Insider Profiles: Dr Richard Medcalf

Dr Richard Medcalf joined the University of Wolverhampton in 2011. Having completed his doctorate at the University of Worcester, Richard then lectured at both the University and Hartpury College in Gloucestershire prior to moving to Wolverhampton. He lectured in Sport & Leisure here from 2011 to 2014, was then Head of Student Experience in the Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing from 2014 to 2016, before working for the OVC as Associate Dean for Academic Enhancement from 2016 to April of this year. It was in April that he was appointed as the Director of the Institute of Sport & Human Science. Insider caught up with Richard to find out more about his new role.

INSIDER: Richard, you have carried out some different roles in your career so far. Before we talk about your present position, your previous role with the OVC included putting a lot of time into the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) application, for which the University received a Silver award.

RICHARD: An incredible amount of time and energy went into our TEF submission, by a huge range of colleagues from across the university. The TEF forms a major part of current Higher Education policy from the Office for Students. It is a measurement which has focused a lot of attention around teaching excellence and we were thrilled to receive the Silver award this year. That was a recognition that the work people are carrying out all the way through the University is really starting to pay dividends. There is still a great deal of work to do around the TEF agenda, especially when there is subject TEF to follow in two years’ time, but this shows we are on a positive trajectory with some momentum to build on. To an extent TEF doesn’t measure anything that we don’t already care about. We want our students to be satisfied, we want them to stay and complete their courses, and we want them to find employment after they have graduated. TEF brings all those factors together, and staff should be very proud of the Silver award. But no one will be getting complacent and there is still more work for all of us to do regarding student satisfaction, continuation and employability.

INSIDER: As mentioned, in April of this year you were appointed as Director of the Institute of Sport & Human Sciences. Back to the world of sport then….

RICHARD: Sport is my subject area and is where I have always been based academically. But this is a more far-reaching role as well, including the valuable discipline of Psychology, in which the University is very strong. It is a good time for the Institute, as sport and psychology only joined together under one Institute about six months ago. It includes the three entities of sport, psychology, and WLV Sport. There will be a new strategy from September and new programmes launched over the next few years. In terms of WLV Sport, we are one of the few academic institutes that include a trading arm which covers the whole University and is a staff, student and community partnership-based provision. That was a decision taken several years ago by the Vice-Chancellor on seeing the synergy between the sports programme and the academic discipline. There is lots of really positive development work between the two sides of the Institute and you’ll see more occasions of this way of working in future.

INSIDER: And there is also the potential for strong links between sport and psychology?

RICHARD: Yes there is overlap between sport and psychology and we are delighted that the University boasts some of the leaders in the industry in sports psychology. In academics such as Professor Andy Lane, Professor Tracey Devenport and Dr Chris Sellars, we have a really good group of sports psychologists who are world-renowned in their fields. We teach Sports Psychology as part of the Exercise Science degree and we will also be looking at academic provision and ways of crossing the two disciplines. There are a lot of theoretical and psychological links between the two and also practical links which we can try and develop more. Our undergraduate provision is strong but maybe we can have a look at our postgraduate provision? That is something that we will be looking into.

INSIDER: In terms of psychology itself, how do you feel the subject matches up?

RICHARD: Our psychology provision is one of the most successful departments in the University, consistently receiving a high level of student satisfaction. The course performed well in the recent Guardian League table which was published, finishing 42nd, which put it in the top half on the national landscape for that subject area. There is a really buoyant research culture within the department, and we will be welcoming a new Professor of Psychology in September having also just welcomed two new Readers in Psychology. There are a lot of positive news stories around psychology here at the moment. We will be aiming to continue to grow that provision and invest in it further because it is a really important department.

INSIDER: Tell us more about the WLV Sport offering…

RICHARD: We have a sport provision on every campus, and WLV sport makes a huge contribution to university life. The Institute is responsible for community use and community membership at both City Campus and Walsall in terms of gym membership. We also arrange all student memberships, so if a student is in a Hall of Residence they will also get their gym membership as part of their fees. Both staff and students can join the gyms at a reasonable price, and we now have almost 2,500 members across the sites which comprises of approximately 1,200 students, 500 staff and 750 community members. In terms of performance, we have reached our highest position in BUCS (British Universities and College Sport). So that means that with our University sport on Wednesday afternoons, we are doing better than we ever have done before. And there is some excellent momentum around our focus sports including football, with girls’ football in particular going really well. The development of our strategy includes more concentration around sports like basketball and netball, and we now have a link with the Wasps Netball Club. We have appointed some brilliant head coaches for our teams and sport as a whole is gaining some excellent momentum.

INSIDER: You mention the netball partnership – are there many other similar partnerships that the sports programme enjoys?

RICHARD: Yes we have a number of really positive working relationships out and about in the sporting community. Our partnership with British Judo is stronger than it has ever been, and they have just moved their Head Office to Walsall, so not far from our Walsall campus. If we think of being the University of the Black Country, being for and of the Black Country, then we want to mirror that in sport. We have sponsorship agreements and positive working relationships in football with Wolves and West Bromwich Albion. Those partnerships are really positive for us externally.

INSIDER: Birmingham was recently chosen as the host city for the Commonwealth Games in 2022. Is that something the University may be able to get involved in?

RICHARD: We are already on the case! A new Commonwealth group has already been set up. Never again will there be a global sports tournament so close to our campuses. It is unlikely that Birmingham will ever host the Olympics, or the Commonwealths again, so 2022 provides the University with a huge opportunity for our students, our staff and our partners. We will be working closely with those partners, different councils, the combined authority, the Local Enterprise Partnerships, and Active Black Country to try and shape what our provision can be around the Games. A new Aquatic Centre is to be built in Sandwell so the Black Country as a whole will benefit and we have already met with them. Our Walsall campus is just a few miles away from the Athletes Village in Perry Barr, so there are not many Universities any closer. There is the potential that we can be used as a training facility but we will also be asking all faculties to shape our approach to what we can get involved with – it is about far more than just sport. It is a question of how, in 2022, the University of Wolverhampton can contribute to the cultural offering associated with the Commonwealth Games. That could be Artsfest, the volunteer programme, event and venue management students getting involved, hospitality students… opportunities will exist throughout the entire University. There is so much potential in what we can do.

INSIDER: Going back to sport in general, how does the University bear up in terms of overall sports participation?

RICHARD: Our provision with WLV Sport is a whole University provision. It can be central to the student experience, it helps us to retain students and give them a positive outlook on the University. A lot of student applicants will now look at the available sports facilities as part of their decision-making process. We have more students from outside the sports courses competing in our teams as well. we have athletes and students who want to participate from all corners of the University. It is about people of all levels participating in sport and having that opportunity. We are also just about to have out first ever University Sports Board, chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, from July onwards, when we will elevate a lot of these discussions and recognise the contribution from the University that goes into sport.

INSIDER: Finally then, how do you see this challenge of your new role developing in the future?

RICHARD: It is an exciting time but also a challenging time. Every academic institute or school in the University is not immune to the significant challenges that are facing Higher Education in general across the country, and also regionally, given our recruitment base here and other issues. We don’t exist in a bubble. But I am really confident in, and excited about, the great work that is currently being carried out within Sport and Psychology. There is some fantastic partnership work taking place within WLV Sport to complement that provision, and to give it University status. Over time there will be new courses coming in, and we will be doing more regionally with Enterprise and CPD activity. So yes, there are lots of exciting things coming through and optimism that we can meet the challenges that lie ahead.