HEA Conference 5-6 July 2011

I have just returned from the Academy's Annual Conference held this year at the East Midlands Conference Centre at Nottingham University. The highlight of the two days was the Question Time Panel session reflecting on the recent White Paper ” Students at the Heart of the System ” and the consequent challenges and changes to the sector over the next five years. It was chaired by Mike Baker – columnist and broadcaster and featured:

Alex Bols – NUS Head of Education and Quality

Ann Caesar – PVC (Education and Student Experience) at Warwick University

Claire Callender  - Professor of Higher Education Policy (Birkbeck) and Studies (IoE)

Stephen Jackson (Director of Reviews, QAA)

Wes Streeting (Chief Executive of the Helena Kennedy Foundation

The following challenges for the sector were quickly identified.

Student identity, student engagement and how students view themselves. Much recent discourse in HE has been about students as co-producers even agents for change. How does this square with the student as consumer view prevalent in the White Paper?

The emphasis on competition between Universities, even though individuals collaborate (the work the HEA funds is a good example of this) institutions compete and this will become more intense.

Data management issues allied to the increased expectations on information provision, concerns over its reliability, purpose and possibilities of misinterpretation. Students will need guidance and support to make good use of it. Also what about alumni, students are investors and changes reflect on their degree currency?

The widening participation agenda appears to have been displaced by a focus on social mobility. Yet this is unlikely to be helped by the abolishment of the EMA and increased fees (especially likely to impact on mature students’ applications). The proposed National Scholarship has been described as a sham. Even the 20,000 extra AAB places are more to be accessed by the aspiring middle classes than those of lower SES. Why are universities deemed solely responsible? Involving other stakeholders in student education seems sensible.

The entry of private providers into the HE market. What about the criteria needed to be met to become a degree awarding institution? Currently requires a track record. Quality assurance concerns arise over the proposed ‘risk’ basis to QA itself. There will be an opportunity for a lower rate of engagement with the QAA for low risk institutions.  Concerns over unpredictable outcome of the changes eg increased competition, involvement of private providers and commitment to deregulation.

The 'fudge' between opening HE to market forces and public control of the sector. Read as if it was a model of naked consumerism based on pre-conceptions and assumptions. It may well have been better to go more fully for Lord Browne’s original proposals.

Other issues raised by the audience and discussed with the panel included:

How do OER and other collaborative initiatives fit within this new model? This led to the reflection that institutions are more likely to form networks and partnerships so that groups of HEI and FECs will be in competition. In addition institutions will be looking to secure recruitment from overseas which raises questions over the coherence of the government’s current  policies with the Borders Agency aiming to reduce numbers of incoming international students by 20,000.

Where is creativity (often cited along with flexibility as a key attribute of employability) in the new system? This led to an animated discussion about detrimental impact on creativity of the proposed differential funding for the sciences and the arts and humanities. It was noted that the eBacc was forcing youngsters into a one-size fits all system, that government rhetoric was focused on production of science  graduates whereas, in fact, the creative industry is one of the biggest in Britain and a world leader.

Lastly it was pointed out that the White Paper was ‘oddly quiet’ about the relationship between research and teaching, teaching quality will be the new order of things however, there is a gap as to how this will be researched and developed. The role of research informed teaching practice is currently important for an institution to be given degree awarding powers.

In a  final round up the panel members were asked on the spot to grade and comment in a word on the White Paper. It was awarded a mean average of 4/10 and described as ‘misguided’, ‘misleading’, ‘muddled’ and ‘leading to uncertainty’.