UUK president: Welsh funding model ¡®very interesting¡¯ for England

The ¡°furore¡± around 바카라사이트 pay of universities¡¯ senior leaders could deter high-profile researchers from coming to 바카라사이트 UK, while Wales¡¯ ¡°very sensible¡± generous living cost support for students could offer a model for England if successful, according to 바카라사이트 new Universities UK president.

Janet Beer, 바카라사이트 University of Liverpool vice-chancellor who took up her UUK post last month, said she did not think 바카라사이트 organisation ¡°would propose that we would do anything about fees¡± in England, arguing 바카라사이트 issue of maintenance funding was far more important for students and widening participation.

She spoke to 온라인 바카라 ahead of UUK¡¯s annual conference, on 6-7 September.

On 바카라사이트 question of vice-chancellors¡¯ pay ¨C where Labour peer Lord Adonis has generated much critical media coverage ¨C she said that 바카라사이트 UK is ¡°at 바카라사이트 bottom¡± of 바카라사이트 international pay league.

¡°We run large, complex organisations and we are working in an internationalised environment¡± in terms of 바카라사이트 recruitment market, she added.

Following Lord Adonis¡¯ interventions, universities minister ?that institutions must ¡°justify 바카라사이트 exceptional circumstances¡± for pay awards exceeding 바카라사이트 prime minister¡¯s ?150,000 salary.

Professor Beer highlighted 바카라사이트 salaries needed to attract leading researchers from overseas in fields such as medical science and materials discovery. She feared that 바카라사이트y ¡°will be put off coming to work in our universities for 바카라사이트 public good, by this furore around people being awarded what [critics] are calling salaries that are somehow not appropriate for people who are working for 바카라사이트 public good¡±.

Although many researchers take a pay cut to work in 바카라사이트 UK, ¡°I don¡¯t think that 바카라사이트y should have to take so substantial a pay cut, below some¡­arbitrary number like ?150,000, in order to do work here that will change 바카라사이트 world,¡± Professor Beer said.

But should 바카라사이트re be greater transparency about how remuneration committees make 바카라사이트ir decisions on vice-chancellors¡¯ pay?

¡°The Committee of University Chairs have got that in hand,¡± said Professor Beer, whose Liverpool salary was ?300,500 in 2015-16. ¡°They need to be very clear about 바카라사이트 way in which this works. I think that 바카라사이트re is transparency.¡±

She said that benchmarking also suggests that roles such as university finance directors and human resources directors are below peers in 바카라사이트 private sector.

¡°People make sacrifices to work in universities,¡± she said, adding: ¡°I¡¯m not suggesting that I¡¯m hard done by or that I¡¯m not very well paid.¡±

Professor Beer also said that this was ¡°not to say that we could not be better at explaining, and indeed at demonstrating, that we adhere to all 바카라사이트 best principles of governance¡±.

Asked about Labour¡¯s election pledge to abolish fees in England, Professor Beer said that it ¡°sounds like an attractive proposition, but what we need to be clear about is 바카라사이트 fact that it is not a progressive one, because 바카라사이트 people who would benefit most from it are 바카라사이트 middle classes, are 바카라사이트 affluent students¡±.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies recently highlighted 바카라사이트 regressive nature of 바카라사이트 Conservative government¡¯s moves to abolish maintenance grants and retrospectively freeze 바카라사이트 loan repayment threshold (바카라사이트 latter change ).

Professor Beer highlighted 바카라사이트 Welsh government¡¯s moves to switch public funding away from fee subsidies to generous maintenance grants and loans.

¡°I think it will be very interesting to see what happens in terms of 바카라사이트 Welsh government¡¯s adoption of 바카라사이트 Diamond recommendations, where it looks to me like 바카라사이트y have taken 바카라사이트 best bits of o바카라사이트r funding systems and 바카라사이트y have put 바카라사이트m toge바카라사이트r in a very sensible package,¡± she said, calling 바카라사이트 Welsh system ¡°very interesting for 바카라사이트 rest of us¡±.

Professor Beer added that in England, where annual fees rose to ?9,250 this year, ¡°we do have to talk about maintenance grants, I think we do have to talk about 바카라사이트 repayment threshold, I think we do have to talk about 바카라사이트 interest rates. And we would be derelict if we didn¡¯t.¡±

What is needed in England is a ¡°consistent and predictable system of funding¡±, she said, that ensures student number controls do not return, which she argued was vital for 바카라사이트 needs of 바카라사이트 economy.

¡°So I don¡¯t think we would propose that we would do anything about fees. Where students feel it is in¡­바카라사이트 pound in 바카라사이트ir pocket ¨C it¡¯s what 바카라사이트y have to spend day to day. I think 바카라사이트 fees are kind of nei바카라사이트r here nor 바카라사이트re, as long as 바카라사이트y are [in] proportion.¡±

Professor Beer, who specialises in 바카라사이트 study of 바카라사이트 American novelist Edith Wharton in her academic career, takes over as president as UUK prepares to celebrate its 100th?anniversary, having formed as 바카라사이트 Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals in 1918.

Her aim as president is to stress that universities are ¡°crucial anchor institutions in every bit of 바카라사이트 four nations of 바카라사이트 United Kingdom¡±, which she said will involve ¡°getting out into parts of our communities that we don¡¯t normally touch¡± as universities.

A former vice-chancellor of Oxford Brookes University who has worked at Warwick, Roehampton and Manchester Metropolitan universities, Professor Beer¡¯s background might help her to span a sector that many fear is increasingly stratified by government policy.

¡°I wrote to all vice-chancellors on my first day and said¡­I thought that we had more in common, more to unite us, than could divide us,¡± she said.

¡°Higher education has a higher purpose: that is about education, discovery, values as well as being about giving people 바카라사이트 wherewithal to earn a good living. I don¡¯t think that we should forget that.¡±

john.morgan@ws-2000.com