The Crisis of Universities In The 21st Century

Join us in this meeting in the House of Lords hosted by Baroness Garden on the The Crisis of Universities.” Baroness Garden is the joint chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Universities and we hope to invite other members of that group to our meeting

Universities are going through a crisis at this moment of time. There is the crisis of funding, the crisis of student numbers, the mission of a university whether it’s to to fill the job market or open student’s minds to new thinking and the freedom for students and academics to engage openly. And of course there is the crucial role of foreign students and the income that brings.

But as student numbers have grown in the last two or three decades the student population has become more diverse and varied. Some are concerned that Universities are yet to adapt themselves to this new diverse and varied student population and the learning this requires.

And then there is the fear that the British University system is too top heavy with a handful of Universities able to attract funds and students who have an advantage over others.

How do we address these issues and what action needs to be taken. We hope to discuss this in this meeting in the House of Lords and invite the audience there to give their views and make their contribution.

Also speaking at this meeting is Prof Ijeoma Uchegbu who is at University College London in the School of Pharmacy. Ijeoma has been awarded various prizes for her work, notably the UK Department for Business Innovation Skills’ Women of Outstanding Achievement in Science Engineering and Technology award. She is concerned about the future of universities and its problems in diversity.

Jefferson Frank who obtained his PhD from Yale and has previously taught at Essex University, Birkbeck College, Sussex University, Harvard University and the University of California He has published “English universities in crisis: Markets without competition” that is a challenging analysis combining theoretical and data analysis and insights to give robust new policy proposals: lower fees; reintroduce maintenance awards; impose student number caps; maintain taxpayer funding; cancel the TEF; re-build the external examiner system; restructure the contingent-repayment loan scheme; and establish different roles for different types of institutions, to encourage excellence and ultimately benefit society.