HE Scotland's Friday Round-Up (28/08/2009)

Notable stories appearing on the HE Scotland Twitter feed in the last seven days included...

In policy and funding news:

• After last week's A-level results and the high demand for places, media attention turned to Clearing in the early part of the week. The BBC reported on the 'scramble' for university places and The Guardian suggested that there were 14 students chasing every available university place. Alongside the news agenda, there was ongoing reflection on the unfulfilled demand for places. Whilst The Guardian's web site featured a piece asking 'Why does Labour bail out bankers, yet deny the young?', The Times Online posed the question 'Who wants to go to university, anyway?'.
• Changes at the upper levels of the Scottish Funding Council were announced with John Kemp being appointed as Director of Strategic Development and research supremo, David Gani, moving on to become a deputy Principal at the University of Strathclyde. In a further change at Strathclyde, Professor Gani will be joined by Professor Philip Winn who is currently Vice-Principal of Learning and Teaching at St Andrews University.
• Just as the Clearing stories started to dry up, an Institute for Public Policy Research press release got people talking by suggesting middle class pupils should be denied student loans and grants. A response from the NUS made it quite clear they were none too keen on the suggestion.
• In other policy news, RCUK extended and invitation to contribute to the Review of e-Science 2009 and Eduserv published the result of its survey into web content management in higher education.

In student news:

• In what was generally a quiet week for student news, there was less positive news over the weekend with Saturday's Scotsman reporting that there was no job for 86% of trainee teachers and Scotland on Sunday suggesting that dole fears were keeping gap year students abroad.
• Elsewhere, Glasgow Caledonian University released information on podiatry students who had decided to return to the country after travelling overseas to carry out foot and ankle screening at the Special Olympics.
• This week's student sport headlines saw Stirling University golfers representing Europe in the USA and a Robert Gordon University sports scholar crowned Pony Club champion, despite the lack of a horse.

In research news:

• Physics and astronomy featured heavily this week, with St Andrews researchers turning up a new planet and University of Glasgow scientists participating in an international search for gravitational waves.
• Stem cell research was similarly prominent, with The Scotsman reporting that research at Edinburgh University offers hope in the battle against motor neurone disease and the University of Dundee issuing a media release on new findings about the 'Guardian of the genome'.
• News desks liked a press release from the University of Glasgow entitled 'Should females trust showy males?', with the BBC one of many to cover news of researchers' findings about mating behaviour in three-spined stickleback fish.
• Edinburgh Napier University's news of an online toolkit for the evaluation of festivals' impact was well timed as Edinburgh's Festival Fringe entered its third week and the story was duly picked up by The Scotsman.
• In other research news, there was a rash of awards for researchers at the University of St Andrews; bees featured in news releases from both the University of Stirling and the Scottish Agricultural College; there was news that Edinburgh University was to participate in an "urgent" £2.25 million research project into swine flu ; the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama made the news in relation to the discovery of what may be the oldest piece of Scottish music; and the University of Aberdeen's purchase of the Cromarty lighthouse was covered by both STV and the BBC.

Finally, to close, the usual contest for the best media release title of the week. HE Scotland liked this one from St Andrews:

• Found: The planet that shouldn't exist

However, this week it is the Scottish Agricultural College which wins out with:

• Daisy And A Politician On The Pull

We can only assume that the SAC press office thought Politician Milks Publicity was just too risque...

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HE Scotland's Friday Round-Up (21/08/2009)

Notable stories appearing on the HE Scotland Twitter feed in the last seven days included...

In policy and funding news:

• This week's big story was Thursday's A-level results. In response to increased demand for places and the 27th annual rise in the proportion of students achieving A grades, The Guardian's headline warned 50,000 A-level students to miss out on place at university. Meanwhile, the Russell Group called for additional funding claiming the high demand had "demolished" the persistent myth that tuition fees would put students off higher education and Million+ stated there was 'a serious mismatch between demand for places and supply'. UCU also took the opportunity to comment and lamented the government's failed widening participation agenda.
• Earlier in the week, it was graduate employment which made the news as HESA released annual figures on graduate destinations. The Sunday Times focused on Robert Gordon and Edinburgh Napier universities' high graduate employment rates and The Sun similarly focused on Oxbridge's less impressive performance compared to newer universities. The Guardian, however, took its lead from HESA and chose to report that women graduates were more likely to be working than their male peers.
• There were questions as to whether the pressure for places combined with the widening participation agenda had led to some trying to cheat the system, with The Telegraph claiming students were lying about their family backgrounds to win university places and The University of Edinburgh mentioned in a similar article in The Mail.
• Elsewhere The Times ran a story about universities' use of Twitter; the Scottish Funding Council announced additional funding for its voucher scheme to encourage universities to work with SMEs; a BBC report covered findings suggesting university sites did not meet the requirements of disabled students; the University of Dundee played a leading role in encouraging the V&A to commit to an outpost in the city; and the University of Aberdeen opened a new £28m sports facility in collaboration with the City Council.

In student news:

• Debt was a focus with the Publication of the Push Student Debt Survey.The Herald reported that Scottish students rack up £2,000 of debt for every year of study and The BBC reported that new students face a total debt of £23,000. The UCU ttok the finding as an opportunity to comment on an anticipated rise in fees south of the border and claimed any such increase was about as popular as the poll tax.
• NUS released figures from their 2009 Student Experience Research revealing hidden course costs. The report's findings were covered by The Guardian which led with the fact that maths and computer science were the costliest degrees.
• In the face of the gloom over money, there was, at least, some more positive news to be found in the Push survey, with The BBC reporting that one in five graduates in the UK have settled down with someone they met at university, and The Scotsman noting the important role that a network of student friends can play in graduates' careers.
• Students at the University of the Highland and Islands Millennium Institute began a series of historic graduation ceremonies, with The BBC and covering the news in brief.
• In student sports news, Robert Gordon University equestrians represented Great Britain in France and the University of Edinburgh announced the equivalent of signing up Chris Hoy for the cycling team when it revealed that Scottish captain & GB Olympian, Graham Moodie, would become the player-coach of its men's hockey team.

In research news:

• The Scottish Government announced funding for the Scottish European Green Energy Centre to be based at the University of Aberdeen, with the story being picked up by The Herald.
• The Herald also covered Scottish researchers' role in contributing to the development of programmes for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch.
• After last week's news about stress ageing sheep, the University of Edinburgh turned its attention to deer, announcing that stags' descent into old age occurs much more quickly than that of does and inspired the headline "In a rut: old age is taking it toll on Scotland’s amorous stags".
• However, this week's most media friendly story was that of a Harry Potter inspired St Andrews University physicist's funding for research in the 'tantalising' field of invisibility. Unsurprisingly this was covered widely, including pieces by The BBC, The Telegraph, and an Express story on 'The Professor of Magic'.
• Meanwhile staff at the University of Aberdeen might have wanted access to Professor Leonhardt's technology as the visit of HRH, The Countess of Wessex, to meet sight saving researchers at the University's medical school was overshadowed when the royal guest became stuck in a lift.

As usual, we finish with the the best sector media release title of the week. This from the University of Edinburgh gets an honourable mention :

• Monarch of the Glen slips quickly into old age, suggests University of Edinburgh study

But the University of St Andrews carries off the crown for the sheer bravado of the following:

• 'Invisibility' two years away

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HE Scotland's Friday Round-Up (14/08/2009)

Notable stories appearing on the HE Scotland Twitter feed in the last seven days included...

In policy and funding news:

• NUS Scotland published Overstretched and Overdrawn, a survey of 6,000 students focused on financial hardship. The study indicated that more than half of the students surveyed are in commercial debt, and two thirds are in debt to friends and family. It also found that more than half of the students surveyed were in work, with 70 per cent of these working more than the recommended 10 hours a week during term-time. In addition to attracting a variety of coverage, including that by the BBC and The Herald, the SNP issued a media release stating that the SNP Government's decision to abolish the graduate endowment had 'helped to reduce the debt burden of Scotland's students' with Aileen Campbell MSP claiming 'Scottish students were failed by the Labour and Lib Dem administration with a lack of financial support'. Labour opposition spokesperson, Claire Baker MSP, took rather a different view. She initially tweeted to say that the SNP needed to 'get their head out of the sand and take some action' on the issue and went on to brand the SNP's claims about restoring free education 'a joke'.
• On Wednesday, Robert Gordon University announced it had signed a deal with Dundee College which will see students on a range of HND programmes at the College able to move straight into their third year of some RGU degree programmes.
• On the same day, the University of the Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute's progress towards full university title was criticised with Inverness-based economist, Tony Mackay, calling for an inquiry into the lengthy process.
• The Sutton Trust published a research report entitled Applications, Offers and Admissions to Research led Universities which suggested 'thousands of state school pupils shun top degree courses'. UCU took the view that the report revealed a 'poverty of ambition'. Whilst the Russell Group chose not to comment, Million+ took issue with the report's focus on just 13 research intensive universities, claiming the 'risk of this narrow approach is that the social mobility being achieved by the rest of the UK’s universities is ignored,' Widespread media coverage of the report included that by the BBC and The Mail.
• There was mixed environmental news for institutions this week. Whilst with the University of St Andrews highlighted the eco-friendly credentials of its new medical school, Heriot Watt University found itself one of a number of UK universities to be criticised for carbon offsetting in an article by the Times Higher Education magazine.

In student news:

• Last week's higher results continued to make the news. The Scotsman reported that the recession had boosted the 'Heriot-Watt intake by fifth' and the Sunday Mail ran a similar story. Meanwhile ahead of the A-Level results, The Sunday Times suggested 'the scramble for the final university places will be more intense this year'. Despite the level of demand and last week's calls for more funded places, Thursday's Times Higher Education magazine brought news that the Scottish Funding Council had no intention to relax the recruitment limits placed on the higher education institutions it funds.
• With freshers weeks not far off at universities across Scotland, Edinburgh University Student Association published guidance intended to help students get on with their neighbours which the Scotland on Sunday duly dubbed a guide on 'how to party' .
• In other party news, former contestant on India's version of X Factor and Edinburgh Napier University student, Anshul Tomer, made the news with his plans to sing at the Edinburgh Mela.
• It was also a week of remarkable student journeys. Just as University of Edinburgh fresher Euan Hunter completed a remarkable 37 day trans-Canada cycle ride, James Killingbeck of St Andrews University put out to sea in Devon having taken the decision to head back to Fife for the new term in a sea kayak.

In research news:

• University of Edinburgh research made a big splash, in the form of researchers' findings that facial symmetry offered clues to mental ability. Whilst this story received a good deal of coverage, including pieces in The Independent, the BBC and The Scotsman, it was perhaps surprising that an MRC media release detailing research elsewhere in Edinburgh on penis length wasn't picked up by many outlets.
• By contrast, Glasgow and Aberdeen archaeologists' discovery of a significant Bronze Age tomb in Perthshire did receive widespread media coverage, including that in The Scotsman, The Times and the BBC.
• The University of Glasgow also released news of the forthcoming publication of the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary. Having been forty-five years in the making, one can only imagine the scenes over the years as successive RAE managers at the institution asked about the date of publication...
• Meanwhile, Aberdeen University research indicating that gender plays an important role in angina was covered widely, including pieces by journalists from The Guardian and STV.
• Elsewhere the University of Edinburgh's automaton computerised band 'Cybraphon' appeared to tickle journalists' fancy, with a feature in The Scotsman entitled 'Cybraphon: 'It's a total moody diva' being just one of many similar pieces.

As usual we finish with the best sector media release title of the week. This edition's award goes to this from Edinburgh Napier University:

• University to hothouse future Rockstars

But it would be impossible to finish without mentioning the following headline from The Scotsman:

• Stressful life ages ewe

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HE Scotland's Friday Round-Up (07/08/2009)

Notable stories appearing on the HE Scotland Twitter feed in the last seven days included...

In policy and funding news:

• The Westminster Committee on Innovation Universities, Science and Skills, chaired by Phil Willis, published report into Students and Universities on Sunday. Explore links to some of the resultant media coverage about degree standards and read about the apparent political mood in favour of reducing UK universities' autonomy in HE Scotland's blog post on the report.
• The National Student Survey 2009 results were published yesterday. Find out how the Scottish universities participating ranked, how the Scottish sector performed compared to the rest of the UK and read what the UCU and NUS had to say about the results in HE Scotland's special blog post on the results.
• University applicants received their Highers results this week. The increased demand for places coupled with the best ever results by school leavers led to calls for additional places at Scottish universities from Labour Spokesperson Claire Baker and in The Herald, whilst the UCU called for penalties for universities which over-recruit to be waived. (Surely this was all a bit late - wasn't the time to make such calls back when England announced additional places two weeks ago? - Ed)
• Meanwhile, the Scottish Government published the Student Loans for Higher Education statistics, but these received scant media attention, despite indicating that 35 per cent of students leaving university in 2007 are currently employed below the £15,000 earnings threshold for repayment.

In student news:

• Monday saw the release of the NatWest Student Living Index 2009. Whilst PA ran with the revelatory 'Students rely on parents for cash', The Scotsman provided a Scottish angle on the survey's findings and looked at the variation between student costs and working patterns in different cities.
• Glasgow School of Art student, Carron Bull, sparkled as she took first prize in Ortak Jewellery's search for jewellery designers of the future.
• As Carron sparkled in the west, in the north-east, RGU graduate Rory Fraser shone with the launch of his third computer game 'Football Tycoon'.
• Stirling University student golfers past and present also had a good week, the highlight being Catriona Matthew's victory in the British Open.
• Elsewhere in student sport, Glasgow Caledonian University student Craig Ruddy received council backing for his 2014 Commonwealth Games bid.

In research news:

• Journalists found a University of Aberdeen researcher talking their language and, as a consequence, details of his findings about dolphins' communication made a 'splash' in various outlets, including The Telegraph, The Daily Mail and on Channel 4.
• A University of the West of Scotland psychologist also kept journalists busy with his findings that unprotected sex may have mental health benefits. Unsurprisingly, this news was also pounced on by the media, including pieces in The Independent in and The Telegraph.
• As if chatty dolphins and unprotected sex weren't good enough, an alcohol story completed the media-friendly research news this week as researchers at the University of Glasgow discovered yet more benefits in drinking red wine. The Express and The Mirror were amongst the many to cover news of the findings.
• Elsewhere, Andrew Brierley of St Andrews University informed us that climate change would irreversible by 2040 and joint research by the University of Edinburgh and UHI offered hope of high-speed web access in remote areas.

And finally, there was a bit more to go on this week than last when looking for the best sector media release title of the week. HE Scotland liked the following from the University of Dundee :

• Garden to go native and host 'pow-wow'

But this edition's award goes to this from St Andrews:

• Academic goes Pop

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Follow HE Scotland on Twitter to keep pace with Scottish higher education news as it happens.To register for e-mail alerts about future editions of the Friday Round-Up, just e-mail "Subscribe" to HEScotland@gmail.com - your details will NOT be shared with third parties.

NSS Results - Students in Scotland most satisfied in the UK, but feedback an issue for NUS

HEFCE today released the results of the National Student Survey (NSS) for 2009. The survey provides a picture of final year undergraduate students' views of their experience in higher education. On the measure of overall satisfaction, preliminary data suggests the Scottish sector as a whole performed well relative to other parts of the UK. Students who have just left the 12 participating Scottish institutions indicated an overall satisfaction rate of 86%. This compared favourably with the 82% rating given by students at English higher education institutions and student satisfaction rates of 83% in Wales and 84% in Northern Ireland.

Feedback poor in Scotland

Despite the positive score for overall satisfaction, NUS Scotland highlighted its concern at Scottish universities' scores for feedback. Noting that only 53 % of students at Scottish institutions agreed that ‘feedback on my work has helped me clarify things I did not understand’, the student body voiced its concern that the rate of satisfaction remained "stubbornly low" in this area. President Liam Burns commented

“Many lecturers are working incredibly hard to improve the amount and quality of feedback students receive, but today’s results show that universities have to throw their weight behind this work... University management need to show a commitment to making sure feedback is more than just a number or a grade.”

The UCU, however, welcomed the survey's findings and the fact that the majority of Scottish students were happy with quality of teaching they receive whilst at university. However, assistant general secretary, David Bleiman, warned that students' positive experience in Scotland could not be guaranteed indefinitely and went on to call for additional government support suggesting that:

"...cuts to teaching budgets and worsening student bursaries are going to make it much harder to sustain the current levels of satisfaction. Hence the Scottish Government should spend the extra £30 million it is allocating for student support on bursaries and redouble its efforts to find extra funding for universities."

Scottish Rankings

St Andrews University retained its position at the head of the Scottish league table for overall satisfaction, despite falling back a percentage point. Of the three new Scottish participants this year (RGU, Edinburgh Napier and The Glasgow School of Art), Robert Gordon performed most strongly and was ranked 7th with a satisfaction rating of 84%. Elsewhere, Heriot Watt's level of satisfaction fell by 4%, the University of Edinburgh remained adrift of the rest of the 'Ancients' in 9th place and, at 69%, the level of satisfaction of Glasgow School of Art students was some considerable way adrift of the rest of the sector.

The complete league table for Scotland looks as follows:

• 1. University of St Andrews 92% (2008 - 93%)
• 2. University of Glasgow 90% (2008 - 86%)
• 3. University of Aberdeen 89% (2008 - 91%)
• 4. University of Dundee 88% (2008 - 84%)
• 4. University of Stirling 88% (2008 - 86%)
• 6. University of Strathclyde 86% (2008 - 85%)
• 7. Glasgow Caledonian University 84% (2008 - 85%)
• 7. Robert Gordon University 84% (2008 - N/A)
• 9. University of Edinburgh 83% (2008 - 83%)
• 10. Heriot-Watt University 81% (2008 - 85%)
• 10. Napier University 81% (2008 - N/A)
• 12. Glasgow School of Art 69% (2008 - N/A)

Further Information

News piece & full dataset from HEFCE

University autonomy: UK swims against the European tide

With the publication of its report into Students and Universities, the Westminster Innovation Universities, Science and Skills Committee, chaired by Phil Willis, underwent some violent death throes on Sunday and made certain that no one in the sector would fail to notice its passing. The Committee's report and its recommendations made something of a media splash and were covered by The Sunday Times, The BBC, The Telegraph, The Observer amongst numerous others. Whilst the media predominantly focused on the rising numbers of firsts awarded and the comparability of qualifications from different institutions,the UCU issued a statement welcoming the recommendations on bursaries.

The Russell Group, however, appeared most affronted by what the report had to say and announced it was "dismayed and surprised" by the Committee's "outburst". By contrast the 1994 Group was more diplomatic, welcoming the "challenging and wide-ranging report", whilst labelling the proposals for a national bursary scheme "a mistake." Whether for strategic reasons or otherwise, Million+ chose not to offer any comment .

The report's 166 pages make for interesting reading, but anyone in the sector will get a good sense of why it caused such ructions from skimming the two page Summary at the start and the Conclusion & Recommendations (p. 136ff). The dominant theme I took away from the document was its determination to measure the sector against the implicit ideal of a coherent and structured collection of homogeneous and directly comparable universities. Whilst never explicitly articulated, it is this desire to bring order and political control that seem to underpin the proposals for national oversight, for a national bursary scheme, for comparability and for a "compact" between the sector and the state.

It is this same theme that appears to have so irked the Russell Group, most notably in the following passage from its response to the report:

The world class reputation of Russell Group universities depends on maintaining excellence. But universities are not schools. An essential feature of a university is its academic freedom and autonomy, with the responsibility to award degrees and uphold standards. While our institutions are working hard to provide more information on what students can expect from their courses, introducing a university equivalent of ‘Ofsted’ will only add another layer of bureaucracy.

The report's discussion of autonomy and the its suggestion of a more tightly regulated relationship with the state echoes some of the work of the Joint Future Thinking Taskforce in Scotland. The Taskforce's report, published late last year, sought to establish the Scottish Funding Council as an ‘agent of change’, allocating part of its funding (the 'Horizon Fund') to provide incentives to universities in order that they deliver on government priorities.

The apparent desire of UK politicians to curtail universities' autonomy, runs counter to the dominant mode of thought elsewhere in the EU. In 2006 the European Commission called for "modernised universities" and sought to build on the Glasgow Declaration by proposing that EU members:

Allow universities greater autonomy and accountability, so that they can respond quickly to change. This could include revising curricula to adapt to new developments, building closer links between disciplines and focussing on overall research areas domains (e.g. renewable energy, nanotechnology) rather than disciplines. It could also include more autonomy at individual institution level for choosing teaching and research staff.

Three years on, other EU states continue to look to the achievements of more autonomous institutions in the UK and the USA and seek to reduce state control in universities. The most notable of a series of reforms across Europe have been those in Germany. Increased autonomy from the state and other elements of the "Anglo-Saxon" model of higher education have been pushed through as part of significant reforms to the sector.

If the Committee's recommendations find favour with UK ministers, England may join Scotland in swimming against the European tidal flow. If so, UK universities could find their competitive advantage eroded as the freedoms that have hitherto enabled them to remain fleet of foot and to compete effectively in an aggressive international market ebb away.