In the past few days I was pleased to pay another visit to our local University to meet the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Petford and some of his senior team..
In recent years the university opened its new Waterside Campus, a very modern space built to attract the best from around the country and from around the world. The University has 16,000 students and since the building of this new campus, the international student population has increased.
I was pleased to hear of the great progress the university is making as it transitions back into in-person learning, something which it was not able to do over the pandemic. As other universities struggled to adjust to the new learning circumstances in 2020, Northampton was well-prepared for the abrupt transition and successfully enabled its students to learn effectively whilst they were not able to meet face-to-face with lecturers and advisers.
I have been working with Professor Petford for the full 12 years I have been a Member of Parliament, as he became Vice Chancellor just after the 2010 election. Over the years I have visited the University numerous times and two Prime Ministers have visited at my invitation, Boris Johnson in 2014 and Theresa May when she was Home Secretary. I remember being shown the drawings of the Waterside campus long before the move took place.
Professor Petford is now retiring this summer and I wish him all the very best. I look forward to working with the new Vice-Chancellor in the coming months and years to ensure that the University of Northampton is always well supported and continues to provide a top-class education for its students.
(Photo Above Left: Michael Ellis MP with senior University staff, including out-going Vice Chancellor, Professor Nick Petford, right)