Outgoing Chair thankful for support

01 Jul 2015

Professor Mick Fuller took the opportunity to formally thank the support shown to him from colleagues in the Council’s Executive Committee, membership and staff office as he stepped down as UKCGE Chair at the 2015 UKCGE Annual Conference AGM.

Outgoing Chair thankful for support

Professor Fuller who is also stepping down from his role as Head of the Graduate School at Plymouth University but remains a member on the EUA CDE Steering Committee said,

‘It has been quite a journey throughout my time with UKCGE, but as Chair I think the journey has taken a big upturn in the last 3 years. This has been a team effort and the commitment from the Executive Committee has been really fantastic and we have been strongly backed up by the team in the office.

Where the Council is now is a credit to the executive committee, the staff team and the whole membership. Just 4 or 5 years ago we were quite concerned about the future of the organisation with a downturn in attendance at conferences and workshops but having taken some bold steps to invest and put our reputation on the line the sector and the membership responded and attendance at meetings has gone up and up and up and continues to rise.

The Council is by you people (the postgraduate community) for you people (the postgraduate community) and it’s a membership organisation that really tries to bring you together to talk about what’s good practice in your institutions, what’s coming up in policy and how that’s going to challenge us all. By sharing that good practice and learning from each other we all get better and better and better. We, as managers and deliverers of graduate education, all understand the page we’re on, even if our institutions don’t always appreciate what it is that we do.

I wish the Council all the best for the future, I know it’s going to go from strength to strength under Rosemary’s Leadership and I look forward to watching it continue to grow. I have a number of my own private things that I will be doing in the future which I am looking forward to enjoying particularly in China and other national and international opportunities which I am eager to get to grips with. Thank you all once again for your support and good luck for the future.’

Professor Fuller was presented with a gift from Gill Clarke, UKCGE Vice Chair on behalf of all of the Executive Committee and staff team for his services to the Council over the last 10 years. On presentation of the gift Gill said,

‘Mick has raised the profile of the Council (and postgraduate education) considerably both nationally and internationally during his time as UKCGE Chair. Mick is an outstanding leader who demonstrates excellent collegiality, both within the Executive and as head of the Council. It’s very sad to say goodbye to Mick as Chair but we are also welcoming Rosemary and wishing her much success in her new role.’