The meaning of "excellence" in higher education was the topic of Professor Alice Gast's second annual address to the Imperial community.

In the speech, she explored excellence in the context of peer review, metrics, the student experience and the changing higher education landscape.

Professor Gast took the chance to congratulate more than 150 members of the Imperial community who received external honours and prizes, including Lord Darzi’s Order of Merit and others receiving Queen’s birthday and new year honours. 

A new £1 million annual fund to promote excellence and innovation in teaching and research was announced.

President Gast also remarked upon the excellence to be found in unexpected places at Imperial, from talented ballroom dancers to the accomplished musicians in the College’s symphony orchestra: “This is what we do at Imperial, we define excellence in new and unexpected ways."

Challenging the status quo

Questioning what we “really mean” by excellence, Professor Gast said: “We each have our own personal measures of achievement.  We push ourselves to do the very best we can.  We know in our hearts when we measure up and we know when we don’t.”

She asked whether the current peer review system promotes the status quo: “Can it reward the new, the outlier, and the risk-taker? We need to ensure that the peer-review process will support the non-traditional, the avant-garde, the blue skies ideas that have not been tested.

“One way to do this is to continually bring fresh voices to the stable of reviewers. Then, reviewers should be provoked to think about new and different ideas.  Framing questions about the novelty of an approach or idea and its value in advancing a field, will help peers to think beyond what was excellent last year.

“We must remember too that we are the peers and being an excellent reviewer should be something we all aspire to. If we as reviewers promote innovative, multidisciplinary and blue skies research perhaps our example will be followed by others.”

Beyond metrics

Professor Gast made clear that “metrics alone are inadequate” for capturing excellence: “I think the debate about peer review versus metrics should be turned toward a balanced combination of peer review and metrics”.

Chair of Council Sir Philip Dilley introduces President Gast

Welcoming Professor Stephen Richardson’s review into internal measures of excellence (pdf), which took input from the College community, she said it has “paved the way for us to better define and recognise quality for the academic staff at the College... The primary conclusion in their report is that metrics should be used with care”.

Professor Gast outlined plans for a “new approach for individual evaluation that combines metrics with peer review” and which is based on a “profile” rather than aimed at specific metrics. It will be implemented in the next academic year.

The College’s Operational Excellence programme was hailed for ingraining excellence as an attitude throughout the College.

External measures: voicing our concerns

Government-driven measures to measure quality in higher education, through the under-review Research Excellence Framework (REF), the forthcoming Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), and the National Student Survey (NSS) were put under the spotlight during the address. 

President Gast said it is important to “voice our concerns when we think that a proposed framework will inhibit or discourage excellence rather than support and reward it.”

Warning of the risks of “grade inflation” in the REF, she said: “There is much more to the REF than the numbers.”

Professor Gast went on to highlight the true impact of Imperial’s work, which has helped to tackle key societal problems – from eradicating polio to preventing forgeries, and from creating more efficient ways to power homes to developing quieter aircraft.

Improving the student experience

Professor Gast acknowledged that in student satisfaction, Imperial was “far from excellent”, saying that Imperial’s new Vice Provost (Education), Professor Simone Buitendijk, will be working closely with students to improve in this area.

A reception for staff and guests followed the address

Measures will include improved feedback for students, and increased mental health support.

A £1 million yearly fund was announced to reward excellence and promote courageous and innovative ideas in teaching and research. 

Concluding her remarks, President Gast said: “It is a privilege to be the president of this great university. Together we will define and demonstrate excellence in ways that no other university can”.