The Final Word

What do you think of the Edge Hill campus?
Edge Hill University has a wonderful campus that is obviously providing industry-standard facilities to its students, enabling them to be ready to enter the world of work as soon as they leave. As a university providing a campus experience, I think prospective students would find it difficult to get any better than Edge Hill. The buildings are fabulous, with a really welcoming atmosphere. What I have heard here today from academics and students alike reassures me that Edge Hill is providing the best in academic theory, together with flourishing partnerships that provide excellent practical learning environments for students.

Your department recently published a report Creative Britain, with a vision to nurture the UK's creative economies. What is the thinking behind this?
Two million people are employed in creative jobs in the UK and the sector contributes £60bn a year to the British economy, so they are of enormous value to us. Creative Britain is a strategy to provide the best possible support to industries such as music, theatre, media and sport and will ensure that we have an abundant pool of talented people with the right skills to meet the needs of these sectors.

How will its recommendations benefit graduates who are trying to build a career within the creative sectors like the media?
The report sets out a commitment to research how employers and universities can work together and collaborate to ensure students leave education equipped with the skills they need to succeed in creative workplaces. The BBC’s MediaCity in Salford will offer a huge range of opportunities for students to increase their employability and gain transferable skills, so partnerships between institutions like Edge Hill and corporations like the BBC are all-important.

What were your own ambitions when leaving University?
When I graduated, I tried really hard to get a job in journalism, but I found it impossible. I remember it feeling like it must be who you know, not what you know. I am happy to say that the traditional gatekeepers to the media world are changing and it is a much more level playing field now.

The report also outlines a tough stance on intellectual property rights and copyright infringement, particularly on the internet. Tell us a bit about that.
Access to digital technology means that creative barriers are being lowered and once an idea or a piece of work finds its way onto the internet, it is automatically seen by lots of people to be public property. The talented students of today need Government legislation to protect their intellectual property so that they can express their ideas in a safe environment that will ensure that they get the credit they deserve. Students today need to leave universities like Edge Hill with a self-preservation kit made up of legislative knowledge and practical skills to protect their intellectual property. Only then will the correct balance between the demands of the consumer and the intellectual rights of the artist be fully protected.