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Implementation of the HEFCE Open Access policy for the post-2014 REF: a progress report to JISC

BU Challenges

Original post by Neil Jacobs on this JISC website.

Background

Over the past month, Research Consulting has been undertaking a review of UK higher education institutions’ progress towards implementation of the open access policy for a post-2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF). Based on the six institutional workshops, completed with the support of the Jisc Open Access Good Practice Pathfinder projects, as well as interviews with Jisc and HEFCE staff, the study has identified how much progress has been made across the sector to implement the policy and distinguished where there may be further opportunities to support institutions in this area.

Summary Findings

The Collaborative Institutional Assessment of Open access (CIAO) tool was used to gauge institutions’ current level of readiness of the REF policy. Based on responses from 37 participating institutions, summarised below, the study found that, whilst all institutions were actively pursuing implementation of the REF open access policy, research-intensive institutions were generally found to have more developed open access capabilities than teaching-led institutions.

CAIO-results-May-2015Key Challenges

Across all institution-types, however, the following key challenges were given high priority as potentially critically affecting the institution’s ability to comply with the policy:
• Difficulties in identifying accepted articles
• Difficulties in monitoring and benchmarking compliance
• Difficulties in tracking deposits in subject repositories
• Uncertainty over audit requirements, particularly in relation to exceptions
• Systems deficiencies which may result in significant compliance issues.

Other significant issues of note

• A tendency towards ‘gold-plating’ of processes and uncertainty over audit requirements which could be alleviated through reliance on institutional internal audit functions.
• The added value of self-archiving where articles are made OA through the gold route appears limited relative to the effort involved.
• The SHERPA/REF tool, in development, could save time and promote greater author engagement with the policy, if the results delivered were formally endorsed by HEFCE.

Resourcing also presented a further challenge for institutions, due to a rapid rise in deposits and potential inefficiencies in current processes. A large number of less significant issues were also raised, including difficulties in securing and identifying the AAM, uncertainties over dates of acceptance and publication, and concerns over staff recruitment and retention.

This PDF provides a full breakdown of the implementation challenges

Projects services directly/ indirectly supporting REF compliance

There are a range of existing Jisc projects and services with the potential to address some of the issues identified. The most important are considered to be the SHERPA services, Publications Router and the RIOXX/CASRAI projects, but institutions also see scope for ORCID, IRUS-UK, Jisc Collections and CORE to support REF compliance.

This PDF provides a full list of the Jisc projects and services seen by respondents to be useful for the REF

Recommendations

The recommendations to Jisc arising from this work are as follows:

1. Jisc should review its arrangements for supporting institutional repositories, in view of the concerns identified over usability, required levels of technical support and uncertainty over how some specialist institutions can achieve compliance with the REF OA policy.
2. A comprehensive picture of the current research information system (CRIS) and repository solutions in use by UK HEIs, and the interactions between them, should be developed in order to effectively inform planning of Jisc projects and services.
3. Jisc should actively develop relationships with the major CRIS vendors, to ensure the sector’s requirements in respect of the REF OA policy are clearly understood and reflected in supplier roadmaps.
4. A working group should be convened to explore the role of subject repositories, and consider what opportunities exist to enable REF-compliant deposit in these repositories, with metadata subsequently shared with institutions.
5. Jisc should explore opportunities to collect and share relevant data on compliance with the REF OA policy, for example through further development of the CORE service.
6. The OA Pathfinder programme should take these recommendations into account, and seek to develop and disseminate good practice in the management of exceptions, among other areas.

Next steps

Jisc is committed to supporting the sector in their implementation of the policy and to focus its efforts and resource on those areas recommended by this study. Over the coming weeks, therefore, Jisc will be considering how its projects/ services can potentially be refocused/ reallocated to address the most urgent issues faced by institutions and will release details of these plans as soon as they become available.

The Future of Research Practice

REF Subjects, Research assessment

NealWhite

 

 

 

Blog post by Professor Neal White, Faculty of Media and Communication

 

The Future of Research Practice

At a HEFCE sponsored conference run at Goldsmiths in London last week, a very large body of academics invested in the Future of Practice Research in the Arts and Humanities, gathered to hear HEFCE’s position on the area.

Following a stimulating keynote on the history and value of Undergraduates in this area by the artist Anne Tallentire, Professor Emeritus Central Saint Martens University of the Arts London, the audience was given an update on the state of play from HEFCE’s perspective.

In doing so Ben Johnson, Research Policy Adviser and then Steven Hill, Head of Research Policy at HEFCE, underlined the critical importance of practice research and the wide range of outputs considered in the recent REF. Central to their statements was an analysis of the amount and the impact of practice research submitted to the Panels. Writ large was the fact that one third of the overall REF submission was practice research and here was the first surprise, from HEFCE and REF position, this was a disappointing figure.

The reason for this, as Professor Bruce Brown (Pro VC Research at of Brighton University, lead of Arts and Humanities Panel D) expressed, was the overall balance of text and non-text outputs; simply put, there were not enough non text outputs at 36% of the submission. The apprehension had been that in UoAs 34-35 at least, these figures should have been reversed, with 64% practice research expected.

With many institutions hesitant about how to capture and articulate not only practice research, but specifically Impact, we were reassured that we had nonetheless delivered exceedingly high levels of world leading and international research in the REF – around 80% in total (BU return to Impact in UoA34 was 60/40 – 4*/3*), underlining our role in articulating and facing head on societal challenges to the human condition and ways of life. And so we were reminded of our contribution to not only the search for new knowledge, but our contributions to ‘enhanced understanding’ (a key definition outlined by HEFCE) in terms of the recovery of lost knowledge, and the testing of existing knowledge.

So what do we need to do in order to increase the amount and quality of practice research as will be expected, to deal with a problem that has for many been attributed to the confidence of our institutions, and those who lead the returns, for we were told, it does not reflect what is going on in UK Higher Education, as designers, performers, artists and other creative intellectuals continue to undertake and are leading the world in practice research.

In later presentations, and woven throughout the day were themes and concerns about practice research and its status in the Academy, running from staff requiring PhD’s, to the poor auditing tools available to them and the lack of understanding in the sciences, who largely run the exercises. Many points were highly valid, and some very familiar, but at the end of the day, HEFCE, who was in listening mode noted down and responded to the key suggestions and proposed actions.

More practice research figures it was agreed should and will be appointed to bodies like the British Academy. There would be less emphasis on the PhD from HEFCE in this area. A separate research practice policy lobbying body such as exist in Science would be supported. Overall, it was clear the value that practice brings, with HEFCE underlining the contributions to economic, social and cultural values in particular.

HEFCE and the REF need and expect much more non-text outputs – the role of practice in particular in the communication and engagement with research across the board should not and cannot be underestimated, they declared. They want and expect more scholarly forms of practice research, an area in which we now lead the World. But together, the next job is also to ensure that the government does not dismantle one of the liveliest and most engaged research bases in the World, aided and abetted by disciplinary divisions; the power bases of science and the arts respectively. Least we forget, the contribution to GDP from the fast growing sector of our economy, the creative industries was recorded in 2014 at £71.4 Billion (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/creative-industries-worth-8million-an-hour-to-uk-economy).

In briefly summarising all of the fascinating discussions and agreements, for there was much consensus, was a single line, delivered by Bruce Brown at the end of his own presentation in the morning that made an awful lot of sense to those of us trying to persuade our colleagues of our own value. The argument for practice research is won he declared on behalf of HEFCE and REF, the future of research practice is clear. We simply need to ensure that we can now; ‘Get over it and get on with it’.

Neal White is Professor of Media Art. He contributed to BU’s leading return in the RAE in 2008 and REF 2014, with one of two Impact Case Studies. He currently is REF leader for UoA34 and heads Experimental Media Research in the Faculty of Media and Communication.

BRAD Week – One week to go!!

Training

final wordleJust to advise you our next BRAD events programme is now LIVE.

BRAD week is taking place from the 29th of June – 6th of July 2015.

Check out our events below and Book into BRAD now!

Please see the comments we received from people who attended our April BRAD events.
Introduction and Basics

Research Methods

Impacts and Outputs

Research Bid Writing

We hope to see you at the events ……….soon

 

 

Call now open ! Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF): money available to support your business engagement and knowledge exchange ideas.

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, HEIF, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer

HEFCE provide funding for knowledge exchange (Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF)) to support and develop a broad range of knowledge-based interactions between universities and colleges and the wider world, which result in economic and social benefit to the UK. The current round of funding is referred to as HEIF-5 and runs until 31st July 2015.

BU has a proven track record with this funding stream and our success continues. Currently there are 13 live projects funded from HEIF-5, including VFX Hub, BUDI and the Cyber Security Unit. Interim funding has been made available to run from 1 August 2015 to 31 July 2016. This is known as HEIF 5+1.

The call is now open. Colleagues are invited  to bid for funds to run new projects with funding starting 1 August 2015 and ending 31 July 2016.

Deadlines are tight with the deadline for proposals being Friday 3 July 2015.  (Timetable for the call.)

These projects will need to reflect our interim strategy sent to HEFCE:

“BU will continue to invest in innovation themes with a strong focus on network creation, with a particular focus on digital and creative industries, health and wellbeing, and regional development. The additional year of funding will enable BU to continue to develop our existing area in addition to investment to develop new innovations. This will allow BU to create innovations in areas such as e-health, whilst developing closer links with regional initiatives to enhance local development opportunities, working with the Dorset LEP and other local organisations. We will also consider the use of HEIF funds to invest in effective mechanisms for engaging with business/industry. Our core strategy of investing in sector-specific themes with a strong focus on network creation remains; what has changed in light of emerging opportunities is the nature of the themes in which we will invest and the mechanisms through which we will engage with the region.”

For more information please click here.

Make sure you read the information listed in the useful documents section including:

HEIF Institutional Strategy

HEIF FAQs

HEIF Application Form

Reminder – RKEO and Legal Services Coffee Morning – Thursday 25th of June

Coffee Morning

coffee morning pics

Our next RKEO coffee morning will be taking place on Thursday the 25th of June and will be held in conjunction with our colleagues from the Legal Services team.

Members of the RKEO and the Legal Services teams will be in the Retreat, Talbot Campus from 9.30 to 10.30am.

Come along and discuss your research plans with our RKEO team and check out how they can support you through the whole research funding process from applying to successful project management and delivery. We can also help you find the right funding opportunity, discuss the processes relating to funding schemes, as well as identifying potential collaborators and partners to strengthen your application. We can help with public engagement, knowledge transfer opportunities and much, much more….

Representatives from Legal Services will also be available to answer queries on matters such as contracting arrangements, freedom of information and data protection.

Come along and have a chat with us and see how we can help you, or just pop by and enjoy a coffee and a cake.

We look forward to seeing you!

 

BRAD now LIVE – Book yourself in!

Training

final wordleJust to advise you our next BRAD events programme is now LIVE.

Check out our events and Book into BRAD now!

BRAD week is taking place from the 29th of June – 6th of July 2015.

Please see the comments we received from people who attended our last BRAD event week in April.

We hope to see you there……….soon

 

 

Want to work with business? Try this workshop as a starting point

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Info Days, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer

The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (RKEO) are hosting a one-day networking development workshop for those academics who are interested in working with business.

Held off-site in Bournemouth from 9am-5pm on Thursday 25th June, this workshop aims to focus on developing your personal skills where key learning outcomes are: communication, persuasion, influence and talking to business.

This workshop is ideal for academics who wish to work with industry on projects such as consultancy or KTP.

We currently have four places left!  If anyone is interested in attending, please book your place via Rachel Clarke, KE Adviser (KTP) on 01202 961347 or email clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk

Games Research Group – Meeting before Summer Break

After the successful kick off from our Games Research Group in April and the great interest we received from you establishing this group, we would like to organise a new meeting before everybody heads off into the summer break.

Seeing the wide range of research on games and new technologies across BU, we hope that this group will help you to benefit from a such a research network in which we share our knowledge about games and new technologies and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration.

The next Games Research Group meeting will be held on the 24 June 2015 in P406 from 16:00 o’clock.

Agenda:

  • Oculus Rift – A trip into virtual reality
  • DiGRA – Benefits of being a member at the Digital Games Research Association
  • Open Discussion about future meeting ideas

Please feel free to forward the message to people who might be interested in the topic and want to come along. Refreshments will be provided.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Jessika Weber

 

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities

The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information.

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council invites applications for funding for the delivery of Exploring Innovation seminars. These enable universities and institutes to deliver events to facilitate discussion and improve awareness of knowledge exchange and commercialisation of BBSRC-supported research. The event may include a half day with networking and panel discussion for academic staff and academic-related colleagues involved in developing the programme and encouraging attendance. Audience or speakers could include academic staff, university business development staff, knowledge exchange professionals, technology transfer specialists, patent attorneys, KTP advisors and representatives of life sciences businesses. Potential discussion topics include the following: case studies of practical approaches for working with business and other user organisations; research organisation strategy and policy surrounding intellectual asset management; practical and flexible approaches to achieve greater impact in areas related to intellectual property rights in biological sciences, formation of spin-out companies, research and development, licensing, consultancy, collaborative R&D, open innovation or social enterprise; BBSRC support and funding mechanisms for knowledge exchange; networking and sharing of best practice. Applicants should be research organisations that are in receipt of funding from BBSRC. Applications that are coordinated across departments or between different organisations are encouraged. Funding may be used to contribute towards the costs of external speakers, room fees, time spent in organising the event and any other reasonable costs, excluding lunch and refreshments.

Maximum award: £2k. Closing date: not specified.

Economic and Social Research Council invites expressions of interest for a collaborative Knowledge Exchange Fellowship. The fellowship will enable a mid-career academic to develop skills and experience of knowledge exchange and impact activities by working on behalf of the council’s Urban Transformations portfolio, where they will promote opportunities for policy and wider societal impact, with particular emphasis on the Foresight Future of Cities project and its wider network of cities’ stakeholders. The programme may offer opportunities for reflection and the advancement of academic career priorities as well as directly contributing to the work of the two programmes.

Maximum award: £80k at 80% fEC for 12 months. Closing date: 01/07/15.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council invites proposals for access to ARCHER through its resource allocation panel. This scheme provides access to the council’s national state-of-the-art high performance computing facility for proposals that are within the council’s remit and that would benefit from ARCHER. Proposals may include short computational projects that do not warrant a full grant application, projects that link consecutive standard grant applications or that aid the preparation of a grant or fellowship, extended feasibility studies, and trialling application developments at scale. Computing resources on ARCHER are awarded in kilo-allocation units with one kAU representing a measure of relative performance of ARCHER based on a range of benchmarks compared to previous national services. One core hour equates to 0.015kAU. Users can request significant amounts of computing resource (>1,000kAU) over a maximum one-year period. Although there is no limit to the number of kAUs that can be applied for, there is a limit to the total amount of kAUs available against this call: around 300,000 kAU, or 20 million core hours.

Maximum award: N/A. Closing date: 4pm, 07/09/15.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, as part of the Research Councils UK Energy Programme, invites registrations of intent for its call on reducing energy demand in the transport sector. Funding supports interdisciplinary collaborative research to reduce energy demand in the energy sector. Proposals with innovation in engineering, physical sciences or information and communication technologies, together with an application, business and economic modelling, and considering behavioural aspects of transport systems, are particularly encouraged. Furthermore, proposals should address the following research challenges: decarbonising freight using multidisciplinary research, including behaviour, economics, governance and technology; energy demand implications of technological, institutional and infrastructural change; vehicle design to meet challenging mobility needs in an integrated transport system.

Maximum award: £2 million. Closing date: Registrations of intent 4pm, 31/07/15.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Natural Environment Research Council invite technical assessments and applications for their ARCHER leadership projects. Awards provide direct access to the UK’s national supercomputing facility ARCHER for computationally intensive individual projects. Eligible projects may include the following: leadership calculations that push the boundaries of scientific high performance computing; calculations that require a large number of processing cores; high-risk, high-reward projects that rely heavily on high performance compute resource and have significant potential for large future impact; substantial computational projects by experienced teams that need large compute resources, but do not rely on additional support by EPSRC or NERC; pre-competitive computational production runs by non-academic research groups within sectors related to the remits of the ARCHER partner research councils. A total of maximum 2 million kAU is available, split between EPSRC and NERC remits at the ratio of 77 per cent EPSRC and 23 per cent NERC. Each applicant should apply for at least 100,000 kAU for a maximum period of two years.

Maximum award: N/A. Closing date: 4pm, 01/09/15.

Leverhulme Trust invites applications for its Visiting Professorships. These enable UK institutions to host eminent researchers from overseas, primarily to enhance the skills of academic staff or students at the host institution. Visiting professors may also wish to use the opportunity to further their own academic interests. Any field of research is eligible. Applications must be made by a member of academic staff, based in a UK university or other higher education institution, who will be responsible for coordinating the visit. Priority is given to new or recent collaborative ventures. Funding covers maintenance, travel expenses and research costs and supports visits that last between three and 12 months. Travel within the UK, laboratory consumables and essential technical assistance may also be covered.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 4pm, 08/10/15.

Medical Research Council invites applications for its Discovery Awards. These support discovery research in areas with potential for development, which are strategically sound within the institution’s strategy and are important nationally. All discoveries relevant to the MRC’s remit are accepted, and applicants are encouraged to explore how awards could be used to develop interdisciplinary interactions, for example by linking with physical sciences, mathematics and social sciences. Awards support recruitment or initial development of new PIs at junior or senior levels, or linked pilot work or technology and methods development. Institutions are expected to initiate and build critical mass and capacity in otherwise underexplored, high-potential areas of research, which may not yet compare to more established fields but have a clear vision for development.

Maximum award: £1 million. Closing date: 10/08/15.

Medical Research Council together with the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology, and with support from the Newton Fund, invites proposals for its UK-Vietnam infectious disease research call. This supports collaborative UK-Vietnamese biomedical research in health areas of importance to the Vietnamese population, leading to health benefits in Vietnam, particularly for the poorest and most vulnerable in society. Areas of particular interest include antimicrobial resistance, vaccine development for humans and malaria. Each proposal must involve a UK partner and one based in Vietnam. Interdisciplinary collaborations are particularly welcome.The budget for this call is £2.6 million, with up to £2m available from MRC for UK collaborators and up to £600,000 from MOST for Vietnamese collaborators. Funding is expected to support a maximum of five projects, worth up to £520,000 per project over two to three years.

Maximum award: £520k. Closing date: 15/07/15.

Medical Research Council, the Department for International Development and the Wellcome Trust invite proposals for their joint Global Health Trials scheme. This funds trials to generate new knowledge about interventions that will contribute to the improvement of health in low- and middle-income countries. Priority is given to proposals that are likely to produce implementable results and that address the major causes of mortality or morbidity in low- and middle-income countries. The focus is primarily on late-stage clinical and health intervention trials evaluating efficacy and effectiveness. The scheme is aimed at funding randomised controlled trials, but innovative trial methodologies and adaptive designs are also welcome. Phase IIb trials of major relevance may also be considered. Proposals for research into chronic non-communicable diseases and reproductive, maternal and newborn health are particularly welcomed. The scope encompasses interventions of all kinds, including behavioural and complex interventions, disease management, drugs, vaccines, hygiene and diagnostic strategies. The scheme is open to principal investigators based in low- or middle-income economies at higher education institutions and non-profit research institutions, and principal investigators based in UK HEIs, research council institutes and eligible independent research organisations.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 10/09/15.

Natural Environment Research Council invites applications for its Collaborative Gearing scheme. This offers opportunities for fieldwork-based scientific collaboration with NERC’s British Antarctic Survey, in cases where no funding for salaries, grants or other direct science costs is required, but where access to BAS Antarctic facilities and research stations would enable fieldwork to be conducted for the proposed project. Proposed projects must be allied to the BAS science programme.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 4pm, 31/03/16.

The World Health Organization, together with the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership and the UK Medical Research Council, invites proposals for research and capacity development in support of the Ebola virus disease response. The previous deadline of 18 June 2015 has now been extended to 6 August 2015. This call aims to build and strengthen regional, national, institutional and individual capacities to conduct high quality health research during infectious disease outbreaks resulting in health emergencies. Proposals should address at least one of the following areas: establish training or other capacity building activities for healthcare and laboratory personnel to detect and respond to infectious disease epidemics, conduct clinical trials and analyse samples in an emergency context to ensure clinical trial site preparedness; generate evidence for and implement ethically sound approaches to the introduction and clinical testing of new prevention tools or treatments during outbreaks of Ebola virus disease or other emerging infectious diseases of particular relevance to Africa; identify and implement best practices for building both community and national health authority support and engagement in clinical trials being conducted in emergency situations, including activities related to the development of appropriate mechanisms for surveillance, identification, tracking and referral of cases, as well as reintegration of survivors into the community. Consortia of researchers composed of at least one legal entity may apply. Projects involving transnational collaboration and regional networking are encouraged. Applicants are encouraged to establish links with relevant WHO and EDCTP-funded activities.

Maximum award: €250k. Closing date: 06/08/15.

Please note that some funding bodies specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKEO Funding Development Officer

You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

Lightning Talks event – come and find out about the exciting research undertaken by BU staff and student researchers!

Festival of Learning

lightning talksLightning Talks: An adrenaline rush of research

On Monday 13 July, between 6-8pm, a group of BU staff and student researchers will present lightning talks of their research and its significance. They each have just five minutes to do this. The audience will vote for the best presentation at the end, followed by a drinks reception.

Come along and find out more about the research undertaken by BU researchers! Talks cover a whole range of topics, from dementia to climate change to PR.

To book a place, visit: https://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/festival-of-learning/events/lightning-talks-an-adrenaline-rush-of-research/.  This event is part of BU’s Festival of Learning.

Prof. Paul Lewis awarded OBE

Awarded & submitted bids

Congratulations to Professor Emeritus Paul Lewis who is listed on this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Professor Lewis has been awarded his OBE for Services to Mothers, Midwives and Maternity Services. Bournemouth University celebrated the retirement of Professor Lewis in October 2011.1 He had been leading midwifery education at Bournemouth University since 1995. The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) recognised his contribution to the midwifery profession by including his name on the Register of Honorary Fellows of the RCM.

DSC02264

Amongst his many contributions to the field, Prof. Lewis was a founding member of the journal The Practising Midwife. Just a few months ago Prof. Lewis co-authored a paper under the title ‘The loss of midwifery supervision: to mourn or rejoice?’ This paper was published in the March 2015 edition of The Practising Midwife. This paper ‘reflected on and discusses some of the possible consequences of the NMC’s decision to end statutory supervision of midwives in the UK.2

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

References:

  1. van Teijlingen, E., Tully, S. and Tobias, J.H., 2011. The retirement of the UK’s first male professor of midwifery – Paul Lewis. MIDIRS Essence (Dec. issue).
  2. Lewis P, Freemantle D and Ireland J., 2015/ The loss of midwifery supervision: to mourn or rejoice? The Practising Midwife 18(4): 12-16.

BUDI Financial & Legal Masterclass – 17 June

There are still places left for BUDI’s upcoming one day Masterclass on the Financial and Legal aspects of Dementia, to be held at the EBC, Landsdowne Campus this Wednesday 17th June.

We have a number of different speakers including Stuart Bradford from Coles Miller solicitors, Esther Donald from Bournemouth Borough Council, Malcolm Skinner, a legal writer for LexisNexis and Vivien Zarucki, an Independent Financial Advisor. It looks set to be an interesting and informative day with plenty of opportunity for participation and discussion.

Should you wish to book a place, please see the link below:-

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/budi-masterclass-financial-legal-aspects-of-dementia-care-tickets-15779535014

HE Policy Update

Monday

Immigration

An article looks at the challenges ahead for the PM’s Immigration Task Force when it meets for the first time. It examines how student immigration should be controlled. The article states that a large number of international students seek to stay in the UK after their course, because immigration rules are generous in allowing students to switch on to other courses or work in the UK once their studies have finished. It will take more than bluster to slash immigration (The Daily Telegraph).

Tuesday

QAA Future

A draft policy paper (Future Approaches to Quality Assessment – England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the final version of which is due to be released by HEFCE later this month) suggests institutional reviews by QAA could be replaced by internal monitoring by universities themselves. QAA reviews ‘could be abolished’ (THE).

International Students

A HEFCE study reveals that 40 per cent of international students who started undergraduate programmes in 2011-12 after taking a course delivered overseas by the same institution, or by a partner, had entered postgraduate study within two years. This was significantly up on the 30 per cent figure for the 2009-10 cohort, according to the report. Transnational students ‘more likely to progress to postgraduate courses’ (THE).

Wednesday

Graduate Employment

BIS data has revealed that more graduates in England are now in work than at any time since 2007. However, these graduates have also seen a fall in their median salary of more than £1,000 in the past five years. Graduates are earning less but more are in work (BBC).

Thursday

BIS Cuts

The government could scrap student grants and convert them into loans or lower the borrowing repayment threshold for graduates as it looks to make cuts to higher education, suggests Giles Wilkes, special adviser to former Business Secretary Vince Cable between 2010 and 2014. Grants may become loans as BIS wields axe, (THE).

Degree Quality

The Higher Education Academy found that 47 per cent of institutions it surveyed had changed their degree algorithms since 2010 to ensure that their students were not disadvantaged compared to those in other institutions. Some 70 per cent of graduates achieved at least a 2:1 in 2013-14 compared with 63 per cent in 2009-10, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Half of universities have ‘made changes to degree algorithms’, (THE).

Friday

Universities Growth Report

UUK has launched its new report The Economic Role of UK Universities, which says that higher education institutions’ ability to invest for the long term and to remain resilient in the face of international competition, relies on a funding system that ensures financial stability and predictability. Back universities to grow economy, says UUK (THE).