New Business School set to transform education and industry engagement

Harper Adams University is transforming how it delivers education, knowledge exchange, research and business support by creating two new entities that will be shaped to best meet the university’s strategic vision for 2030.

The Harper Adams Business School will be dedicated to outstanding teaching and learning across business and land management, overseeing existing programmes and introducing new ones to meet the needs of individuals and industry, with innovative approaches to management, knowledge exchange and land-based decision-making.

Harper Food Innovation will drive forward research, knowledge exchange, university-business engagement and sustainable food product innovation, alongside delivering education and upskilling for food industry professionals.

Professor Ken Sloan, Harper Adams Vice-Chancellor, said: “A key strength of Harper Adams University is our relationship with industry and the ability to provide high calibre graduates for their employment needs and applied research. The creation of these two new entities will not only further clarify and promote the education provision of our students, but also the provision of applied research.”

The Harper Adams Business School will be led by Rebecca Payne, previously Head of the University’s Food Land and Agribusiness Management Department, which will be replaced by the two new entities.

She said: "Harper Adams University's reputation has been built on its relevance to our specialist industry sectors and businesses within them. We have a significant and distinctive approach to our interactions with and impact on business and we intend to leverage that even further through the Harper Adams Business School.

"Business schools are uniquely positioned to drive innovation and collaboration across their universities. By integrating Land Management into the Harper Adams Business School, we are showcasing our institution's strengths and distinctive character, and directly addressing the evolving needs of our industry partners.

"Numerous employers have expressed a growing demand for our expertise in supporting organisational and employee development, and we are committed to meeting this challenge head-on."

A new Head of Harper Food Innovation is yet to be appointed.

Professor Sloan explains: “The creation of Harper Food Innovation will allow the university to pursue a modern, progressive agenda for food. HFI and the University will play a key role in how food is developed and understood as the world grapples with the need to feed a burgeoning population, whilst limiting and reversing the environmental effects of increasing food production. We have started a process to appoint a Head of Department to take forward this mission with clarity and confidence.”

In creating the new two entities, the university will disband its existing Food, Land and Agribusiness academic department. Employees have been reassigned to either the business school or Harper Food Innovation. Despite the structural separation, opportunities will continue for cross-team collaboration and the University is seeking to create more spaces on campus for collaboration and networking.

While courses will now be linked to one of the two, students will see no changes to the delivery of teaching and learning and, for some routes, course content will continue to reach across departments. Students can expect to see benefits from the change as professional links and engagement opportunities are developed.