tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6239241293494668004.post5281179933966672205..comments2024-03-12T15:28:22.012+01:00Comments on The Poet Laura-eate: Universities - Widening Horizons or Offering Narrowing Horizons...?The Poet Laura-eatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07779308486569849157noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6239241293494668004.post-43442134268799985672014-02-25T10:13:36.330+01:002014-02-25T10:13:36.330+01:00Steve, I am glad the university system served you ...Steve, I am glad the university system served you well, though 10 years does seem excessive, even part-time! And you are right, Warwick IS one of the main thriving red-brick universities. Well concrete, at least. It's become quite intimidating to visit now - like some vast industrial park. They must have money to burn too knocking down their perfectly good and funky Arts centre, only to build one almost identical!<br /><br />WWW. You are quite correct that some academics don't like the way educational institutions are turning into corporations and are leaving for this reason. On the other hand they still get the academic calendar tailored to them, by and large, which is not a luxury they would necessarily enjoy in other areas.<br /><br />Good points Marginalia. But I think that offering a gold standard in education and tip-top customer service to the students IS a USP as most universities are actually now treating their product (i.e. students) as a product! The students naturally do not like this approach and it will have grave consequences further down the line if they no longer feel affection and loyalty to their former college and make donations and bequests accordingly (traditionally always a large part of any college or university's income. Pretty architecture that is not always constantly being rebuilt is also something that they value so they can show their children and grandchildren where their old rooms were when they come to visit and even have said rooms named after them, sponsoring the room or offering a scholarship in their name. These may be old traditions but they worked. And I have worked in a traditional college and a modern university, so I have seen both sides of the coin. If a student doesn't feel a university gives much of a fig about them as an individual, or perceives themselves to be regarded as a mere number lost in the melee or even worse a 'cash cow' if they are an international student, they will respond in kind and not give much of a fig about their old university. And now the fees have tripled, they naturally want even more for their money, and that will include condensed better value courses. <br /><br />The Poet Laura-eatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07779308486569849157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6239241293494668004.post-67567078840487649462014-02-24T21:33:54.926+01:002014-02-24T21:33:54.926+01:00In a sense having a market for university places a...In a sense having a market for university places and degrees should be a good thing. <br /><br />If the student's the consumer paying for their education the incentive should be on them choosing the best course and college. <br /><br />But the market place is fixed. Colleges can't charge what they think they're worth (except for non EU foreign students), and because the price is more or less fixed there really is little incentive for colleges to be innovative in what they offer or how they teach. <br /><br />I think we still haven't decided what is the purpose of a university education. Is it to provide engineers, financiers or entrepreneurs or to build a cadre of academics and well rounded generalists. <br /><br />I'd like to return to the pre-Wilson revolution. Two types of higher education institutions. Universities - unashamedly elite, meritocratic and Polytechnics training highly skilled technocrats to drive forward our industry. <br /><br />Certainly industry seems to have lost the will or ability to train the workforce it needs to generate growth and profit. <br /><br />I speak from a safe distance - going to a red brick uni, on a grant, all fees paid and the certainty of a job after three years and a mediocre degree. Marginaliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01175372147298306908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6239241293494668004.post-19621381699496021712014-02-23T22:40:18.626+01:002014-02-23T22:40:18.626+01:00Yes, it's all about bottom line profits now an...Yes, it's all about bottom line profits now and the love of learning for learning's sake is considered ante-deluvean.<br /><br />Daughter was an academic prof and left for those reasons.<br /><br />It saddens me. <br /><br />XO<br />WWWWisewebwomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15281689872840844191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6239241293494668004.post-77962772087496869652014-02-21T09:12:13.359+01:002014-02-21T09:12:13.359+01:00My university, Warwick, has long converted itself ...My university, Warwick, has long converted itself to a business and bought into the commerce of industry. As a consequence it's attendance is massive and the campus is huge and ever growing. I swear it has kept the construction industry alive in the Midlands. Is this a good thing? I don't know. I enjoyed my time while I was there and avoided debt by undertaking my degree part time and working full time to "pay as I went". The thought did occur to me though that if I the course was properly condensed into full time (5 days a week) I could have finished it off in 18 months rather than the 10 years it eventually took me. Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02133900289384226725noreply@blogger.com