By Joe Rukin
Postgraduate research may be a thing of the past at some places as Charles Clarke gallops headlong to setting free-market forces free within Britain's universities to create a home version of the Ivy League. In the White Paper due to be announced this week, it has been reported that the government will limit the number of institutions which can carry out research -or at least get funding for research, another one of a host of measures due in the white paper which are just another step down the road to a fully two-tier system of Higher Education.
Clarke is planning to create a dividing line, barring some universities from taking on lucrative research, concentrating research in a much smaller number of universities. The move is sure to increase the divide between universities, meaning the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Universities would also find it much harder to attract academic staff, overseas students and local industries would be hit. There would also be a significant impact where research students take part in undergraduate teaching. Also barred for some institutions will be the ability to award PhDs. University leaders believe this will lead to further blurring of the line between HE & FE. Chair of Universities UK, Professor Roderick Floud said trying to divide research and teaching would be "silly and impractical";
"All universities are based on the interaction between teaching and research. And any attempt to divide them would be artificial and damaging. The whole university sector wants to send a message to government that research should not become the preserve of a small number of wealthy institutions."
The move has been seen as a direct attack on 'new universities', especially following comments from Margaret Hodge about 'Mickey Mouse' courses and Clarke about 'Mickey Mouse' institutions which are prime for, as Gordon Brown calls it, 'Modernization'. This comes after many Universities saw heavy decreases in research funding last year which contributed to 55 out of 119 universities getting below inflation increases overall funding increases (teaching plus research), before any 'clawback' for missing recruitment targets was taken into consideration. Last year, HEFCE's Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) was heralded as a 6.8% increase in funds. However the bulk of this was shared between a handful of institutions; Manchester, Bristol, Durham, East Anglia, Exeter, Royal Holloway, Southampton, Surrey, Warwick and York.
At the time, Dr Geoffrey Copland, the chair of the Coalition of Modern Universities said;
"This announcement will see a number of universities facing serious financial and managerial difficulties as funding is cut in real terms, coming on top of many years of 'efficiency gains'. Such real funding cuts will damage the base of a number of post-92 institutions. Our remarkable success story, achieved on a funding shoestring over the last 10 years, is now being rewarded by severe cuts in funding. The highly effective seed corn funding of £20m which delivered innovation and high quality research within the post-92 sector has been removed at a stroke. In the 10 years since the polytechnics were designated universities they have delivered quality in teaching and research and have led the way in widening participation. They deserve better than the damaging funding inflicted on many by this announcement."
In light of the new news that his group would have to face another funding cut, his response was;
"Research is a fundamental aspect of higher education, and without it universities would find it difficult to recruit or retain staff, which in turn would affect the quality of teaching.
A divide would grow between high-status, research-based institutions and less prestigious teaching universities. The creation of a top-tier of heavily-protected research universities would do little to advance the government's plans to make higher education more egalitarian."
Tim Boatswain VC of the hapless Luton University, which despite last year heading the employability survey was the biggest loser in overall funding, with a 7.5% cut fears the creation of a "second division" of universities. He said
"If a lecturer was starting his or her career, would they want to accept a place at a university where they could only teach and could not carry out research? The effect would be a polarisation of institutions and the creation of a second division of universities. What distinguishes higher education from further education is the obligation to carry out research. It is difficult to see what advantage there could be from stopping universities carry out research. It would be very disappointing."
Funding Special
Top-Up fees via Grad Tax, what a surprise!
Not to say we told you so!
Another 'Huge Victory'- NUS
No Postgrads- coming soon to a uni near you
Participation watchdog to come
Why not GATS?
Mature Students want balanced funding
Straw Strikes Back
NUS National Demo against something....
Step up the offensive
Has NUS acknowledged Graduate Tax?
Other Links
Educationet, HEFCE delivers it's kick in the teeth
Educationet, Luton wins employability survey- But still on emergency funding
BBC, Research threat angers universities
BBC, University research split 'disastrous'
Guardian, Underfunding 'destroying' HE
Independent, Clarke to strip former polytechnics of their ability to award PhDs & Masters
