Professor Christine King is focusing on the issue of part-time study.
She has been asked to consider how the higher education sector can respond to the fact that adults, often studying part-time will make up an ever-increasing proportion of the home student population over the next decade as they aim to increase skills levels.
What do you think?
For example do you think that it will be the case that part-time study will represent more and more of the study taking place in the UK in years to come? If so, how or what do you think the higher education sector will need to do to respond to these changing circumstances.
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Update (12/09/08)
“The flexibility needed to deal with the increasing diversity of the system will also be needed to deal with the second key theme: that there is no typical “university experience”. Christine King’s work suggests doing away with the demarcation between part-time and full-time students, instead developing flexibility in the system to benefit all students. This will require new approaches, so that students can fit studies in with their lives and work and acquire and transfer academic credit over time.”
(thoughts on what appear to be emerging themes extracted from John Denham’s speech to the UUK conference 11/09/08)
The full report by Prof. King will be published in October both on the DIUS website and here on the JISC hosted Future of Higher Education blog / forum where your views can be posted and discussion engaged with other interested stakeholders on the issues raised and recommendations made.
See further discsusion on this topic here.
Over the next 20 years the UK will undergo many demographic changes. These changes will also result in demographic challenges for universities and higher education.
UUK is focusing on this issue with a view to advising on what these demographic trends might be, the challenges they will create and how the sector might best respond to them.
What do you think?
Do you have any views on what demographic trends might be and how they might affect higher education in years to come?
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Update (12/09/08)
“UUK’s work on demographic change shows how the numbers of home students aged 18-21 may decline significantly in the next 10-15 years. Different institutions will respond differently, increasing diversity. One solution is to increase the number of learners from under-represented groups, with part-time study becoming increasingly important, and working more closely with employers to realise this market’s full potential. Others may aim for a greater share of the more traditional full time undergraduates. Others may specialise in niche markets. UUK also recommend that funding systems could do more to facilitate the flexibility to adapt to changing markets.”
(thoughts on what appear to be emerging themes extracted from John Denham’s speech to the UUK conference 11/09/08)
The full report by UUK will be published in October both on the DIUS website and here on the JISC hosted Future of Higher Education blog / forum where your views can be posted and discussion engaged with other interested stakeholders on the issues raised and recommendations made.
Paul Ramsden is providing input on teaching and the student experience.
He has been asked to offer a perspective on how higher education institutions are currently responding to student expectations and will assess the main challenges in maintaining and improving the quality of their educational experience.
What are your views on these and the other issues raised in the remit letter?
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Update (12/09/08)
“Paul Ramsden’s work reaches some similar conclusions. Since students will have increasingly disparate experiences institutions will need to work ever more closely to cater for students studying in non-traditional ways. To do this, he suggests that institutions should be prepared to contemplate remodelling their curriculum, perhaps radically.”
(thoughts on what appear to be emerging themes extracted from John Denham’s speech to the UUK conference 11/09/08)
The full report by Mr. Ramsden will be published in October both on the DIUS website and here on the JISC hosted Future of Higher Education blog / forum where your views can be posted and discussion engaged with other interested stakeholders on the issues raised and recommendations made.
Professor Drummond Bone is looking at international issues in the higher education.
Amongst the questions he is considering include:
- How do we anticipate the international market for higher education will change over the next 10-15 years?
- How well positioned is UK higher education to take advantage of these developments?
- Is it possible to assess both positive and negative consequences of the increasing internationalisation of UK universities?
What do you think?
Are these the right questions we need to ask ourselves in an increasing globalised world? What else (if anything) should we also be considering?
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Update (12/09/08)
“And it will become ever more important to break down international boundaries. Drummond Bone’s work advocates a broad approach to internationalisation. This will increasingly involve more than just recruiting overseas students - though that will undoubtedly continue. Some institutions may build campuses overseas, or find other ways to deliver courses abroad. More will develop a range of partnerships with universities or other providers abroad. And institutions will need to develop networks overseas so they have long-term presence in countries.”
(thoughts on what appear to be emerging themes extracted from John Denham’s speech to the UUK conference 11/09/08)
The full report by Prof. Bone will be published in October both on the DIUS website and here on the JISC hosted Future of Higher Education blog / forum where your views can be posted and discussion engaged with other interested stakeholders on the issues raised and recommendations made.
Professor Paul Wellings is focusing on a work stream on how we maximise the research and economic benefits of intellectual property.
How do you think we could do this?
How should universities use and manage IP for their own benefit and for the benefit of the wider economy?
For example, what do you think the balance between their reaping the fruits of their own labour and delivering wider benefits to the economy should be?
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Update (12/09/08)
“Paul Wellings’ work on intellectual property recognises this [that, diversity in the system will increase]. In order that the UK gets the most out of its intellectual property, he suggests that specialist capacity in commercialisation and IP management may be focused into a few institutions, and that many institutions may choose not to dabble themselves but draw on the expertise of others.”
(thoughts on what appear to be emerging themes extracted from John Denham’s speech to the UUK conference 11/09/08)
The full report by Prof. Wellings will be published in October both on the DIUS website and here on the JISC hosted Future of Higher Education blog / forum where your views can be posted and discussion engaged with other interested stakeholders on the issues raised and recommendations made.
The Council for Science and Technology (CST) is looking into how interaction between academia and public policy makers could and should be improved.
As has been suggested in the letter to CST, this relationship when working well is extremely mutually beneficial and is an important part of the policy making process.
What do you think?
How do you think this relationship can be improved? Do you even think it needs to be improved?
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Update (12/09/08)
“…the Council for Science and Technology’s work suggests breaking down and blurring boundaries so that academics and universities can support high-quality government policy making. Again, their work recommends a more flexible exchange of people and ideas between higher education and government.”
(thoughts on what appear to be emerging themes extracted from John Denham’s speech to the UUK conference 11/09/08)
The full report by CST will be published in October both on the DIUS website and here on the JISC hosted Future of Higher Education blog / forum where your views can be posted and discussion engaged with other interested stakeholders on the issues raised and recommendations made.
