9 Is there a need for a university in Herefordshire? Home page here.
This page continues from No. 6 (same question) on the The Herefordshire Local Plan Core Strategy page here
1 Towards a realistic model This new and recycled model depicts the realism of the situation
2 Enough universities already? 162 enough? Herefordshire - one of three English counties not to have a university.
3 Like it or not March 2014 Start of global Vice Chancellor search
4 However a decline of 8 percent in the 16-18 cohort between 2008 and 2015, and other facts
5 Money £3-£4 million + £10-13 million + £50-£75 million
6 Minister to discuss future of higher education Sunday, 25 May.
1 Towards a realistic model
1.1 The NUH model
Applied Engineering
Maths & Economics
Human Interaction
Environmental Science
Bio Science
1.1.1
This model was first seen on the A New University for Hereford page here and was recycled from here
The central sphere is based on:
Throughout their tenure with the university, students will simultaneously engage in mandatory and optional courses at the School of Human Interaction©. source
Google News here
1.2 A new model
W - Worcestershire
G - Gloucestershire
H - Herefordshire - small text = low on production
C - Cardiff
B - Birmingham and gateway to the West Midlands production heartland
where the focus is university provision and the production aspects of the areas
1.2.1
The Level 2 recycled model depicts the realism of the situation:
- Herefordshire is surrounded by universities and areas which produce things.
- "B we are not producing things anymore" here.
- "E What we really need are more 'doers'" here.
- M the NUH . . .will come to fruition, like it or not" here and below.
- Google News here.
The "heres" on each line serve to facilitate pasting to emails, websites etc.
The six month employment period within courses will need to be spent across the Herefordshire borders in many cases.
From that, we see that final employment isn't likely to be within county.
1.2.2
The two models serve different purposes. At top left in 1.1, NUH themes etc are depicted. At top right in 1.2, you see a model based on location. The Google model is on the left - the abstract-model side. It could be a NUH model - in a showcase but without practical relevance. (no oo! factor)
1.2.3
As seen on the right above, some people do not want a NUH.
It has been demonstrated that they want a non-high-fallutin', practical outcome. Read on.
2 Enough universities already?
2.1 From the letters
2.1.1 C only a third of the young people who attend university should do so
a whole generation being conned into thinking that the only way to achieve success in life is to attend 'uni'.
2.1.2 I we are over-burdened with "academics" who leave "uni" only to become disenchanted, indebted, and
unfulfilled.
2.3 "List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrollment - 2011-12" 162 enough? 370 providers - 2.4
4 in Birmingham
2 in Cardiff
1 in Gloucester
2.4
Which universities in Britain UK offer undergraduate courses?
UCAS is the main route in and it says there are over 37,000 courses at over 370 providers here
Which? University found 30,848 courses at 286 universities and colleges
Universities cut number of degree courses by 27% in 2012 here. What has happened since?
British undergraduate degree classification - explore.
Whichever figure you choose, there is no distinction between those universities which offer undergraduate courses and those which do not.
2.5
Grass is greener
Herefordshire is one of only three English counties not to have a university. here Used as an excuse.
3 Like it or not
Like it or lump it
Take it or leave it
3.1
March 2014
Provisional agreement of initial site designation with Herefordshire Council. Much more to it - see 3.2
Start of global Vice Chancellor search.
September 2014
Selection of first Vice Chancellor – in post September 2015
September 2014 – December 2015
Identification and recruitment of key staff.
Building works begin, commercial and rental spaces negotiated. here
3.2
COUNCIL BACKS UNIVERSITY BID Hereford Journal front page 12 March 2014 - by Karen Evans
Paragraph numbers added for ease of referencing. Links also added.
3.2.1
HEREFORDSHIRE Council has given its formal backing to the New University of Herefordshire project.
3.2.2
The council has overwhelmingly supported a motion to permit the transfer of land and property assets to a specially-created trust for development by the university project team.
3.2.3
The assets will be used by the project to underwrite future fundraising efforts, but with the guarantee that they will revert back to the council if they are not used.
3.2.4
The university project team was established in 2012 and brings together a group of local and national experts in education and related areas. It is headed up by local businesspeople. Karen Usher, who was instrumental in establishing the Front Room community centre in Dorstone website, and David Sheppard.
3.2.5
Council leader Tony Johnson has urged Herefordshire councillors to maintain their enthusiasm for the project when relevant planning applications - and inevitable objections - came in.
Inspiring
3.2.6
Councillor Anthony Powers, group leader of It's Our County more, called the university project "the most comprehensive and inspiring vision" to come before the council.
3.2.7
The motion means the council can now enter into talks with the university backers over sites and estate that could be transferred - under mutually agreed terms - for campus development or made available at a "peppercorn" rent.
3.2.8
The council heard that the planned county-wide campus university would have an "international" graduate and post-graduate reach, specialising in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. . There was, the council heard, a "gap in the market" for a university offering such subjects.
3.2.9
South Herefordshire and Hereford MP Jesse Norman has warmly welcomed the news. He has been promoting the idea of a new university for six years, has worked with the project team since its creation; recruited key outside advisers, and last week made the trust's first charitable donation of £5,600.
3.2.10
He said: "This is wonderful news, and marks a potentially historic moment for Herefordshire. The council has done extremely well to give almost unanimous cross-party backing to the university project.
3.2.11
"Our vision is for a top-quality technical university, starting from the centre of Hereford but covering the whole county, providing great opportunities for our young people but also attracting talented people from across the country."
It would take its place alongside Hereford College of Arts and the Hereford and Ludlow College of Technology, he added.
3.2.12
"The experience of cities such as Lincoln and Canterbury is that a university acts as a huge stimulus to local economic and social activity. If we can get it right, it will lift Herefordshire's long-term growth, improving jobs and boosting wages."
3.3
Project leader Karen Usher said 31st March 2014 : “We are increasingly confident that a new university in Herefordshire is a possibility. here listed here More Karen Usher here.
3.4
Hereford Enterprise Zone
Bill Jackson of Jackson Property, . . . chairman of Hereford Enterprise Zone. He believes the city is on the brink of dramatic change. “ . . . we have plans to create 4,500 hi-tech jobs by 2020, to develop strengths in food and defence, and we are working hard to get university status,” he says. The presence of the SAS and proximity to GCHQ at Cheltenham make it a natural base for defence-related businesses.
1/3 down the page here 25 Mar 2014
3.5
A task group is already looking into likely campus locations (see 4.1.3.1 later)
4 However
4.1 The county
4.1 1
Herefordshire can be characterised as one of the UK’s most under-invested, forgotten counties. With only 184,000 inhabitants, the population is sparsely spread across the county .. here similar info in different context here More on statistics here.
4.1.2
Industry and manufacture
4.1.2.1
A quick look is warranted. Farming & Agriculture and Food & Drink Makers catch the eye. Within the latter, H P Bulmer Ltd is important. look here Cargill ditto.
Is a university which focuses on applied sciences and applied engineering here needed when the two topics are clearly on the doorstep as in 1.2 above?
4.1.2.2
USA no different
Business leaders and academics disagree about how well colleges and systems of higher education are operated.
The most extreme disagreements that we saw concerned the operation of colleges, universities, and systems of higher education. Those who are outside the academy, especially those who come from a business perspective, often feel that higher education should be held accountable to the same standards of cost and efficiency that are applied to other institutions. When they look at higher education from that perspective, they are often dismayed by what they see. As one business leader said:
What is the biggest weakness of higher education in America today? In my judgement it is that we are not providing education in a cost-effective way. We have built up this excellent system, but the unit costs have gone up while the unit costs of almost everything else have gone down. source
4.1.3
4.1.3.1
"any point delivery" is important as several campuses are envisaged. "As proposed, the university would specialise in online courses. A task group is already looking into likely campus locations in Hereford, Leominster, Ledbury and Ross-on-Wye." source - Hereford Times - 6 March, p5
4.1.3.2
There are implications which include how the library will function.
i)
Europe's first joint university and public library, The Hive is the result of the vision of the University of Worcester and Worcestershire County Council. Hive It is an excellent library and campuses aren't too far from it. What thought has NUH given to the situation? It talks of a "planned county-wide campus university" in 3.2.8 above.
ii)
A user viewpoint concerns access to books etc where study takes place. Specialist books in the right place but it means general books are either repeated or there's a journey to central provision.
ii)
One weakness in the Hive system is that non-uni users can only read certain journals within the Hive. Why not at home?
4.1.3.3
Focus on developing what the county is good at - land use. There is plenty of it.
4.2
Young people generally do well in getting employment, further education or training once they leave
school, but most of those who need higher education or university provision have to leave the county for this.
4.3.1
With growing numbers now choosing to study in or near their home town, however, that older tradition seems to be changing - one in five students opt not to leave the parental nest, rising to one in four at new universities. This is damaging young people's social skills and their employability, suggests a new study from the social research agency Education Research Services (ERS). here
4.3.2
It's common for parents to feel emotional when the moment comes for their child to leave home and go to university. Even parents who don't speak about the event are likely to feel a sense of sadness because it’s the end of an era where you and your family were at the centre of your child's world. As a parent you’ll probably continue to support your child in different ways, but the main job of raising your child is over. It's a huge change for everyone involved. here
Read on and ask "Why can't the poor darlings cope on their own?"
many people go to uni just for the lifestyle and no intention of working. However, a lot of students who fall under this category end up dropping out or find it difficult getting a job at the end of it. here
4.3.3
C only a third of the young people who attend university should do so here
4.3.3.1
... a few years back the Government came up with an initiative to send 50% of all young people to university by 2010. Since then there have been complaints from all angles about the pressure to go to uni, how a degree is potentially being devalued and that having targets aren't the way forward. notgoingtouni.co.uk
4.3.3..2
Almost 1 in 4 drop-out of university. A huge number. notgoingtouni.co.uk has put together a little list of good & bad reasons to go and not to go to uni. We're not here to tell you what to do but we hope we can help you in your school leaver choices. here
4.3.3.3
J (i) It would be much wiser to (focus on) taking 14yrs+ kids and teaching them . . .practical skills. here
As described in the national skills strategy Skills for Growth 17 the development of University Technical Colleges (UTC) will offer new opportunities for 14-19 year olds to undertake vocational and applied study. Alongside the introduction of 14-19 Diplomas, UTCs will greatly strengthen the flow of young people coming into the labour market with the skills and capabilities employers want, particularly for technician careers.
As with our new framework for higher education, Higher Ambitions, we want to build
new bridges between the workplace and higher learning, and engage businesses to a
much greater extent in communicating the skills students need for the world of work,
designing qualifications that deliver real value to graduates and funding the training
from which they are one of the biggest beneficiaries. We will do this through new
partnerships with employer-led bodies and the Regional Development Agencies, and
through supporting proposals to strengthen engineering registration schemes and
develop similar schemes for science technicians.
page 3 here
Herefordshire is expected to experience a decline of 8 percent in the 16-18 cohort between 2008 and 2015, . .
5 Money
5.1
Earlier changes
5.1.1
£28m funding for city's colleges
More than £28m is to be invested in the first phase of a four-year project to improve post-16 education in Hereford.
The city's three colleges will be linked under the Learning Village scheme which will see their existing sites redeveloped.
Herefordshire College of Technology's Folly Lane Campus will be completely redeveloped in the first phase with the addition of a new technology block. 12 December 2005 more
5.1.2
i)
A Sustainable Future for the County
Since 2000 Herefordshire has received around £20m in EU grant funding for a wide range of social and economic projects, and is currently supporting projects as diverse as Action for Regenerating Communities (ARCH), Hereford Learning Village and Herefordshire In Touch (HIT). A new package of European funds (2007-2013) is being assembled which will change how much money is available, which areas can benefit and the types of projects which can be funded. Information is available from the European Commission on programmes which support international partnership work.
ii)
Masters Degree in Sustainable Development Advocacy on our doorstep here. It is not included on the NUH website. A missing key feature? Why spend money on repeating existing provision?
The course is highly innovative; students learn through lectures, team projects and work placements in organisations such as the Environment Agency, Friends of the Earth and Unilever. The experiential approach to learning means that students develop an in-depth knowledge of all areas of sustainable development and gain the skills that are attuned to the needs of employers to help them move toward more sustainable practice. source seen already at 10.1 here
5.2
New money
5.2.1.1
With seed financing of £3-4 million and an additional £10-13 million to open the university in 2017, the Board will be tasked over succeeding years with securing an additional £50-£75 million in financing; integrating resources from personal and corporate philanthropy, the social capital market, private investment, UK & EU Government funding, public sector asset transfers, and industry sponsorships. here
£98 million.
5.2.1.2
A shortfall of £10m is confirmed with the numbers now crunched on the council’s 2013/14 budget. The full figure actually reaches £16m mitigated by £4.5m in savings identified so far and a proposed council tax rise of 1.9 per cent that raises £1.5m ringfenced for the ever spiralling cost of adult social care.
That leaves a £10m shortfall made up of the £5.5m cut in funding from central government . . and £4.5m from other external sources.
5.2.1..3
Clearly, the government is serious about increasing HE by 25% unless Herefordshire Council has hidden resources.
5.2.2
A key part of the take it or leave argument.
Such money isn't going to fall out of the sky.
6 Minister to discuss future of higher education
Update 25 May 2014
6a
It was good to see 200 people interested in the New University of Hereford project. The weather and timing of the event mitigated against those who are against the project attending.
6b
I waited for ten minutes to get the measure of the questions and comment. My right arm was raised almost permanently during catching-the-chairman's-eye-time thereafter to no avail. What it is to be feared. Counter-productivity is one result.
6c
Several people made comments to me personally in the context of surrounding-universities being too far to travel to. One point of university life is to start the fledgling process. Given that it's good for Herefordshire residents to go out of county, there's no point in creating a university here for incomers to attend. There's enough universities already.
6d
Similar comment relates to industrial experience as part of courses. This county is low on production. Students will need to cross county borders. It's best to maintain and improve existing provision within industry and use existing universities. Students can work part time until and after their placements take place. Very little prospect for that in the county.
6e
I was prevented from drawing these matters to the attention of the audience.
6e.1
There was no intention of commenting at the meeting on NUH lack of manners but it will now be made public.
6e.2
In mid-April, I used a comment box on a Herefordshire Council website page. A reply came from Rebecca Walder to the effect that there is to be a page on NUH. (more) None so far. My response was to send the original version of several of these pages. There was no reply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6.1
Britain needs more scientists and engineers, but can our universities deliver? A panel including David Willetts MP and Bristol’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Eric Thomas, will discuss the future of UK higher education at the Hay Festival on Sunday, 25 May.
6.2
The participants will examine how Britain’s universities might meet the UK’s growing demand for graduate scientists, engineers that are innovative, problem solving and ready for the global workplace and discuss whether the experiential and inspirational teaching model proposed for a new university in Herefordshire can establish a new and effective approach for the UK.
6.3
The discussion will be moderated by Hay Festival Trustee, Jesse Norman, Member of Parliament for Hereford and South Herefordshire.
source 6.1 etc added
6.4
This text is now out of date.
Hereford Journal readers please attend this cleverly-timed session. Only the stalwarts will be there.
Please attend the early Sunday morning session at the Hay-on-Wye Festval, 25 May here whether you're agin the project or otherwise. Otherwise, we'll see it arrive, like it or not!