Director Professor Jonathan Michie reviews the year 2011

2011 was a busy year; I invite you to review the past twelve months with our Highlights of 2011 slideshow.

New Courses
We added ten new online courses to our offerings this year; the range of subjects covered is broad - from Archaeology to Creative Writing to Economics. The Number Mysteries is based on the book of the same name by Marcus du Sautoy, our Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science.

We created two new Oxford qualifications this year: the Certificate of Higher Education, and the Certificate in Theology and Religious Studies. Both are part-time courses, and both will launch in the autumn of 2012. Our Foreign Service Programme also began its first cohort of Master's students this year. And as new courses come on board, older programmes come of age: we are proud to announce that our Diploma in Environmental Conservation turned twenty-one in 2011.

Online 'open events'
Many of our award courses are designed for people who live at a distance from Oxford. This year, in an effort to reach more prospective students from around the world, we began offering 'virtual open events', which are hour-long, online 'meetings' with course directors and administrators. People from anywhere in the world are able to join us, and ask questions in real time. Last year we reached prospective students from 39 countries, including Japan, Brazil, the US and India.

One of the most exciting developments of this past year was the launch of a Graduate School within the Department. It's a new structure we put into place, to provide the best possible support for our students on postgraduate programmes. We're offering a year-round series of research methods, training and other events, including the 'Rewley House Research Seminar Series'.

The year ahead
As many of you will know, funding for higher education was reduced in recent years, and meeting this shortfall has been challenging. We know that there will be further cuts in government funding in years to come.

We will continue our efforts at efficiency savings on all fronts - such as the replacement in 2010 of an outdated heating infrastructure, which in 2011 resulted in a reduction of nearly 70% in the amount of fuel gas we used. Initiatives like this reduce our costs, which helps us keep our fees relatively low.

We in the Department feel strongly that the flexible learning opportunities which are our speciality are well-suited to the present time. We shall continue to develop and offer first-class programmes, to give our students an educational advantage.

I hope you will join us in the Department in the New Year.

Professor Jonathan Michie
Director, Oxford University Department for Continuing Education