University of Bolton (UK) joins Engagement Australia

Engagement Australia (EA) is delighted to announce that the University of Bolton has joined as an Associate Member.

The University of Bolton, located in the Greater Manchester area of the United Kingdom is one of the UK’s most engaged universities. Established nearly 200 years ago from the Bolton Mechanics Institute, the University gained its degree awarding powers in 1990, and now has more than 900 academic and professional staff, teaching over 11,000 students. The University’s strengths are in engineering, architecture and the built environment, social work and social policy, all of which contain world-leading research. In 2023 the University was ranked #6 in the UK based on students’ satisfaction with teaching. The University has a diverse student population, with around 13% of home students coming from ethnic minority communities, and about 7% of its students classed as international.

Prof Jim Nyland, welcoming UoB to the EA Community

I am delighted to welcome the University of Bolton as our newest Associate Member at Engagement Australia. Encouraging and extending educational opportunity and impact, as well as providing HE of the highest quality to the widest possible populations, have been the hallmarks of their mission over the last decade, encapsulated in their University compendium ‘Future in History: the importance of continuity.’ Their Vice Chancellor, Professor George E Holmes, is currently the longest serving VC in the UK (and the youngest when appointed eighteen years ago) and is a regular visitor to this part of the world, presenting the Keynote Address at EA’s international conference in 2019 on The role of Civic Universities in our city regions.  EA welcomes the University of Bolton as our newest Associate Member to our increasingly global community.

Professor George E Holmes DL

There are significant historical associations, resonances and connections between Australian and British universities that will be helpful to both nations at this critically important time in our history. The 21st century in its third decade is entering an era of grave problems and challenges for which only a critical and engaged education can offer hope for the future. These futures will be shaped by the fact that we are making our future history right now. The Australian Universities Accord is seen as part of a new settlement that is needed where the connections between individual freedom, equality and social solidarity are in better balance. It seeks to build on the idea of mass higher education which is now the expectation of nearly everyone who must work in a burgeoning and increasingly internationalised economy and culture. Sharing knowledge, experience and best practice across the globe will undoubtedly help in this endeavour and the University of Bolton is delighted to join with Australia’s peak body for Engagement, Engagement Australia, to advance this critically important movement.

Professor Jim Nyland is the Executive Director, Corporate Engagement, Engagement Australia

Professor George E Holmes DL has been the Vice Chancellor of the University of Bolton/ Greater Manchester since 2005 and was the youngest ever person to be appointed and is now the longest serving VC in the UK.