Covid-related revisions to the Strategic Plan
Our new Strategic Plan 2020-25 ‘Community and Connection’ was launched exactly a year ago today, on 10th March 2020. An hour after this launch we announced that our lectures would move online in response to the Covid threat, and two days later the country entered the first of several lockdowns due to the Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic emergency has caused an immediate and seismic shift in the way we connect and conduct our activities, both within Trinity and out in the wider world. This has made it necessary to undertake an assessment of our Strategic Plan to see what aspects of it might need revision in light of the ongoing effects of the pandemic.
The title of our Strategic Plan 2020-25, ‘Community and Connection’, has become more important than ever. Our vision of global connection and inspiration and our strong emphasis on community remain fundamentally unchanged while the challenges of the future have come into stark relief. As a community we will continue to work towards this vision through our mission and the nine cross-cutting goals of the Strategic Plan.
However we recognise some of the 115 actions and targets underpinning those goals will require revision to ensure they continue to provide a meaningful aim. At its meeting of 24 February 2021, Board approved the 17 revisions set out in the table below. We have updated our Strategic Plan website accordingly including the version available for download (PDF). These revisions are mainly in the areas of:
- International targets, where Covid-19’s effects on student mobility are likely to be seen particularly for the non-EU cohort;
- Finance-related targets, as inevitable financial impacts of the pandemic crisis create the need for more realistic stretch targets in a few select areas; and
- Capital and infrastructure plans, already impacted by factors such as construction bans during lockdown phases and delays in projects such as the opening of Printing House Square.
Our Strategic Plan already had us forging ahead in certain areas that have now come to the fore even more in terms of emphasis and acceleration. Our plans for more flexible delivery of offerings such as in the area of micro-credentialing and CPD have been bolstered by the sudden move to blended/online learning caused by the crisis. Other actions identified in our Strategic Plan have taken on a new urgency such as in the areas of research, digital strategies, scholarships, sustainability, health, communication, flexible working, and alumni connections.
As a community, we have shown ourselves capable of agility, compassion and resilience in the face of the massive challenges presented by the Covid-19 crisis. These same qualities will stand to us as we work together as one Trinity community to achieve the goals and vision of the Strategic Plan 2020-25.
| Number | Original Action/Target | Board-approved Revised Action/Target |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | Pursue strategies to ensure that by 2025, 30-35% of our students will come from outside of Ireland, up from our 2016/17 baseline of 24%. [GRS3] | Pursue strategies to ensure that by 2025, over 30% of our students will come from outside of Ireland, up from our 2016/17 baseline of 24%. [GRS3] |
| 2.9 | Open Printing House Square early in 2020, providing 250 more student beds and a student welfare centre, and build at least 350 additional new affordable student accommodation spaces by 2025 in Dartry. [ES; TCDSU] | Open Printing House Square in 2021, providing 250 more student beds and a student welfare centre. [ES; TCDSU] |
| 4.1 | Increase academic staff in excess of 200 to enhance research excellence across the university. [DR; FAHSS; FEMS; FHS] | Increase academic staff by approximately 200 to enhance research excellence across the university. [DR; FAHSS; FEMS; FHS] |
| 4.8 | Host public research events around the campus, including more than 1,000 in the 2020 to 2025 period in the Trinity Long Room Hub. [TLRH] | Host public research events around the campus or virtually, including more than 1,000 in the 2020 to 2025 period in the Trinity Long Room Hub. [TLRH] |
| 4.14 | Put in place an Industry Advisory Board by 2020. [TR&I] | Put in place an Industry Advisory Board by 2021. [TR&I] |
| 5.3 | By the end of 2020, have set targets for the significant reduction of our carbon footprint. [DR; RG] | By July 2021, have set targets for the significant reduction of our carbon footprint. [DR; RG] |
| 6.3 | By 2025, ensure that 50% of the graduating undergraduate cohort will have had an international experience as part of their programme. [GRS3] | By 2025, ensure that between 40 and 45% of the graduating undergraduate cohort will have had an international experience as part of their programme. [GRS3] |
| 6.8 | Further diversify the international student body with an additional 1,000 non-EU students, bringing their overall number to 4,000 by 2025. [GRS3; E3; LS; BSDP; SOM] | Further diversify the international student body with an additional 750 non-EU students, bringing their overall number to 3,750 by 2025. [GRS3; E3; LS; BSDP; SOM] |
| 6.9 | Increase the number of non-EU postgraduate taught students by 42%. [GRS3] | Increase the number of non-EU postgraduate taught students by between 35 and 38%. [GRS3] |
| 7.2 | Complete work on a new generation teaching space enabled by philanthropy, the Martin Naughton E3 Learning Foundry, by 2022, providing a home for the E3 project, uniting the Schools of Computer Science and Statistics, Engineering, and Natural Sciences. This building will achieve Well Building standards and BREEAM excellence. [E3; ES] | Complete work on a new generation teaching space enabled by philanthropy, the Martin Naughton E3 Learning Foundry, in 2023, providing a home for the E3 project, uniting the Schools of Computer Science and Statistics, Engineering, and Natural Sciences. This building will achieve Well Building standards and BREEAM excellence. [E3; ES] |
| 7.5 | Build the new collaborative off-site Collections Resource Centre, thereby improving the environment for our collections and enabling the re-imagination/re-configuration of our contemporary library spaces. [ES; LS] | Develop plans for the new collaborative off-site Collections Resource Centre, thereby improving the environment for our collections and enabling the re-imagination/re-configuration of our contemporary library spaces. [ES; LS] |
| 7.6 | Refurbish, by 2022, the campus’s oldest building, the Rubrics, and Chief Stewards House, providing new student and staff accommodation and a research space for Fellows Emeriti. [ES] | Refurbish, by early 2023, the campus’s oldest building, the Rubrics, and Chief Stewards House, providing new student and staff accommodation and a research space for Fellows Emeriti. [ES] |
| 9.1 | Have funding, including philanthropy, in place for investment of €300m over the next five years in new infrastructure projects set out in the Strategic Plan, including the Martin Naughton E3 Learning Foundry, a new Law School, and student accommodation facilities in Printing House Square and at Dartry. We are also committed to investing in longer term strategic projects such as the new Trinity @ Grand Canal Quay on the TTEC site and the Old Library refurbishment and are currently evaluating funding options to support these projects. [ES; E3; FSD; LSDP; T@GCQ; TDA] | Have funding, including philanthropy, in place for investment of €300m over the next five years in new infrastructure projects set out in the Strategic Plan, including the Martin Naughton E3 Learning Foundry and student accommodation facilities in Printing House Square while continuing to develop a new Law School. We are also committed to investing in longer term strategic projects such as the new Trinity East (formerly Trinity @ Grand Canal Quay) and the Old Library refurbishment and are currently evaluating funding options to support these projects. [ES; E3; FSD; LSDP; T@GCQ; TDA] |
| 9.2 | Achieve financial sustainability through annual net surplus (before unrealised gains and losses) of 1% of income from 2020 onwards with targeted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortisation) growth from 3% to 8% of income by 2025 to cover annual costs associated with our capital investment programme. [FSD] | Achieve financial sustainability through annual net surplus growth (before unrealised gains and losses) to 1% of income with targeted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortisation) growth from 3% to 8% of income by 2025 to cover annual costs associated with our capital investment programme. [FSD] |
| 9.3 | Grow student numbers (which underpin income growth), in line with the Global Relations Strategy 3, which includes targeted growth in postgraduate student numbers from 28% to 32% of total student base over five years and growth in non-EU student numbers from 15% to 18.5% by 2025. [GRS3] | Grow student numbers (which underpin income growth), in line with the Global Relations Strategy 3, which includes targeted growth in postgraduate student numbers from 28% to 32% of total student base over five years and growth in non-EU student numbers from 15% to 18% by 2025. [GRS3] |
| 9.5 | Continue to plan for a reduction in the university’s reliance on exchequer income and anticipate an increase in non-exchequer income from 60% in 2019 to 65% in 2025. [FSD] | Continue to plan for a reduction in the university’s reliance on exchequer income and anticipate an increase in non-exchequer income from 60% in 2019 to 63% in 2025. [FSD] |
| 9.7 | Ensure net assets of the university are maintained at a minimum level of €800m over the period of the plan. [FSD] | Ensure net assets of the university are, following the impact of Covid-19, restored to and maintained at a minimum level of €800m over the period of the plan. [FSD] |