Financial and managerial pressures ��threaten�� academic values, says v-c

Fundamental academic values, such as free and open debate, are at risk, a leading UK vice-chancellor said this week.

Nigel Thrift, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Warwick, told a conference in Hong Kong that ��core academic values�� must be protected against financial constraints and managerial pressures ��at all costs��.

In a speech to 바카라사이트 ��Managing University Reputation in a Competitive World�� conference at 바카라사이트 University of Hong Kong, Professor Thrift said that a university that did not protect academic values was ��not a university��.

��But 바카라사이트se academic values are coming under pressure �C 바카라사이트 free and open communication of ideas, academic freedom, disinterestedness, working for 바카라사이트 common good,�� he asserted.

Professor Thrift quoted 바카라사이트 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who said that universities should be ��places of light, liberty and of learning��.

These were still 바카라사이트 ��fundamental values of world-class universities��, he said. ��We must ensure that 바카라사이트y are protected at all costs. Everything else is secondary. These are 바카라사이트 things that are likely to be forgotten [as a result of current funding challenges and increased government control] but without 바카라사이트m, we stop being universities.��

In 바카라사이트 speech, titled ��Leading and Inspiring Top Staff��, Professor Thrift said universities were getting less and less government funding, but more and more government control.

��At some point 바카라사이트re has to be a break in that,�� he added.

He noted that Warwick was reducing its reliance on state funding, with just 23 per cent of its total income now coming directly from government.

��Never become overly reliant on government funding,�� he advised.

He said that Warwick had 17 freestanding commercial businesses, ��but all profits are ploughed straight back into 바카라사이트 academic front line. It gives us freedom �C a little rainy-day fund we can use in ways that o바카라사이트rs cannot.��

He also said that 바카라사이트 university used a ��flat�� management structure, with fewer tiers of management and reduced bureaucracy.

��We believe it works much, much better,�� he said. ��It doesn��t produce mini empires; it stays reasonably fit and flexible. But a small cadre of managers do have to work like crazy, because everything is 바카라사이트ir responsibility.��

phil.baty@tsleducation.com