Uncertain Universities…
Interesting snippets of Higher Education news today from the BBC website.
It seems that the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HECFW) has voiced concerns about the sustainability of no less than five Welsh universities. Although it hasn’t named them, I think it’s likely to be those most dependent on state funding which is pretty certain to shrink drastically over the next few years. I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader to identify the five most likely to fold. This news has emerged as a result of a request by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act.
This comes as no surprise to me, actually. It’s clear that, for its size and population, Wales has too many separate institutions currently regarded as “universities”. A sustainable system would have less than half the number than we have now, but managing the change to a more rational structure is bound to be a difficult process, especially if it is allowed to happen by organized neglect (which seems to be the plan). Wales drastically underfunds its Higher Education sector compared to England anyway and, with what jam there is spread over far too many institutions, there’s very little by way of resources to devote to any real sort of strategic development.
Another interesting bit of information in the BBC report is that the Welsh Assembly is expected to outline its response to the Browne Review before Christmas. I was expecting the WAG to but the introduction of any new fee system will probably have to wait until after the Welsh Assembly elections next May.
Meanwhile Cardiff University students are holding a protest against the possible introduction of fees at the very moment I am writing this, as part of a day of action across the UK. Although there are no definite plans to increase fees in Wales at the moment because the WAG has not announced its policy, I think most of us working in academia think a big increase in fees is imminent in Wales, just as it is in England (provided the necessary legislation gets through the House of Commons). It remains to be seen, however, whether Welsh universities will be allowed to charge as much as English ones, i.e. up to £9000 per annum.
In the Dark 
November 25, 2010 at 5:21 pm
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dave McLaughlin, Peter Coles. Peter Coles said: Uncertain Universities…: http://wp.me/pko9D-275 […]
November 25, 2010 at 11:33 pm
I’m not going to try to guess which five Welsh universities are on the HEFCW list of financially vulnerable institutions, although the English funding council, HEFCE, has had a similar list of English universities for years. The cuts are certain to provoke the collapse of some universities and emergency mergers of others across Britain.
I agree strongly with Peter’s opinion that Wales has too many universities for its size. It was a significant error for HEFCW to support the formation of a number of new institutions over the past two decades, when mergers with each other and with older institutions could have provided a smaller number of larger, more efficient universities. Equally, the funding council acquiesced in the weakening of the institution that could have provided cross-institution coordination and reduced unecessary duplication: the University of Wales.
The Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning is encouraging mergers to create a system of regional teaching-led universities. These should have sufficient size to reduce a duplication of activities, and therefore could be more financially efficient.
I expect an increase in student fees in Wales, but by significantly less than the increase in England.
The legislation for increasing student fees is certain to get through the House of Commons because there are too many Liberal Democrat members in government posts for votes to be lost. The House of Lords may provide more of a challenge.