regional employers, originally developed to support our student placements and Employer Advisory Boards that feed into our curricula. These links have expanded over the period to include relationships with over 200 regional employers through our Apprenticeship and work-based learning provision, supporting the skills needs of SMEs, public and private sector; notably, the two largest programmes are delivered with West Yorkshire Police (over 1,000 police officers recruited 2019/20 – 2021/22 for the Apprenticeship and Graduation Diploma routes), with the next most popular Degree Apprenticeship being the Supply Chain Leadership Professional offering skills for nearby companies leading logistics and distribution nationally and internationally (e.g. Wakefield district). Other business partners include organisations of local strategic importance, such as Leeds City Council and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, local SMEs, and large employers such as the Royal Mail Group, Microsoft and Sharp. In response to targeted areas of strategic growth, LTU officially launched the Centre for Apprenticeships, Work-based Learning and Skills in 2020, which is now home to a dedicated team brought together to provide specialist teaching, support and advice for both employers and apprentices alike, ensuring that businesses can recruit the future workforce through upskilling existing employees.
As a function of the strong vocational focus of our staff, LTU continues to work with academic and professional partners for the successful accreditation, delivery, and management of courses that have real-world application. Recent validation of the MSc Applied Custodial Leadership, in collaboration with Unlocked Graduates and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, is an example of how LTU contributes towards addressing societal and employer challenges. Stemming from a review of prison education, and a drive to encourage graduates to work as prison officers, the MSc Applied Custodial Leadership will produce staff members who will immediately and positively impact upon prison establishments.
For new and aspiring businesses: since 2017, we have been a partner in the regional Ad:Venture programme led by Leeds City Council which provides business support workshops, training and one-to-one support in areas such as marketing, social media, website creation, resilience and business processes. ERDF funding (c.£300k) supports a holistic package of activities which has enabled LTU to support 1,300 delegate places though over 100 workshops.
Committed to our Race Equality Charter status, and becoming a University of Sanctuary, our workplan in this area is multi-faceted and extend to much of our KE activity. Our role within the education sector continues to take high priority and our memberships of the Leeds Learning Alliance, representation on school/Multi Academy Trust Board and associated Third Sector organisations such as CATCH enable us to deliver meaningful work in this area. Recent projects of relevance include:
Market research to inform future CPD (from digital, marketing and education sectors) which has resulted in a workshop series for employers on diverse recruitment.
World Refugee Day Celebrations
Development of smartphone app for sufferers of Tinnitus
National Policy work is informed by local research collaborations, e.g. responding to education policy on climate change, which has resulted in the Climate Adapted Pathways for Education (CAPE) alliance, and the British Families in Lockdown Study. More recently, our involvement in the Yorkshire & Humber Policy Engagement Research Network has created a platform for more local connections.
Aspect 3: Results
The Regional Impact sub-strategy has been created with relevant metrics which are in place 2021-26, which are monitored regularly (through University depts, Leadership Team and Executive). These include the following
At least 100 regional employers (large and SMEs from the private, public and third sectors) will have formally endorsed our curriculum offer
Increase in annual income from high-quality regional and academic knowledge exchange partnerships (Knowledge Transfer Projects, CPD, short courses and consultancy)
Increase the number of LTU students volunteering and working with communities in the region to at least 500 which will contribute to the LTU “Career Passport”
A positive view of the University is held in the local and regional communities.
In our commitment to supporting the community and exploiting the physical assets of LTU, we will have developed at least 100 opportunities/events per year for the shared community and employer use of our resources and estate for community events.
KE-funded projects are reported on annually. CPD (accredited or otherwise) is evaluated through participant feedback. In addition, groups involving LTU and Partner staff meet formally for review and development. Applied research and consultancy is evaluated according to the desires of the client. Evaluations are reported through the LTU governance structure (which includes the Research & KE Committee).
Public & Community Engagement
Summary of approach
Public and community engagement is central to the University’s values and is embedded in its Strategic Plan, and associated strategies for Research, KE & Innovation, and Regional Impact. We engage with diverse societal groups, have close ties to neighbours, and combine our physical and intellectual resources to provide community engagement opportunities for staff and students through learning, research and KE activities, to mutual benefit. Students engage with local, national and international partners through volunteering and service learning embedded into curricula. Our work with schools and colleges supports raising attainment and aspirations. LTU’s research, teaching and KE activities are enriched by a healthy culture of public and community engagement, enhanced by partnerships with public sector organisations, businesses, charities and community organisations.
Aspect 1: Strategy
Public and community engagement is fundamental to LTU’s vision, mission and values and is integrated specifically within our Strategic plan 2021-26. As a widening participation institution, LTU seeks to listen to and engage with diverse societal groups, particularly those whose voices are underrepresented. Through events and engagement activities, we seek to share knowledge, understanding and promote community dialogue, raise awareness of equity issues, and provide access to our facilities (e.g. Warm Space available within the University library).
Equality (or equity), diversity and inclusion is built into our public and community engagement plans. An underpinning aspect of our external work is driven by an ambition to challenge injustice, and through our Office for Institutional Equity we are forging new strategic partnerships within the region, for example there have been a series of events held in inner-city Leeds which have been attended by local residents and community leaders, West Yorkshire Police and third sector organisations (Care, Public Sector & Policing), and our Black Lives Matter conference is now an annual event which is open to all, and is attended by students and staff in the HE sector as well as those working in local policy.
Public and community engagement at LTU reflects various collaborative activities. Some respond to needs as and when they occur (i.e., COVID-19 responses via Parliament) and other are driven by LTU, providing leadership capacity for communities (e.g. for the education sector, memberships and representation of the Leeds Learning Alliance, and Multi-Academy Trusts in the Diocese of Leeds). It is important that our work is both impactful and purposeful. As a University with a strong Catholic foundation, much of our external work is driven by different faith perspectives, for example our annual Trinity Conference, which last year explored ‘A Catholic Response to the Digital Age’ and the forthcoming Behind the Dark Clouds lecture series planned for 2022/23 aims to focus on topical issues and the role of faith.
Resource allocation and Key Performance Indicators for Research and KE have been determined through extensive internal and external consultation informing: a) the University-wide Strategic Plan 2021-26, b) sub-strategies (including ‘Research, KE & Innovation’, ‘Regional Impact’ and ‘Equity, Social Justice & Belonging’) and c) specific development work to inform LTU’s KE through the KE Concordat. Corporate KPIs and performance indicators included within sub-strategies are monitoring through LTU Executive, and through regular presentations to the LTU Leadership Team.
Monitoring of progress against KE-related performance indicators is in the remit of the Research and KE Committee (RKEC) and it’s KE Sub-group (KESG), which meet quarterly to monitor relevant data. Each academic Faculty has a senior member of staff who is accountable for progress and ensure input and contributions from each area. The membership of RKEC KESG includes professional services managers (e.g., Director of Information Systems), postgraduate student representatives and external collaborators, and RKEC reports to Academic Board which is Chaired by the Vice-Chancellor.
Aspect 2: Support
Activity is supported through two units which work together closely: the Research Office includes Dean of Research (1 FTE), Support Officers (4 FTE), Administrator (1 FTE) and lead for Postgraduate Studies, the Business Development team, currently situated within the Centre for Apprenticeships, Work-based Learning & Skills includes a Head of Business Development (1 FTE), Relationship Managers (2 FTE), Enterprise & Innovation Officer (1 FTE) and Short Course Administrator (1 FTE). These units are supported by dedicated roles within the Office for Institutional Equity, Commercial Services and Corporate Communications departments, in the organisation, implementation and monitoring of stakeholder engagement and event management. Professional services teams provide academic colleagues with accessible planning and administrative support for KE activities, and develop new and existing processes to enable a more favourable KE infrastructure (e.g., proportional KE ethical approval) which aligns to external benchmarks.
To better facilitate recognition of KE activity, including public and community engagement, LTU has introduced a new academic promotional pathway to recognise and develop colleagues’ contributions in this area. In addition to two core pathways, professional practice/ KE activity now forms a key progression route so there are now 3 options: Reader; Associate Professor (Learning & Teaching) and Associate Professor (Professional Practice). This pathway enables the strategic alignment of individual’s careers with institutional priorities around public and community engagement. Prior to employment, job specifications/adverts for new staff explicitly reference professional practice and industry/sector expertise in parity with academic experience, and external engagement and the development of networks is explored at interview. LTU also has a dedicated employee volunteering scheme which gives employees the opportunity to have up to two paid days of volunteering leave per academic year. Likewise, the various staff equality networks set up to facilitate the sharing of experiences, assists in the development of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion agenda. Networks supporting subject-specific remits are embedded within Faculties/Schools (e.g., Leeds Trinity Education Network, primary science network. Notably, all students have opportunities to undertake public engagement activities and are encouraged and supported to do so; LTU offers both accredited and non-accredited volunteering routes.
Prior to the KE Fund for institutions not in receipt of HEIF, internal funding via the KE Development Fund was made available through an annual competitive bidding process (a total of £165,000 to pump-prime KE-related activity, with public and community engagement being a key criterion determining the award of funding).
Aspect 3: Activity
Leeds Trinity Business Network (LTBN) events, the Journalism and Media week, Annual Writers' Festival, and the Sports Science Summit make use of our publicly available sport and leisure, religious practice, and conferencing and events facilities. Involvement in artefact curation and museum-based learning initiatives and input to local science festivals are further examples of our contributions to the Leeds City Region and beyond. Our KE development funds have supported a number of projects including:
Collaborative projects and student-led KE with schools and Multi Academy Trusts which has led to the expansion of educational partnerships outside of the immediate local area.
Community events including dialogue with external speakers (e.g. Leeds Refugee Forum)
‘Enabling access to psychological therapies for tinnitus patients’ - events and information for individuals and health care organisations (NHS and private).
To harness the transformative power of education and ideas, LTU supports numerous public and community activities. Trinity Talks, public lectures addressing societal challenges (e.g., “Challenging the Stigma of Sex Work in the Media: Dr Kate Lister”), are hosted at our Horsforth campus. Our EDI focus is realised through examples such as our Re:Tension film. This has been disseminated across the HE sector alongside a toolkit which creates a framework for debate. The film, which was nominated in the Learning on Screen Awards, follows a black male student at university experiencing racism and discrimination. It attempts to provide a real insight into unconscious racial harassment within the higher education system and micro-aggressions that often go unnoticed. Whilst the film has thus far been used with other universities, plans are now in development to trial screenings with local businesses. Further work in this area has led to a partnership with UK Coaching on a film to support their national safeguarding campaign.
Contributing to the Leeds Academic Collaboration with the Third Sector (Leeds ACTS), led by Voluntary Action Leeds and including other local universities, LTU supports students to undertake volunteering opportunities and contribute KE to charities, community groups and not-for-profit organisations. Our community engagement activities also support students to engage with local people as part of their studies. Our Volunteering Network meets annually, and we offer our charity partners business support (e.g., digital marketing, public relations). Such events also facilitate dialogue to enable better understanding of how LTU can better offer support in the future.
Established in 1972, LTU’s Schools History Project (SHP) provides a rigorous, engaging and inclusive history curriculum for all learners. Such activities became increasingly valuable when addressing the challenge of providing support for history teachers during COVID-19 (e.g., pioneering an essay competition set to students when ‘normal’ lessons were disrupted). Additionally, hosting the virtual summer conference was instrumental to supporting history teachers during the COVID-19 response.
LTU is a member of Go Higher West Yorkshire (formerly Chaired by our Vice-Chancellor) which aims to open education options to underrepresented groups, and support the skills needs of industry. Through strategic partnerships we have developed several degree apprenticeships that support social mobility. A recent success has been the awarding of the West Yorkshire Police contract with the University offering Higher Education to over 1,000 new recruits per year through the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship; and Graduate Diploma contributing to the ongoing support of communities in West Yorkshire, supporting associated outreach activities which aligns to Positive Action plans of the force.
The University has played a leading role in West Yorkshire Combined Authority skills development programmes such as [re][boot and Skills Connect. [re]boot which was part funded by ESF ran until Dec 2021, was delivered in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges. Through [re]boot, LTU recruited over 200 participants to the programme, given individual from the region the opportunity to upskill, re-skill and gain employability and sector-specific skills in digital and media. With the aim to move people into higher skilled jobs, this project was developed in conjunction with employers, supporting a region-wide campaign, #futuregoals, by providing relevant content and practical courses to address the skills shortages in our region.
Aspect 4: Enhancing practice
The Strategic Plan and sub-strategies (Research, KE, Innovation, and Regional Impact) have been in development within the period, alongside the KE Concordat action plan and so consultation – both internal and external – around current infrastructure and evaluation – has been ongoing. This has resulted in a number of actions including:
Investment in RKE support posts
Associate Professor (Professional Practice) promotions
Development of monitoring processes
Introduction of KE Sub-group
Introduction of KE Network, an informal network for sharing practice
Aspect 5: Building on success
Income-generating KE activity is logged with the central teams throughout this year following approval from academic Faculty and Finance Department. Wider KE activity is audited annually, alongside KPIs for Regional Impact, which are reported to Academic Board (via the Research & KE Committee), Leadership Team, and through department updates to Executive and annual presentation.
The Strategic Plan and sub-strategies (Research, KE, Innovation, and Regional Impact) have been in development within the period and so recent audits reviewed activity, including public and community engagement, and mapped this against the emerging institutional priorities rather than reporting against agreed KPIs. From the academic year 2022/23, monitoring will be linked to new KPIs which include work to embed public and community engagement into the core business of the University. For any events funded by the internal KE Development Fund, or the RE Knowledge Exchange Fund (Strengthening Partnerships), project reports are required which identify impacts of KE activity and action plans for continuation of activities and/or collaboration.
Internally and externally, news about public and community engagement is showcased through Faculty and School newsletters, through a regular all-staff regular email (the ‘Weekly Update from the Vice Chancellor’), through news, PR and website stories and event blogs. We recognise that we need to further improve our capture rate of activities that are occurring, especially as this activity grows, and can often develop organically from different areas of the University, outside of Academic Faculties where much engagement has traditionally been led from.
Enhancing the prominence of KE activities, particularly those relating to public and community engagement, remains a priority and is built into a current profile and branding exercise which will inform the website design and accessibility of information.
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