Anglia Ruskin University

Mission Statement

At ARU we are committed to transforming lives through innovative, inclusive and entrepreneurial education and research. We are determined to achieve our goals and continually strive to enhance our University for the benefit of all. We’re made up of a diverse community with people from all backgrounds and different walks of life and it is in this diversity that we find our strength. Our people make us who we are, and we’re proud of what we have achieved together since gaining university status in 1992.

We have developed a set of core values which are at the heart of what we do. They help guide us in making decisions and help the strategies and initiatives that the University work too.

We're made up of both academic and professional service staff who work together across four Faculties and Professional Service departments to provide our students with the opportunities they need to realise their ambitions. We have grown over the years to become one of the largest universities in the East of England and our ten year strategy, Designing our Future sets out our vision to become the best regional university, nationally.

We are led by our Vice Chancellor, Professor Roderick Watkins and our Corporate Management Team, and governed by a Board of Governors who determine the educational character and mission of ARU. We're dedicated to making our University a great place to study and work, and our governance, policies and procedures help us to do this.

https://aru.ac.uk/about-us/our-mission-and-values

International Role

The Faculty of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences and it's three schools have strong international links for both teaching, research and student mobility. We welcome around 200 students each year to study on our courses both undergraduate and taught postgraduate and around 10 per year to study doctoral qualifications. Our students come from a wide range of countries including the EU, USA China, Singapore and Indian sub continent. 

the School of Creative Industries has Collabrative Joint Venture Partnership (CJVP) with NUIST ( Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology) in Games Art, with 25 students completing their degree at ARU. The Faculty is also developing a Foundation Level programme with an India Partner in Delhi. 

Our research institutes have international partners with whom they work on a regualr basis for example CIMTR link with Aalborg University in Denmark and the University of Bergen in Norway Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research – ARU 

Our academic staff have numerous individual links with institutions for schoarly practice and reserarch and details are availble on their staff profile pages. 

We encourage our students to have a global perspective through study abroad e.g. Erasmus and arrange numerous study visits each year. We work to ensure our students are well positioned to work in a global environment. For example the MA Children's Book Illustration graduates exhibit at the Bologna Book Fair annually. Centre for Children's Book Studies – ARU  

National Role

The Faculty has a wide-ranging strategy relating to external engagement and plays a significant role regionally nad nationally. Shaped by the University’s role as an anchor institution in the region and commitment to being a civic university, the Faculty has broadened and deepened its external engagement growing new partnerships and extending the nature of the numerous collaborations it already has. Activities are numerous and include curriculum-based projects, extra-curricular projects, postgraduate research partnerships and staff research, innovation and impact initiatives. 
Within the curriculum the commitment to live briefs, introduction of sandwich years and (in some courses) work placement opportunities will necessitate greater engagement with external partners, as will the commitment to helping PGRs recognise and prepare for careers beyond academia. Similarly, research projects will increasingly need to demonstrate impact and there is a need to embark on preparing impact projects for REF2027, as well as embed the impact agenda more widely within the faculty.
Numerous partnerships with external organisations already exist in the faculty. This will raise awareness of the knowledge exchange environment, the opportunities provided by ARU (such as KEEP+, KTP, SHOKE, Innovation vouchers, internships) and examples of good practice from elsewhere. Participation in sector organisations, such as Praxis Auris, The Cultural Capital Exchange, National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange, ASPECT, the National Centre for Universities and Business and Enterprise Educators raise awareness of sector initiatives and strengthen participation in networks and projects. The Faculty is well represented on key national sector organisations, Professor Sally Wade is Vice-Chair of the Council for Higher Education in Art and Design (CHEAD) and a member of the University Alliance Arts Deans Group and the All Party Parlimentary Group for Design (APDIG) and positioned to inform policy and debate at a national level. At a subject level our academic staff  represent teh Schools on national Subject Associations including Fashion and Textile association, Interior Educators, Association of Photography in Higher Educations and the Graphic Design Educators Network.  
Through a range of strategic actions we continue grow our connections with external partners. These will include making more of our alumni and engaging with them to provide knowledge, expertise and advice to students; actively promoting and celebrating voluntary work; making strategic use of honorary roles  to make connections into key sectors;  increasing the involvement of staff in sector networks and professional organisations (e.g. Cambridge Wireless  SIGs, Museums East, UKIE, BAFTSS, TIGA, Cambridge Arts Network); and actively engaging with local projects, festivals and networks such as  Harlow Ambassadors, Cambridge City Council’s Region of Learning project, the British Science Festival 2021, Cambridge Festival, Essex Festival and Norfolk and Norwich Festival to raise the profile of ARU, its student and staff and their skills and expertise. we have active engagement in externally run events such as Cambridge Arts Network conference.
There are links into creative technology and cultural organisations in the region, but the aim is to achieve greater impact through The Innovation Centre (‘Creative Hub’ working title) will be part of the R&I development, enabling dynamic relationships between industry partners and staff, students and graduates. This includes a facility to support students on graduation in enterprise, entrepreneurship, providing access to a ‘maker space’ and microstudios. Many students in these subjects develop portfolio careers and such an initiative would enhance recruitment and employability. Aimed at the cultural and creative industries it will facilitate and encourage transdisciplinary working across AHSS disciplines. An outline plan is in place to support this development, and links established with Allia, St John’s and the Bradfield Centre.

Main Focus

The Faculty of Arts Hunanities has a student body currently split 70:30 undergraduate to taught postgraduate, which is a reasonable balance in UK universities and one we aim to maintain.  Given the size of the student cohort, the faculty has healthy number of doctoral students studying PhD's. We will also be introducing professional doctorates in Policing with 5 students in 2021. 

The Faculty has three Research Institutes and also the University Language Centre, which offers pre-sessional language programmes to international students, bespoke language courses to external partners and international agencies and 'in-house' langugae modules across the university. 

CIMTR     Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research – ARU

StoryLab StoryLab – ARU

PIER Policing Institute for the Eastern Region – ARU

ARU-Language Centre Anglia Ruskin University Language Centre – ARU