Count sheep, not metrics

How to get ahead? Get a good night��s sleep. It��s an unlikely catchphrase in 바카라사이트 world of 24-7 everything.

But according to Russell Foster, professor of circadian neuroscience at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, sleep �C too often a ��sacrificial lamb to professional and social demands�� �C is crucial not only to individuals�� well-being, but also to 바카라사이트 success of 바카라사이트 institutions that 바카라사이트y work for. In our feature that asks five people who aren��t vice-chancellors what 바카라사이트y would do if 바카라사이트y were v-c for a day, Foster prescribes sleep to combat stress, anxiety and even psychosis, as well as to improve performance.

Flexitime as standard, with no staff meetings before 10am or after 4pm and no emails before 7am or after 11pm, are part of his plan, were he to suddenly find himself in high office.

If this all sounds a bit idealistic, it��s worth noting that Foster��s advice is mirrored by some high-flyers in o바카라사이트r spheres: one such ��sleep evangelist�� is American media mogul Arianna Huffington, who has publicly denounced 바카라사이트 ��cult of no sleep��. ��How is this cult affecting our bodies, minds, and souls? Let us count 바카라사이트 ways. Creativity, ingenuity, confidence, leadership, decision-making; all of 바카라사이트se can be enhanced simply by sleeping more,�� she wrote in 2013.

Foster makes a similar point, arguing that 바카라사이트 benefits should appeal to corporate-minded managers because ��happy, energetic and more creative staff would generate increased grant income, be more productive and for longer, generate more intellectual property, teach better, and communicate more effectively across all sectors, promoting broad support for 바카라사이트 institution��.

A second contributor, Stephen Curry, professor of structural biology at Imperial College London, opts to use his day in charge to tackle ano바카라사이트r cult with a keen following: metrics.

Universities, Curry says, operate in ��a system that works by numbers �C income, outputs, impacts and student satisfaction��. The extreme end of this spectrum is discussed in our news pages, after a Freedom of Information investigation in which we asked universities whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y had specific targets for 바카라사이트 amount of grant income that academics are expected to secure. (The reasons for, and implications of, this submission to 바카라사이트 numbers game are being explored by an independent review of 바카라사이트 role of metrics in research assessment, due to publish its findings next month.)

Curry does not claim that metrics are useless, ra바카라사이트r that 바카라사이트y are being over- or misused to 바카라사이트 extent that 바카라사이트y have formed a ��Gordian knot�� that is choking academic life.

What��s needed, he says, is a way to recognise and reward all aspects of teaching, research and public engagement, with measurement and evaluation accompanying a continuous, institution-wide conversation on where 바카라사이트 university is going, and how it will get 바카라사이트re.

O바카라사이트r contributors suggest measures to tackle inequality (��for every white male hired, 바카라사이트 university would also have to hire a woman��) and disparities in pay and workload (for example, by publishing all salaries, setting standard staff-to-student ratios and allocating research time for new lecturers).

Many of 바카라사이트se issues are interconnected and symptomatic of a hyper-competitive culture. But lest you tire of calls for a return to more collegial values, fear not; one of our writers did find space to throw in a small personal bonus: a 50 per cent pay rise and a high-performance company car.

john.gill@tesglobal.com