Brexit busting Universities

Following Coventry and Lancaster Universities' decision to establish branch campuses (campi?)  in Poland and Germany respectively, other universities are seriously considering the move that could secure continued EU access, attractive visa arrangements for international students and added revenues for Ryanair.

Photo by Andrew Palmer on Unsplash

From my extensive knowledge of European destinations and my hallowed status as a multi- badge winning contributor on Tripadvisor I'd like to share some suggestions for institutions to help them select appropriate EU locations for their new campuses.

EU locations should, of course, have key features that underline the rationale for the initiative:

• Ease of access for flying faculty and administrators.  This rules a lot of locations out where the closest U.K. airport to their campus has been abandoned by everyone but Flybe and DHL.
• Availability of English speaking locals to serve as tutors, support staff but definitely not faculty - else issues might affect things like AACSB accreditation where cash cow business courses are offered.
• Long distances from good institutions in the host country.
• Willingness of some local students to forget that their county offers them free higher education.
• Proximity to either beaches or ski slopes to host meaningful conferences and seminars that are bound to attract scholars from around the globe.

Helpful?

No such thing as a Free MOOC

Massive Open On-Line Courses (MOOCs) offered by some of the world's most prestigious Universities (and some of the others too) hold out the possibility of mass education and reaching those that traditional education provision has not yet reached.

The Openness of MOOCs makes them FREE - so the study is free as long as you do not pay for the certificate of completion at the end of the course (NOT an award, you understand).  And yet, the mode of delivery - the internet, still makes MOOCs inaccessible for many.

Cable.co.uk published a downloadable spreadsheet of 2018 broadband prices at:
https://www.cable.co.uk/broadband/deals/worldwide-price-comparison/

The data shows that around 80% of nations pay over $15 per MB.  This includes Niger at $263 and Somalia at $250.  Afghanistan pays $35and the UAE $16.50.
A combination of geography, economic priorities and diplomatic exclusion from submarine cable access are responsible for the high costs.
Amongst the cheapest are Singapore ($0.03) and Ukraine ($0.04) with China and India at $0.42 and $0.60 respectively.  Once again, geography and economic priorities help to explain costs.

So for MOOCs in many parts of the world, especially the developing, landlocked, disputed and friendless parts, access is anything but FREE.

Want students to research? Send them to China!

During a recent trip to Shanghai the significance of  having the not so ubiquitous Google blocked made me think about student research techniques over the years. I'm certainly no Luddite, you understand, but for all my embracing of Technology Enhanced Learning I can see the downside.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

As a Bradford undergraduate in 1975 I recall an excellent foundation module in research methods for business studies.  Out of a class of 50 only two students attended, me and one other (a mature student who had been a journalist and so knew the value of good research). The key reason for the low turnout was that the module was not assessed, providing formative feedback only.

Great! That meant individual attention from Prof. Gerry and Dr. Roger, the tutors! Take that suckers!

Anyway.  Back to the research.  Back to a manual trawl through the library card index system, the microfilm and dusty tome copies of journals and then selecting a small number of published papers for purchase as the library did not subscribe to all relevant journals.  I recall that the search took weeks, the discussion to authorise the purchase a further period and then the arrival of the printed paper after another couple of weeks.  Touchingly, the paper came with a handwritten note from the author (an Oxford academic) wishing me well with the project I was designing.

My project took all term, the report received feedback and I had learned new skills.  The report proudly carried two key references of quality. What endured from that episode was not the outcome of the research itself  but the process of research. It required me to engage my mind at an early stage, to focus and to organise my time carefully in order that I did not spend my entire life in the literature search phase.

Today, many colleagues anticipate that students with access to Google will be able to garner literary resources far more swiftly.  But speed comes with a cost. Did they stop to think and focus BEFORE opening their laptop? Did they actually read the paper or rely on Google Scholar's algorithms to judge its relevance?

Disruption in HE #1

Disruption is the new buzzword in Higher Education.  Whether through the march of regulation, the whims of government policy or through simple demographics and not so simple technology, many Universities are feeling disrupted.  Things just aren't what they used to be.  Things university staff knew for certain (such as poor pay and stable pensions) are now no longer so assured.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA 

None other than Professor Clay Christiensen of Harvard Business School talks a lot about disruption and paints a picture of the corporate world that can very readily be overlaid on Higher Education.

Universities, with their visions of excellence, their efforts to achieve the highest goals have, sometimes, eschewed the disruptions in their own markets:

• Technology - "we're proud to be a campus university"
• Teaching specialisation - "we're convinced that the best researchers make the best teachers"
• Flexibility for students - "we're capturing all lectures as part of our digital strategy"
• Regulation - "we produce excellent REF and TEF submissions"
• Population diversity - "we are proud to have a widening access scheme that allows up to 10% of applicants to come from state schools"
• Focus on skills - "turning up to lectures is a key part of developing organisational skills"
• Impact - "just look at the number of firsts our students achieve"

To be continued...

Babies and bathwater... 2 year degrees

Innovation in HE is so rare that any attempts to change the status quo should really be applauded.  The University of Buckingham plans to take advantage of government policy and offer a 2-year degree.  Just use the long summer holiday - how innovative!
The initiative possibly misses the point that 3 or 4-year degrees provide opportunities for maturity development, reflection, experience and application that may not be accomplished in shorter timeframes by the average student - but that's for another blog.

Photo by Elijah Hail on Unsplash

It is about time that Universities were shaken up - selling the same old stuff to the same old customers has seen many household names in the corporate world miss out on trends and disappear.  The strongest, and best, plan, build and change their strategy in a major way so that the "new" opportunities are met and the right resources are in the right places.

But - "Babies and Bathwater!" I hear you cry.  And you'd be right to question some innovations.  Not everything about the old ways of doing things is wrong, not everything needs to be changed but we DO need to question it all.

Teaching intensity metrics - transparency is key

As we enter a new year of study, after the bloating of Christmas, and when everything in the heads of undergraduate students is consigned to distant memory, to make room for the excitement of beer and family skiing trip, many students reflect on their need to redouble their efforts when they get back to Uni.
Continuing the diet of fun, alcohol and freedom might seem remarkably inviting. But the stark reality of Semester 1 assessments and a Semester 2 of building on the shaky foundations of knowledge acquired before Christmas will cause many students to think about their wastes and their preparedness for the hard slog to Easter Vac.
Echoing Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's call for clearer labelling on food I have devised a transparent teaching labelling system: that should help students to be selective about how they spend their valuable time:
The TEF Teaching intensity metric is a blunt instrument, looking only at "contact" hours - whatever that means - as if sitting in a lecture for a long time miraculously transforms into student learning!
My Teaching Intensity Trafficlight System (no acronym suggests itself) will show students just how much they are missing by not attending the lecture and really meaning to watch the Lecture Capture (honest).
Any takers?

Is your University going bust?

Students of Insolvency Law and Practice (all three of us) will be aware of a "tongue in cheek" but alarmingly prescient list of danger signs of corporate insolvency compiled by Mark Holman of Price Waterhouse in 1984.

Picture by Matt Banks

Anecdotal and observational, the list can be decried by academics more used to statistical rigour and triangulation in their own research efforts but still retains the ring of truth:

• Personalised number plates on the Rolls
• Company flagpole
• Fountain in the forecourt
• Fish tank in the boardroom
• Founder's statue in reception
• Beautiful new offices
• Beautiful new secretary
• Company yacht/aeroplane
• A fast-talking MD
• Directors who use military titles
• Obsession with tax avoidance
• Too many board papers
• No accountant on the board
• Too many auditors
• Too friendly with their banker
• Too many bankers

Homan opines that many of these indicate a Board / MD pre-occupied with prestige rather than profit.

Just how many of these can you see at your University?