Introduction to Higher Education (June 2014)

Introduction to
Higher Education
June 2014

Welcome and Introductions
Matthew Andrews
• Oxford Brookes University
• Academic Registrar
• AUA Chair
Kenton Lewis
• AUA Trustee
Understanding Higher Education: The One Day Nutshell
Pauline Morgan
• University of Manchester
• Head of Faculty Finance
for Faculty of Engineering
and Physical Science
(EPS)
• Director of Operations for
National Graphene
Institute (NGI)

Programme
10.10 – 11.25 The Higher Education Sector
11.25 – 11.45 Refreshments
11.45 – 1.00 Business-like but not a Business
1.00 – 1.45 Lunch
1.45 – 3.00 Academic Enterprise
3.00 – 3.20 Refreshments
3.20 – 4.20 The VC’s Dilemma
4.20 – 4.30 Wrap-up and depart

THE HIGHER EDUCATION
SECTOR
The historical development of higher education

• Oxford
• Cambridg
e

The Nineteenth Century
Whigs and Dissenters
• London University (1826)
• Dissenting Academies
Establishment
• King’s College, London (1829)
• Durham University (1832)
Federal Universities
• London, Victoria, Queen’s,
Wales

Early Twentieth Century
Civic Universities
Federals break-up
University Colleges

Mid-Century Developments
• Robbins Report (1963)
• Polytechnics
• Open University
• Colleges of Advanced
Technology
• Green Field Universities
• University Grants

Polytechnics
‘Why should we not aim at … a vocationally orientated non-university
sector which is degree-giving and with appropriate amount of
postgraduate work with opportunities for learning comparable with
those of the universities, and giving a first class professional training
… under state control, directly responsible to social needs’

International Students
• Robbins considered the
subsidy for overseas
students as a form of
'aid'.
• From 1980/1
international student
fees were to cover the
full cost of tuition.
• University grants were
reduced accordingly -
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
1950 1958 1968 1978

1992… and on…
1992 Further and Higher Education Act
• Converted all polytechnics and Scottish
Central Institutions into Universities
• Created the funding councils in the
devolved administrations
Since 1992 some colleges of HE have
become universities, e.g. Edge Hill
University (formerly Edge Hill College) and
University of Wales, Newport (formerly
Gwent College of HE)

Full-time UK students in HE
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

THE HIGHER EDUCATION
SECTOR
The structure and organisation of contemporary UK higher
education

What is the higher education sector?
Statutory Bodies
Institutions
Government
Professional
Associations
Statutory
Bodies
Gov’t
Professional
Associations
HEIs

Students by Level of Study
-
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
1,600,000
1,800,000
2,000,000
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
2.5 million

Students by Mode of Study 2012/13
Postgraduate Undergraduate
Full-time
Part-time

Students by Domicile 2012/13
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Postgraduate Undergraduate
Non-EU
Other EU
UK

UK Population Highest Qualification
22.7%
5.7%
13.3%
15.3%
12.3%
3.6%
27.2%
No qualifications
Other qualifiactions
1-4 GCSEs or equivalent
5+ GCSEs or equivalent
2+ A levels
Apprenticeships
Degree or above

OECD Tertiary Education Achievement
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%

Devolution – Independence?
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
England

UK Student Flow: FT first degree
-
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
900,000
1,000,000
England Wales Scotland Northern
Ireland
Northern Ireland Scotland
Wales England

Staff in UK Institutions
-
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
Academic
Non-academic

Private Higher Education
The University of Buckingham (not-for-profit)
BPP University (for-profit, subsidiary of the Apollo Group
in the USA)
The University of Law (charity)
Ashridge Business School (charity)
IFS University College (charity)
Regents University (charity)

Massification = Specialisation

Universities UK (UUK)
• Founded in 1918
• 134 members
• Universities UK is the major representative body and
membership organisation for the higher education
sector
• UUK members are the executive heads of UK
universities
• Together with Higher Education Wales and
Universities Scotland, UUK works to advance the
interests of universities and to spread good practice
throughout the higher education sector

Mission Groups
Million Plus – 17 members
The University Think-Tank.
University Alliance – 22 members
Innovative and entrepreneurial universities working together to tackle
big issues facing universities, people and the economy.
Russell Group – 24 members
Leading Universities committed to maintaining the very best research,
an outstanding teaching and learning experience and unrivalled links
with business and the public sector.

The funding and regulatory landscape

• The Higher Education Funding Council for England
(HEFCE) distributes public money to universities and
colleges in England that provide higher education
• All universities and colleges that provide higher
education in the UK are autonomous
• Institutions are not owned by the state, but most receive
government funding distributed by the separate higher
education funding councils
• HEFCE is a go-between, between DBIS and the sector,
neither Government nor part of the HE Sector

• OFFA’s role is to promote and safeguard fair access to
higher education for lower-income students and other
under-represented groups following the introduction of
higher tuition fees in 2006-07.
• The main way it does this is by approving and
monitoring Access Agreements. All English higher
education providers that want to charge higher fees
must have an Access Agreement with OFFA.

• The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher
Education’s (OIA’s) role is to review individual and group
complaints by students against higher education
providers, once internal processes have been exhausted,
and to promote good practice in handling complaints and
appeals.
• While the OIA has no regulatory power over higher
education providers and cannot fine them, higher
education institutions are required by law to join the OIA
scheme. The OIA recommends remedies or
compensation for students where complaints are
justified or partly justified.

• QAA’s mission is to safeguard academic standards and
improve the quality of UK higher education.
• QAA offers advice, guidance and support to help UK
higher education providers (universities, colleges and
other organisations, both public and private) to offer the
best possible student experience of higher education.
• It conducts peer-based reviews and publishes reports
detailing the findings. QAA works in consultation with
the higher education sector in developing policy and
frameworks for academic standards.

BUSINESS-LIKE BUT NOT A
BUSINESS
The legal framework of higher education

Degree Awarding Powers
• Universities are autonomous, self-governing institutions
which operate within a regulated environment for higher
education.
• The power to award degrees is regulated by law.
• To be able to award a recognised higher education
degree in the UK an organisation must be authorised,
either by Royal Charter or Act of Parliament – as
recommended by the QAA.

Types of Degree Awarding Power
Foundation Degrees (England and Wales only)
• Further education institutions offering higher education
provision in England or Wales.
Taught Degrees
• HEIs with a proven track record of successful validated
provision.
Research Degrees
• HEIs with existing taught degree awarding powers.

Some Relevant Legislation
• The Education Reform Act 1988 makes it an offence
to offer a ‘degree’, ‘bachelor’, ‘master’ or ‘doctor’ award
unless offered by a degree-awarding body as recognised
by Secretary of State, Act of Parliament or Royal Charter.
• The Business Names Act 1985 states only bodies
properly approved can use the name ‘university’.
• Under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992,
the Privy Council was also responsible for approving the
use of the word 'university' (including 'university
college') in the title of a higher education institution.

What is a University?
An organisation wishing to apply for approval to use the
title ‘university’ must:
• have been granted powers to award taught degrees
• normally have at least 1,000 full time equivalent higher
education students, of whom at least 750 are registered
on degree courses (including foundation degree
programmes), and the number of full time equivalent
higher education students must exceed 55% of the total
number of full time equivalent students
• be able to demonstrate that it has regard to the
principles of good governance as are relevant to its
sector

BUSINESS-LIKE BUT NOT A
BUSINESS
The activity and business of HE - Funding

What is a Business?
Wikipedia
• A business, also known as an enterprise or a firm, is an
organisation involved in the trade of goods, services, or
both to consumers.
• Businesses are prevalent in capitalist economies, where
most of them are privately owned and provide goods
and services to customers in exchange of other goods,
services, or money.
• Businesses may also be not-for-profit or state owned.
• A business owned by multiple individuals may be
referred to as a company.

Is a University a Business?
• A business, also known as an enterprise or a firm, is an
organisation involved in the trade of goods,
services, or both to consumers.
• Businesses are prevalent in capitalist economies, where
most of them are privately owned and provide goods
and services to customers in exchange of other
goods, services, or money.
• Businesses may also be not-for-profit or state owned.
• A business owned by multiple individuals may be
referred to as a company.

• Universities straddle the public/private sector. They
must try to operate like a business, such as having
business processes , whilst remaining loyal to what a
University actually is
• The word "university" is derived from the Latin
universitas magistrorum et scholarium, which roughly
means "community of teachers and scholars.“
What does business-like mean to
Universities?

What do you think the role of an academic
is within a university?

• Teacher
• Researcher
• Consultant
• Leader
• Senior Manager
What do you think the role of an academic
is within a university?

Universities?
• Universities are business-like in that we need to produce
a ‘surplus’ each year in order to remain sustainable.
– HEFCE says so!
– Recommends 4-5% surplus
– Surplus is turned into cash
– Funds working capital and capital expenditure

Universities?
• Universities have become much more business like in
recent years, for example, adopting more commercial
processes and techniques, including
– P2P
– O2C
– Workflow systems

Business Like – changes in personnel
• The sector has seen a move over the last few years to
professional finance staff running the business rather
than academics.
– Director of Finance, rather than an academic bursar
• This leads to more clarity of what is required and allows
the business like industry processes to be introduced.
• Better understanding of funding and cost control

How are Universities Funded?
• HEFCE Funds
– Teaching/ QR/Other
• Tuition Fees
– UG, PGT, PGR – Home and Overseas
• Research Income
– Industry, RC’s, Europe, Other Overseas etc
• Other Income
– Consultancy, Residences, etc.

Teaching
Research
HEIF
Other
£m
Teaching 3,231
Research 1,558
HEIF 156
Other 442
HEFCE Funding 2012/13

HEFCE Funding 2014/15
Teaching
Research
Knowledge Exchange
Other
£m
Teaching 1,582
Research 1,558
Knowledge Exch 160
Other 583

HEFCE Teaching Funding
• HEFCE’s Teaching funding allocation methodology
₋ Student numbers in subject groupings
₋ Various rates of grant by subject
₋ Scaling factors to keep within budget
₋ ‘old regime’ and ‘new regime’ categories

HEFCE Research Funding (QR)
• HEFCE’s Mainstream QR income based on:
– Quality profile of each Unit of Assessment (UoA) in last
RAE
Weightings:
4*(world leading) 7
3*(internationally excellent) 3
2*(recognised internationally) 1
1*(recognised nationally) 0
– Volume of research activity
• Category A generally funded staff FTE in last RAE
– Unit funding in each UoA (variable)

HEFCE Research Funding (QR)
• Charities funding
– Unweighted for quality
– Based on HESA returns
– Normally averaged over 2 years
• Business Research Element (BRE) – introduced in 2007-08
– Unweighted for quality
– Based on HESA returns
– 2014-15 allocations based on average of 2011-12 and 2012-13
Research Income from UK industry, commerce and public
corporations
• Research Degree Programme student supervision funding
– Home/EU students in years 1-3 only
– Returned annually in RAS

• The major costs of any university are the
pay costs (that is the cost of staffing)
– These are often the hardest costs to manage!
• Non Pay
– Difficult to forecast
• Deprecation
– Cost of investing in equipment and buildings
• Interest and Charges
The costs of running a University

• Cost Control is different from Cost Cutting!
– Ongoing process
– Strategic focus
– Long term efficiency
– Investment in the future
• Decisions made now affect future cash
and operating results
Cost Control is vital to the running of any
institution!

Planning and reporting cycle
Budget
Mid Year
Forecast
Monthly
Results
Five Year
Forecast
Full Year
Results
Future
Present
PastFinancial
Statements
(Annual Report)
Management
accounts

Accounting policies
• Normally set by Finance Director and approved by
Board of Governors
• Comply with UK Generally Accepted Accounting
Practice (GAAP)
• True and Fair view
• UoM uses ‘Historical cost convention’
• Institution should judge the appropriateness of
accounting policies to its particular circumstances
against the objectives of:
– Relevance
– Reliability
– Comparability
– Understandability

Accounting Concepts
Going
Concern
Accountants assume, unless there is evidence to the contrary,
that a company is not going broke. This has important
implications for the valuation of assets and liabilities.
Consistency Transactions and valuation methods are treated the same way
from year to year, or period to period. Users of accounts can,
therefore, make more meaningful comparisons of financial
performance from year to year. Where accounting policies are
changed, companies are required to disclose this fact and
explain the impact of any change.
Prudence Profits are not recognised until a sale has been completed. In
addition, a cautious view is taken for future problems and
costs of the business (the are "provided for" in the accounts"
as soon as their is a reasonable chance that such costs will be
incurred in the future.
Matching (or
"Accruals")
Income should be properly "matched" with the expenses of a
given accounting period.

Financial statements
• Income and expenditure account
– Results of operations for year ending 31 July
• Balance sheet
– Financial position as at 31 July
– Shows assets and liabilities of institution
– ‘Snapshot’
• Cashflow statement
– Movements in cash during year ending 31 July

Differences between financial statements
and management accounts
Financial Statements
• Used for external reporting
• Reporting to External
stakeholders and Board of
• Formats strictly controlled by
law, accounting requirements
(Statement of Recommended
Practice – SORP)
• Prepared at institutional level –
include items which are only
considered at that level, eg
pension liabilities
• Used for internal reporting and
decision-making
• Reporting to Heads of School,
Deans, Senior Management
Team, Finance Committee
• Formats more flexible and
management led
• Prepared at school/faculty level
Management Accounts

Business-like Financial Processes
• Government Funding cuts increase pressure to
understand finances
• Prepare Financial Statements but follow sector specific
guidance
• Better Management Accounting information
• Understand the academic roles

Social Value!
• Not everything that is profitable is of social value and
not everything of social value is profitable
• HE’s are important to the UK Economy, working in
Research, SME engagement etc.

ACADEMIC ENTERPRISE
Culture and values of HE and its staff

Exploring the academic enterprise
• Academic enterprise is central to Universities’ missions
• AND it is an important element of all HE providers’
missions (noting the variety in the sector)
Innovative activities and partnerships that result in the
exploitation (and transfer) of knowledge and expertise, and
therefore enhance the relevance of teaching and research
activities within a subject area
• The academic enterprise can be best explored through
definitions of ‘scholarship’

Scholarship
• Not just ‘blue-sky thinking’
• Ernest Boyer expanded our understanding of scholarship
to help shape the (research) mission of HEIs:
- Discovery
- Integration
- Application
- Scholarship of teaching and learning

Scholarship
• Discovery – original research that advances
knowledge
• Integration – synthesis of information across
disciplines, across topics within disciplines, or across
time
• Application – engaging communities inside and
outside the university to advance the public good
• Scholarship of teaching and learning –
advancing the practice of teaching by making
research findings public and engaging learners in
scholarly activity

Scholarship

Where do we fit?
• Who are ‘we’?
• Our professional role in developing,
promoting, facilitating scholarship
• A model to explore professional identity
• A model to explain professional identity

Simple show of hands
• Are you professional in your work?
• Are you a professional?
• Are you part of a profession?

Context
“The role of professional administrative and support
staff is becoming more pivotal as the sector becomes
more competitive, more business and market
focussed, and more international…the old divide
between academic and “non-academic” is starting to
change.”
(Wild and Wooldridge, 2009)

Context
HE Changes 1963-2000
1963 Robbins Report
1986 Research
Assessment Exercise
1988 Education reform Act
1992 FE&HE Act
FE&HE (Scotland) Act
1997 Dearing Report
1997 QAA Established
1998 Teaching and HE Act
HE Changes since 2000
2003 Roberts review (or
research assessment)
2004 The HE Act (variable
fees and OFFA)
2005 NSS
2006 Access Agreements
2010 The Browne Review
2011 White Paper (students
at the heart of HE)
2012 Introduction of £9k ‘fees’
2014 Research Excellence
Framework

Theoretical Framework

On professionalism
• There are differences between the traditional definitions
and experienced understandings
• Contemporary professionals face multiple, concurrent
drivers:
-gaining and managing expert knowledge
-operating entrepreneurially
-managing limited resources
-navigating regulatory guidelines
-meeting clients needs and expectations
• Professionals are:
-losing autonomy / authority
-no longer sole owners of knowledge
-experiencing increased levels of regulation

On professionalism
• ‘trust’, ‘integrity’, ‘service’ and ‘authority’
being replaced by
• ‘quality assurance’, ‘performance indicators’,
‘standards’, and ‘efficiency’
“professionalism is witnessing a lurch from an
ethic of service to an ethic of performance”
(Barnett, 2008)

On identity
• Considerations of ‘sameness’
• Demonstrated through the affiliations we choose, and
have chosen for us, with different groups
• Inherent link with the verb to ‘identify’; something that
needs to be established
• Through identification, one’s identity is open to change
and reconceptualisation over time
• Identity is therefore a socially constructed entity which is
constantly being reconfigured and reformed

On identity
• We are not limited to a single ‘identity’; we all
experience multiplicity
• We all constantly reassert, reconsider and
reconceptualise our identities
• Therefore any actuality, expectation or threat of
change is very likely to provoke concerns about
who or what we are
• BUT, it also provides a freedom to create new,
or redefine existing, identities and to ‘straddle
boundaries’

Analytical framework
• Nomenclature – the descriptors individuals
and collectives choose, and the labels applied to
them by others
• The behaviours we (un)consciously choose in
order to shape our working lives
• How perceptions of ‘professional’ staff are
ascribed and (re)negotiated

Analytical framework
• The relevance of acquired skills, experience and
qualifications in enacting one’s duties and in
engaging with (academic) colleagues
• The influence of perceived and formal (relative)
status
• The formal and informal structures that shape
the environment in which HE ‘professionals’
(re)construct their identity

In your groups
Consider a single theme from the framework
making use of the hand-out
• What do you collectively understand by
this theme?
• Do you recognise it? If so, how and
where?
• How might awareness of this theme
enhance your own professional
practice?

Collective self confidence
• The loss, or absence, of professional self-
confidence makes it disproportionately harder to
operate as a professional
• lack of assurance and self-confidence prevent a
unified and proud claim of professional status
• We need the self-confidence to champion and
promote our work as a desirable and rewarding
career that contributes to the greater good of
scholarship, of higher education and of society.

Simple show of hands
• Are you professional in your work?
YES
• Are you a professional?
YES
• Are you part of a profession?
YOU ARE IF YOU WANT TO BE!

THE VICE-CHANCELLOR’S
DILEMMA
Group exercise

The VC’s Dilemma
The VC of the University of Poppleton has been invited to
sit on four national working groups – she only has time to
attend one… but which one?!
1. Growth of alternative providers and the extension of
degree awarding powers.
2. The student funding regime.
3. Internationalisation and student visa issues.
4. Student complaints and appeals.

The Format
• We will briefly introduce each topic.
• After we’ve each said our piece you will have
small group discussion for twenty minutes or so
to discuss which is the biggest issue and why.
• Each group then briefly explains to the others
why they made their selection.
• We vote! The issue picked by the most
delegates is the winner.

Dilemma 1 – alternative providers & DAP
• Discuss changes and challenges to the very
foundation of the Higher Education sector
• Cuts to the chase on the fundamental discussion
of “what is a university and what is it for”
• New providers will likely lead to a thinner spread
of funding – you need to be in that discussion
• Central to managing the quality and reputation
of the sector as a whole
• Ties to your interest in Widening Access – price
variation, segmentation, opportunity, hierarchy.

Dilemma 2 – the student funding regime
• Dearing to Browne: we constantly get it wrong
• Where we get our money from is the most
fundamental issue
• Widening participation is the most fundamental
issue
• A fair and equal system is the most fundamental
issue
• It’s the only issue The Daily Mail is interested in,
ergo it’s the only issue in which politicians are
interested

Dilemma 3 – internationalisation and visas
• “Show me the money!” – opportunities to
increase income and help UK PLC
• Embedding global scholarship – more partners
leads to greater opportunities to discover,
integrate and apply knowledge for real impact
• You’ll be at the centre of managing and
enhancing UK HE’s reputation overseas
• This is your chance to stick it to the UK Govt. on
their over-zealous definitions of immigration
• PS Who doesn’t fancy a ‘fact finding mission’ in
the Bahamas?

Dilemma 4 – complaints and appeals
• Dissatisfaction rates, as judged by OIA cases,
are at an all-time high (okay, except they’re not)
• When the impact of £9k fees is felt more we will
see the number of complaints and appeals swell
• Complaints are time-consuming we should make
our processes light-touch
• Complaints can damage an institution’s
reputation and need to be managed effectively

WRAP UP AND DEPART
Group exercise

Introduction to Higher Education (June 2014)

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