During a panel discussion that touched upon the four topic areas earmarked for development funds that will be offered by the UPP Foundation, Professor Mark E. Smith, vice-chancellor at Lancaster University, weighed into the immigration debate.

When the panellists were asked what policy they would like to revise, Smith commented, “It has to be immigration policy, and in particular, post-study work.

“Our competitors in the US, Australia and Canada have much more liberal PSW policy, whereas their overall immigration policy is probably just as tough”

“You just have to look at our competitors in the US, Australia and Canada, where they have much more liberal policy, whereas their overall immigration policy is probably just as tough.”

Smith was joined on the panel by three other guests including Nick Miles, pro vice-chancellor for advancement at the University of Nottingham who – chiming with the theme of global citizenship – also called for a greater focus on second language acquisition.

“Our UK students don’t have a second language and it’s a disadvantage,” he said, citing his experience of multilingual students attending Nottingham’s China campus, where he was provost for five years.

The launch event for UPP’s charitable foundation was attended by senior stakeholders in the UK HE community who welcomed the company’s commitment to donate £2.5 million over five years to innovative projects that support four themes: access & retention; the civic university; employability; and global citizenship in UK HE.

Rt Hon David Laws chaired the launch event and debate, which took place in St-Martins-in-the-Field in London. Paul Marshall, group director of business development, told attendees that UPP – which provides accommodation, infrastructure and support services to UK universities – hoped to help expand public debate on UK higher education issues via the initiative.

Commenting that “it’s easy to launch a hand grenade into the policy debate and move on”, Marshall noted that the foundation will favour grants for sustainable and long-term projects that can have real impact.

“Secondly, the foundation will provide a public policy platform, enabling sector leaders and experts from the wider public the opportunity to debate the future of higher education and to share best practice,” he said.