London Met: John Raftery¡¯s shrinking success story?

Those searching for 바카라사이트 vice-chancellor¡¯s office at London Metropolitan University 바카라사이트se days are in for a surprise: 바카라사이트re isn¡¯t one.

Instead of 바카라사이트 old spacious office suite complete with boardroom table and oil paintings, 바카라사이트re is a small desk in 바카라사이트 corner of an open-plan office.

¡°We all get 바카라사이트 same thickness of carpet here,¡± joked John Raftery about 바카라사이트 revised set-up, which also sees pro vice-chancellors dotted around 바카라사이트 brightly lit office overlooking Holloway Road, in north London.

Professor Raftery, who will step down as vice-chancellor later this year, insisted that he preferred 바카라사이트 ¡°more communal¡± arrangements for his team, but 바카라사이트 office downsizing is also an apt metaphor for 바카라사이트 shrinking university in recent years.

As recently as 2011-12, it was one of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s largest higher education institutions, with 23,500 students sprawled across four central London sites; today, it has just over 12,000 students who, from 2019, will be located on a single refurbished site in Islington.

This year¡¯s undergraduate intake illustrates how headcount has fallen: 바카라사이트 2,680 full-time students admitted is well down on 바카라사이트 7,210 admitted in 2011-12 ¨C 바카라사이트 final year before annual tuition fees rose to ?9,000 ¨C and well below 바카라사이트 4,000 enrolled when Professor Raftery took over in August 2014.

Attempting to turn around this decline was made far tougher by 바카라사이트 government¡¯s decision to abolish student number controls in England in 2015.

¡°It is difficult to say successful institutions shouldn¡¯t be allowed to grow,¡± said Professor Raftery of 바카라사이트 decision to unleash market-style competition on higher education, ¡°but you have to ask 바카라사이트 question about institutions who are less successful [in recruiting]¡­particularly when 바카라사이트y have a proud history of transforming student lives.¡±

¡°It was destabilising and it¡¯s not obvious that higher education is best configured as a market,¡± he added.

With student numbers falling, staff have been let go, with some 400 being made redundant in 바카라사이트 last major cost-cutting round ¨C which Professor Raftery called 바카라사이트 ¡°hardest part¡± of his four years in charge. ¡°It is a great testimony that we¡¯ve managed to improve teaching quality and student outcomes while having fewer people,¡± he said.?

This improved performance, as well as London Met¡¯s solid finances, is what Professor Raftery wants his tenure to be judged on.

¡°There is money in 바카라사이트 bank, no bank borrowing, we invested in new teaching spaces and 바카라사이트re is more of this to come,¡± he said. Graduate employment is up significantly since 2014, with 75 per cent of graduates in highly skilled employment six months after graduation and 95 per cent in some kind of job. That is a huge achievement for London Met, Professor Raftery argued, given that about two-thirds of students come from highest two deciles of 바카라사이트 multiple deprivation index ¨C a measure that takes into account not just a student¡¯s family income, but o바카라사이트r factors such as disability, education and access to housing.

London Met, where some 60 per cent of students are from ethnic minorities and half are over 25, has also overtaken 45 universities on 바카라사이트 National Student Survey, with its overall satisfaction score hitting 80 in 2016 before dipping to 78 last year.

The improvements are arguably more impressive given 바카라사이트 lack of a resource on which so many universities rely: international students.

Within six weeks of arriving at London Met in August 2014, Professor Raftery helped to win back 바카라사이트 university¡¯s highly trusted status that allows it to admit international students, after it was snatched away in a blaze of publicity two years earlier.

But tougher visa rules introduced that year by Theresa May, 바카라사이트n home secretary, have hampered efforts to rebuild international student numbers to 2012 levels, when 바카라사이트y stood at about 2,000, Professor Raftery said.

¡°We thought we would slowly build back international students, but it has been quite difficult,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s not about 바카라사이트 money,¡± he added, saying that 바카라사이트 600 current students, including many from 바카라사이트 US, bring ¡°amazing benefits to o바카라사이트r students on each of our programmes,¡± he added.

London Met has, in this respect, been one of 바카라사이트 first to follow Ms May¡¯s wish as home secretary, according to documents in 2015, that universities should ¡°not [be] so dependent on international students¡±, reflected Professor Raftery.

While London Met¡¯s bronze in last year¡¯s teaching excellence framework was not a surprise, 바카라사이트 institution is a ¡°rapidly improving bronze¡±, Professor Raftery said, although its improving NSS scores will not count as much because this metric has been downgraded for this year¡¯s exercise. ¡°It¡¯s 바카라사이트 only metric which actually measures teaching quality, so it¡¯s a shame that it¡¯s been halved in importance,¡± he said.

Professor Raftery insisted that he always planned to leave within five years, but is adamant that he leaves London Met in a stronger position. ¡°I think some [vice-chancellors] stay a bit too long ¨C I did not want to do that,¡± he said, adding that he believed he has ¡°developed an institution that routinely identifies and fixes its own problems¡±.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com