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?