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*This blog originally featured on WONKHE<\/a> on 19 April 2020*<\/p>\n Andy Westwood, Vice Dean for Social Responsibility in the Faculty of Humanities sets out the not-insignificant challenges that the government now faces in deciding what it wants from universities after the pandemic.<\/strong><\/p>\n The RSA has been running a series of events, podcasts and blogs under the heading \u201cBuilding Bridges to the Future\u201d. It is a set of ideas and arguments about what kind of world we might see emerge after the Covid-19 crisis and more prosaically, how we might get from here to there. In one blog, Matthew Taylor sets out three broad stages in that process from the immediate crisis, then through a transitional period and finally to \u201cthe emergence of a new normal\u201d.<\/p>\n The new normal<\/strong> Universities UK has also made its assessment of the impact and submitted<\/a> a request to the Treasury for financial assistance. It includes recommendations for increasing QR funding and for temporarily managing undergraduate numbers for 2020\/21. It also asks for longer-term funds for restructuring provision when the crisis is over. This is the vice chancellor\u2019s pitch for \u201ca new normal\u201d. But as the government decides what kind of bailout is appropriate, it will also want to decide how it can help form \u201ca bridge to the future\u201d of higher education that it wants to see.<\/p>\n So in response to requests for financial support from universities, the government will want to do three things. First, it will endeavour to understand the exact nature of the scale and impact \u2013 on students, on institutions and the sector as whole. Second, it will consider what measures will be necessary to get students and institutions through the crisis. This is where ministers and officials currently find themselves \u2013 working out what will \u201cstabilise\u201d the sector in the short to medium term and how much it might cost. But third \u2013 and concurrently \u2013 they should also be thinking about longer-term objectives for higher education and how any interventions are best designed to support them.<\/p>\n The government lifecycle<\/strong> How will Covid-19 affect these partly formed ideas? What should we now do more or less of in the future? What are our priorities and what can we afford? The government will have to pay for the crisis \u2013 whatever it takes. A short term drop in GDP of between 20-30% increases unemployment and other social costs and drastically reduces tax receipts before short term measures of NHS spending, business support etc are factored in. The fiscal rules are in tatters, the Spending Review is up in the air and any assumptions about tax rates and spending levels have been blown wide open.<\/p>\n However, it is reasonable to assume that higher education will continue to be a policy priority as universities remain critical to so many forward-looking agendas even if many of the detailed decisions remain unresolved. From a formal response to the Augar Review and tackling \u201clow-quality\u201d degrees to boosting FE and technical education and the civic and regional agendas, the ideas have been flagged up not fully developed. The same goes for R&D where even though targets have been reaffirmed and ambitious funding plans set out, precise details including for the UK DARPA remain unclear. Added to these are the postponed REF, TEF and KEF. They can no longer slip through on previous designs and timetables and must now be delayed to a time when government has new priorities.<\/p>\n Broader objectives for higher education<\/strong> Objective 1<\/strong> Objective 2<\/strong> Objective 3<\/strong> If these are reasonable headline objectives then those deciding on any immediate assistance, will need to think hard about how any bailout makes these more likely to be realised in the longer term. What interventions now will best support them? What capacity and expertise is most important to retain? In turn, this leads to a level of policy detail where we some challenges and systemic problems quickly emerge.<\/p>\n Key issues and questions<\/strong> 1 \u2013 How much should government care about universities as whole institutions? Many of the things that the government cares about (and some things that it does not) are wrapped up in institutional sustainability. Not enough people in Whitehall currently understand or care about the economics or activities of the whole university or sector. At the very least this requires improved co-ordination between DfE and BEIS and their funding and regulatory agencies but in the longer term, it should require a better overall system.<\/p>\n 2 \u2013 Are the balance of interests in higher education optimal? Does the current approach in England best balance the interests of students and institutions (and the state)? If universities are vital to post Covid-19 and post Brexit agendas should we find a better approach?<\/p>\n 3 \u2013 How should we rethink industrial policy? Government will need to decide how its R&D ambitions relate to and drive industrial strategy \u2013 including more consideration for industrial capacity as well as determining what is of strategic importance in\/to the UK economy. For example, it would be difficult not to think differently about the strategic importance of life sciences, advanced manufacturing, food supply and communications technology. How should this then relate to R&D spending and to student numbers?<\/p>\n 4 \u2013 How much will \u201clevelling up\u201d and regional inequality still matter? Most left behind places have underlying economic conditions that make them especially vulnerable in the economic fallout \u2013 any interventions or bailouts should not exacerbate regional inequalities but should recognise how universities will drive economic recovery in all parts of the country.<\/p>\n 5 \u2013 How much competition do you want? Interventions in the medium and long term need to think about what level of competition is optimal \u2013 N.B. this is not just between institutions, but between sectors, places, types of qualification, mode of attendance, types of student. Unintended competition and collateral damage eg FE, L4\/5, PT and lifelong learning are particular issues. It would be best if interventions did not make these problems worse.<\/p>\n 6 \u2013 How much does government care about cross-subsidy? Short and long term funding decisions should avoid new incentives for cross-subsidy or \u201copaquery\u201d. The government should try it\u2019s best to reinforce\/support priorities rather than using student numbers or research funding to plug gaps in other areas.<\/p>\n 7 \u2013 What does financial sustainability look like in the future? What are the government\u2019s assumptions about what a new normal looks like? Right now that looks unlikely to be anything close to the sector\u2019s recent experience. The government must have its own planning assumptions about future finances for the sector and for institutions. As an example, if this is roughly at 75\/80% of anticipated annual income (factoring in possible decline in both public and private revenues) then bailouts or stabilisation must make this transition a priority. How are finances restructured over a longer-term and what role should the government be playing?<\/p>\n 8 \u2013 Is the policy architecture\u2019 right? Government must think about the design, powers and focus of its funding and regulatory bodies. Are they pointing institutions and students in the direction you want? If not can they adapt? New forms may need to follow new functions.<\/p>\n Reorganisations<\/strong> Why would you care more about competition than, for example, an institution having the capacity and commitment to rebuilding a left-behind town, city or region? Or about an institution with facilities and expertise to design and build ventilators? Or that set up a brand new hospital in its car park? The new world Is likely to require more direction, more intervention and more strategic capacity. It will probably require less focus on competition and regulatory compliance and less distance between agencies and institutions.<\/p>\n For institutions, it will require an acceptance that the state will act differently. It will also require thinking and acting differently as institutions. This will likely involve significantly lower levels of income. It seems sensible to anticipate and plan on the basis of a fairly drastic reduction. We all hope \u2013 as the OBR and IMF suggest \u2013 that recovery could be more rapid than from previous shocks.<\/p>\n But even the most positive forecasts will leave us with holes in government finances, falling tax receipts and dramatically increased levels of borrowing and spending. So it would seem prudent to consider longer-term institutional and sector strategies with significantly reduced income (whether from the state or from private sources such as international students). Then what does 75-80% of former levels of income mean for a university? What courses or modules are to be dropped? Which areas of research capacity and expertise are prioritised? What commercial activities are started and stopped? The answers must be responsible \u2013 institutions should not act purely in their own self-interest but with a wider societal focus. Universities should aim to take both the public and government with them in the decisions that they make.<\/p>\n Not everyone will agree with this list of broad objectives. There will also be a wide range of opinions about the questions and choices that follow. But the most important task now for universities is to get to the other side of this crisis. It is the government\u2019s job to help them do so. But it is also reasonable for government to act in a way today that enables them to better achieve their own long term objectives for the sector and for the wider economy and society. To do that they need a clearer idea of how different universities can help to achieve these long term goals even if the future isn\u2019t going to be quite what as any of us expected. We will all have to do things differently.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=”3.17.6″ prev_text=”Previous” next_text=”Next” in_same_term=”off” locked=”on” \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=”3.17.6″ custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#ffffff” locked=”on” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Related posts” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ locked=”on”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=”Subscribe” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ area=”et_pb_widget_area_3″ locked=”on” \/][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=”3.17.6″ area=”sidebar-1″ show_border=”off” locked=”on” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Andy Westwood sets out the not-insignificant challenges that the government now faces in deciding what it wants from universities after the pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" [et_pb_section bb_built=\"1\" fullwidth=\"off\" specialty=\"on\" _builder_version=\"3.17.6\"][et_pb_column type=\"2_3\" specialty_columns=\"4\"][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=\"Row\"][et_pb_column_inner type=\"4_4\" saved_specialty_column_type=\"2_3\"][et_pb_post_title _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" featured_placement=\"above\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=\"3.17.6\"]<\/p> When I\u2019m out and about meeting staff I hear much debate about the why, what, when and how of change in our University. I wanted to share my thoughts on this often contentious topic \u2013 and hear your views too.<\/p> Early in 2020 we will launch our University\u2019s new vision and strategic plan \u2013 Our future. In order to fulfil Our future we need to ensure that we are in a financially sustainable position so that we have the funds to invest in the new staff, facilities and infrastructure which will be needed to bring our plans to life.<\/p> Our Financial Statements<\/a> for 2018\/19, which have been published following approval by the Board of Governors, confirm that more than 95% of our \u00a31.1bn income is spent on our core goals - on our staff and our students - to deliver research, education and social responsibility; with the remainder invested in the long term sustainability of our University. You can find a summary<\/a> of the Financial Statements on StaffNet.<\/p> However, this is a testing time for UK universities, due to the many external factors that have an impact on us - current home tuition fees are falling in real terms, whilst our costs (not just pay but non-pay too) are increasing. There are further and even greater tuition fee funding risks outlined in General Election manifestos as well as a range of Brexit-related risks that could affect our operations. The Office for Students (OfS) demands that we demonstrate both value for money for our students and our financial sustainability (in the sense of being able to invest to deliver our ambitious strategy, rather than survival). There are, of course, also ongoing unresolved national issues around pay and the continuing challenges around funding pensions in the higher education sector.<\/p> Our Financial Statements show an improved operating surplus (3.7% of income compared to \u00a324.7m (2.3%) in 2017\/18), with a rise in income from tuition fees, education contracts and research. As I mentioned earlier, we re-invest the surplus we achieve each year in activity in line with our strategy. Recently our funds have been used to create some new academic and Professional Services posts; to invest in key infrastructure including IT; to invest in some new buildings like our student accommodation at Unsworth Park; to improve the student experience by funding more full-time Residential Life staff and to upgrade a range of buildings and research and teaching spaces and resources. Increasingly it is also invested in environmental sustainability and meeting our ambitious carbon targets. So even when we are making difficult decisions in some parts of the University we continue to invest our surplus.<\/p> Whilst we have reported an operating surplus, our Board of Governors expects us to deliver a much larger surplus than this (at least 5%) if we are to be sustainable in the long-term. Our strategic change programme (including IT Modernisation<\/a>, the Student Experience Programme<\/a>, and the Research Lifecycle Programme<\/a>), alongside our continuous improvement plans, will ensure that we create the financial headroom to invest in people and facilities. The strategic change programme will also enable us to embrace new technologies and new ways of doing things that better support all our staff and students to be the best that they can be.<\/p> Yes, this means that some individual roles will change. New roles (some that we haven\u2019t yet identified) will be created and some roles will no longer be required. I appreciate that this will cause some uncertainty and where that is the case we will do everything we can to support staff, but the alternative is that we never change anything. If we fail to take advantage of advances in technology and develop more joined-up ways of working we will ultimately find ourselves outdated in the eyes of future students, funders and other stakeholders. Staff want to work for a progressive and successful institution, of which they can be proud. This means we cannot stand still.<\/p> When I talk to staff and students I often hear their frustrations about how difficult it be can be to get some straightforward things done, grappling with paper-based, manual and repetitive processes, on outdated systems and infrastructure, all of which serves to increase staff workloads. Everyone wants to do a good job, but regularly feel that our world-class status is earned in spite of our internal systems and processes, not because of them.<\/p> To deliver our new vision and strategic plan we will need to embrace new opportunities and face challenges with courage and determination. That will sometimes mean we have to make tough decisions and no-one is claiming it will be easy or that mistakes will not be made along the way. But where we do have tough choices to make we will commit to implementing changes fairly and with compassion to support the wellbeing of all our colleagues.<\/p> [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" prev_text=\"Previous\" next_text=\"Next\" in_same_term=\"off\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" custom_button=\"on\" button_text_color=\"#ffffff\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_text admin_label=\"Related posts\" _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" locked=\"on\"]<\/p> [related-posts-thumbnails]<\/p> [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\"1_3\"][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=\"Subscribe\" _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" area=\"et_pb_widget_area_3\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" area=\"sidebar-1\" show_border=\"off\" locked=\"on\" \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-of-humanities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3241"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3323,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3241\/revisions\/3323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIt provides a useful framework with which to think about higher education, from how it is coping now, what might happen to manage the effects of the crisis in the medium term and finally what the sector might look like on the other side. It\u2019s important now because the impact of the crisis and the need for action is becoming clear. According to the OBR<\/a>, education may be the hardest hit sector as GDP plummets by around 35% in the second quarter of 2020.<\/p>\n
\nCovid-19 has hit this government very early in its life \u2013 less than three months after the General Election in December. This is before too much detailed thinking about the future of the sector had taken place. As in many other policy areas, government was at the beginning of such detailed planning \u2013 a series of green and white papers were in the pipeline, as were civil service reforms and broader priorities for reshaping the economy and society. In three months, it had \u201cgot Brexit done\u201d, reshuffled ministers and just about managed to put out a budget albeit one dominated by the (then) coming pandemic. But at that point pretty much everything stopped.<\/p>\n
\nThe government must now rapidly decide its broader objectives for higher education as it ponders any shorter-term stabilisation or financial assistance. Otherwise it runs the risk of wasting resources and jeopardising future ambitions. In the spirit of these times, I can see three broad objectives that they might want to consider in more detail:<\/p>\n
\nUniversities and a new framework for increasing R&D \u2013 that\u2019s not just more spending overall but a better sense of what\/where the priorities for new funds will be. R&D must be linked to a post-Brexit and post Covid-19 economic strategy. In time this requires a redefinition of excellence, including clearer incentives for practical, applied R&D alongside fundamental, blue skies research.<\/p>\n
\nA long term vision for teaching, learning and student numbers \u2013 this must include decisions about overall numbers (and controls) as well as consideration of whether student numbers are in the right places and doing the right things. It should also include a new settlement between HE and FE and between degrees and technical qualifications. It must decide what is high and low quality and how to assess this.<\/p>\n
\nA greater relationship between universities and \u201cplace\u201d \u2013 from (inter and intra) regional inequalities and levelling up to an enhanced civic agenda. This must consider what combinations of 1) and 2) are best delivered in different parts of the country.<\/p>\n
\nTo help shape a clearer long term vision as well as shorter-term assistance I would be looking closely at the following key issues and questions.<\/p>\n
\nSome significant questions lie in the organisations that sit between government and the sector. They must be fit for a new purpose. The recent Act and the Office for Students were born in a different time. Before the EU referendum even. The regime already feels out of date with the wrong powers, wrong tone and a set of objectives that look out of balance with the new world.<\/p>\nRelated<\/h1>\n
Related posts:<\/h3>
Melissa Westwood: Impactful research and \u2013 importantly \u2013 how we get there<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
Andy Westwood: The Skills for Jobs white paper is what happens when policy is made in a vacuum<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
Lisa Murtagh: Home Educating during the COVID-19 Pandemic \u2018Tears and Treats\u2019<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>
Improving our financial performance will help to deliver our ambitious future plans, but we must also increase our capacity to create the funds and time to invest in our core goals. One of the ways we can do this is by changing what we do and how we do things.<\/p>Related<\/h1>