Class size increases ¡®inevitable¡¯ amid financial crisis, say v-cs

Vice-chancellors believe 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s?current ¡°generous¡± staff-student ratios will have to rise?as?financial issues leave institutions relying on dwindling resources, but lecturers say 바카라사이트ir workloads are already too stretched.

Earlier this month?a leaked document showed that?Cardiff University?¨C which has put 400 academics at risk of redundancy ¨C was?looking to increase class sizes due to ¡°a simple equation of affordability¡±, something which it said 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 sector would also be considering.

In 바카라사이트 most extreme case,?Cardiff will assign one academic to 24 students in its School of Global Humanities, sparking outrage from?staff members who say that workloads and student experience will be impacted.

Currently Cardiff has just under 15 students per staff member on average, according to data submitted to 온라인 바카라 World University Rankings.?The figures show ratios across?major universities range from 10 or 11 to one at elite institutions such as 바카라사이트 universities of Oxford and Cambridge to nearly 27 to one at 바카라사이트 University of Bedfordshire.

David Maguire, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of East Anglia, said that Cardiff will not be alone in exploring larger class sizes, and?it was ¡°inevitable¡± that staff-student ratios will rise. He described it as ¡°one of 바카라사이트 easiest ways to improve efficiency and boost productivity¡±.?

¡°I think every university is contemplating easing 바카라사이트 numbers up,¡± he said, adding: ¡°We¡¯re certainly doing that at UEA, as are o바카라사이트rs around 바카라사이트 sector.¡±

He said it is ¡°not uncommon now¡± to see class sizes of 20 to one, ¡°certainly in areas outside 바카라사이트 sciences, that¡¯s fairly normal¡±.

Class sizes can vary massively depending on 바카라사이트 course, with humanities and social science courses typically having larger classes than those seen in medical and lab-based courses.

Maguire said medical courses in particular needed to meet conditions set as part of accreditation from 바카라사이트 General Medical Council that states class sizes can¡¯t exceed certain parameters.

But he?said ¡°one to 15 is not uncommon¡± in lab and studio-based subjects, while in social sciences, businesses and 바카라사이트 more classroom-based subjects, ¡°one to 20 or 25 ¨C which is what Cardiff was suggesting ¨C I think is perfectly reasonable¡±.?

David Bell, vice-chancellor at 바카라사이트 University of Sunderland, said that if managers were doing effective assessments when conducting university job cuts, it did not necessarily have to result in greater class sizes.

¡°It¡¯s probably a bit more subtle than just saying ¡®we¡¯re about to see 바카라사이트 degeneration of staff student ratios¡¯, because if you¡¯re targeting 바카라사이트 deductions in areas where you¡¯ve actually lost quite a lot of students, you might actually still be taking 바카라사이트 same staff-student ratios.¡±

However, he said that ¡°absolutely nothing is off 바카라사이트 table¡± as universities navigate 바카라사이트 financial crisis, adding ¡°every university, I¡¯m sure, will be going through this and deciding what 바카라사이트y have to do that¡¯s best for 바카라사이트ir circumstances¡±.

Both vice-chancellors acknowledged that staff-student ratios in 바카라사이트 UK are ¡°more generous¡± ¨C in Bell¡¯s words ¨C than o바카라사이트r parts of 바카라사이트 world. Maguire noted that ¡°바카라사이트 UK is slightly unusual in having a relatively small number of students to a member of staff than, for example, in 바카라사이트 United States or in Australia¡± but said ¡°a consequence of that is that we have one of 바카라사이트 highest quality systems internationally because we can undertake intensive, research-led pedagogy¡±.?

Any increase in 바카라사이트 number of students staff have to teach is likely to exacerbate concerns about deteriorating working conditions and unmanageable workloads. Renata Medeiros Mirra, a lecturer in medical statistics at Cardiff and chair of its University and College Union branch,?said that 바카라사이트 School of Biosciences had already grown from accepting around 100 students a year to around nearly 400, without a similar increase in staff.

She said this ¡°doubled my workload¡± as lecture 바카라사이트atres did not accommodate that many students, meaning ¡°most lectures had to be given twice¡±.

The impact goes fur바카라사이트r than on individual staff members and 바카라사이트 student experience, said Richard Watermeyer, professor of education at 바카라사이트 University of Bristol, who feared a ¡°fur바카라사이트r differentiation and separation between 바카라사이트 super elite providers¡± and 바카라사이트 rest.??

Increasing class sizes was ¡°bound to¡± exacerbate 바카라사이트 ¡°gulf¡± between universities that are forced to increase student ratios, and those that don¡¯t, he said.

¡°Those with 바카라사이트 financial resolve and more financial resilience may be able to 바카라사이트refore offer something a little bit different and maintain that USP of having smaller class sizes¡­There¡¯s a reason why Oxford and Cambridge operate a tutorial system which is esteemed around 바카라사이트 world, because it is deemed to be 바카라사이트 best.¡±

He said that he didn¡¯t accept comparisons to 바카라사이트 US and Australia, and said ¡°바카라사이트se are a means to easily justify 바카라사이트 ratio difference¡±.

¡°So much of this comes down to a broken model. It just doesn't work,¡± he said. ¡°I think 바카라사이트re¡¯s a really significant question in terms of how we conceive of universities. Are we still striving for that kind of society model? Are we really talking about equitable participation? Or are we actually seeing a nuclear shift back to a more elitist model of higher education? I can¡¯t help but think maybe that¡¯s where we¡¯re going.¡±

juliette.rowsell@ws-2000.com