As I write, we’ve only 65 days to go before practical completion of our new building. At that moment, our building contractors Bovis Lend Lease will complete their involvement in this remarkable project, and hand over the ‘keys’ to us so we can get started fitting out the building. Just to be inside it at last, transforming this glamorous, tessellated shell into a workable, living and breathing space will be truly fantastic.

We have a tenacious, hard-working relocation team managing all of this on our behalf, and they’re doing a fine job of it. Contracts for all sorts of fixtures, fittings, facilities and technology are being negotiated and secured as we speak. The scale of it all, for what is a relatively small, but highly functioning space, never ceases to amaze me.

In the news again this week, we are offered more cogitating from the gods of academia and politics on the future of HE, following last week’s Guardian HE Summit. We are all in no doubt that we are facing tough and uncertain times: possible change in government, major review into tuition fees, tough budget cuts, to name a few.  But at least we’ll have more clarity on the latter very soon, when this week (18 March) all HEIs receive grant letters from HEFCE. Only then can we really embark on the difficult financial journey ahead.

In line with our strategic change programme, we are seeking ways to deliver education to meet the shifting demands of 21^st Century learners. Learners, whose needs can differ greatly depending on a variety of social and economic factors. One strand of this is developing the ‘long tail’ of some of our courses; creating on demand, bite-sized bits of training rather than just two or three year degrees. In doing so, we can offer a different kind of education to people outside of the conventional education system, whether they are from non-academic backgrounds, or simply don’t have time for work-based learning.

We are looking to trail this with our new degree in web media. Last week I met the inspirational Helen Hamlyn Trust to discuss this further. The Trust’s mission to support innovative education projects that will effect lasting change and improve quality of life fits perfectly with our innovative teaching and learning ambitions. We will be looking to submit a funding application to the Trust in the near future. This long tail approach will also form a new component of Ravensbourne’s revised web presence, something we will be improving radically over the next 12 – 18 months.

Elsewhere, great news last week from the Privy Council who have approved our proposed name change from Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication to just Ravensbourne. We can now press ahead with our new brand roll out this Spring.