A bumper policy update for you packed full of political changes and arguments, and BU gets a mention in the House of Commons. Enjoy the sunny bank holiday weekend!<\/p>\n
Amber Rudd resigned on Sunday. Replacing her are Penny Mordaunt and Sajid Javid.<\/p>\n
Penny Mordaunt (Secretary of State for International Development) will replace her as Women and Equalities Minister. Penny\u2019s pre-UK political career is varied ranging from magician\u2019s assistant, working in Romanian hospitals and orphanages, and as Head of Foreign Press for George W Bush. Previously she was the Minister of State for Disabled People, Work and Health. Her political interests are care and quality of life for the elderly, healthcare, defence, the arts, and space.<\/p>\n
Sajid Javid will replace Amber as Home Secretary. (James Brokenshire will replace Sajid as Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary). Sajid\u2019s political interests are civil liberties, free enterprise, defence, and welfare policy. Sajid has held a string of parliamentary roles including\u00a0 Economic Secretary 2012-13, Financial Secretary 2013-14; Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 2014-15; Minister for Equalities 2014; Secretary of State for: Business, Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade 2015-16, and Communities, Local Government and Housing Secretary 2016-18. Times Higher<\/a> took to Twitter to remind the HE world that Sajid believes international students shouldn\u2019t stay on to work in Britain post-graduation.<\/p>\n #BUProud –\u00a0<\/strong>Sam Gyimah praised BU<\/strong> in a recent Education select committee meeting. Questioned on whether the three year full time degree is an outdated dinosaur and whether accelerated or non-standard degrees are the future Sam replied:<\/p>\n I will start off, before saying what I think the answer is, by saying that there is some good practice in the sector that is often not acknowledged. For example, 42% of degrees are currently vocational. If you look at what some universities are doing, Bournemouth University, where I was a few weeks ago, is a most effective place at training people for media and film studies. Most people would dismiss some of these things, but if you want to work at Universal Studios, one of the best universities in this country to go to is Bournemouth. They have a focused university curriculum. <\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The OfS have published their strategy and business plan<\/a>. They set out their familar 4 objectives ( participation, experience, outcomes and value for money)<\/p>\n The OfS will deliver this by:<\/p>\n The OfS will also measure contributory progress against these cross cutting strategic outcomes:<\/p>\n There is more detail in the Business Plan 2018-19<\/a>, including:<\/p>\n And much more<\/a>!<\/p>\n Research Professional <\/strong>published a mock Knowledge Exchange rankings table<\/a>\u00a0 based on three years of data from the Higher Education Business and Community Interaction surveys.\u00a0 Hamish McAlpine, senior policy adviser for knowledge exchange at Research England, has written a progress report on work towards the real KEF<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0We have been a bit sceptical about the KEF at BU \u2013 because something with great potential to measure something of great benefit (going beyond REF impact) looks like being a way to channel more money to those who make money already from commercialisation\u2026.<\/p>\n The article is interesting because it is clear that thinking is still evolving \u2013 this sentence gives some hope about the value of the framework:<\/p>\n And they haven\u2019t yet decided on the link to funding\u2026..but it still looks as if income is the driver:<\/p>\n Income is a very unreliable proxy for impact outside STEM.\u00a0 In her previous role at BU Jane supported a number of projects with HSS that have limited potential to make money (because they help the NHS) but have potential to make a real difference to care and outcomes.\u00a0 And what about all the work in social sciences \u2013 and knowledge exchange projects in FoM and FMC?\u00a0\u00a0So we\u2019re still sceptical about the KEF \u2013 but it might be a bit less pointless than it was looking a few months ago.\u00a0 I\u2019ve added a comment to the article \u2013 we\u2019ll see what the response is.<\/p>\n We have submitted BU\u2019s response to the HE review and you can read it here<\/a>.\u00a0 SUBU\u2019s response is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n There is a useful article by Gordon McKenzie of GuildHE on Wonkhe<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) published their 10 points f<\/a>or the HE review – a useful round up of some of the issues based on HEPI\u2019s own research over the last few years.\u00a0 Their 10 points relate to:<\/p>\n UUK have blogged on their response to the review calling for the review to address confusion about the tuition fees system<\/a>. UUK note that while the funding system hasn\u2019t deterred young people from full time study (and is beneficial in creating stability for universities) \u2018there is a lack of public confidence and understanding of how it delivers value for money for students\u2019<\/em>. They note those wishing to study flexibly, or part time, or young students who wish to earn whilst they learn aren\u2019t serviced adequately by the existing funding system. They also call for maintenance grants to be restored.<\/p>\n The Universities UK submission makes a number of recommendations, including:\u200b<\/p>\n You can read Baroness Wolf in the TES<\/a> on what the review is about (not just HE).<\/p>\n From March \u2013 the<\/strong> OfS report on student perceptions of value for money<\/strong><\/a>: – not providing a definition but see below\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Maintenance Grant Raid –\u00a0<\/strong>David Morris wrote for the Guardian<\/a> this week stating: The government has hinted it will reintroduce maintenance grants, but that there will be no extra money to pay for it. <\/em>David believes this will take the political pressure out of the tuition fee conundrum because \u2018expensive rent is probably far more of a barrier to widening access than expensive fees, since students don\u2019t repay these until after graduation.\u2019<\/em> David believes the Government might solve the issue of funding maintenance grants by utilising the current teaching grant. He states: \u2018This time around, universities will have to convince government to find additional spending, or it will be their pockets that are raided.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n Political Battles –\u00a0<\/strong>Martin Lewis (MoneySavingExpert) tackles Chi Onwurah (Labour MP) in BBC Question Time. In essence his fiery response blames both Government and Opposition for making Fees and Student Loans a political battlefield \u2013 serving only their own political ends and leaving prospective students bewildered about affordability. He states in itself this is what is putting off even more students because they believe they can\u2019t afford to attend University.<\/p>\n Watch the short (1 minute) clip here<\/a>, the Express<\/a> also covered the argument.<\/p>\n Higher Earning Graduates \u2013 <\/strong>Sam Gyimah avoided responding to a parliamentary question on higher earning graduates this week.<\/p>\n Student Loan Overpayments\u00a0 –<\/strong>Another parliamentary question<\/a> revealed that 55% of the nursing, midwifery and allied health professions students who were overpaid by SLC (leading to concerns about how the money would be clawed back), were overpaid by more than \u00a31,000. And the non-repayable support has been confirmed<\/p>\n Loan Terms – <\/strong>Another week, another student loan parliamentary question \u2013 this time Sam\u2019s answer fails to confirm whether the Government will change the loan terms for the post-2012 students, leading to worry over how students may be affected if the post-2012 loans are sold off.<\/p>\n Paramedic Student Loans – <\/strong>A parliamentary question on reclassifying paramedic degrees for existing graduates to access the student loan whilst retraining:<\/p>\n The Universities Minister gave a speech on Thursday at a free speech summit<\/a> calling for new guidance for organisations and students on freedom of speech. Covered by The Times<\/a> Sam is portrayed as championing free speech way beyond his predecessor (Jo Johnson\u2019s) intent to \u2018enforce existing measures<\/em>\u2019. Sam plans for the OfS to name and shame or fine institutions for failing to uphold his view of free speech. He has announced the intention to create a single set of guidelines \u2018to clarify the rules and regulations around speakers and events to prevent bureaucrats or wreckers on campus from exploiting gaps for their own ends<\/em>\u2019. The NUS is permitted to input into the new rules. See the Government\u2019s press release here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Free Speech does get a (very limited) mention in the OfS\u2019 new Business Pla<\/a>n \u2013 one mention (page 7) \u2018Incentivise positive student experiences beyond the conditions of registration \u2013 Define and begin to deliver the OfS\u2019 role to promote and protect free speech.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n THE<\/a> also reported on Sam\u2019s speech, ironically noting it was delivered at a \u2018behind-closed-doors<\/em>\u2019 event.<\/p>\n Sam wrote for The Times Red Box on Thursday: The time I was almost censored on campus<\/a>. There is an entertaining range of reader comments following Sam\u2019s piece, only overshadowed by the Twitter glee<\/a> that the quote Sam opens his article with is misattributed. Whoops.<\/p>\n HEPI Free Speech blog<\/strong><\/p>\n On Tuesday HEPI got the last word in on Free Speech ahead of Sam\u2019s speech. See their blog Six points about free speech at universities<\/a>. Nick Hillman commenced with HEPI\u2019s survey statistics on free speech.\u00a0\u00a0Most of his six points are familiar:<\/p>\n False Deportation – <\/strong>On Tuesday the Financial Times broke the news of 7,000 international students falsely deported in: Home Office told thousands of foreign students to leave UK in error.\u00a0 <\/a>Wonkhe have provided a summary:<\/p>\n The Financial Times reports<\/a> that the Home Office may have ordered up to 7,000 international students to leave the country on the basis of false accusations that they “faked” their proficiency in English. The error allegedly occurred when US-based organisation Educational Testing Services (ETS) carried out an investigation on behalf of the Home Office into cheating in their Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) in 2014. The investigation results led the Home Office to revoke the Tier 4 visas of around 35,870 students studying in the UK who were suspected to have used proxies to sit the test.<\/p>\n An immigration tribunal heard in 2016 that the computer analysis used to identify fraud had been correct in only 80% of cases, meaning that 7,000 students had been deported in error.<\/p>\n The Home Office told us “the Government took immediate robust action, which has been measured and proportionate and so far 21 people have received criminal convictions for their role in this deception” and noted that courts had consistently found in their favour that evidence in these cases was enough to act on. However, the FT cites a judgement published in 2017 that said that the Home Office’s behaviour was “so unfair and unreasonable as to amount to an abuse of power”.<\/p>\n The Guardian also has the story<\/a>, noting that new Home Secretary Sajid Javid has been urged to conduct a review.<\/p>\n International Post-Doc Researchers – <\/strong>Earlier in the year HEPI released their report The costs and benefits of international students<\/a> ahead of the Migration Advisory Committee\u2019s consultation on international students (outcomes expected autumn 2018). At the HEPI launch event there was strong argument for the sectors which need international talent to fulfil economic and business needs but which have low graduate starting salaries. An oral question this week extended this debate to cover post-doc employment:<\/p>\n New Fair Access Tsar, Chris Millward, blogs for UUK on the \u2018OpportUNIty for everyone\u2019 campaign aiming to promote the work done by universities on social mobility. Chris\u2019 entry into the sector as Director for Fair Access and Participation has had WP buffs pondering whether there will be an entirely different fair access landscape with new directives. Perhaps unintentionally Chris\u2019 blog continues to repeat Les Ebdon\u2019s constant calls for \u2018faster change\u2019: \u00a0\u2018Opportunity for everyone\u2019 shows how universities are opening their doors, but they must build on this for faster change<\/a>. It perhaps favours a focusing of the WP target groups by specifically mentioning:<\/p>\n It notes all universities are expected to narrow their gaps in all these areas. Chris promises the OfS will \u2018develop evidence and effective practice guidance<\/em>, and create opportunities to promote its use<\/em>\u2019 through a national Evidence and Impact Exchange.\u00a0\u00a0You can follow the Opportunity for everyone campaign<\/em> on Twitter via: #YesUniCan<\/p>\n The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee have published Brexit, science and innovation<\/a> (fifth special report of session 2017-19). This gives the Government\u2019s response to the Committee\u2019s previous paper. Here are excerpts from the introduction:<\/p>\n Read the Government\u2019s response to the four recommendations here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Life Sciences –\u00a0<\/strong>And just in case you missed it last week here is the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee report \u2013 Life Sciences Industrial Strategy: Who\u2019s driving the bus?<\/a><\/p>\n OfS blog on the HE partnership who are trialling new strategic methods to support good mental health<\/a> through the Catalyst funding. The approach is based on UUK\u2019s Step Change framework<\/a>.\u00a0Student suicides were in the news<\/a> this week and there is a parliamentary question asking about national student suicide figures due for answer next week.<\/p>\n Wonkhe report that some students intend to sue their universities over the strike action. In line with the wishes of the self-appointed \u201cMinister for Students\u201d, some students are now seeking compensation for teaching time lost at the 65 institutions affected by the 14 days of recent USS pension strikes.<\/p>\n Over 100,000 students have signed petitions to complain about the issue and request refunds. However, widespread media coverage has focused on Tel-Aviv\/London-based English law firm Asserson, a \u201cdisputes\u201d specialist, which has set up a website encouraging UK, EU, and non-EU students to sign up to a class action lawsuit to potentially claim \u201chundreds of pounds each\u201d. Apparently, it now has over 1,000 signatures, enough to apply for a group litigation order. If the firm can secure funding from a specialist litigation funder for the no-win-no-fee claim, get insurance against a failed claim, and work out how to distribute claimants across institutions, we may see a landmark case. Shimon Goldwater of the firm said this could cost universities \u201cmillions of pounds\u201d.<\/p>\n Some institutions have put unspent pay in hardship funds, and those with student contracts will be checking the wording carefully. At the time, Universities UK (UUK) advised students to start with institutional complaints procedures, then if necessary escalate them to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) in England and Wales. The OIA\u2019s annual report came out on Thursday, showing a slight increase in complaints in 2017 \u2013 1,635 compared to 1,517 the previous year. The student-as-consumer trend continues.<\/p>\n Wonkhe\u2019s website also explains how group litigation works<\/a> and a blogger warns that calls for money back could result in them becoming victims of another compensation scam<\/a>.<\/p>\n Research Professional explores how a Purdah period needn\u2019t be a gag order. They confirmed that scientists are permitted to make public statements during election campaigns. On 11 April, the Cabinet Office issued revised election guidance for civil servants permitting scientists to continue with their work in the run up to an election.\u00a0 During the 2017 general election, the UK Research Councils \u201cstrongly\u201d advised against issuing press releases about new research. Jeremy Heywood, Head of the Civil Service, stated: the <\/em>[purdah] principles are not, and have never been about restricting commentary from independent academics<\/em>.<\/p>\n Fiona Fox (Chief Executive of the Science Media Centre) writes in Research Professional to urge all to get the message out:<\/p>\n This is an important moment for the scientific community, but only if we shout about it. We must make sure that the new guidance is to hand the next time someone tries to use purdah as a reason to restrict scientists from speaking publicly about their research during election time.<\/em><\/p>\n UK Research and Innovation in particular has an important role here to ensure that all the academics it funds know about and understand these positive changes. The multiple sets of guidance on guidance, which emphasises what scientists cannot say in elections, should be replaced with a simple statement of what academics should continue to do as normal.<\/em><\/p>\n Purdah was never intended to silence scientists, but in the absence of real clarity, some allowed that to happen. Now that we have the clarity there is no excuse to let it happen again.<\/em><\/p>\n Click here to view the updated consultation tracker<\/a>. Email us on policy@bournemouth.ac.uk<\/a> if you\u2019d like to contribute to any of the current consultations.<\/p>\n New consultations and inquiries this week:<\/p>\n The inquiry will examine how best to prepare young people to take advantage of future opportunities by looking at the suitability of the school curriculum. It will also look at the role of lifelong learning and how best to help people climb the ladder of opportunity in the future. Please see further details and links below:<\/p>\n Please contact policy<\/a>\u00a0 if you would like to respond to the Fourth Industrial Revolution inquiry.<\/p>\n To subscribe to the weekly policy update simply email policy@bournemouth.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n Missed last week\u2019s policy update? View it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Policy Advisor\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Policy & Public Affairs Officer<\/p>\n Follow: @PolicyBU on Twitter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 policy@bournemouth.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A bumper policy update for you packed full of political changes and arguments, and BU gets a mention in the House of Commons. Enjoy the sunny bank holiday weekend! Political News Amber Rudd resigned on Sunday. Replacing her are Penny Mordaunt and Sajid Javid. Penny Mordaunt (Secretary of State for International Development) will replace her… Read more » about HE policy update for the w\/e 4th May 2018<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1475,"featured_media":4847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163,795,104,138,128,308,546,5,369,225,537,704,26,129],"tags":[390,242,834,725,726,832,304,712,711,805,662,663,614,717,126],"class_list":["post-7923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-skills","category-education","category-employability","category-eu","category-fair-access","category-he-students","category-innovation","category-news","category-policy","category-public-engagement","category-student","category-teaching-and-learning","category-tel","category-widening-participation","tag-brexit","tag-digital-technology","tag-fees-and-funding","tag-free-speech","tag-freedom-of-speech","tag-he-review","tag-international-students","tag-kef","tag-knowledge-exchange-framework","tag-mental-health","tag-office-for-students","tag-ofs","tag-parliament","tag-wellbeing","tag-widening-participation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1475"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7923"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7924,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7923\/revisions\/7924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Office for Students (OfS) Strategy and Business Plan<\/h2>\n
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The Knowledge Exchange Framework<\/h2>\n
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Major review of post-18 education (fees and funding)<\/h2>\n
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Freedom of Speech<\/h2>\n
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International Students<\/h2>\n
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Widening Participation & Achievement<\/h2>\n
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Brexit – Science & Innovation<\/h2>\n
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Mental Health<\/h2>\n
Strike law suits<\/h2>\n
No pause for Purdah<\/h2>\n
Consultations<\/h2>\n
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Interesting news<\/h2>\n
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\u00a0JANE FORSTER\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 SARAH CARTER<\/h2>\n