Prof Damien Page
@profdamienpage.bsky.social
Vice Chancellor at Buckinghamshire New University and Professor of Education #academicsky
This year we closed BNU for two weeks at Christmas as a thank you to everyone who worked so hard to achieve so much.
The feedback was clear. People came back better, fresher, more connected with family, more energised for the year ahead.
So we’re doing it every year.
1/
The feedback was clear. People came back better, fresher, more connected with family, more energised for the year ahead.
So we’re doing it every year.
1/
February 3, 2026 at 5:55 AM
This year we closed BNU for two weeks at Christmas as a thank you to everyone who worked so hard to achieve so much.
The feedback was clear. People came back better, fresher, more connected with family, more energised for the year ahead.
So we’re doing it every year.
1/
The feedback was clear. People came back better, fresher, more connected with family, more energised for the year ahead.
So we’re doing it every year.
1/
The more senior you become, the harder it is to be an active researcher. But *thinking* like a researcher should never go away.
The abiding curiosity that propels enquiry. The instinct of what threads to pursue and what rabbit holes to avoid. The judgement of when understanding-seeking 1/
The abiding curiosity that propels enquiry. The instinct of what threads to pursue and what rabbit holes to avoid. The judgement of when understanding-seeking 1/
January 31, 2026 at 8:45 AM
The more senior you become, the harder it is to be an active researcher. But *thinking* like a researcher should never go away.
The abiding curiosity that propels enquiry. The instinct of what threads to pursue and what rabbit holes to avoid. The judgement of when understanding-seeking 1/
The abiding curiosity that propels enquiry. The instinct of what threads to pursue and what rabbit holes to avoid. The judgement of when understanding-seeking 1/
Reposted by Prof Damien Page
Join us tonight at 8 pm BST where we’ll be exploring Leadership and Academic Flourishing with @profdamienpage.bsky.social
Read the blog for more: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
Read the blog for more: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
LTHEchat 351: Leadership and Academic Flourishing
Join us on Bluesky for #LTHEchat on Wednesday 28th January at 8pm GMT with guest Prof Damien Page to discuss Leadership and Academic Flourishing. University leaders juggle a lot. Financial sustaina…
lthechat.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Join us tonight at 8 pm BST where we’ll be exploring Leadership and Academic Flourishing with @profdamienpage.bsky.social
Read the blog for more: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
Read the blog for more: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
Reposted by Prof Damien Page
Join us tonight 8-9pm BST for the #LTHEchat. VC @profdamienpage.bsky.social hosts this week’s topic, Leadership and Academic Flourishing. Blog post 👇🏼, see you at 8! @lthechat.bsky.social
Don't forget to join us tomorrow, Wednesday 8-9pm BST, for #LTHEchat which will explore Leadership and Academic Flourishing with @profdamienpage.bsky.social
Read the blog post at: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
Read the blog post at: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
LTHEchat 351: Leadership and Academic Flourishing
University leaders juggle a lot. Financial sustainability. Strategy. Governance. Regulators. Government. Partnerships. Reputation. Committees upon committees. It’s no surprise leadership can feel l…
lthechat.com
January 28, 2026 at 8:12 AM
Join us tonight 8-9pm BST for the #LTHEchat. VC @profdamienpage.bsky.social hosts this week’s topic, Leadership and Academic Flourishing. Blog post 👇🏼, see you at 8! @lthechat.bsky.social
Reposted by Prof Damien Page
Join us for this week’s #LTHEchat which will explore Leadership and Academic Flourishing with @profdamienpage.bsky.social on Wednesday 8-9pm BST
LTHEchat 351: Leadership and Academic Flourishing
University leaders juggle a lot. Financial sustainability. Strategy. Governance. Regulators. Government. Partnerships. Reputation. Committees upon committees. It’s no surprise leadership can feel like permanent firefighting. But if there’s one role that should trump all others, it’s this: creating the conditions in which people can flourish. Everything else flows from that. And yet, in a sector under huge pressure - tighter regulation, shrinking resources, constant “transformation” that usually means cuts - this core purpose is often the first thing to slip.
lthechat.com
January 26, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Join us for this week’s #LTHEchat which will explore Leadership and Academic Flourishing with @profdamienpage.bsky.social on Wednesday 8-9pm BST
Reposted by Prof Damien Page
Don't forget to join us tomorrow, Wednesday 8-9pm BST, for #LTHEchat which will explore Leadership and Academic Flourishing with @profdamienpage.bsky.social
Read the blog post at: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
Read the blog post at: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
LTHEchat 351: Leadership and Academic Flourishing
University leaders juggle a lot. Financial sustainability. Strategy. Governance. Regulators. Government. Partnerships. Reputation. Committees upon committees. It’s no surprise leadership can feel l…
lthechat.com
January 27, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Don't forget to join us tomorrow, Wednesday 8-9pm BST, for #LTHEchat which will explore Leadership and Academic Flourishing with @profdamienpage.bsky.social
Read the blog post at: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
Read the blog post at: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
Looking forward to this!
Don't forget to join us tomorrow, Wednesday 8-9pm BST, for #LTHEchat which will explore Leadership and Academic Flourishing with @profdamienpage.bsky.social
Read the blog post at: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
Read the blog post at: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
LTHEchat 351: Leadership and Academic Flourishing
University leaders juggle a lot. Financial sustainability. Strategy. Governance. Regulators. Government. Partnerships. Reputation. Committees upon committees. It’s no surprise leadership can feel l…
lthechat.com
January 27, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Looking forward to this!
You can tell a lot about universities from the things they obsess about.
Take BNU. We don’t obsess about indicators of prestige or league tables. Nor do we obsess about winning architectural awards or attracting visiting dignitaries. Garnering nominations for honours? Politicking 1/
Take BNU. We don’t obsess about indicators of prestige or league tables. Nor do we obsess about winning architectural awards or attracting visiting dignitaries. Garnering nominations for honours? Politicking 1/
January 24, 2026 at 8:13 AM
You can tell a lot about universities from the things they obsess about.
Take BNU. We don’t obsess about indicators of prestige or league tables. Nor do we obsess about winning architectural awards or attracting visiting dignitaries. Garnering nominations for honours? Politicking 1/
Take BNU. We don’t obsess about indicators of prestige or league tables. Nor do we obsess about winning architectural awards or attracting visiting dignitaries. Garnering nominations for honours? Politicking 1/
Part of the problem with bad leadership is that it never truly goes away. It gets recycled, repackaged, relocated. Reputation-washed through conference panels, advisory boards, honorary awards, and the old boys’ network. Manufactured amnesia.
The people who were affected however, never forget.
The people who were affected however, never forget.
January 16, 2026 at 7:38 AM
Part of the problem with bad leadership is that it never truly goes away. It gets recycled, repackaged, relocated. Reputation-washed through conference panels, advisory boards, honorary awards, and the old boys’ network. Manufactured amnesia.
The people who were affected however, never forget.
The people who were affected however, never forget.
Great away day with the BNU exec team yesterday. Real conversations, real creativity, real challenge. Focused, strategic, trivia-free zone. Innovation, collaboration, co-creation. Respect for expertise, respect for talent. Trust, not trust exercises. Critique, not criticism. How it should be.
January 14, 2026 at 5:58 AM
Great away day with the BNU exec team yesterday. Real conversations, real creativity, real challenge. Focused, strategic, trivia-free zone. Innovation, collaboration, co-creation. Respect for expertise, respect for talent. Trust, not trust exercises. Critique, not criticism. How it should be.
Sit on enough recruitment panels and you’ll hear someone want to reject a talented applicant because they’ll think they’ll get poached after a couple of years and leave.
That never made any sense to me. I’ve only ever hired people who will leave for more senior posts if there’s no 1/
That never made any sense to me. I’ve only ever hired people who will leave for more senior posts if there’s no 1/
January 8, 2026 at 6:24 AM
Sit on enough recruitment panels and you’ll hear someone want to reject a talented applicant because they’ll think they’ll get poached after a couple of years and leave.
That never made any sense to me. I’ve only ever hired people who will leave for more senior posts if there’s no 1/
That never made any sense to me. I’ve only ever hired people who will leave for more senior posts if there’s no 1/
In every organisation, there are people, gifted people, who know that things can be, should be, done differently. Who know how to change the status quo. Who know how to create positive change.
The problem, mostly, is the organisation restrains them, restricts them through hierarchies, 1/
The problem, mostly, is the organisation restrains them, restricts them through hierarchies, 1/
January 3, 2026 at 8:55 AM
In every organisation, there are people, gifted people, who know that things can be, should be, done differently. Who know how to change the status quo. Who know how to create positive change.
The problem, mostly, is the organisation restrains them, restricts them through hierarchies, 1/
The problem, mostly, is the organisation restrains them, restricts them through hierarchies, 1/
If you’re a leader, model hard work, model ethics, model authenticity, model focus. Absolutely.
But, most importantly, model resting. Normalise resting, normalise separation from work, switching off, doing nothing or doing anything else but work.
Put ‘out of office’ on and mean it.
But, most importantly, model resting. Normalise resting, normalise separation from work, switching off, doing nothing or doing anything else but work.
Put ‘out of office’ on and mean it.
December 24, 2025 at 7:55 AM
If you’re a leader, model hard work, model ethics, model authenticity, model focus. Absolutely.
But, most importantly, model resting. Normalise resting, normalise separation from work, switching off, doing nothing or doing anything else but work.
Put ‘out of office’ on and mean it.
But, most importantly, model resting. Normalise resting, normalise separation from work, switching off, doing nothing or doing anything else but work.
Put ‘out of office’ on and mean it.
I’ve mentored a lot of aspiring leaders over the years and self-doubt comes up frequently when they outline their development needs. It’s usually seen as a flaw, a barrier in their leadership journey.
But constructive self-doubt is essential for leadership. It sharpens judgement, 1/
But constructive self-doubt is essential for leadership. It sharpens judgement, 1/
December 14, 2025 at 9:10 AM
I’ve mentored a lot of aspiring leaders over the years and self-doubt comes up frequently when they outline their development needs. It’s usually seen as a flaw, a barrier in their leadership journey.
But constructive self-doubt is essential for leadership. It sharpens judgement, 1/
But constructive self-doubt is essential for leadership. It sharpens judgement, 1/
Ask yourself: if you started a university from scratch, what would it look like? How would it be structured? What courses would be in the portfolio? What research would you do? What people would you need and what skills, behaviours and motivations would they have? How would you create a 1/
December 6, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Ask yourself: if you started a university from scratch, what would it look like? How would it be structured? What courses would be in the portfolio? What research would you do? What people would you need and what skills, behaviours and motivations would they have? How would you create a 1/
Everyone is about values until those values are tested.
It’s easy to talk about integrity, respect, or transparency when things are going well. It’s much harder to live by them when the stakes are high, when a decision comes with a cost. That’s the real test of values. 1/
It’s easy to talk about integrity, respect, or transparency when things are going well. It’s much harder to live by them when the stakes are high, when a decision comes with a cost. That’s the real test of values. 1/
November 30, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Everyone is about values until those values are tested.
It’s easy to talk about integrity, respect, or transparency when things are going well. It’s much harder to live by them when the stakes are high, when a decision comes with a cost. That’s the real test of values. 1/
It’s easy to talk about integrity, respect, or transparency when things are going well. It’s much harder to live by them when the stakes are high, when a decision comes with a cost. That’s the real test of values. 1/
If meritocracy was real, organisations would rarely fail.
But they do. And not because people aren’t talented, but because talent is not always the primary criteria for who is recruited and who is promoted.
Organisations primarily fail when familiarity is valued over competence, when networks 1/
But they do. And not because people aren’t talented, but because talent is not always the primary criteria for who is recruited and who is promoted.
Organisations primarily fail when familiarity is valued over competence, when networks 1/
November 27, 2025 at 6:49 AM
If meritocracy was real, organisations would rarely fail.
But they do. And not because people aren’t talented, but because talent is not always the primary criteria for who is recruited and who is promoted.
Organisations primarily fail when familiarity is valued over competence, when networks 1/
But they do. And not because people aren’t talented, but because talent is not always the primary criteria for who is recruited and who is promoted.
Organisations primarily fail when familiarity is valued over competence, when networks 1/
In the second act of the AI revolution, the humanities fight back.
November 25, 2025 at 6:38 AM
In the second act of the AI revolution, the humanities fight back.
In a cost of living crisis, food needs to become central to university life. At BNU, where once we contracted an expensive external company, last year we worked with our Students’ Union to take over our entire catering operation. The results have been amazing:
November 22, 2025 at 8:34 AM
In a cost of living crisis, food needs to become central to university life. At BNU, where once we contracted an expensive external company, last year we worked with our Students’ Union to take over our entire catering operation. The results have been amazing:
Universities should contain both difficulty and ease.
Learning should be difficult. The process of learning is, by its very nature, difficult, and that is no bad thing.
For everything else, for every other element of the student experience, there should be ease. Applying should be easy. 1/
Learning should be difficult. The process of learning is, by its very nature, difficult, and that is no bad thing.
For everything else, for every other element of the student experience, there should be ease. Applying should be easy. 1/
November 18, 2025 at 5:46 AM
Universities should contain both difficulty and ease.
Learning should be difficult. The process of learning is, by its very nature, difficult, and that is no bad thing.
For everything else, for every other element of the student experience, there should be ease. Applying should be easy. 1/
Learning should be difficult. The process of learning is, by its very nature, difficult, and that is no bad thing.
For everything else, for every other element of the student experience, there should be ease. Applying should be easy. 1/
International students aren’t migrants, they’re an engine of growth.
The article nails it: we’ve allowed the narrative to drift from talent attraction to border control through a levy on international students. And the consequences are real.
International students bring ideas, energy, global 1/
The article nails it: we’ve allowed the narrative to drift from talent attraction to border control through a levy on international students. And the consequences are real.
International students bring ideas, energy, global 1/
November 15, 2025 at 8:43 AM
International students aren’t migrants, they’re an engine of growth.
The article nails it: we’ve allowed the narrative to drift from talent attraction to border control through a levy on international students. And the consequences are real.
International students bring ideas, energy, global 1/
The article nails it: we’ve allowed the narrative to drift from talent attraction to border control through a levy on international students. And the consequences are real.
International students bring ideas, energy, global 1/
Everyone wants accountability until they get it.
Everyone says it should be the norm but real accountability is uncomfortable. It means owning outcomes, not just intentions. It means hearing hard truths.
Real accountability isn’t about blame or control, it’s about trust, transparency, and the 1/
Everyone says it should be the norm but real accountability is uncomfortable. It means owning outcomes, not just intentions. It means hearing hard truths.
Real accountability isn’t about blame or control, it’s about trust, transparency, and the 1/
November 13, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Everyone wants accountability until they get it.
Everyone says it should be the norm but real accountability is uncomfortable. It means owning outcomes, not just intentions. It means hearing hard truths.
Real accountability isn’t about blame or control, it’s about trust, transparency, and the 1/
Everyone says it should be the norm but real accountability is uncomfortable. It means owning outcomes, not just intentions. It means hearing hard truths.
Real accountability isn’t about blame or control, it’s about trust, transparency, and the 1/
Solving problems in organisations is too often over complicated. Sure, some problems require months of task and finish groups and working parties and extraordinary committees but most don’t. Usually it’s a lack of will to make a decision and take accountability that forestalls resolution. 1/
November 11, 2025 at 5:03 AM
Solving problems in organisations is too often over complicated. Sure, some problems require months of task and finish groups and working parties and extraordinary committees but most don’t. Usually it’s a lack of will to make a decision and take accountability that forestalls resolution. 1/
‘It’s about shaping the story of a university in transformation’.
Now we’ve appointed a superb new Director of Brand, Marketing and Communications, we’re recruiting two more posts for our new in-house agency: a Senior Creative Lead and Senior Marketing Lead. jobs.bucks.ac.uk/vacancies.ht...
Now we’ve appointed a superb new Director of Brand, Marketing and Communications, we’re recruiting two more posts for our new in-house agency: a Senior Creative Lead and Senior Marketing Lead. jobs.bucks.ac.uk/vacancies.ht...
Current Vacancies | Buckinghamshire New University
(web_proc_1) Internal BNU staff members can access internally advertised roles via the recruitment page on BEN. <div id="jobs_list" class="jobs_list"></div> Please click <a href="https://issuu.
jobs.bucks.ac.uk
November 8, 2025 at 8:02 AM
‘It’s about shaping the story of a university in transformation’.
Now we’ve appointed a superb new Director of Brand, Marketing and Communications, we’re recruiting two more posts for our new in-house agency: a Senior Creative Lead and Senior Marketing Lead. jobs.bucks.ac.uk/vacancies.ht...
Now we’ve appointed a superb new Director of Brand, Marketing and Communications, we’re recruiting two more posts for our new in-house agency: a Senior Creative Lead and Senior Marketing Lead. jobs.bucks.ac.uk/vacancies.ht...
We’re now recruiting for an independent member of our BNU Council and we’re particularly interested to hear from candidates with a background in entrepreneurship, innovation, and start-ups. Fantastic opportunity to join our governance and help us continue our recreation of what a university can be.
Governing Body - Council
Council is our governing body and is responsible for the educational character and mission of our University.
www.bucks.ac.uk
November 7, 2025 at 6:25 AM
We’re now recruiting for an independent member of our BNU Council and we’re particularly interested to hear from candidates with a background in entrepreneurship, innovation, and start-ups. Fantastic opportunity to join our governance and help us continue our recreation of what a university can be.