Members of Senate, Graduates, Ladies and Gentlemen.
It has been a pleasure to celebrate the success of our graduates this afternoon. I bring greetings to you all from our Chancellor, Betty Boothroyd. She would have liked to preside at today's ceremony but her duties at the House of Commons prevented it. I assure you that she is here in spirit and sends her warm congratulations to the graduates, to their families and friends, and to all the staff of the OU.
Professor Laurillard and I have enjoyed meeting our new graduates today. You said that an OU degree is hard work but most of you seemed to enjoy it. That inspires 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 correct answer is number two. Last month the Secretary of State, David Blunkett, published an important consultative paper with the title: The Learning Age: A renaissance for a new Britain. It says that the whole country must now espouse the goal of lifelong learning that has motivated the OU for thirty years.
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 because the accomplishments that the Government praises are your accomplishments.
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?
In fact it's the Wall Street Journal. We are pleased that our Business School is having a global impact for good. This year saw new groups of OU Business School Students in India and Africa. Next year we shall have a presence in the United States.
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:
This one was in the Independent in April. This newspaper is so impressed with the OU that it is now publishing a monthly supplement specially for the OU community. But I'll come back to that.
First, the next question. Who gave this advice?
"If ministers want more adults to return to studying at the least cost to the taxpayer, a big expansion of the OU seems an obvious and desirable solution."
That was the advice given by The Economist newspaper in February when the government announced that it wants to get an extra 500,000 people into universities and further education colleges by the year 2002. In the article The Economist noted that the OU is the most cost-effective provider of university education in Britain.
And so to 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?
That was Lord Simon, Minister for Trade and Competitiveness in Europe, speaking at the most recent Labour Party conference. Lord Simon is one of the hundreds of thousands or people with an OU student as a spouse.
Today's graduates know that success in the Open University depends on the tolerance and support of others. I know there are many people to whom they feel grateful. It is wonderful to see so many of the graduates' family members, relatives and friends on campus today. We're delighted you are here.
You are all aware of the impact of OU study on family and social life and I expect that 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! More frequent family outings may now be possible. But before you dream up chores or excursions I know that the graduates would like to thank those who have supported them through their studies. Let's have a round of applause for the support of your families, friends, and colleagues?
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In that last quotation Lord Simon talked of the professionalism and customer-sensitivity of the Open University and the reliability of its systems. We are delighted by such accolades but we do not take them for granted. This is not the time to talk at length about how we are keeping the OU at the leading edge of higher education but allow me three quick points.
First, we have taken important steps to integrate and improve our services to students. We shall soon complete a £10 million investment in the computer systems that support these services. They now allow all OU staff who provide advice and administrative services to students to have instant access to all necessary information wherever they are. And because computer networks are redefining geography we have created a single Student Services Division, under Professor Sewart's direction, that brings together all regional and central academic and administrative services for students.
Second, we are also completing another £10 million investment in the application of new technologies to teaching and learning. This development is being carried out under Professor Laurillard's guidance and is fundamental to the OU's future. The challenge, of course, is adopt new technologies at a pace that is in step with the desires and skills of students and staff. Students must want to acquire the necessary equipment. Staff must see academic advantage in using new media.
Although we are not rushing into new technologies for teaching and learning the scale of the OU means that we are leading the world in this transformation. Over 40,000 OU students are now on-line from home and they exchange nearly 200,000 messages every day. No other university can match that intensity of communication. Likewise our use of multi-media on CD-ROM is proving highly popular with students and winning national awards. We are building on these developments.
Third, we are expanding and enriching the OU's curriculum. By the year 2000 we shall offer a range of named undergraduate degrees. Perhaps of more direct interest to today's graduates is the rapid development of postgraduate programmes. Many of today's graduates said that they found OU study addictive and will find it difficult to stop. You don't have to. There is an increasing number of Master's programmes for you to choose from and we look forward to seeing you again soon.
All these new initiatives are keeping the staff of the University extremely busy. At the regional degree ceremonies I find that graduates want to express their appreciation to their tutors and to the regional staff. You will also want to express your thanks to those in your regions who helped you. However, since we are at Walton Hall I invite you to include in those thanks the thousands of OU and BBC staff on this campus who work tirelessly for the benefit of students everywhere. May we have a round of applause for all those who have helped you achieve the success we celebrate today?
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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 you are part of a global OU community that is a force in the world. Please keep in touch with the OU. You can join the Association of Open University Graduates which fosters a sense of community among graduates.
This year we are introducing extra ways for you to stay in contact.
You can read the special OU supplement, Open Eye, that is now published with the Independent on the first Thursday of every month. The third issue appears tomorrow.
Or you can join the OU On-line community which went live in April. It can provide you with a free personalised home page on the Web and an e-mail address for life. We want the OU to be at the heart of the most interesting and diverse community of thinking people in cyberspace.
Please take advantage of the special links that we are creating for the graduates of a very 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."
I wish you all success as graduates and I thank you for being part of the Open University.