My last post in 2009. The end of a decade and the beginning of a new one, one which will bring Ravensbourne great opportunities and serious challenges in equal measure. Although we have an intense few months ahead leading up to our relocation, we need to keep focused on our life beyond. This week our teaching staff have been involved in 3 seminars, on the theme of ’2020′.  The aim is not so much to see into the future, as to try and get our heads around the changes taking place in the design, broadcasting and communications sectors over coming years, and to think about how our teaching practice needs to respond to that. We pride ourselves on treating our students as professionals from day one of their studies, making sure they are industry ready the moment they graduate. To do that, we need to keep ahead of the business and educational curve.

Yesterday I visited the site for the last time before Christmas and I was really impressed with the way our contractors have progressed since my last visit . The interior cladding is now up to the third floors and is looking brilliant, particularly  on the inside with the window openings framing the view and creating recognisable interior space. The cladding programme is now on track and the first tile panels will be raised during the week of 11 January. The exterior already looks impressive without them, but when the tiles arrive…

Ending on a festive note, there have been some truly creative e-cards in my inbox this week. My favourite has to be from our friends at the Design Council. Great fun. I’ll sign off for this year with our own season’s greeting and look forward to seeing you again in 2010.

Yesterday’s Pre-Budget Report makes gloomy pre-Christmas reading for anyone in HE. £600 million savings by 2012/13 from budgets across higher education, science and research including the student support budget will be harsh and could harm the growth of this dynamic sector.

All HE institutions will be affected. Ravensbourne is in a strong position because of our relocation (note, this will be unaffected by this announcement), but in order to minimise the impact of these cuts on the quality the student experience we are facing some very tough choices over the next two years.

As a sector, we are lobbying hard and will continue to press home the major role that higher education plays in the growth of the knowledge economy and in delivering a skilled workforce that can engage in the industries that will ultimately steer us out of this recession.

Elsewhere, last week an introduction to Bloomberg TV turned into an extremely productive meeting, sparking a number of actions. There is clearly potential for collaboration, particularly in digital media and they are interested in many our Enterprise and Innovation activities.

On the building front, the cladding panels are now arriving on site in larger numbers, but the recent high winds have caused problems for the installation teams, as each section can be over 10 metres square. Let’s hope for more temperate weather over the few weeks to get us back on track.