*Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY, EDINBURGH

Submission to the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (1996)

Executive Summary

1.

It is essential that the present diversity in Further and Higher Education be encouraged in order that legitimate needs, aspirations and abilities of all those of post-school age are adequately met and are awarded parity of esteem. In particular, both sectors should accommodate institutions specialising in vocational and professional studies, broadly defined and developed to the highest levels.

2

Quality of research and education must be preserved and academic standards maintained. Universities should be research-led, generating and imparting new knowledge in their chosen fields of study. There is no place for a super-league of universities, which would deprive students of ability from access to teachers actively engaged in original research.

3

There should be flexible modes of educational provision to promote and encourage through-life learning and to cater for the non-standard student. I.T. will be crucial in this regard.

4

A Teaching and Learning Board should be established immediately to assist in the elevation of teaching to a level comparable to that of research.

5

Whatever funding system is devised must be stable. The CVCP guidelines on student funding should be observed, but extended so as to encourage and not penalise, as currently, part-time and flexible study.

6

The 2+2 pattern of study is seen as a method of expanding higher education, but the associated funding model must not become the means of debarring students who possess the requisite ability from completing their studies and thus impeding the full application of the Robbins principles.

1. DEFINITION AND PURPOSES OF HIGHER EDUCATION and

3. SIZE, SHAPE AND STRUCTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

We discuss the definition, purpose and distinctiveness of higher education in the context of the overall size, shape and structure of a mass tertiary education system which comprises a highly diverse range of educational and training provision and intellectual endeavour.

Diversity (q.18,19)

Tertiary education consists of the two broad but diverse sectors of Further Education and Higher Education, with universities being further distinguished within institutions of the latter. Such diversity must be actively encouraged if the legitimate diversity of needs, aspirations and abilities in all those of post-school age are to be properly served and regarded with parity of esteem. In particular, there is an important place in both sectors for institutions specialising in vocational and professional studies, broadly conceived and developed to the highest levels. The distinctive Scottish system of higher education is a major element in this diversity.

Distinctiveness (q.2)

Higher Education can be distinguished by the intellectual content of its undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses and the interaction of its teaching and learning with scholarship and research. Universities have the additional responsibility of generating and imparting new knowledge in their fields of learning and are thus research-led institutions. Technological universities, for example, possess these functions in relation to vocational study and are thus the main inheritors of the earlier traditions of university education.

Aims and purposes (q.1)

We believe that Robbins' statements of aims and purposes should continue to be held as guiding principles for higher education. As a technological institution, we would welcome a further emphasis on "vocational" study, provided it is understood as a natural extension of analytic and creative endeavour and not an alternative to it.

Participation (q. 13,14)

The appropriate level of participation in higher education should be determined by:

• the labour market - the UK must compete effectively in a global economy, it is vital therefore that the nation's workforce achieves the necessary high level of knowledge and practical skills to meet the challenge of the next century

• the level at which wider society wishes to benefit from the results of an educational provision in those areas which serve to enhance and enrich the quality of national life in addition to the more economic and utilitarian led fields

• the participation levels in higher education in successful competing countries must be studied prior to determining the appropriate level of participation within the UK.

• student funding - Access to higher education should continue to be expanded and it is expected that if such expansion is to be properly resourced and managed, the diversity of individuals who can potentially reap the benefits of higher education should also widen. It is clear however that the personal financial cost of higher education will be a major factor in determining the rate of participation. There must be particular priority given to enhancing access opportunities to those right across the social divide especially the poor and disadvantaged.

Growth (q. 19)

We envisage that if the system is to expand significantly and institutions are to maintain and further enhance their distinctiveness and quality, and additionally build ever greater degrees of flexibility into their provision and modes of delivery, there must be funding mechanisms in place which specifically promote these objectives. Any significant expansion in provision on the boundaries of further and higher education, for example through the promotion of a "2+2" pattern of study, will demand recognition of the importance of supporting diversity, distinctiveness and flexible interaction between the roles of different contributors.

2. TEACHING AND RESEARCH WITHIN HIGHER EDUCATION

Forms of provision (q.3)

Quality and flexibility are the keynotes for higher education provision. We believe that the structure of first degree courses ( 3-5 years in Scotland) is a core higher education norm. It is internationally recognised as the benchmark of quality, and will continue to be the focus of demand by students and employers. We echo CVCP and COSHEP in rejecting the "Associate degree" - envisaged in England as a two-year award - as inconsistent with a high quality system of HE and devaluing the understanding of the term "degree". Of course, high quality shorter courses awarding Certificates and Diplomas have a vital place when they are educationally justified and are not regarded as down-market options - on a stand-alone basis or as interim awards open to progression as an element of career development.

Modes and practices of delivery must be highly flexible and take into account a broad range of student needs and their prior experience. Increasing numbers are likely to be mature students for whom off-campus study will form a vital part of their career development plans. The delivery will need to take full advantage of distance learning much of which will need to draw on the opportunities afforded by technology in teaching (such as the MAN initiative in Scotland and TLTP).

The different modes of provision will require realistic and appropriate funding approaches. Attention must be paid to the financial needs of part-time students; indeed it is important that no particular group of students is at a financial disadvantage as a consequence of the particular prevailing mode of study.

We draw attention to two trends particularly relevant to science, engineering, technology and other knowledge-intensive domains.

• There is strong selective demand for professionally-capable graduates, combining requisite specialised skills with desirable transferable skills. In many cases, this is leading to increased duration of undergraduate study for "enhanced" degrees, and by further expansion of specialist postgraduate study and training to Masters and Doctoral levels. In many cases, the requirements of our professions mean that degrees are accredited by professional bodies which make special requirements vis a vis length of degree course.

• There is a general need for an increase in higher education level science/technology skills and awareness through more generalist HE qualifications in these areas, which in turn creates increased demand for further specialist education and training.

Thus, considerable expansion will continue in postgraduate, post-experience activity i.e. Life-Long Learning.

In addition to conventional means of study this may be expected to result in massive uptake of innovative, flexible and diverse means of delivery including distance learning, IT-mediated, work-based and employer-related. The Heriot-Watt University Distance Learning MBA provides one outstanding example.

Knowledge, skills and aptitudes (q.4)

Fundamentally, we believe that students' and employers' expectations and requirements for a knowledge-based society will be for a depth and breadth of knowledge, flexibly utilised, coupled with highly developed personal skills, We understand these qualities to be the generic products of a high quality advanced education - "education for change" - not of narrow training. All stakeholders have a role to play in the determination of the curriculum content. the nature and weighting of their contribution will, of course, depend on the subject. We would maintain that curriculum content should be determined through constructive interaction between the stakeholders, although ultimately approval of curriculum content must rest with teachers through their academic councils and senates.

Teaching, learning and scholarship (q. 5)

We support the recommendations of the CSUP report on 'Teaching and Learning in an Expanding Higher Education System' (1992) - "In order to harness the creative skills of those involved and to generate and sustain the necessary commitment to high quality, the status of teaching in higher education must be significantly raised

Vigourous research and development in innovative teaching must be encouraged and supported. New organisational structures will be needed to bring this about."

The creation of a Teaching and Learning Board was recommended among whose responsibilities were included:

• creation and supervision of research and development programmes in principles of instruction and student learning, education technology, and innovative teaching;

• organisation of shared provision of educational materials;

• organising a national teaching network linking collaborated sites, including sites for the development and maintenance of shared materials;

Within the framework of a new Teaching and Learning Board and with reference to teaching quality we strongly support the concept of mentoring and peer-review by professional colleagues as preferable to any requirement for the external attainment of professional teaching qualifications.

Standards (q.7)

We echo the views of COSHEP and CVCP with regard to quality assurance and assessment mechanisms.

Whilst we accept the value of seeking to define threshold standards for degrees and moves towards a solution to the question of broad nation-wide comparability of standards we nevertheless reject the concept of developing precision in standards which would be both an impractical exercise to attempt and could be damaging to the high degree of diversity operating within the Scottish higher education system.

Research (q. 9, 10, 11, 12)

The 1995 National Academic Policy Advisory Group (NAPAG) report on "The Research Capability of the University System" sets out the strengths of and threats to the vital university contribution to national research effort.

Universities are the suppliers of trained researchers and account for a fifth of UK research and development spend, and of a much higher proportion of basic/strategic research. Public funding support for high quality basic/strategic research in costly science and technology is necessarily selective. Public funding (both the Research and Funding Council pillars of dual support) should reflect a long-term "duty of care" (NAPAG) for the research base in universities as well as promoting shorter-term responsiveness to evolving science and technology policy.

The effectiveness of the university research base is currently endangered by underfunding, which can only be modified not remedied by increased selectivity. The NAPAG report stated, "We recommend that government should seek through benign taxation policies to encourage industry to invest in research ...". "We urge government to bear in mind the support afforded to the research base in other countries when determining its contribution to the research base in the UK."

We support the principle of selectivity by quality at the level of departments, groups and individuals, but not at institutional level. The present methodology of selectivity of research funding should remain unchanged. Research of national value and world-leading innovation is conducted in a great variety of institutions and departments and new ideas, inventions and innovations will continue to originate to a greater extent outside any rigidly stratified so-called Ivy League.

The current concentration of research resources through dual support - by RAE and Research Council Peer Review - is already highly convergent with any likely outcomes of discontinuation of dual support, either by full-cost funding by Research Councils and/or restriction of research funding on institutional criteria. Change from the current system would nevertheless have large-scale marginal effects which would entail costs not commensurate with likely gains, and would be at the cost of healthy competition and diversity.

Dual support through specific peer-reviewed projects and general institutional RAE provides the requisite balance of flexibility and reactivity (to new topics, to industry) with institutional stability, responsiveness and accountability. We strongly support both the principle of dual support and that of Peer Review. The latter operating through the Research Councils deals effectively with diversity.

We strongly support the better alignment of the university research base with the long term, broadly conceived aims of "Wealth Creation" and "Quality of Life" and we look to the Research Councils to promote (not dictate) responsiveness to Technology Foresight. Better recognition of inter- and multi-disciplinary research could also be facilitated through development of RAE.

4 THE WIDER CONTRIBUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION TO NATIONAL LIFE

(q. 23, 24)

Local, national and international roles

The role institutions play will depend on their competencies and their missions. Research-strong institutions will and should have wide-ranging national and international links with academic, public and private sector organisations and will play a role in the developments in each area. In Heriot-Watt's case, substantial funding is received from national and international companies.

Public funds for research are limited and those with proven ability to contribute to "strategic" research of demonstrable benefit to the British and European economies as well as expertise in basic research should continue to receive an appropriate share of public funds.

Teaching-strong institutions will also have important national and international roles to play especially as new forms of delivery are developed. Again, those with proven competence should receive support because of the real potential benefit to the British economy.

Institutions which have satisfactory teaching and administrative procedures should not be discouraged from establishing exchange programmes, joint degree arrangements and franchising/validation agreements with overseas partners. Nor should they be discouraged from participating in developmental schemes with third world countries. Students who participate in exchange visits generally return with greater measures of confidence and maturity, coupled with a fresh outlook on and a broader understanding of their subject. The richness and diversity of host institutions is also greatly enhanced by the contribution made by foreign exchange students.

Heriot-Watt University systematically assures the quality of its exchanges through the work of its External Studies Committee which interacts with the Director of Quality. The University expects to double the number of outgoing exchange students in the next three to five years particularly within the context of the Socrates programme.

Economic impact

The economic impact is both direct and indirect. Direct impact is made in respect of the employment that higher education institutions offer to academic and non-academic staff, the spending power of staff, students and visitors (in Heriot-Watt's case, 400 overseas students bring more than œ4 million to the region each year), the benefits provided by "technology transfer" activities including our Research Park, the contributions of graduates to local companies and organisations, and the business generated for construction and related companies.

Indirect benefits include the employment provided to supplier organisations in helping create favourable environments for inward investment and in helping indigenous organisations contribute to economic growth.

The COSHEP 1995 study of the impact of Scottish universities on the economy indicated that in Heriot-Watt University's case, our regional impact extends from Stromness in Orkney where our International Centre for Island Studies is located, to the Grampian Region through our joint Pathways to Science programme with Aberdeen University, to the Scottish borders with the activities of the Scottish College of Textiles, to the West of Scotland through our small firms innovation programme, to the offshore oil and gas fields thanks to our centre of excellence in petroleum engineering. The huge success of our distance learning MBA with 12,000 students generates an economic impact world-wide through the improved performance of the companies of our students and graduates, and generates a handsome return for the University and therefore the UK economy.

Plans exist to develop distance learning provision globally at undergraduate level and to expand postgraduate provision into other subject areas.

Fifty per cent of the world's growth is occurring in Pacific Rim countries and these countries will conduct 50% of the world's trade within ten years. An enormous demand exists in this area for education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and through-life learning. Malaysia and Singapore are both well placed to take advantage of hi-tech-delivered courses. The scope for UK higher education institutions with the correct skills, educational approach and experience is enormous in these and other areas of the world.

Social impact

The social impact is primarily related to the improvement in the quality of life, i.e. the intellectual climate, the cosmopolitan nature of staff and students who enrich local communities and the contribution to the local cultural scene in the widest sense.

In Edinburgh's case, the universities' support for the Science Festival generates greater public awareness of science and technology. The ECLL (Edinburgh City of Lifelong Learning) project will gradually strengthen and will have a significant impact on through-life learning across the social divide.

5 FUNDING ISSUES

Institutional and student funding (q. 28, 29)