APPENDIX 41
Memorandum submitted by Professor Derek
Burke CBE
The first point is to raise my profoundest concern
as to why the HEFCE did not foresee this possible outcome? It
is well known that, since the time of Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, the
HEFCE has always modelled the scores from the RAE in a computer
in order to generate a solution that would reward excellence without
damaging the Higher Education system, and it was surely obvious
that the current outcome of general rising of scores was a possibility.
So why on earth did they not hold back some of their funds for
other initiatives (like the e-university) in cases the scores
were higher than expected. Or did they not run any simulations?
It strikes me as incompetent either way and it is quite unsatisfactory
that the Chief Executives (both old and new) did not come to the
Committee to explain how this very disadvantageous outcome came
about. They can't shrug off something that might well destabilise
an already stress system. In short why was there no contingency
planning?
The second point is that the outcome is gong
to remove funding from all units of assessment except 5*, and
this will surely lead to loss of staff, possibly by redundancies,
and to a falling away of research momentum of the Universities,
let alone the effect on University morale. What, University staff
will say, is the point of working so hard to raise achievement
f some bureaucratic decision is to penalise us? These points are
well made in an article by Professors Sir Harry Kroto (a Novel
Prize winner) and Tony Stace from the chemistry department at
the University of Sussex who have just written an article for
the most recent issue of THES (8 February, page 16), which I suggest
might be passed to the Committee.[11]
12 February 2002
11 Not printed. Back
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