Annwyl Gyfeillion
It has been a pleasure to celebrate the success of our graduates this afternoon and a special privilege to be with our Chancellor, who is presiding for the first time at our degree ceremony in Wales.
The entire Open University community was thrilled when Madam Speaker agreed to become Madam Chancellor.
Students and graduates have told me that they are inspired by her remarkable career. Many can identify personally with the challenges she has overcome.
Madam Chancellor, we all admire the dedication and determination that you bring to your task as Speaker of the House of Commons. Your desire to underpin the great ideal of representative democracy with sound parliamentary practice mirrors our aspiration to express the high educational ambitions of our founders in an effective and exciting manner.
Since we held our degree ceremony in Cardiff last year the people of Wales have voted in favour of a Welsh Assembly. The Open University sees fresh opportunities in these new constitutional arrangements. I have spent most of my own academic career in Canada, and most of that in French-language institutions in Quebec, so I have long experience of the dynamics of a federal state and the role of language in educational and cultural policy.
Heddiw mae pobl yn teithio ar draws y byd mewn amser byr am fod dyn yn hoffi symud ymlaen.
A'r byd yn llai ac yn llai fel y gwna Europ hefyd, ond credaf fi fod hyn yn rhoi mwy o bwysigrwydd i wledydd back fel Cymru, ei hiaith a'i diwylliant.
This is why the Open University is enriched by its presence throughout the United Kingdom, throughout Europe, and throughout the world. It is our ambition both to lead locally and to guide globally.
So here in Wales we have been involved in the group advising the Welsh Office on a University for Industry for Wales, and this year we organised the annual lecture of the Community University of the Valleys at Cwmbran.
My distinguished colleague Professor Doreen Massey, one of world's leading intellects in the field of human geography, spoke on a subject that could be the motto of the Open University, 'Democratising Knowledge'.
The Open University in Wales enhances the OU in the wider world. A perfect example of this is my colleague Trevor Herbert, a member of our academic staff here in Wales, who has this year been appointed Professor of Music in the Open University in recognition of his remarkable work on the musical history of brass bands. Professor Herbert's research was done on bands in Wales, but has been acclaimed internationally. Likewise his work as a teacher has inspired tens of thousands of OU students.
Conversely Wales benefits from OU initiatives in the rest of the world. This year, for example, we developed a unique high level Vocational Qualification in Engineering Technology Management in collaboration with Scottish Power. That qualification is now available to students in Wales.
It has been heart-warming for the Chancellor and me to meet our new graduates. You said that an OU degree is hard work but most of you seemed to enjoy it. That encourages me to give you a final test before we release you from OU study. It's like a CMA - that's a Computer Marked Assignment - but correction will be immediate.
Each question is a short quotation. You have to identify the source.
If you are ready for number 1 the quotation is:
"The Open University is one of the UK's great education success stories"Where do you think that quotation came from?
The paper includes a number of case studies to illustrate its vision of the future and none is more glowing than its account of your University. You should be proud. The accomplishments that the Government praises are yours.
Let's move to question 2. The quote is:
"The revolution in distance learning MBA courses has been brought about, almost single-handed, by the Open Business School, which is part of the Open University"Which newspaper do you think published that comment?
But onto my next question. The quote is:
"Forget the old image of middle-aged housewives watching anoraks teaching thermo-dynamics at 3am. The OU is now dead cool, with the largest number of students aged 25-45. Whatever the stuffed shirts said in the 1960s, no-one doubts the excellent of its degree courses today. Its reputation is global".Who could have linked us to 'Cool Britannia' in that fashion:
And the last question in this quick version of University challenge. My final quotation:
"From a lifetime's experience as a businessman, and from my wife's experience as a student of the Open University, I have to say that the Open University is one of the most efficient and customer-sensitive enterprises I have come across... It is a tremendous UK export. Its professionalism, its capacity to continually add value, and the reliability of its systems in delivering learning on a huge scale all distinguish the Open University as a world leader... The Open University is simply the best."Who is speaking?
One reason the OU attracts such plaudits is that my OU tutor colleagues and our local staff measure their own success by our students' success. All regions of the OU are changing their operating practices so as to take advantage of the ways in which new computer systems allow us to give our students better and more personal service. Our staff in Wales are rising to the challenge magnificently - determined to make the OU an international benchmark of quality for support to students.
In this context I express our gratitude and best wishes to our Welsh Director, Dr John McGrath, who will retire at the end of this month. He came to us after a distinguished career in the Royal Navy and we thank him for his years of contribution of the OU in Wales.
I am sure that today's graduates feel indebted to all the OU people in Wales who supported them when they were discouraged. Let's show our appreciation for their work.
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I know there are other people to whom you, as graduates, feel grateful. It is wonderful to see in today's gathering so many of the graduates' family members, relatives and friends. We're delighted you are here.
Success in the Open University depends on the tolerance and support of others. All of you who have had OU students in your home or in your circle of friends are aware of the impact of OU study on family and social life. I expect you are now helping your graduate rediscover forgotten aspects of real life.
Help is now at hand for redecorating the house and cleaning the car! There may even be more time for family outings. But before you think up new projects I know that the graduates would like to thank those who have supported them through their studies. Can we have a round of applause for the support of your families, friends, and colleagues?
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This year the OU will award its 200,000th Bachelor's degree and it has made some 50,000 postgraduate awards. As graduates in Wales you are part of a huge global OU community that is a force in the world. We want you to keep in touch with the OU. You can join the Association of Open University Graduates and this year we are introducing new ways for you to stay in contact.
You can read the special OU supplement, Open Eye, that is published in Independent on the first Thursday of every month. The first issue appeared two weeks ago. You can also join the OU On-line community which went live this month and can provide you with a free personalised home page on the Web and an e-mail address for life.
In short, we are creating special links for the graduates of a special University.
Just how special is made clear in a best selling book about Britain written by an American. On the last page of Bill Bryson's "Notes from a Small Island" he writes:
"What other nation in the world could have given us William Shakespeare, pork pies, Christopher Wren, Windsor Great Park, the Open University, Gardeners' Question Time and the chocolate digestive biscuit? None of course."Gaf fi ddymuno, pob llwyddiant i chwi, yn a dyfodol.
Diolch i chwi, astudio drwy'r brifysgol agored.
I wish you all success as graduates and I thank you for being part of the Open University.