Inspire and enable through higher education.

Our mission is to inspire and enable through higher education, research and engagement; working together with our students, staff and partners. Our activity is underpinned by our core values:

Accessible

We are passionate advocates for lifelong learning and believe that background and circumstance should not be a barrier to engaging with higher education. We are dedicated to accessibility, fairness and inclusivity in how we teach, research and provide our services.

Supportive

We foster a supportive environment to encourage our staff and students to work together to achieve their learning, research and career goals. We care about our communities and proactively lead and support initiatives that enrich the local economy and the lives of local people.

Innovative

We do things differently. We recognise that our success is dependent upon the collective energy, intelligence and creativity of the university community. We actively encourage new perspectives and innovation in teaching, research and our engagement with communities and partners. We question the status quo and are brave enough to embrace new ways of doing things. This enables our culture, structure, policies and people to drive excellence and respond effectively to need.

Ambitious

We are unashamedly ambitious for our staff, students and our communities. We recognise that there are no limits to learning and knowledge and we challenge people to embrace their aspirations and succeed through education. We are accessible in the learning we provide for our students, staff and community, being pro-active in promoting the value of higher education. This is grounded in a dedication to be inclusive and fair in how we provide our services.

The University’s mission and values find expression in the vision for our four strategy domains: teaching that inspires, research that transforms, engagement that enables and structure that sustains.

Read our Vision and Strategy.

Our activity has an applied focus

Driving excellence, through the delivery of an employer and industry-led course portfolio, to provide career-ready professionals to support and meet the needs of the regional, national and international economy.

And places students at the heart of what we do

Providing a vibrant, friendly and supportive community, foscused on inspiring each person through personal tutors, to support and meet individual needs in reaching their potential through academic excellence.

How we work

  • We involve and listen to students in all we do
  • We build mutually beneficial partnerships
  • We deliver what we promise
  • We keep processes simple and effective
  • We anticipate and act
  • We communicate openly and regularly