Alan Hunt’s long association with Bournemouth University and its predecessor institutions stretches back over 30 years. Starting as a lecturer in archaeology and history, he later became Director of Studies in the School of Conservation Sciences and joined the Senior Management Team. Among his many activities, Alan was instrumental in developing BU’s first degree in archaeology, implementing the university’s credit-based curriculum framework and strengthening its network of partnerships. Bournemouth University is delighted today to award Alan its first ever Honorary Fellowship.
Alan said it felt great to receive the Fellowship.
“It feels great. It’s really good to be a member of the university again in a new way. I’ve been working in or with, or very close to Bournemouth University since 1975. Most of my team in my last ten years here took great pride in telling me that they weren’t born when I joined the university!”
With such a lengthy association with BU, Alan is in a unique position to offer some key insights into the university’s aims and objectives over the last thirty years. But what, in his experience, has been the university’s priority?
“Taking good care to give students an excellent learning experience. And it’s always been keen to learn what it needs to do and what needs to change and what needs to improve in order to keep pace and to keep ahead of student’s needs. You won’t always get it right, but the trick is to know when you need to improve and take some action to make sure that you do improve. Because there’s always room for improvement. There’s no perfection. It’s a journey of constant improvement.”
Alan is very proud of the growth and development of BU over the years, playing a key role in a number of important changes and never losing sight of the pursuit of excellence.
“I think Bournemouth University has achieved excellence in a number of things. It isn’t a university that’s tried to do everything, but it’s tried to develop a number of really excellent areas of provision and it makes the most of them. And students go away from this university, and they achieve. And they do well.”
What one piece of advice do you have to offer to today’s graduates?
“Never stop learning. Don’t treat learning as a chore, treat learning as a privilege. And realise how much you don’t know – how much you’ve still got to learn. If you do that, then you’ll get a lot more out of life, and your employers and your colleagues and your family will get a lot more out of you.”
