It has been a pleasure to celebrate the success of our graduates this afternoon. May I thank the staff of the Guildhall for being so helpful and say what pleasure it has given us to have the Lord Mayor with us this morning and the Deputy Lord Mayor this afternoon
I bring greetings to you all from our Chancellor, Betty Boothroyd. She would have liked to be here again this year. Sadly, her duties as Speaker of the House of Commons made it impossible . But she is here in spirit and sends her warm congratulations to the graduates, to their families and friends, and to all the OU staff and tutors.
This has been a busy year for the OU in the South of England. The economic buoyancy of the region translates into steady growth in the number of people studying with the Open University.
Under the inspiring leadership of our Director, Sheelagh Watts, my colleagues have made a particular point of improving our communication with potential students in the 18-25 age group, whose numbers are rising sharply.
At the same time 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 the South have risen to the challenge magnificently - determined to make the OU the national benchmark of quality for support to students.
It is also our constant concern to ensure that students and graduates derive maximum benefit from their OU studies for their work and careers. This Region has major projects with our Vocational Qualifications Centre to develop work-related education that involves National Vocational Qualifications, other occupationally related qualifications, and key skills.
A key purpose of our Regional Centre is to maintain close relationships with local institutions. In this era when partnerships are the key to progress we are putting those links on a more systematic basis.
The focus on lifelong learning in the Government's recent green paper - and its University for Industry project - give particular importance to our work with the Training and Enterprise Councils, the Local Authorities, the Confederation of British Industry and the Government Office.
We also appreciate our links with local colleges and universities and are particularly proud of our long association with the University of Reading - host to a major OU summer school for many years.
It is a special pleasure to welcome representives of some of our partners to this ceremony and to tell them how much we value our association with them.
It has been heart-warming 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:
First, the next question. Who said this?
"I think Open University study should be compulsory. You should never stop learning. You should keep going till you drop dead."
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 regional staff measure their own success by our students' success. I imagine many of today's graduates feel indebted to the OU people 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 tidying the garden! But before you list the chores 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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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 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 will be published with the Independent on the first Thursday of every month starting next month. You can join the OU On-line community which goes 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."I wish you all success as graduates and I thank you for being part of the Open University.