Big question about the new University

Occasional newsletter

First, a personal (and probably controversial) take on the many changes in Higher and Further education in Bedford in the thirty seven years since I came to Bedford. Originally there were three institutions: Mander College was a well-respected college of FE which met the needs of the local community, the Bedford College of Physical Education had an international reputation for their subject (but, some felt, was living on old glories), and the Bedford College of Education, which used to be in The Crescent, off Tavistock Road, and then moved to new buildings in Polhill Avenue, was well known for its training of junior and lower school teachers.

Then in the seventies, these three colleges merged to form the Bedford College of Higher Education, and expanded its remit to include degree level work other than purely teacher training.

But the merger really was a disaster, partly due, many felt, to the poor leadership at the time. The Further Education people were perceived to be belligerent and politically militant, the College of education's fare was perceived by some to be rather tame and unadventurous, and the PE college was quite snooty on the whole, and tried to distance itself from the other two so-called lesser partners.

At the time the degree courses were validated by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) and struggled on, but it was clear that the merger had not been a success. Leicester University became interested in a merger, but sadly this was not acted upon. The local County council tried to force a merger with Luton Technical College, but this was fiercely resisted, the feeling (which may or may not have been valid!) being that there was not an adequate academic base.

Very much to the surprise of academics in several Universities, Luton was able to secure a charter and became the University of Luton. Probably unfairly, it was regarded as an also-ran in the University stakes, and was pretty low down in the yearly tables published by the education press. I say probably unfairly, because certainly one area, that of management studies, pursued at Putteridge, was highly regarded.

The new institution in Bedford struggled along until the nineties, when the Further Education side de-merged, and the two other areas became part of de Montfort University Leicester. De Montfort was stretching itself in all directions both in terms of remit and in geography, and it was no too surprising that in time it would realise that it had bitten more than it could chew. Suddenly, a few months ago, it was announced that de Montfort had sold the Bedford interests to Luton, and out of this would be formed a new institution, which is to be known as the University of Bedfordshire, with its headquarters in Luton.

I had retired from higher education in the early nineties, to become involved in consultancy and Internet-related work, so what has gone on in these intervening years I simply do not know. But I do learn that there is much suspicion and ill-feeling over the merger, and it will take a lot of competent and encouraging management if this is to work!

This week's Times&Citizen has an article on the coming merger. Over to them:

"The man who will head up the new University of Bedfordshire has turned his nose at a "snobs' table" which gives the University of Luton a poor rating.

The institution – which will take over De Montfort University's Bedford campus in the summer – is in the bottom rank of the nation's 114 universities, according to the latest edition of The Times Higher Educational Supplement.

Vice chancellor Les Ebdon said the tables were published just to sell the newspaper.

He said: "I don't think anybody takes them seriously. Readers of The Times expect to see certain universities at the top and certain universities at the bottom. It's a snobs' table."

Luton came either bottom or near bottom in nearly half the nine areas published in the widely-read 2006 statistics.
According to the assessment, the town's students have the worst record for finding graduate level jobs after finishing their degrees, with only 41.7 per cent – top-placed Cambridge had 86.9 per cent.

And in the table for entry standards, Luton was second from bottom.

Luton also bombed in categories covering student satisfaction, completion, good honours, research assessment exercise and student to staff ratio.

But Mr Ebdon suggested the national newspaper adjusted criteria in its report to guarantee institutions like Cambridge and Oxford always maintained their position at the front while Luton and other newer places brought up the rear. He added: "The Times decided not to have any measure of teaching quality and that's what we're known for."

 

Robert Leggat