At the end of her time in office as President of Universities UK, our Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Janet Beer reflects on a busy couple of years:
I became president of Universities UK in August 2017. I am honoured to have held the role—not only because I was elected into the position by my peers but because they chose to elect me when both higher education and the country were clearly entering an unprecedented period of change and uncertainty.
The responsibility was not one I took lightly, and in my introductory speech at UUK’s annual conference that September I promised not to sidestep the important matters facing higher education and also to acknowledge our responsibility to respond to important questions seriously and honestly. We are still in the middle of most of these debates, which consider the ‘value’ of higher education and ask questions about grade inflation and admissions practices, and whether we are doing enough to respond to concerns about student mental health and welfare.
It must also be said that one of the most challenging aspects of my presidency has been seeking a way to address the funding challenges of the Universities Superannuation Scheme. There are no easy solutions and there have been significant differences of opinion between employers and unions, leading to a difficult industrial dispute.
I am pleased that the dispute was suspended when employers and unions came together to establish a Joint Expert Panel to seek a way forward, and I hope that the JEP can provide a platform for collaborative work on future reforms to the USS that are acceptable to members, employers, the trustee and the regulator.
Finally, of course, although we did not, at the beginning of my presidency, know the name of the review that would dominate the narrative of the past 18 months, we have had no less a matter than the future of post-18 education under consideration by the Augar panel.
Interesting times
Suffice to say, it has been a busy couple of years—and all taking place amid a whirlwind of political uncertainty. Clearly this particular uncertainty has been front of mind for all of us in this time, and we have achieved some notable breakthroughs including commitments to underwrite Erasmus+ and European Union student fees for 2020-21.
Meanwhile, UUK produced expert guidance and resources to help members prepare for a potential ‘no deal’ outcome. With Brexit seemingly no closer to resolution, I know that UUK will continue to lead on achieving the best possible outcome for higher education, working with the next prime minister and their government.
We made progress on tackling some of the broader societal issues that are felt acutely on university campuses and provided support to higher education on these challenging issues. At my second annual UUK conference in September 2018, we published our guidance on suicide-safer universities, a framework to understand student suicide, mitigate risk, intervene when students get into difficulties and respond to these tragic deaths.
We also identified the steps universities needed to take to address the black, Asian and minority ethnic student attainment gap. Guidance on online harassment will also be published imminently, with several other work programmes underway on student mental health and the wider theme of the student experience.
International outlook
It would be preaching to the converted to explain to readers of HE the value of international students. Our universities are one of the UK’s most successful global exports and we have worked hard over the past two years to ensure we are offering international students the best and most welcoming experience so that we do not continue to lose ground to our competitors.
It seems this message is beginning to land with the government as, after many years of lobbying, we now have a cross-government international education strategy with numerical targets to increase international student numbers.
Also, in part thanks to both UUK’s work and relationships with politicians across parliament, we now have an amendment to the immigration bill that has secured widespread cross-party support from MPs. If successful, it will open the door to improved post-study work opportunities for international students, which will benefit our economy and society more widely.
Alongside this, the UUK International team has been working tirelessly, supported by myself and by other vice-chancellor colleagues, to build bilateral relations with European countries that will put us in good standing to continue the collaborations that make for world-leading research. We have also been pursuing the most positive outcome of all for UK higher education—full association and continued membership in the Erasmus programme—through conversations with influencers in Brussels, in other European capitals and with our own politicians.
Teaching quality
Any time now, we expect to see the publication of the Pearce review of the Teaching Excellence Framework. It remains to be seen what this will conclude but I am confident that we made our case loudly and clearly that there is significant room for improvement if the TEF is to be truly effective.
We hope to see movement on the definitions of excellence, which are weighted heavily towards employment outcomes without full consideration of a student’s overall study experience, and a consideration of the wider benefits of teaching and learning for students and society.
At the same time, we have been open about the need for universities to do what we can to ensure we are recognising and responding to concerns about quality and value. One area is grade inflation, and I am pleased that UUK recently undertook work on behalf of the UK Standing Committee for Quality Assurance that has delivered a cross-UK commitment to protect the value of degree qualifications for the long term.
Augar review
Nowhere has the conversation about the value of higher education been more pertinent than during the Augar review of post-18 education and funding in England. This was a significant focus of the work of UUK and higher education in general through most of my time as president, and I welcome the focus and thought that it entailed.
There are things to welcome in the final report and recommendations that reflect some of our priority ‘policy asks’, including the reinstatement of maintenance grants and improving support for flexible and part-time learning.
At the same time, we have areas of significant concern: the impact that longer repayment terms could have on some students, the removal of loan support for those studying foundation years and, of course, the significant risk for both the student experience and research funding if fees are cut and government does not make up the funding shortfall.
There are those predicting that this review could be an ill-timed and ill-fated piece of work that largely gathers dust. I am not so sure. Either way, whatever the government and new prime minister decide to do next, Augar has posed a range of important and legitimate challenges to universities, which we can and should address.
This will continue to be a focus area for UUK and I look forward to continuing to support this in my role as a board member and as vice-chancellor of the University of Liverpool.
Baton change
Finally, as I reflect on the past two years, I would highlight the work that has been done to identify the invaluable contribution universities make to our society through the research they pioneer. In my first conference address, I promised to use my voice and that of UUK to emphasise the positive and profound impact of universities throughout our nation, to explain and promote what we as university leaders, our staff and our students do—day in, day out—for the common good.
Our high-profile MadeAtUni campaign sets out to do just that—and it is working. To date, this campaign has reached 46 million people through traditional and social media, and UUK has plans to continue and grow this in the year ahead.
At the end of this month, the presidency of UUK will pass to professor Julia Buckingham, and I know she will continue to make the case for UK higher education and its importance both nationally and internationally. It will be another busy time full of challenges and opportunities, but I believe that UK higher education is in an excellent position to respond to these and continue to flourish.
Professor Dame Janet Beer is the outgoing president of Universities UK and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool.