The White Rose University Consortium has announced a refined set of strategic goals to guide its work through to 2031, drawing on the success of its development programmes and community-building efforts in recent years.

Successful initiatives include programmes such as the award-winning Equity in Leadership (co-created with global majority colleagues), Crucible (bringing together early career academics), Prosper (a development programme for postdocs), as well as the White Rose PhD Careers Fair.

A long-standing strategic partnership between the universities of Leeds, Sheffield, and York, the Consortium is refining new strategic priorities that place people even more firmly at the centre of its activities. 

Strategic priorities

Focusing on its community, White Rose’s activity up to 2031 will be anchored around three core priorities:

• Developing people: Enabling inclusive professional and career development tailored for both academic and professional services colleagues at every career stage.
• Strengthening the partnership: Embedding deep, effective collaboration and establishing shared best practices and resources across the region.
• Delivering sector and regional impact: Evidencing the tangible collective benefits of the Consortium and driving meaningful contributions to the higher education sector.

Under this strategic direction, the White Rose University Consortium will:

• Deliver high-quality, practical career development support that complements what’s already offered at each institution, helping build sustainable, healthy career pathways
• Draw on the scale of the partnership to reach targeted and underrepresented groups, including global majority communities
• Build and sustain cross-institutional peer support networks that strengthen belonging, confidence, and peer wellbeing
• Showcase and champion career pathways for colleagues, partners, and regional employers

A new evaluation framework will sit behind all three priorities, tracking progress, outcomes, and long-term impact over the next five years, with clear communication and more targeted engagement ensuring colleagues across all three campuses can easily connect with, benefit from, and help shape what White Rose does next.

Leadership reflections

Reflecting on the refreshed strategy to 2031, the Vice-Chancellors of the three partner universities spoke to the strength of community across the Yorkshire region:

“This next phase of our strategic journey reinforces how much more we can achieve together than alone. By establishing an evaluation framework alongside these three core priorities, we’re ensuring that the communities we build together deliver a lasting impact for all of our academic and professional services colleagues.”

– Professor Shearer West, White Rose Board Chair, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Leeds

“By bringing colleagues from Leeds, Sheffield, and York closer together, we are growing an inclusive community where our colleagues can thrive, learn from one another, and feel part of something bigger than any one institution.”

– Professor Koen Lamberts, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Sheffield

“The power of the White Rose University Consortium lies in our shared commitment to our people and our region. As we look towards 2031, the consortium will continue to make an important difference by supporting colleagues to grow, and I look forward to seeing the real difference this partnership makes to their roles.”

– Professor Ken Badcock, Interim Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of York

“The enthusiasm of our partner institutions for a people-centred approach demonstrates the power of the White Rose partnership. Working collaboratively enables us to develop practical solutions to common challenges, build stronger networks across our universities, and amplify our collective voice for greater sector-wide impact.”

– Dr Karen Hinxman, Head of the White Rose University Consortium

Find out more about who we are and our mission and vision.

Subscribe to our newsletter for monthly updates from the Consortium.