PERSPECTIVES, VOLUME 1, NUMBER 4, WINTER 1997 107

commentaryPlanning after Dearing: implications

for senior managersClare Matterson

The long wait is over: theDearing report has arrivedweighing in at 6.5 kilos, 1700

pages and 93 recommendations. Givenits size and range of recommendations,this briefing is designed to provide anoverview of the issues affecting institu-tions and the key questions to addressin responding to them. The Dearing report goeswith the grain of current developments, it does notpropose a fundamental change of direction forhigher education. This means that some institutionsare doing a good number of the things that arebeing recommended by Dearing. As a con-sequence, the issues and priorities described herewill vary in significance to universities and collegesacross higher education in the United Kingdom.

This briefing does not describe the studentfunding recommendations, focusing instead onother aspects in the report which will impact oninstitutions.

A Post-Dearing strategyThe emphasis of the Dearing report is to encourageeach institution to focus on its strengths — makingthose strengths explicit to students, employers, staffand others. The key message is that each institutioncannot afford to be all things to all people - thefuture lies in identifying its distinctive role and

Clare Matterson is a consultant at Coopers & Lybrandspecializing in management in higher education. Shewas a senior Policy Adviser to National Committee of

Inquiry into Higher Education,providing advice on teaching,quality, standards andresearch. She has advised anumber of universities ongovernance and managementprocesses, as well asconducting work with nationallevel agencies.

niche and, where necessary, collabora-ting with others to provide additionalservices for staff or students that cannotbe provided in-house.

Is your institution working

primarily in an international,

national or regional setting?

Each institution needs to judge realistically how farit can progress down these routes. Encouragementin Dearing is given — in line with Governmentthinking — towards enhancing the local and regionalrole of higher education institutions. Dearingemphasizes the importance of working closelywithin a locality to:

• provide local research and consultancy advice forbusinesses;

• attract inward investment of companies by beingable to provide education and training provisionand research and consultancy advice;

• meet labour market and skills needs — with anemphasis toward developing links with small andmedium-sized businesses;

• support individual lifelong learning by providinglocal people with the ability to up-date theirskills and knowledge;

• engage in the cultural and community develop-ment of communities.

Dearing has recommended additional funding tosupport human capital projects to help institutionsto be responsive to the needs of local industry andcommerce and that institutions should berepresented on the regional bodies that will beestablished by the Government.

Institutions are encouraged to contribute to theirlocal and regional communities by helping moregraduates start their own businesses. Recommenda-tions include the Government establishing a modestfund to provide equity funding to institutions tosupport members of staff or students in takingforward business ideas developed in the institution

© 1997 Taylor & Francis Ltd 1360-3108 $12.00

108 CLARE MATTERSON

and to support the creation of incubator units.Institutions are also encouraged to consider thescope for encouraging entrepreneurship throughinnovative programme design and specialistpostgraduate programmes.

Is your institution intending to expand or

consolidate its student numbers?

Dearing is calling for renewed growth with priorityfor:

• sub-degree provision, such as HNC and HND,with more sub-degree work being carried out infurther education colleges;

• institutions which can demonstrate a commit-ment to widening participation with a strategyto that effect and the ability to monitor progressand review achievement towards meeting thestrategy.

Much of the expansion in sub-degree provision islikely to be in further education colleges, withhigher education in further education collegesbeing directly funded. As this principle becomesestablished, the opportunities for franchising willdecline. A future strategy for a higher educationinstitution could, therefore, involve a withdrawalfrom franchising and the establishment ofarticulation agreements with further educationcolleges to provide transfer opportunities forstudents with sub-degree qualifications.

In the long term, the report recommends thatgrowth in the number of full-time undergraduatesshould be resumed over the next two to three years,although priority continuing to be towardsinstitutions that are committed to widening access.

What type of programme does your

institution intend to offer?

The key points in the Dearing report for futureprogramme choice and delivery include:

• the introduction of a qualifications framework;• the requirement that all programmes incorporate

key skills in communications, numeracy,information technology and learning how tolearn;

• securing a better balance between breadth anddepth across programmes than currently exists;

• an emphasis on the importance of workexperience as part of a programme.

The qualifications framework enables institutions tooffer a range of recognized programmes within acoherent framework to suit the aspirations, interests

and abilities of many different types of student. Itincludes standardized nomenclature for awards,agreed and common credit points at relevant levels,and the inclusion of additional and recognized exitpoints. It provides four levels of undergraduateeducation from H1 (Higher National Certificate) toH4 (Honours degree) and includes a new qualifica-tion at level H3, the Bachelors degree. TheBachelors degree is intended to provide anopportunity for students to opt for a broader basedqualification.

Under the framework, a range of options areavailable, such as:

• the three year specialized Honours degree;• flexible programmes that provide stop-off points

at four levels of achievement up to Honoursdegree;

• a two-plus-two qualification, possibly by havingan articulation arrangement with a furthereducation college, whereby the college offers thefirst two levels of higher education and thehigher education institution offers the next two.

Institutions are urged to clarify the titles ofqualifications at the masters level. For example, theframework renames advanced undergraduate work(such as the MEng and MPharm) as HigherHonours, reserving the title of Masters to awards atlevel H6 in the framework.

...Is your institution

intending to expand or

consolidate its student

numbers?...

The importance of life skills for graduates isemphasized throughout the report. The require-ment for all programmes to include key skills willrequire a fundamental review across the institutionof the programmes on offer and how toincorporate such skills — the suggestion is that theyshould be embedded into the content and deliveryof the programme. Staff will need to be trained tobe competent in the delivery and assessment of keyskills.

Work experience is highly valued by Dearing —institutions are encouraged to consider how theycan extend opportunities for students to becomefamiliar with work and to aid reflection andlearning on such experience.

- COMMENTARY 109

What type of research is your institution

doing and why is it doing it?

Dearing identifies a number of reasons for aninstitution to have a research profile, including:• to attract high quality staff;• to underpin high level teaching;• to provide research training opportunities;• to have a national or international research

reputation;

• to work on applied, practical projects withindustrial partners.

Institutions will need to take a strategic decision onthe reasons for wanting to do research and assess thequality of the research that is being done. Onlythen can an institution take the decision aboutwhich research funding stream to target.

For institutions with a significant researchreputation, the Research Assessment Exercise(RAE) will continue, but will be more selective:only departments graded 3A and above will receivefunding.

To recognize the distinctive underpinning ofhigher level teaching by scholarship and research, aper capita payment of at least £500 is recommendedfor departments that do not enter the RAE exercise.Under the Dearing proposals, if the departmententers the exercise and achieves a 1 or 2 rating, it willnot receive any funds. So that departments with adeveloping strength in research are not discouraged,departments that come in just under the 3A linewould not have to forfeit the per capita funding.

Each institution will need to be clear on the costsof research — in particular the indirect costs of suchwork. Dearing recommends that Research Councilgrants are fully funded - except for the cost ofacademic salaries — and should attract 60% indirectcosts on staff costs with institutions being able toclaim up to 100% indirect costs if they can bejustified.

Institutions with top quality research departmentsthat require up-grading should develop arefurbishment strategy to be eligible for fundingfrom the proposed revolving loan fund, wherebythe refurbishment would be funded by a loan witha low rate of interest. Included in the strategyshould be a loan repayment plan, repayments forwhich would be drawn from future grants.

Institutions that carry out research with industrialpartners will need to keep themselves up-datedwith the proposal to establish a national IndustrialPartnership Development Fund, which would havea considerable local and regional dimension.

Student needsThe greatest impact on students will be therequirement that once they have graduated and arein work, they will have to pay a contribution to thecosts of their tuition in 1998/99. If students have topay for their education they are likely to be moredemanding and discerning. The influence of thestudent is set to increase if there is a move awayfrom a block grant towards a system where fundingfollows the student. Dearing sets a target ofdistributing at least 60% of total public funding toinstitutions according to student choice by 2003,with the student funding being channelled througha new Student Support Agency. The new Agencywill replace fee payment by local educationauthorities.

...What type of research is

your institution doing and

why is it doing it?...

With students carrying a greater financial burdenfor their higher education, they may well needmore advice than at present on how to managetheir finances or secure loans from the privatesector. Institutions will be seeking to put togetherfinancial packages to attract students, which willlead to negotiation for funds with employers,charities, Government departments and otherpublic sector organizations. Alternatively, institu-tions may offer structured work opportunities forstudents inside the institution to serve the dualpurpose of providing work experience and enablingstudents to earn extra money.

Institutions will also need to extend their criteriafor the allocation of Access Funds to part-timestudents from 1998/99 - additional funding isrecommended for this purpose.

Is the information for students sufficient for

them to make good decisions?

A central requirement of the Dearing report is thatfor institutions to provide information for studentswhich is comprehensive, clear and accurate.

Institutions are asked to produce ProgrammeSpecifications so that applicants can make gooddecisions about the type of programme to study.The specifications would set out the knowledge

110 CLARE MATTERSON

and skills that successful students would expect tohave achieved by the end of their programme. It isexpected that the specifications would replace someof the material provided in the prospectus. TheQuality Assurance Agency is expected to verify theaccuracy of the specifications.

Student progress is to be recorded through aProgress File, including a record for personaldevelopment as well as a transcript to recordacademic achievement. The challenge for institu-tions is to harness information technology toprovide students with a structured mechanism totrack their progress in all aspects of their academicand personal development.

Careers advice and information for students iscrucial, yet its provision is criticized in the Dearingreport as being marginalized and focused on full-time undergraduate students. A review of therelationship between careers advice and pro-grammes and its effectiveness and coverage arelikely to be important for the future.

StaffSuccessful implementation of a post-Dearingstrategy requires the active and informed involve-ment of staff. Career patterns for staff are expectedto change with greater numbers moving in and outof higher education, a breakdown of traditionalhierarchies of staff types, and increased flexibilityfor promotion.

Does your institution's human resource

strategy:

• provide adequate training opportunities for staffto fulfil the changing roles required of them;

• provide the opportunity for staff to plan theircareers;

• maintain equal opportunities for progression forall groups of staff?

All institutions will be expected to providestructured teacher training programmes for allteaching staff — with the programmes beingnationally accredited by a professional Institute forLearning and Teaching in Higher Education(ILTHE). If such training opportunities are notprovided in-house, an institution could seek accessto a programme provided by another institution.Successful completion of an accredited programmeis recommended to form a part of probation for allnew full-time teaching staff.

The ILTHE will provide an opportunity forinstitutions to shape an agenda for training, research

and innovation in teaching practice. A focus of theInstitute's work is expected to be the exploitationof communications and information technology forenhanced and more cost-effective teaching.

The Dearing report has not made recommenda-tions on the pay and conditions of staff, but hasproposed independent review of a framework fordetermining pay and conditions of service. Asemployers, institutions will want to be ready tomake their views known to the review.

Standards and qualityIs your institution in a position to move away

from reviewing quality processes towards

outcomes as advocated by Dearing?

Over the long term, this will result in thewithdrawal of teaching quality assessment and auditwith an emphasis placed on a revised externalexaminer system and the ability of the QualityAssurance Agency (QAA) to investigate cases ofunacceptable quality or standards. When all is goingwell for an institution, the new arrangements willmean fewer inspections from external bodies thanunder the present system.

The revised external examiner system involvesthe creation of a pool of nationally-recognizedacademic staff from which institutions will have toselect external examiners. Examiners, nominatedby institutions, will be academics of high standingand trained for the job. Each institution will have toplan to release a small number of staff for extendedperiods of time, possibly up to 60 days per year forthree years, to act as national external examiners.

An immediate task for the QAA is to set up smallgroups to develop threshold standards for awards inrelation to the qualification framework. Eachinstitution will need to plan for a systematic reviewof the standards of awards offered as the benchmarkinformation becomes available. Standards of awardswill need to be described clearly and linked to thedescription on the programme specification.

Institutions are expected to describe their qualityprocesses in codes of practice that are certified bythe QAA and accessible to students and staff.

Institutions involved in franchising arrangements,in the UK or overseas, will need to ensure that thequality assurance arrangements comply with a codeof practice to be produced by the QAA. Failure tocomply with the national code could lead towithdrawal of public funding or, if no publicfunding is involved, publication of the position.

- COMMENTARY 111

Generally, institutions will need to keep up-to-date with the activities of the QAA, which hasbeen given a considerable task to co-ordinate allnational developments on assurance of quality andstandards. Adherence to the arrangements de-veloped by the QAA is likely to become acondition of receiving public funding. The warningto institutions not inchned to accept the Dearingproposals is that without the arrangements pro-posed, pressures for increased and directintervention in standards and quality from outsidehigher education will intensify.

Management and governanceInstitutional management and financial systems willneed to underpin the implementation of a post-Dearing strategy. A key proposal is to give highereducation institutions a greater degree of certaintyabout levels of funding by introducing a three-yearrolling basis for funding to enable institutions toplan more effectively.

Dearing has identified institutional autonomy,academic freedom and open and responsivegovernance as guiding principles for managementand governance. Each institution is advised to:

• identify as unambiguous the role of thegoverning body as having ultimate authority fordecision-making, and ensure that, in the pre-1992 universities, the Council is the ultimatedecision-making body and that the Court has awider representative role;

• ensure that individuals do not serve as membersof the governing body for more than two terms,and that it includes a student, a staff member anda majority of lay members;

• review systematically the effectiveness of thegoverning body, demonstrating (if necessary)why more than 25 members are required,showing the arrangements for discharging itsobligations to external constituencies andreviewing all major aspects of the institution'sperformance. Each institution will be required topublish the outcome of the review in its annual

report, with the review being a condition ofpublic funding.

A post-Dearing strategy will need to include howefficiencies can be made to deliver a 1% reductionin costs in both 1998-99 and 1999-2000, a lowerreduction than that proposed by the previousGovernment. It is thought that institutions shouldbe able to introduce new approaches to learningand teaching to produce savings.

The post-Dearing financial plan should includethe costs of:

• infrastructure renewal and refurbishment,including a strategy for tapping into theproposed revolving loan fund for researchinfrastructure;

• potential implications of the proposed salaryreview — every 1% increase in staff academic payincreases the costs for higher education by £35million and every 1% increase in the pay bill forall staff increases the cost by £60 million;

• growth in student numbers — where the cost willbe influenced by the type of students attractedand the programme length;

• the strategy in relation to research activity;• investment in communications and information

technology to improve administrative systemsand teaching including how to support studentswith personal computers by 2005/2006;

• the impact of the participation policy on localprovision, such as student accommodation;

• support for staff development and training toimplement change throughout the institution.

Dearing has identified a short-term funding gap of£350 million in 1998/99. The 20-year funding gapis estimated at £1925 million. Although someadditional funding is likely to be available as a resultof the introduction of tuition fees, it is insufficientto fill the gap. The big question is whether fundingwill be forthcoming for institutions to be able tomeet the challenges set out in the Dearing report.Whether the Dearing recommendations areaccepted by Government will only be known withthe publication of the White Paper on LifelongLearning in September/October 1997.