Supporting our Community: The University of Northampton’s Response to Covid-19

I am delighted to write this foreword outlining the University of Northampton’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The University’s mission is transforming lives + inspiring change and I cannot see better examples showing this than the way in which students and staff have come together to support themselves and the local and regional community during this extraordinary time. The relocation from our two former campuses to Waterside Campus in 2018 and the associated changes to our teaching and learning model, our ways of working and our physical assets have been key to our positive, socially innovative retort to the Covid-19 challenge.

Take for example the way in which our students have selflessly joined the frontline in healthcare settings to support the NHS, effectively adapted to their teaching being delivered online via our virtual learning environment or how we have collaborated with local businesses and other partners to support them with the challenges they have faced. Many of the activities we have supported, and their social impact, will continue to resonate long after the pandemic has subsided and help further cement the University as an anchor institution in Northampton and the wider County.

Professor Nick Petford DSc
Vice Chancellor and CEO