Starters for six: how the newest universities see themselves

Questions

1. What is the main advantage of gaining the university title?

2. What image do you hope to build, and how will your logo reflect this?

3. How do you expect your institution to have developed in five and ten years?

Answers

Chester University

1. The title is fitting recognition of the work of staff and students.

2. The new logo is derived from the previous university college's grant of arms by the College of Heralds. Its use signifies continuity.

3. In the long term, there will be more high-quality teaching and research and services to business and the community. The Warrington campus will have developed to meet local needs. Activities will have diversified from core undergraduate programmes.

Canterbury Christ Church University

1. The title recognises our full membership in the higher education community.

2. We will build on our image as a university with an emphasis on preparing people for professional life. The logo will stay much the same.

3. Too early to say about the long term: we are about to start a new strategic planning process.

Liverpool Hope University

1. The title gives clarity and prestige and acknowledges that we are at a level equivalent to other universities. It corrects the anomaly that institutions such as ours were overlooked in previous expansions.

2. We will build on our Christian foundations to consolidate our position as a high-quality teaching-led and research-informed ecumenical liberal arts university. Our new visual identity will be based on several theologically sound principles in colour and content.

3. Within five years, we want to have more postgraduate students and an extensive international network. Within ten years, we want a significantly higher academic standing in key disciplines and to be an active member of an international network of faith-based institutions.

University College Northampton (name is subject of consultation)

1. We can now develop research degrees, which will mean we can offer a "cradle-to-grave" education. The title is a bonus that will clarify our position in student recruitment at home and abroad and enhance our ability to compete for students and research contracts.

2. Our image will be a continuation and a development of what we have built as a regionally engaged, nationally recognised university college. We are undertaking research on new logo.

3. In five years, we want to see modest growth to 12,000 full-time equivalent students. We will have developed a broader range of research degrees in innovative areas supported by strong research infrastructure.

Southampton Solent University

1. The title confirms our status as a major higher education institution and recognises appropriately the achievements of staff and students.

2. We shall build on our core values of friendliness, accessibility, creativity, energy and teaching excellence. The new logo is a dynamic red spark.

3. Long term, we want to be about 5 per cent larger in student numbers, with a trebling of numbers at postgraduate level, and we want to occupy a larger and enhanced campus in Southampton.

Winchester University

1. The title clarifies what we do and where we are.

2. We will keep the University College Winchester logo, which is based on Winchester Cathedral. The modern interpretation of the cathedral in the logo catches the image we want - of an established institution in tune with the modern world.

3. In five years, we want to have gained research degree-awarding powers and to have shifted the balance away from full-time undergraduate level towards foundation and postgraduate levels. In ten years, we aim to have a major campus in Basingstoke and an international profile.