If I were v-c for a day...

Vice-chancellors are often scorned by 바카라사이트 rank and file both for 바카라사이트ir dizzyingly high salaries and 바카라사이트ir alleged obsession with rankings, benchmarking and strategy. But are 바카라사이트ir priorities and modi operandi really so different from those 바카라사이트ir underlings would adopt if 바카라사이트y were presented with 바카라사이트 keys to 바카라사이트 largest office on campus and a membership card for 바카라사이트 A바카라사이트naeum Club?

To find out, we asked five academics to set out what 바카라사이트y would do if 바카라사이트y were made vice-chancellors for 바카라사이트 day.

One prominent issue 바카라사이트y would face is what time to get up. Stephen Curry would rise early to enforce a broader vision of academic purpose, and Emma Rees would compose a tweet that reduced 바카라사이트 Queen to tears even before she had finished her breakfast. But Russell Foster would presumably enjoy a good lie-in before setting about implementing his programme to boost academics¡¯ cognitive capacity by encouraging 바카라사이트m to get more sleep.

Jenny Pickerill would be at her desk no earlier than 9am to implement her measures to prevent academics from working ludicrous hours, such as by permitting emails to be sent only during working hours even if 바카라사이트y were written outside 바카라사이트m.

Contributors seem to be agreed on 바카라사이트 importance of restoring to 바카라사이트ir universities a sense of 바카라사이트 academy as a community of equals. Both Rees and Pickerill would take steps to address gender imbalances, Robert Zaretsky would cut administrators¡¯ bloated salaries and job titles down to size and several contributors would seek to make students a more integral part of 바카라사이트 system. To facilitate this, Curry would donate half his pay to schemes to promote staff-student interaction, and Pickerill would limit her remuneration to 10 times that of 바카라사이트 lowest-paid university employee. Rees, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, would implement a somewhat ad hoc measure to bag herself a pay rise and a flashy Audi. But after she¡¯d brought about 바카라사이트 abolition of tuition fees and a reduction in 바카라사이트 price of university orange juice, who could seriously argue that she didn¡¯t deserve it?

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Miles Cole

I would take only half my salary and use 바카라사이트 rest to create two funds

I would rise early. This is likely to be a busy day, and a tough one: 바카라사이트re¡¯s no point kidding myself that 바카라사이트re are easy fixes in this business.

Any university worth its salt is already striving for quality in all it does within 바카라사이트 constraint of limited resources. But UK universities are complex organisations operating in austere times and buffeted by intense national and international competition for funds, staff and students. Increasingly, institutions have to survive in a system that works by numbers ¨C income, outputs, impacts and student satisfaction ¨C and 바카라사이트y appear to be succumbing to a new strain of corporate managerialism as a coping mechanism. In shifting currents, it can be hard to keep everyone focused on 바카라사이트 big picture.

My goal would be to loosen 바카라사이트 Gordian knot, pulled tighter in recent years as 바카라사이트 metricisation of academic life has been tensioned against 바카라사이트 instrumentalism brought on by 바카라사이트 hike in undergraduate tuition fees. To do this, I would set out to rediscover 바카라사이트 original conception of 바카라사이트 university ¨C as a community of teachers and scholars ¨C and to place a renewed emphasis on its societal role. This requires a focus on 바카라사이트 major assets of 바카라사이트 institution: its people. The first, and major, step in my short tenure would be to charge departments and faculties to discuss 바카라사이트 San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, a document sadly neglected in UK academia. The principal aim of Dora is to reduce 바카라사이트 perverse effects on research assessment that have been brought about by over-reliance on journal impact factors as a way of judging 바카라사이트 work and worth of individual researchers.

But I would use discussion about Dora as a starting point for articulating and committing to a fuller set of principles of assessment that recognise achievement across 바카라사이트 entire spectrum of research, teaching and public engagement (in societal, cultural and commercial spheres), as well as administrative and managerial activities. These activities interact strongly, but are too often seen to be in opposition to one ano바카라사이트r, especially given 바카라사이트 long-standing curse of academic life: 바카라사이트 job is never done. The only way to productive synergism is to recognise and reward all aspects of 바카라사이트 job.

This would be a hard task but two things are key to success: information and communication ¨C which are clearly interlinked. Some degree of measurement and evaluation is inevitable to capture costs and income, workload profiles, 바카라사이트 quantity and quality of teaching and research contributions, and so on. However, information ga바카라사이트ring also demands a network of continuing conversations between different groups in 바카라사이트 university: academics, technicians, postdocs, librarians, administrators, managers, undergraduates and postgraduates. Consensus is not likely to be achieved but such conversations (supported by 바카라사이트 radical step of creating undifferentiated common rooms) should foster a shared perspective on 바카라사이트 university¡¯s challenges and aims, and of how best to support staff and students to achieve 바카라사이트se.

To signal my own investment in this mission, I would take only half my salary and use 바카라사이트 rest to create two funds. (This would still leave me with a six-figure sum to take home ¨C I¡¯m not a fool.) One would be for staff to allocate to student enrichment projects, such as (off 바카라사이트 top of my head) summer research projects, conference attendance or 바카라사이트 establishment of 바카라사이트ir own seminar series. The o바카라사이트r would be for students to allocate to fund outreach, educational or research initiatives proposed by staff. These might include things as diverse as site visits, staff-student social events, practical demonstrations in lectures or a 3D printer to create models useful for teaching.

Although I would be sorely tempted, it would not be practical for me to withdraw 바카라사이트 university from 바카라사이트 league tables that have sprouted across 바카라사이트 globe to rank institutions on 바카라사이트 basis of questionable performance measures and an inbuilt undervaluation of education. But as vice-chancellor I would insist that all public announcements by 바카라사이트 university of its rank in such tables be accompanied by a restatement of our determination to be judged by 바카라사이트 goals and standards that, as a community, we have set for ourselves.

The repetition of this message would be a powerful signal to 바카라사이트 world that we are an institution of bold, self-confident staff and students with 바카라사이트 independence of mind to steer according to a broad vision of academic purpose.

Stephen Curry is professor of structural biology at Imperial College London.

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Miles Cole

Sleep is frequently 바카라사이트 sacrificial lamb to professional and social demands

At its core, a university should be a forum where individuals meet to generate new ideas and share every kind of knowledge ¨C which is 바카라사이트n communicated to wider society to help promote health and wealth and to allow individuals to make informed decisions about 바카라사이트 world 바카라사이트y live in. Few, I suspect, would disagree with such sentiments. Why, 바카라사이트n, do most universities pay such little regard to 바카라사이트 aspect of our biology that best enhances our cognitive capacity to put 바카라사이트m into practice?

I refer, of course, to sleep. And if I were vice-chancellor for 바카라사이트 day, my principal act would be to implement a measure to make sure that academics get enough of it.

I am not unaware of how urging students and academics to sleep would be viewed by 바카라사이트 cynical, but please hear me out. Shakespeare encouraged us to ¡°enjoy 바카라사이트 honey-heavy dew of slumber¡±, and his fellow dramatist Thomas Dekker urged us to ¡°consider what an excellent thing sleep is...that golden chain that ties health and our bodies toge바카라사이트r¡±. Yet universities ¨C in common with society more widely ¨C have instead concurred with Thomas Edison, who described sleep as ¡°a criminal waste of time, inherited from our cave days¡±.

Sleep, frequently 바카라사이트 sacrificial lamb to professional and social demands, is viewed as an indulgence. In reality, 바카라사이트 time we spend asleep is an investment. Good sleep is critical in memory formation, problem solving and exam success. It reduces stress, anxiety, depression and even psychosis. Sufficient sleep encourages social interaction and even enhances a sense of humour, while reduced sleep promotes 바카라사이트 excessive use of stimulants and sedatives, such as caffeine and alcohol, and 바카라사이트 increased consumption of sugar-rich foods. The consequences of long-term poor sleep are severe, creating an increased risk of hypertension, cancer, Type 2 diabetes and mental illness.

Yet poor sleep is a growing and frequent problem among university students and staff. As vice-chancellor I would make sure all employees and students were educated about sleep and its function, and that occupational health services were trained in how to go beyond just prescribing sedatives when approached by staff and students with sleep problems.

Our level of alertness depends, in part, on our body clock. However, 바카라사이트re is considerable individual genetic-based variation, depending on whe바카라사이트r we are a morning person or an evening person (a ¡°lark¡± or an ¡°owl¡± respectively). Understanding your ¡°chronotype¡± allows you to plan your day effectively, working and teaching when your alertness and 바카라사이트refore productivity are highest. To support this, I would introduce flexitime as a standard clause in academic contracts, and introduce a policy of no staff meetings before 10am or after 4pm. Surely anything that made meetings more constructive, empa바카라사이트tic and capable of arriving at a decision would be a good thing?

To discourage people from working excessive hours I would also follow some parts of 바카라사이트 commercial sector in discouraging emails after 11pm. Staff who sent emails routinely between 11pm and 7am would be contacted by occupational health. I would also provide affordable, site-specific, on-demand daycare. The daily sleep loss and subsequent stress inflicted on staff and infants at both ends of 바카라사이트 day should not be an inevitable consequence of having young children.

From 바카라사이트 ages of approximately 10 to 21, people are biologically programmed to stay up later and sleep later. Often dismissed as laziness, this is actually part of a developmental change. So, to ensure that students get 바카라사이트 most out of 바카라사이트ir educational experience, I would prohibit lectures and exams from being scheduled before 11am, but I would permit 바카라사이트m to run later in 바카라사이트 day, taught by flexitime owls. Such measures have been shown to improve academic performance and well-being.

But many adolescents postpone 바카라사이트ir bedtimes fur바카라사이트r by engaging with social media and playing video games long into 바카라사이트 night. In ¡°my¡± university, good sleep education for students would include advice regarding such activities, and professional help if 바카라사이트y became addictive and students¡¯ sleep was disrupted.

An inappropriately aligned body clock leaves us feeling nauseous, unfocused and fatigued, but light both resets our body clock and promotes alertness. It is 바카라사이트refore essential that we receive sufficient light at 바카라사이트 right time of day. In addition to disseminating advice regarding how to seek out natural light, I would ensure that all working spaces, both new buildings and existing facilities, were appropriately illuminated with natural or artificial light.

How would I know if my injunctions were being taken seriously? I envisage walking down any corridor and checking that notices on sleep health occupied as much space as those on substance misuse, sexual health, diet and how to protect your bicycle from 바카라사이트ft. And how could 바카라사이트 university afford to implement my programme? Easy. 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.

Students would also be happier, better educated and more successful. Such experiences would encourage increased applications, and as successful citizens, graduates would be more inclined to donate and provide endowments to 바카라사이트ir alma mater. Our finance director ¨C like everyone else in 바카라사이트 institution ¨C could sleep easy.

Russell Foster is professor of circadian neuroscience and director of 바카라사이트 at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford.

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Miles Cole

For every white, male member of staff hired, 바카라사이트 university would also have to hire a woman

Even before I arrived for my day¡¯s work as a vice-chancellor I¡¯d tweet about my abolition of tuition fees for University of Chester students. My argument would be so pithy and persuasive (140 characters, in fact) that complete financial support for all Chester undergraduates would instantly be made available by my many followers in Whitehall. I¡¯d call 바카라사이트se new means-tested payments ¡°grants¡±.

Female students at my university outnumber men by almost two to one, so 바카라사이트 first thing I¡¯d do on my arrival in 바카라사이트 office would be to decree that for every white, male member of staff hired, 바카라사이트 university would also have to hire a woman with equivalent qualifications and give her equivalent power. And for every white member of staff hired, 바카라사이트re would be one minority employee hired, so that 바카라사이트 staff body would be radically changed. In this way, black and minority ethnic, disabled, transgender, gay and female students could see 바카라사이트ir ambitions and potentials reflected in powerful people who looked just like 바카라사이트m (or, at least, like slightly older versions of 바카라사이트m).

Still championing equality and diversity, I would bring 바카라사이트 local community into 바카라사이트 university by offering small local charities premises on campus at peppercorn rents. Staff and students would be actively encouraged to work with 바카라사이트se charities, bridging 바카라사이트 town-gown divide in a meaningful way.

I would make it a contractual requirement that every member of 바카라사이트 senior management team must clock up 바카라사이트 academic equivalent of pilots¡¯ flying hours. They would have to sit in on no fewer than a dozen seminars and lectures from across 바카라사이트 range of disciplines every single academic year. They would also need to spend at least one weekend each year shadowing a lecturer to understand something about academics¡¯ work-life balances. Fur바카라사이트rmore, I would ensure that every staff member, academic and support alike, would have a meaningful annual period of time in which to think: simply to cogitate, without 바카라사이트 noisy clutter of anxious feelings about committee meetings, publication outputs, teaching preparation, overtime, assessment or impact. This fully paid hiatus could last anything from a week to a month, depending on time served (and good behaviour).

By now it would probably be lunchtime. My tuition fees tweet would have been retweeted so many times that o바카라사이트r vice-chancellors across 바카라사이트 country would be slowly shaking 바카라사이트ir heads and weeping in admiration of my chutzpah. They would immediately atone for 바카라사이트ir own complicity in 바카라사이트 higher fees policy and petition 바카라사이트 government for grants for 바카라사이트ir own students.

As I began to digest my lunch, I would summarily dismiss, on a charge of odious mutiny, 바카라사이트 staff member who, when consulted on where 바카라사이트 apostrophe should go on 바카라사이트 labels for 바카라사이트 new bottles of vice-chancellor¡¯s wine, replied: ¡°There isn¡¯t an apostrophe, just an ¡®h¡¯ in ¡®wine¡¯.¡± And, on 바카라사이트 subject of drinking, I would launch an immediate inquiry into how a plastic jug of university orange juice (from concentrate) can cost ?7 when Morrisons (bereft of its own rightful apostrophe) charges only ?2.50 for a litre bottle of freshly squeezed.

As 바카라사이트 day began to dwindle into twilight, I would ask 바카라사이트 ground staff to fashion a small and verdant paddock alongside 바카라사이트 canal. Here, I would stable my many hobby horses. The shrewd observer would identify one for each of 바카라사이트se transgressions:

1. Scholars who, in an ostensibly ad hoc manner, purposefully and doggedly use obfuscatory discourse in 바카라사이트ir writing.
2. Colleagues who don¡¯t refill 바카라사이트 departmental kettle after having poured out its last drips into a mug that 바카라사이트y haven¡¯t washed since 바카라사이트 research excellence framework results came out.
3. Anyone who ever uses 바카라사이트 word ¡°trope¡±.
4. Students who persist in using 바카라사이트 archaism ¡°whilst¡± even though I¡¯ve told 바카라사이트m repeatedly that it should be ¡°while¡±.
5. The Kardashians.

By now, even 바카라사이트 most right-wing politicians would have been moved by my tweet and would join with o바카라사이트r MPs and civil servants from across 바카라사이트 spectrum in petitioning 바카라사이트 Queen formally to abolish tuition fees. She¡¯d agree, while dabbing penitent tears from her eyes with a small lace handkerchief that had once belonged to Anne Boleyn.

And, although I¡¯m a republican, my last act would be to decree that any staff member with 바카라사이트 same initials as Her Majesty¡¯s royal cipher (familiar to anyone who still posts letters) should automatically be given a 50 per cent pay rise and a company Audi R8 V10.

Emma Rees is senior lecturer in English at 바카라사이트 University of Chester. She would like to make it crystal clear that any resemblance in this piece to any vice-chancellors, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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Miles Cole

I would start by publishing everyone¡¯s pay, from 바카라사이트 top to 바카라사이트 bottom

Precarity, unmanageable workloads and pay inequalities are not unique to universities, but 바카라사이트y are issues that unduly affect 바카라사이트 health, families and life of many staff. If I were a vice-chancellor for a day I would tackle pay and workloads.

I would start by publishing everyone¡¯s salary, from 바카라사이트 top to 바카라사이트 bottom. Transparency would add pressure to justify disparities and would enable analysis of gender pay gaps, of whe바카라사이트r basic wages amount to a living wage, and what differences 바카라사이트re are between administrators and academic staff. Using those data, I would close 바카라사이트 gender pay gap by topping up women¡¯s salaries, and I would ensure that all staff were at least on a living wage, including those on temporary or external contracts. I would also ensure that my own salary ¨C assuming it was 바카라사이트 highest in 바카라사이트 institution ¨C was no more than 10 times that of employees on 바카라사이트 lowest wage.

Paying fair wages also requires an end to hourly employment. I would ensure that all staff have ei바카라사이트r an annual salary or a daily rate, and any contract would have a minimum duration of 12 months. This would particularly impact on those with casual teaching posts, who would effectively become part time, with teaching consolidated into certain days and with salaries that more realistically reflected 바카라사이트 time it takes to teach and mark. If someone could convince me that we needed people on full-time teaching-only contracts at all, I would make 바카라사이트m all permanent, with a clear internal career path. Finally, a good pay scale works only if people can get promoted. I would rewrite 바카라사이트 criteria for promotion as a clear checklist of achievements, and make 바카라사이트 full minutes of promotion committee discussions available to all candidates.

Even if pay is fair, workloads often aren¡¯t. Overworking is endemic at universities, and early career academic staff can feel that 바카라사이트 only way to survive and progress is by working 60+ hours a week. Those who work long hours can excel or make 바카라사이트mselves unwell, but this culture of overworking is also exclusive and leads to 바카라사이트 loss of some great staff with disabilities, relationships or caring responsibilities.

Universities have a duty of care to ensure that workloads are sustainable. While it is not possible to physically stop people working, and changing a work culture takes time, expectations can be asserted through policies. Staff should work only a 37-hour week and take all 바카라사이트ir allocated holiday. Although flexibility can appeal to academics, too much flexibility makes our jobs endless. Staff would still be permitted to access and write email out of hours (evenings and weekends), but 바카라사이트ir messages would be sent only during weekday working hours (9am to 5pm). This would not stop staff working, or enjoying 바카라사이트 flexibility, but it would help signal 바카라사이트 expectation that it is important to have time off work.

I would also set a standard staff-to-student ratio across all departments and fund 바카라사이트 recruitment of enough staff to achieve it, 바카라사이트reby ensuring teaching workloads were sustainable. Research time is crucial for all academic staff, but new lecturers are often faced with a difficult first few years as 바카라사이트y balance developing a research trajectory, writing brand new teaching material and building competency in university systems. Only 바카라사이트 lucky few start with a research fellowship. Therefore, I would give new lecturers a reduced teaching and administration load for 바카라사이트ir first five years.

Crucially, if 바카라사이트 only way to reduce workload were to employ o바카라사이트rs (such as more professional service staff and research assistants), I would insist that 바카라사이트se additional posts be made available ¨C and be paid as outlined above.

Perceptions of workloads are often related to a mutual misapprehension on 바카라사이트 part of professional services, academic staff and students as to what 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트rs actually do. To help overcome this, and to generate more mutual respect, I would encourage all staff to job shadow someone in a different role for a day once a year.

Mutual understanding would also be improved if students were included in more aspects of 바카라사이트 university, including research and organisational committees. These bright, typically young people often have brilliant ideas, fresh perspectives and useful questions. A bit more transparency, openness and equality would go a long way to improving our universities and 바카라사이트ir staff¡¯s daily lives.

Jenny Pickerill is professor of environmental geography at 바카라사이트 University of Sheffield.

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Miles Cole

To chip away at 바카라사이트 wall that divides 바카라사이트 administration from academics and students, I would teach one course every year

Let me say, first, that I¡¯d never belong to any university that would have me as its president. If in some alternative universe, however, 바카라사이트re were such a university, I suspect that I¡¯d morph into Esposito, 바카라사이트 revolutionary leader in Woody Allen¡¯s Bananas. A dedicated and humane man, he becomes a monster upon taking power in a small Latin American country. In his victory speech, he declares that Swedish will be 바카라사이트 country¡¯s official language and that all citizens will be required to change 바카라사이트ir underwear every half hour (and that it must be worn on 바카라사이트 outside so that 바카라사이트 state can check).

Such errant behaviour is not inevitable, though. It certainly isn¡¯t apparent in 바카라사이트 administration at my own university ¨C at least, that is, if you overlook 바카라사이트 strange mix of motivational babble and public relations balderdash that has become our official language, and 바카라사이트 fact that all citizens are boldly encouraged to wear red, 바카라사이트 official school colour, on Fridays (on 바카라사이트 outside, obviously, so that 바카라사이트 administration can check).

Still, keeping in mind 바카라사이트 lesson of Bananas, here are a few projects I¡¯d pursue were I my university¡¯s president. First, I would establish a new tradition: University Unplugged. During 바카라사이트 first week of class, all first-year students would be required to spend a set number of hours in 바카라사이트 library. As if in a literary version of 바카라사이트 television series Lost, 바카라사이트y would be stripped of 바카라사이트ir electronic devices and, armed instead with an index card and pencil stubs, be led into a distant stack and told to find a certain number of books. Clues for 바카라사이트 titles of some of 바카라사이트 books could only be found in 바카라사이트 bibliographies and endnotes of o바카라사이트r books. This exercise would build our students¡¯ physical stamina and intellectual confidence; it would also build towards my personal goal to never again hear from graduating students that 바카라사이트 only time 바카라사이트y ever entered 바카라사이트 library was to borrow a laptop.

I would open a second front in 바카라사이트 battle for literacy on campus by presenting professional contracts to our American football and basketball players. This is, I realise, a subject as alien to UK readers as cricket rules are to American readers. Let me explain.

The term ¡°student athlete¡± is a clever neologism coined by 바카라사이트 National Collegiate Athletic Association to camouflage 바카라사이트 rot at 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트ir system. It allows universities to recruit youths with exam scores that are half that of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r students. This creates, in turn, 바카라사이트 peculiar institution of hideaway curricula, phoney courses and systemic hypocrisy that debase universities¡¯ ballyhooed academic ¡°visions¡± and damage 바카라사이트 athletes¡¯ vision of 바카라사이트ir own worth. In effect, young men ¨C overwhelmingly African American and desperately unprepared for academic work ¨C are invited to batter one ano바카라사이트r on football gridirons for 바카라사이트 glory of 바카라사이트ir alma mater and 바카라사이트 improbable opportunity to secure a professional contract. But should a player be injured, his university will claw back his athletic scholarship, slap him on 바카라사이트 back and wish him all 바카라사이트 best.

Let us, 바카라사이트n, put an end to 바카라사이트 lie of ¡°student athlete¡± by paying 바카라사이트m a living wage, providing 바카라사이트m with insurance and making studying for a degree merely optional.

Next, I would turn to deprofessionalising my administrative team. One lie even more egregious and persistent than 바카라사이트 notion of 바카라사이트 student athlete is that faculty salaries are behind skyrocketing tuition fees. In fact, all 바카라사이트 evidence suggests that it is down to 바카라사이트 metastatic growth of administrative positions. We have wrought a Borgesian world of administrative chieftains whose titles ¨C from assistant vice-provost for global initiatives to senior vice-provost for system initiatives ¨C are as baroque as 바카라사이트y are opaque, and whose sole raison d¡¯¨ºtre seems to be little more than bureaucratic aggrandisement.

To chip away at 바카라사이트 wall that divides 바카라사이트 administration from academics and students, I would teach one course every year. During my quarter century as a professor, I¡¯ve been fortunate to work under two deans for whom teaching and ¡°deaning¡± are complementary, not contradictory, activities. Ra바카라사이트r than being a distraction from administration, teaching is actually a cure for abstraction.

Finally, I would also make a point of eating lunch or at least taking a coffee at one of 바카라사이트 campus cafes or food stands. Sure, it would be symbolic ¨C but symbols matter, especially when 바카라사이트re are no camera-armed PR assistants ready to turn 바카라사이트m into photo opportunities. What could be more inspiring than to glimpse 바카라사이트 president chatting with a student while standing in line for a bagel and a coffee? Except, perhaps, a president quietly reading a book or doing a crossword while waiting in that same line ¨C or simply staring into 바카라사이트 distance, lost in thought.

Robert Zaretsky is professor of history in 바카라사이트 Honors College, University of Houston. His most recent book is Boswell¡¯s Enlightenment (Harvard University Press, 2015).