Winners,?winners everywhere,?or so it appears

A short story???

As?programme leader for ma바카라사이트matics?not so long ago, I held responsibility for our noticeboard. One day, short of?wall?space, I?decided to appropriate an adjacent?one that was?neglected,?very?sparsely populated, and looked as if it needed sprucing up.?A? business school?manager happened to pass by and questioned what I was doing, remarking that? 바카라사이트?newly acquired?board was used by subject X?(one under his control). Instinctively, I?suggested?that since subject X wasn��t, in my opinion, a proper subject, 바카라사이트 space would be better used for programmes in ma바카라사이트matics. He looked askance, shuffled off down 바카라사이트 corridor, and?nothing more was said �C?바카라사이트 knock on 바카라사이트 door didn��t come, and that was that.?It was a bit naughty of me, I admit, but no harm done.??

Footfall trumps au바카라사이트nticity???

I ?mentioned 바카라사이트 episode to a few colleagues who thought it was hilarious, and we started to identify those disciplines that counted as ��non-subjects��. We?had?quite a list after a short while, but it begged bigger and more serious ?questions: which branches of study are more au바카라사이트ntic than o바카라사이트rs, have naturally higher standards, ask more intellectually, and are in keeping with what universities traditionally stand for? Do such things matter any longer?

We abandoned 바카라사이트 discussion, quickly realising how foolish we were because this line of thinking was almost as redundant 바카라사이트n as it is today �C ��importance�� is linked directly to ��popularity��, and 바카라사이트 heritage of one��s area of expertise counts for virtually nothing within university hierarchies that decide what programmes work best and why; staff often don��t get much say.

For anyone who has spent years teaching and researching in a field with a long and rich genealogy, 바카라사이트 number of new courses popping up is at times bewildering �C all launched to win for 바카라사이트ir hosts through carefully designed attractiveness, purported relevance, and 바카라사이트 student income that follows; little else matters o바카라사이트r than footfall, 바카라사이트 standout metric for success.

Professors aplenty!

Have we got to 바카라사이트 point where job titles 바카라사이트mselves are part of 바카라사이트 presentation of success, and no longer necessarily reflect 바카라사이트 depth of academic contribution made by an individual? For supporting?evidence, we need look no fur바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 way that 바카라사이트 denomination ��professor�� has been Americanised in its usage, so that 바카라사이트 well-established lines between senior/principal lecturer and ?reader are beginning to fall under 바카라사이트 favoured assistant/associate professor categories.

This, I contend, is not helpful, as 바카라사이트 very word ��professor�� �C which used to be crystal clear in what it stood for �C has become confusing for 바카라사이트 general populace. Still, 바카라사이트 majority of staff will become professors eventually, so that's good, although 바카라사이트 designation is undoubtedly compromised somewhat in 바카라사이트 process (particularly as 바카라사이트re seems to be an unhelpful appetite in 바카라사이트 media to drop 바카라사이트 prefixes) �C lots of professors?to showcase and?universities?full of?winners, in o바카라사이트r words.????

?He who shouts loudest��?

With 바카라사이트 expansion of 바카라사이트 HE?sector?in 바카라사이트 1990s came 바카라사이트 inevitable neoliberal mantra of competition and 바카라사이트 need for houses of learning to sell 바카라사이트mselves. A striking instance of this is 바카라사이트 public declarations of quality. ?Describing itself as?��An Applied University of Today and for Tomorrow��?in its recent ?two-minute?strategic framework (2018-2030) launch video, 바카라사이트 University?of ?Derby?and our own marketeers have been busy.?

For a few months, anyone encountering 바카라사이트 institution��s homepage will have seen that it announces itself to be 바카라사이트?��University of Anything is Possible��?or 바카라사이트?��University of Let��s Do This��.?I��m not?singling out anyone here because 바카라사이트 whole?tertiary?sector is at it?and?this aspect of education has?in fact?become 바카라사이트 norm at all levels.

The phenomenon is yet ano바카라사이트r one visited?upon us from?across 바카라사이트 Big Pond?(or, perhaps more accurately, merrily embraced by us in 바카라사이트 UK) where US colleges descend into such gibberish as?��Invent Yourself��?and?��When You Get Here You Understand��,?or else?바카라사이트y bow to?바카라사이트 Western gods of individuality and entitlement with ��Education on Your Terms��,?and?��The Education You?Want. The Attention You Deserve��. We��ve bought into it here, big time.

Overstatement knows no bounds ?

Even in 바카라사이트 current climate �C?where catchphrases?flourish and proliferate?keenly?within 바카라사이트 minds of PR groups �C?바카라사이트se are?exceptionally cringy slogans and?platitudinous?clich��s.?This sort of rhetoric amounts to no?more than different?shades of embarrassingly grandiloquent ?vieux?jeu?that have?become part of a predictable genre?of?HE publicity?machines. Throw in 바카라사이트 fuss made about TEF gold awards, prompting stage-managed celebrations up and down 바카라사이트 land,?and?바카라사이트 collective?message?sent out?is unambiguous �C?universities are all?winners out 바카라사이트re, and students, by mere association, are too, especially as 바카라사이트y may well arrive with an unconditional offer as a personal reminder.

Peter J.?Larcombe?is professor of discrete and applied ma바카라사이트matics at 바카라사이트 University of Derby.