Changing places
Today, Friday March 18, is my last full day in Ireland before I travel to Scotland where, on Monday, I shall be taking up my post as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. I am leaving the Irish higher education system just as it is going through some rather serious convulsions, most notably (but not exclusively) caused by the daft ’employment control framework’. There are other challenges: the larger resourcing and funding question, the future shape of the sector, the autonomy of the universities, the degree to which rationalisation and restructuring is being pursued, the drive for a different model of employment terms and conditions for academic staff, the future of quality assurance in a new institutional structure yet to be properly established, and so forth.
I know that it is hard to be confident and optimistic in such a setting, but in fact many of the fundamentals of Irish higher education are still remarkably sound. Universities and colleges have managed to perform really well on much lower funding than what is available in our key competitor countries; Ireland’s academic research effort has grown exponentially over recent years and has contributed directly to the country’s growing success in attracting knowledge-intensive inward investment; the development of new intellectual property is growing; innovative new programmes of study are being rolled out; new technology-savvy learning methods are being pioneered. It is a resilient system, and in the end I believe it will overcome the obstacles. But those representing higher education need to be articulate and outspoken in defending its cause; not necessarily defending each and every thing that it does, because there is a need for some reform – but defending its importance and its potential for securing national recovery. Increasingly from a distance my own voice may not be so important, but for what it is worth this blog will continue to raise issues in Irish higher education, sometimes written by other contributors.
In moving to Scotland I shall encounter some similar issues and some that are different. I guess that funding issues are ones that come up everywhere right now, and Scotland certainly is no exception. Having nailed their colours to the mast of free higher education, the main political parties in Scotland are now grappling with how to make that affordable, and some rather curious ideas are now being mooted, such as the idea of charging EU students (and English ones, as is already the case), but not Scottish ones. This almost certainly cannot be dome within the terms of EU law. In the meantime funding cuts have placed strong pressures on the universities, some of whom are having to reduce costs significantly and with some dramatic consequences. The question of whether universities are autonomous or are bodies that need to reflect government priorities has also been a live issue. But overall there is still, I believe, a reasonable degree of self-confidence in the system and a willingness on the part of politicians to give the university sector a high priority.
As I move from Ireland to Scotland, I cannot help feeling that, both as countries and as higher education sectors, we have many common interests, opportunities and problems. I hope that I shall be able to witness and perhaps stimulate some new connections between both jurisdictions. There is much to be gained from that.
Explore posts in the same categories: higher educationTags: Aberdeen, Ireland, RGU, Robert Gordon University, Scotland
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University Blog 
March 18, 2011 at 6:58 am
Good Luck Ferdinand! No doubt you are entering RGU in a challenging period but that’s the same everywhere.
March 18, 2011 at 8:16 am
Best of luck. Bring a flashlamp, you’ll need it from Sept’ on.
I’ve been meaning ta ask, do you golf, fish or have something of a fetish for bagging the Monroe’s. Do you like dropping five and seven pointers. Do you keep a brace of black Labs. Oh oh, do you have something of a grá for drawing halyards and lanyards.
Anyhoos, keep safe and make sure you come back in one piece.
March 18, 2011 at 8:34 am
Best wishes Ferdinand. Give my regards to Peter Robertson in RGU.
March 18, 2011 at 10:34 am
Good luck in your new post Ferdinand. You’ll be missed from discourse here.
March 18, 2011 at 12:48 pm
Very best wishes to you and your family and every success in your new post. You will always be remembered as a kind and considerate president and a wonderful presence on the DCU campus – with dog in tow! Believe me when I say that you are missed.
March 18, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Ferdinand, there is a huge and urgent need for a visionary statement or manifesto from university scholars, academic staff and administrators to set against some of the horrendously poorly informed statements and strategies of recent months.
It is clear, especially so from this morning’s Irish Times ‘leak’ that the ECF II was designed by people with no clue about research and innovation in the 3rd Level sector…It is also apparent that the Blueprint for economic recovery of last few days was written by people with no clue about 3rd Level. As you have pointed out yourself, there is no evidence anywhere in the world that you could create a world-class university through scaling up by merging the 8 university/ITs in Dublin. This is just silliness, but this didn’t stop ignorant people from burbling on…It is also clear that the Hunt Report was written by a group of people who, with honourable exceptions, had little enough experience in university-level research or teaching, believing that more rather than less centralised control was the key to improvement.
We are leaving the debate to people from ‘outside’ the sector. The unanimity of all – from university heads to lecturers on the ground – iin furious and exasperated opposition to the ECF suggests that although we can often be ‘cats in a bag’, there are times when the people most actively engaged in working in the higher education sector; who passionately believe that what we are doing is important for the future of our country, could come together (briefly!) to agree a manifesto for higher education in this country…it needs to happen soon.
Dan
March 18, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Enjoy yourself
Whiskey
Winter mountaineering
Why would you bother coming back?
March 18, 2011 at 2:53 pm
The very best of luck: you will be sorely missed.
March 18, 2011 at 9:08 pm
Safe journey, and may you relish your new challenges!