introduction to higher education (june 2014)

Introduction to Higher Education

June 2014

Welcome and Introductions

Matthew Andrews

• Oxford Brookes University

• Academic Registrar

• AUA Chair

Kenton Lewis

• AUA Trustee

Understanding Higher Education: The One Day Nutshell

Pauline Morgan

• University of Manchester

• Head of Faculty Finance for Faculty of Engineering and Physical Science (EPS)

• Director of Operations for National Graphene Institute (NGI)

Programme

10.10 – 11.25 The Higher Education Sector

11.25 – 11.45 Refreshments

11.45 – 1.00 Business-like but not a Business

1.00 – 1.45 Lunch

1.45 – 3.00 Academic Enterprise

3.00 – 3.20 Refreshments

3.20 – 4.20 The VC’s Dilemma

4.20 – 4.30 Wrap-up and depart

THE HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR

The historical development of higher education


• Oxford

• Cambridg

e

The Nineteenth Century

Whigs and Dissenters • London University (1826) • Dissenting Academies Establishment • King’s College, London (1829) • Durham University (1832)

Federal Universities • London, Victoria, Queen’s,

Wales

Degree Classifications

External Examiners

Early Twentieth Century

Civic Universities Federals break-up University Colleges

Mid-Century Developments

• Robbins Report (1963)

• Polytechnics

• Open University

• Colleges of Advanced Technology

• Green Field Universities

• University Grants

Polytechnics

‘Why should we not aim at … a vocationally orientated non-university sector which is degree-giving and with appropriate amount of postgraduate work with opportunities for learning comparable with those of the universities, and giving a first class professional training … under state control, directly responsible to social needs’

International Students

• Robbins considered the subsidy for overseas students as a form of 'aid'.

• From 1980/1 international student fees were to cover the full cost of tuition.

• University grants were reduced accordingly

-

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

1950 1958 1968 1978

1992… and on…

1992 Further and Higher Education Act

• Converted all polytechnics and Scottish Central Institutions into Universities

• Created the funding councils in the devolved administrations

Since 1992 some colleges of HE have become universities, e.g. Edge Hill University (formerly Edge Hill College) and University of Wales, Newport (formerly Gwent College of HE)


Full-time UK students in HE

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

THE HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR

The structure and organisation of contemporary UK higher education

What is the higher education sector?

Statutory Bodies

Institutions

Government

Professional Associations

Statutory Bodies

Gov’t

Professional Associations

HEIs

The Size of the UK HE Sector

Students by Level of Study

-

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

1,800,000

2,000,000

Undergraduate

Postgraduate

2.5 million

Students by Mode of Study 2012/13

Postgraduate

Undergraduate

Full-time

Part-time

Students by Domicile 2012/13

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Postgraduate Undergraduate

Non-EU

Other EU

UK

UK Population Highest Qualification

22.7%

5.7%

13.3%

15.3%

12.3%

3.6%

27.2%

No qualifications

Other qualifiactions

1-4 GCSEs or equivalent

5+ GCSEs or equivalent

2+ A levels

Apprenticeships

Degree or above

OECD Tertiary Education Achievement


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Devolution – Independence?

Wales

Scotland

Northern Ireland

England


UK Student Flow: FT first degree

-

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

900,000

1,000,000

England Wales Scotland NorthernIreland

Northern Ireland Scotland

Wales England

Staff in UK Institutions

-

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

Academic

Non-academic

Private Higher Education

The University of Buckingham (not-for-profit) BPP University (for-profit, subsidiary of the Apollo Group in the USA) The University of Law (charity) Ashridge Business School (charity) IFS University College (charity) Regents University (charity)


Massification = Specialisation

Universities UK (UUK)

• Founded in 1918

• 134 members

• Universities UK is the major representative body and membership organisation for the higher education sector

• UUK members are the executive heads of UK universities

• Together with Higher Education Wales and Universities Scotland, UUK works to advance the interests of universities and to spread good practice throughout the higher education sector

Mission Groups

Million Plus – 17 members The University Think-Tank.

University Alliance – 22 members Innovative and entrepreneurial universities working together to tackle big issues facing universities, people and the economy.

Russell Group – 24 members Leading Universities committed to maintaining the very best research, an outstanding teaching and learning experience and unrivalled links with business and the public sector.

Other organisations…

http://www.offa.org.uk/

The funding and regulatory landscape

• The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) distributes public money to universities and colleges in England that provide higher education

• All universities and colleges that provide higher education in the UK are autonomous

• Institutions are not owned by the state, but most receive government funding distributed by the separate higher education funding councils

• HEFCE is a go-between, between DBIS and the sector, neither Government nor part of the HE Sector


• OFFA’s role is to promote and safeguard fair access to higher education for lower-income students and other under-represented groups following the introduction of higher tuition fees in 2006-07.

• The main way it does this is by approving and monitoring Access Agreements. All English higher education providers that want to charge higher fees must have an Access Agreement with OFFA.

http://www.offa.org.uk/

• The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education’s (OIA’s) role is to review individual and group complaints by students against higher education providers, once internal processes have been exhausted, and to promote good practice in handling complaints and appeals.

• While the OIA has no regulatory power over higher education providers and cannot fine them, higher education institutions are required by law to join the OIA scheme. The OIA recommends remedies or compensation for students where complaints are justified or partly justified.

• QAA’s mission is to safeguard academic standards and improve the quality of UK higher education.

• QAA offers advice, guidance and support to help UK higher education providers (universities, colleges and other organisations, both public and private) to offer the best possible student experience of higher education.

• It conducts peer-based reviews and publishes reports detailing the findings. QAA works in consultation with the higher education sector in developing policy and frameworks for academic standards.

REFRESHMENTS 11.25-11.45

BUSINESS-LIKE BUT NOT A BUSINESS

The legal framework of higher education

Degree Awarding Powers

• Universities are autonomous, self-governing institutions which operate within a regulated environment for higher education.

• The power to award degrees is regulated by law.

• To be able to award a recognised higher education degree in the UK an organisation must be authorised, either by Royal Charter or Act of Parliament – as recommended by the QAA.

Types of Degree Awarding Power

Foundation Degrees (England and Wales only) • Further education institutions offering higher education

provision in England or Wales.

Taught Degrees • HEIs with a proven track record of successful validated

provision. Research Degrees • HEIs with existing taught degree awarding powers.


Some Relevant Legislation

• The Education Reform Act 1988 makes it an offence to offer a ‘degree’, ‘bachelor’, ‘master’ or ‘doctor’ award unless offered by a degree-awarding body as recognised by Secretary of State, Act of Parliament or Royal Charter.

• The Business Names Act 1985 states only bodies properly approved can use the name ‘university’.

• Under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, the Privy Council was also responsible for approving the use of the word 'university' (including 'university college') in the title of a higher education institution.


What is a University?

An organisation wishing to apply for approval to use the title ‘university’ must:

• have been granted powers to award taught degrees • normally have at least 1,000 full time equivalent higher

education students, of whom at least 750 are registered on degree courses (including foundation degree programmes), and the number of full time equivalent higher education students must exceed 55% of the total number of full time equivalent students

• be able to demonstrate that it has regard to the principles of good governance as are relevant to its sector

BUSINESS-LIKE BUT NOT A BUSINESS

The activity and business of HE - Funding

What is a Business? Wikipedia

• A business, also known as an enterprise or a firm, is an organisation involved in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers.

• Businesses are prevalent in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and provide goods and services to customers in exchange of other goods, services, or money.

• Businesses may also be not-for-profit or state owned.

• A business owned by multiple individuals may be referred to as a company.

Is a University a Business?

• A business, also known as an enterprise or a firm, is an organisation involved in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers.

• Businesses are prevalent in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and provide goods and services to customers in exchange of other goods, services, or money.

• Businesses may also be not-for-profit or state owned.

• A business owned by multiple individuals may be referred to as a company.

• Universities straddle the public/private sector. They must try to operate like a business, such as having business processes , whilst remaining loyal to what a University actually is

• The word "university" is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars.“

What does business-like mean to Universities?

What do you think the role of an academic is within a university?

• Teacher

• Researcher

• Consultant

• Leader

• Senior Manager

What do you think the role of an academic is within a university?


• Universities are business-like in that we need to produce a ‘surplus’ each year in order to remain sustainable.

– HEFCE says so!

– Recommends 4-5% surplus

– Surplus is turned into cash

– Funds working capital and capital expenditure


• Universities have become much more business like in recent years, for example, adopting more commercial processes and techniques, including

– P2P

– O2C

– Workflow systems

Business Like – changes in personnel

• The sector has seen a move over the last few years to professional finance staff running the business rather than academics.

– Director of Finance, rather than an academic bursar

• This leads to more clarity of what is required and allows the business like industry processes to be introduced.

• Better understanding of funding and cost control

How are Universities Funded?

• HEFCE Funds

– Teaching/ QR/Other

• Tuition Fees

– UG, PGT, PGR – Home and Overseas

• Research Income

– Industry, RC’s, Europe, Other Overseas etc

• Other Income

– Consultancy, Residences, etc.

Teaching

Research

HEIF

Other

£m Teaching 3,231 Research 1,558 HEIF 156 Other 442

HEFCE Funding 2012/13

HEFCE Funding 2014/15

Teaching

Research

Knowledge Exchange

Other

£m Teaching 1,582 Research 1,558 Knowledge Exch 160 Other 583

HEFCE Teaching Funding

• HEFCE’s Teaching funding allocation methodology

₋ Student numbers in subject groupings

₋ Various rates of grant by subject

₋ Scaling factors to keep within budget

₋ ‘old regime’ and ‘new regime’ categories

HEFCE Research Funding (QR)

• HEFCE’s Mainstream QR income based on: – Quality profile of each Unit of Assessment (UoA) in last

RAE Weightings:

4* (world leading) 7 3* (internationally excellent) 3 2* (recognised internationally) 1 1* (recognised nationally) 0

– Volume of research activity • Category A generally funded staff FTE in last RAE

– Unit funding in each UoA (variable)

HEFCE Research Funding (QR)

• Charities funding

– Unweighted for quality – Based on HESA returns – Normally averaged over 2 years

• Business Research Element (BRE) – introduced in 2007-08

– Unweighted for quality – Based on HESA returns – 2014-15 allocations based on average of 2011-12 and 2012-13

Research Income from UK industry, commerce and public corporations

• Research Degree Programme student supervision funding

– Home/EU students in years 1-3 only – Returned annually in RAS

• The major costs of any university are the pay costs (that is the cost of staffing)

– These are often the hardest costs to manage!

• Non Pay

– Difficult to forecast

• Deprecation

– Cost of investing in equipment and buildings

• Interest and Charges

The costs of running a University

• Cost Control is different from Cost Cutting!

– Ongoing process

– Strategic focus

– Long term efficiency

– Investment in the future

• Decisions made now affect future cash and operating results

Cost Control is vital to the running of any institution!

Planning and reporting cycle

Budget

Mid Year

Forecast

Monthly

Results

Five Year

Forecast

Full Year

Results

Future Present

Past Financial

Statements

(Annual Report)

Management

accounts

Accounting policies

• Normally set by Finance Director and approved by Board of Governors

• Comply with UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP)

• True and Fair view • UoM uses ‘Historical cost convention’ • Institution should judge the appropriateness of

accounting policies to its particular circumstances against the objectives of: – Relevance – Reliability – Comparability – Understandability

Accounting Concepts

Going Concern

Accountants assume, unless there is evidence to the contrary, that a company is not going broke. This has important implications for the valuation of assets and liabilities.

Consistency Transactions and valuation methods are treated the same way from year to year, or period to period. Users of accounts can, therefore, make more meaningful comparisons of financial performance from year to year. Where accounting policies are changed, companies are required to disclose this fact and explain the impact of any change.

Prudence Profits are not recognised until a sale has been completed. In addition, a cautious view is taken for future problems and costs of the business (the are "provided for" in the accounts" as soon as their is a reasonable chance that such costs will be incurred in the future.

Matching (or "Accruals")

Income should be properly "matched" with the expenses of a given accounting period.

Financial statements

• Income and expenditure account

– Results of operations for year ending 31 July

• Balance sheet

– Financial position as at 31 July

– Shows assets and liabilities of institution

– ‘Snapshot’

• Cashflow statement

– Movements in cash during year ending 31 July

Differences between financial statements and management accounts

Financial Statements

• Used for external reporting

• Reporting to External stakeholders and Board of

• Formats strictly controlled by law, accounting requirements (Statement of Recommended Practice – SORP)

• Prepared at institutional level – include items which are only considered at that level, eg pension liabilities

• Used for internal reporting and decision-making

• Reporting to Heads of School, Deans, Senior Management Team, Finance Committee

• Formats more flexible and management led

• Prepared at school/faculty level

Management Accounts

Business-like Financial Processes

• Government Funding cuts increase pressure to understand finances

• Prepare Financial Statements but follow sector specific guidance

• Better Management Accounting information

• Understand the academic roles

Social Value!

• Not everything that is profitable is of social value and not everything of social value is profitable

• HE’s are important to the UK Economy, working in Research, SME engagement etc.

LUNCH 1.00-1.45

ACADEMIC ENTERPRISE

Culture and values of HE and its staff

Exploring the academic enterprise

• Academic enterprise is central to Universities’ missions • AND it is an important element of all HE providers’

missions (noting the variety in the sector)

Innovative activities and partnerships that result in the exploitation (and transfer) of knowledge and expertise, and therefore enhance the relevance of teaching and research activities within a subject area • The academic enterprise can be best explored through

definitions of ‘scholarship’


Scholarship

• Not just ‘blue-sky thinking’

• Ernest Boyer expanded our understanding of scholarship to help shape the (research) mission of HEIs:

- Discovery - Integration - Application - Scholarship of teaching and learning Understanding Higher Education: The One Day Nutshell

Scholarship

• Discovery – original research that advances knowledge

• Integration – synthesis of information across disciplines, across topics within disciplines, or across time

• Application – engaging communities inside and outside the university to advance the public good

• Scholarship of teaching and learning – advancing the practice of teaching by making research findings public and engaging learners in scholarly activity Understanding Higher Education: The One Day Nutshell

Scholarship


Where do we fit?

• Who are ‘we’?

• Our professional role in developing, promoting, facilitating scholarship

• A model to explore professional identity

• A model to explain professional identity


Simple show of hands

• Are you professional in your work?

• Are you a professional?

• Are you part of a profession?


Context

“The role of professional administrative and support staff is becoming more pivotal as the sector becomes more competitive, more business and market focussed, and more international…the old divide between academic and “non-academic” is starting to change.”

(Wild and Wooldridge, 2009)


Context


HE Changes 1963-2000

1963 Robbins Report

1986 Research Assessment Exercise

1988 Education reform Act

1992 FE&HE Act FE&HE (Scotland) Act

1997 Dearing Report

1997 QAA Established

1998 Teaching and HE Act

HE Changes since 2000

2003 Roberts review (or research assessment)

2004 The HE Act (variable fees and OFFA)

2005 NSS

2006 Access Agreements

2010 The Browne Review

2011 White Paper (students

at the heart of HE)

2012 Introduction of £9k ‘fees’

2014 Research Excellence

Framework

The funding and regulatory landscape

Theoretical Framework


On professionalism

• There are differences between the traditional definitions and experienced understandings

• Contemporary professionals face multiple, concurrent drivers: -gaining and managing expert knowledge -operating entrepreneurially -managing limited resources -navigating regulatory guidelines -meeting clients needs and expectations

• Professionals are: -losing autonomy / authority -no longer sole owners of knowledge -experiencing increased levels of regulation

On professionalism

• ‘trust’, ‘integrity’, ‘service’ and ‘authority’ being replaced by

• ‘quality assurance’, ‘performance indicators’, ‘standards’, and ‘efficiency’

“professionalism is witnessing a lurch from an ethic of service to an ethic of performance”

(Barnett, 2008)

On identity

• Considerations of ‘sameness’

• Demonstrated through the affiliations we choose, and have chosen for us, with different groups

• Inherent link with the verb to ‘identify’; something that needs to be established

• Through identification, one’s identity is open to change and reconceptualisation over time

• Identity is therefore a socially constructed entity which is constantly being reconfigured and reformed

On identity

• We are not limited to a single ‘identity’; we all experience multiplicity

• We all constantly reassert, reconsider and reconceptualise our identities

• Therefore any actuality, expectation or threat of change is very likely to provoke concerns about who or what we are

• BUT, it also provides a freedom to create new, or redefine existing, identities and to ‘straddle boundaries’

Analytical framework


• Nomenclature – the descriptors individuals and collectives choose, and the labels applied to them by others

• The behaviours we (un)consciously choose in order to shape our working lives

• How perceptions of ‘professional’ staff are ascribed and (re)negotiated


• The relevance of acquired skills, experience and qualifications in enacting one’s duties and in engaging with (academic) colleagues

• The influence of perceived and formal (relative) status

• The formal and informal structures that shape the environment in which HE ‘professionals’ (re)construct their identity

In your groups

Consider a single theme from the framework making use of the hand-out

• What do you collectively understand by this theme?

• Do you recognise it? If so, how and where?

• How might awareness of this theme enhance your own professional practice?

Collective self confidence

• The loss, or absence, of professional self-confidence makes it disproportionately harder to operate as a professional

• lack of assurance and self-confidence prevent a unified and proud claim of professional status

• We need the self-confidence to champion and promote our work as a desirable and rewarding career that contributes to the greater good of scholarship, of higher education and of society.

Simple show of hands

• Are you professional in your work?

YES

• Are you a professional?

YES

• Are you part of a profession?

YOU ARE IF YOU WANT TO BE!


REFRESHMENTS 3.00-3.20

THE VICE-CHANCELLOR’S DILEMMA

Group exercise

The VC’s Dilemma

The VC of the University of Poppleton has been invited to sit on four national working groups – she only has time to attend one… but which one?!

1. Growth of alternative providers and the extension of degree awarding powers.

2. The student funding regime.

3. Internationalisation and student visa issues.

4. Student complaints and appeals.

The Format

• We will briefly introduce each topic.

• After we’ve each said our piece you will have small group discussion for twenty minutes or so to discuss which is the biggest issue and why.

• Each group then briefly explains to the others why they made their selection.

• We vote! The issue picked by the most delegates is the winner.


Dilemma 1 – alternative providers & DAP

• Discuss changes and challenges to the very foundation of the Higher Education sector

• Cuts to the chase on the fundamental discussion of “what is a university and what is it for”

• New providers will likely lead to a thinner spread of funding – you need to be in that discussion

• Central to managing the quality and reputation of the sector as a whole

• Ties to your interest in Widening Access – price variation, segmentation, opportunity, hierarchy.


Dilemma 2 – the student funding regime

• Dearing to Browne: we constantly get it wrong

• Where we get our money from is the most fundamental issue

• Widening participation is the most fundamental issue

• A fair and equal system is the most fundamental issue

• It’s the only issue The Daily Mail is interested in, ergo it’s the only issue in which politicians are interested

Dilemma 3 – internationalisation and visas

• “Show me the money!” – opportunities to increase income and help UK PLC

• Embedding global scholarship – more partners leads to greater opportunities to discover, integrate and apply knowledge for real impact

• You’ll be at the centre of managing and enhancing UK HE’s reputation overseas

• This is your chance to stick it to the UK Govt. on their over-zealous definitions of immigration

• PS Who doesn’t fancy a ‘fact finding mission’ in the Bahamas?

Dilemma 4 – complaints and appeals

• Dissatisfaction rates, as judged by OIA cases, are at an all-time high (okay, except they’re not)

• When the impact of £9k fees is felt more we will see the number of complaints and appeals swell

• Complaints are time-consuming we should make our processes light-touch

• Complaints can damage an institution’s reputation and need to be managed effectively


WRAP UP AND DEPART

Group exercise

Introduction to Higher Education

June 2014