Current Affairs The Conservative Party

[summerisle]

To raise the tone a little I do think Truss would be more fun on a night out than Penny.
Liz has a laugh in her whereas Penny would be all "I Don't Get It".

She'd moan at the forens on the cheese board.

 

[Prevenger17]

Sometimes I randomly think of Liz Truss saying anything and laugh at the fact that she exists. Imagine having to endure a sequence of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss as your nation's leaders

 

[summerisle]

Sometimes I randomly think of Liz Truss saying anything and laugh at the fact that she exists. Imagine having to endure a sequence of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss as your nation's leaders

Not forgetting William Hague and Ian Duncan Smith.

 

[Wizard]

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

Many institutions currently make a loss on British students. That £9k a year tuition fee doesn't stretch as far these days. Without overseas students quite a few institutions could be in trouble very soon.

 

[summerisle]

Diddums.

 

[tsubaki]

Many institutions currently make a loss on British students. That £9k a year tuition fee doesn't stretch as far these days. Without overseas students quite a few institutions could be in trouble very soon.

This is more because of how those institutions are run than anything else - management is vastly overpaid (the average for VCs at Russell Group unis is nudging £400k) thanks to what has essentially been two decades plus now of "free" money.

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

This is more because of how those institutions are run than anything else - management is vastly overpaid (the average for VCs at Russell Group unis is nudging £400k) thanks to what has essentially been two decades plus now of "free" money.

Sort of, there's other stuff going on too.

Bad decision making I'd suggest, but fundamentally the sector isn't well.

 

[peteblue]

This is more because of how those institutions are run than anything else - management is vastly overpaid (the average for VCs at Russell Group unis is nudging £400k) thanks to what has essentially been two decades plus now of "free" money.

That’s disgraceful tbh….it’s an easy job……

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

That’s disgraceful tbh….it’s an easy job……

Shut up Pete. They're overpaid, but I can see this going down the route of your civil servant hatred, another area you have little actual genuine insight into despite what you claim.

 

[Walken]

Shut up Pete. They're overpaid, but I can see this going down the route of your civil servant hatred, another area you have little actual genuine insight into despite what you claim.

How dare you question the man of many fake careers

 

[tsubaki]

Sort of, there's other stuff going on too.

Bad decision making I'd suggest, but fundamentally the sector isn't well.

That is the overwhelming majority of the reason why the sector isn't well, though. Give any business or organization a lot of money without real control over how its spent and the chances are they'll piss it up the wall sooner rather than later.

Student loan debt is past £100 billion now and yet we've got precious little to show for it except a cohort of vastly overpaid and seriously entitled management and hundreds of thousands of young adults with millstones around their necks. When the taps are turned off - as they will be sooner rather than later - expect the leaders of these universities to screw over the academic and support staff and students long before they take a cut themselves.

Or to cite a personal anecdote, my alma mater (a Russell Group university in the north) has been asking its alumni for financial donations to help students for a while now. The few quid I pay every month as a result goes (I hope!) to help undergraduates with their living costs and that of their courses. Meanwhile, the VC is on £300k plus a year (six times what I am on), and had £50k to upgrade the house he rents a few years ago on top of his wages. Nearly seventy of his senior staff are on £100k plus, too.

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

That is the overwhelming majority of the reason why the sector isn't well, though. Give any business or organization a lot of money without real control over how its spent and the chances are they'll piss it up the wall sooner rather than later.

Student loan debt is past £100 billion now and yet we've got precious little to show for it except a cohort of vastly overpaid and seriously entitled management and hundreds of thousands of young adults with millstones around their necks. When the taps are turned off - as they will be sooner rather than later - expect the leaders of these universities to screw over the academic and support staff and students long before they take a cut themselves.

Or to cite a personal anecdote, my alma mater (a Russell Group university in the north) has been asking its alumni for financial donations to help students for a while now. The few quid I pay every month as a result goes (I hope!) to help undergraduates with their living costs and that of their courses. Meanwhile, the VC is on £300k plus a year (six times what I am on), and had £50k to upgrade the house he rents a few years ago on top of his wages. Nearly seventy of his senior staff are on £100k plus, too.

Aha, I think you think I'm making the case for higher student fees. Nope.

You also seem to think I'm focusing on Russell Group. I'm not. They'll be fine. The post 92s will probably fail.

The funding model is a problem for sure. As is senior management pay. The marketisation of HE is a huge issue. A lot of institutions have loaded up with debt to for flashy buildings to attract students in a market. This hasn't been helped by the cap on student numbers institutions can take on being removed, so it becomes a free for all.

Overall ru ning costs have however increased. Even taking into account the above, funds will have been eroded.

You don't need to tell me about precarity in HE, I'm one of the staff you mention very likely to be in the line for cuts. However, for that reason it's why I say "sort of". There's lots more going on and blaming senior staff is only part of the picture.

 

[tsubaki]

Aha, I think you think I'm making the case for higher student fees. Nope.

You also seem to think I'm focusing on Russell Group. I'm not. They'll be fine. The post 92s will probably fail.

The funding model is a problem for sure. As is senior management pay. The marketisation of HE is a huge issue. A lot of institutions have loaded up with debt to for flashy buildings to attract students in a market. This hasn't been helped by the cap on student numbers institutions can take on being removed, so it becomes a free for all.

Overall ru ning costs have however increased. Even taking into account the above, funds will have been eroded.

You don't need to tell me about precarity in HE, I'm one of the staff you mention very likely to be in the line for cuts. However, for that reason it's why I say "sort of". There's lots more going on and blaming senior staff is only part of the picture.

No, I am making the case for an end to the current system - reverting to public funding rather than loans and a return to a much higher degree of financial control.

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

No, I am making the case for an end to the current system - reverting to public funding rather than loans and a return to a much higher degree of financial control.

Pretty much what I think needs to happen. However, the incumbent government shows no sign of doing so, nor do the current labour party.

There is some degree of financial control via OFS however, this severly needs overhaul as it is limited in scope. However, without it I suspect staff student ratios or expenditure from fees not going towards students (as in courses, infrastructure etc) would be much worse.

Edit: having said that, there are benefits to the relative financial independence of Universities. Get the regulation wrong or have it set up by say, a 'wokery' obsessed 'mickey mouse degree' hating party of social hierarchies I can see problems!