Greenwich and Kent's “super university” problem isn't the merger — it's the messaging
What is a “super university”?
I don’t know, and judging by the press statements from both University of Greenwich and Kent their leadership don’t know either.
Perhaps I’m being unfair, but I see this all the time in higher education.
Something big is announced, only for its impact to be muddled or completely eradicated by the organisation’s comms.
If you’re coming out the gate saying something like “this is super” then your team needs permission to, you know, talk about it in a way that lives up to that promise and, more importantly, communicate what it involves clearly.
Thousands of Greenwich and Kent employees (and students!) are hearing about this for the first time via the media, and the best they have to go on from either institution are vacuous phrases like “trailblazing collaboration” and “students will be at the heart of everything we do.”
Seriously, what makes this SUPER? How is this a “new model”?
Combined, the institutions have less students than the University of Manchester. They might complement each other via some research and subject areas, but there’s nothing new here. It’s just “bigger” and we’ve seen mergers and university groups before.
Even the press statements put “super university” in inverted commas, as if each institution is toying with the term and scared to embrace it.
When I hear the word “Super”, I think of legendary, different and powerful - but I’m getting none of that here.
This was an opportunity to define what a super university is, perhaps even share a POV for a new category of large-scale regional institution - but nope. The language is hideously status quo, promising to “continue to provide innovative teaching, personalised support and celebrate individuality.” We’ve heard it all before and it’s meaningless.
Yeah, I bet Greenwich’s and Kent’s staff are really looking forward to “fostering a culture where staff and students thrive, collaborate and succeed together” once they work out if they have a job within the next six months.
Sounds super.
