BUFDG: British Universities Finance Directors Group

What's the upper limit on overseas student fees?

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

That's the question being asked in a couple of articles in the Times Higher this week, as annual research on overseas student fees by a former LSE academic shows that the average fees for classroom and lab-based courses have gone up by an inflation-busting 5.6% and 6.1% respectively... [more]

Widening participation / narrowing immigration

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

An ambitious "college completion" figure of 55% of young people (by 2025) is to be proposed to US Congress tomorrow, on the presentation of the College Completion report. With 40.4% of 25- to 34-year-olds currently holding an associate degree or higher, a 10-step programme has been put... [more]

HEFCW news

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

HEFCW have been hard at work on the publishing front over the last few weeks, with five circulars for you to read. First up, there was a circular about the arrangements for the Redistribution Exercise, whereby HEIs and directly funded FE colleges may redistribute funded credit values for... [more]

BPP to run 'University College'

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

BPP, which already has degree-awarding powers, has been given the go-ahead to create the first private university in 30 years with the Minister for HE, David Willetts, announcing the venture on Monday. The BBC reports that the new HEI, to be called 'BPP University College of Professional Studies' will initially offer law and... [more]

Act now to prevent Allegro University

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

Frances Cairncross argues in the Independent for a range of measures that will prevent the UK Higher Education sector becoming the 21^st Century equivalent of the British motor industry. She suggests that... [more]

USS reforms approved by trustees

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

The USS trustee board met on 22 July 2010 and considered the package of proposed scheme changes recommended by the Joint Negotiating Committee following its meeting on 7 July 2010. "After careful consideration of the JNC’s recommendation, the trustee board confirmed its... [more]

Size of the cake

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

While Nature magazine is concerned only with the sciences and engineering, it is useful to see how the possible funding freeze or funding cuts would affect research. If 20% funding cuts were announced, for example, the Royal Society has predicted a "Game over" scenario: star researchers would leave... [more]

What's Hot: employability

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

Employability is the latest buzzword in the HE. And here again, flexibility is also the name of the game, according to David Willetts in the Guardian this week. With nearly 70 applicants for every graduate job, Willetts is telling students that they need to be more... [more]

No more 'Club Med'

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

I'm not sure that 'Club Med' means much to today's eighteen-year-olds, but in any case, David Willetts has told them that the days of the "Club Med application" to university are over. By this, I think he means that the days of automatically... [more]

USS latest

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

If the USS board approves the changes to the USS scheme, that were accepted by the Joint Negotiating Committee on July 7th, then universities will have to undertake a comprehensive consultation with active and eligible USS members in their institutions. According to the Employers Pensions Forum (EPF), this... [more]

Scotland (still) says No

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

Scottish news this week is mainly to do with the Scottish government's vow to find a "uniquely Scottish solution" to the challenges of higher education funding. Education secretary Michael Russell has said that he will prepare a plan specifically tailored for Scotland and that a green paper would... [more]

Think radically

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

Last Thursday Vince Cable gave a speech on the future of the UK HE sector. While it doesn't contain anything new or unexpected, the different news sources take different views of it. The

Grant fears cuts

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

Rearrange this headline’s words and the sentiments of the whole sector are reflected, but as it is, it is the Provost of University College London whose worries are reported. The Guardian reports today that Malcolm Grant has said, “elite universities feared the government... [more]

New FM

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

A lot of you will already know that HEFCE has published a new ‘Model Financial Memorandum between HEFCE and institutions’ which comes into effect on 1st August 2010 - but just in case, here is a quick round-up. The FM is accompanied by a

Conference dates!

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

Just to let all FDs know that next year's conference will be from April 10th (afternoon/evening) to April 12th (full day). This is Sunday to Tuesday, and not as previously arranged - so please adjust your diaries. This is as a result of feedback from members that, despite reservations about travelling on a Sunday, they really do prefer it to travelling on a... [more]

Guardian Editorial

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

Which is more important to the country - increasing student numbers or improving scientific excellence? The editorial in Monday's Guardian looks at this question, referencing opinions where necessary. All the main players get a mention. In very brief summary, it... [more]

Funding for postgraduate study

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

"A great deal of scrutiny is rightly applied to the fairness of undergraduate admissions; but why should we stop caring about something at age 21 when it vexes us so much at 18?". That's the question put forward by Lewis Goodall in the Guardian this week, as he argues for fairer... [more]

Willetts postpones REF

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

The Minister for HE, David Willetts, has announced a delay to the introduction of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) in a speech in London on Friday. He said he is yet to be convinced on the 'impact' methodology and this means the REF, which was due to complete in 2013, will... [more]

USS reforms a step nearer

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

USS has issued a statement following the meeting of the Joint Negotiating Committee on 7th July, confirming that a package of changes put forward by the employers was accepted, following the Chairman, Sir Andrew Cubie, using his casting vote. The... [more]

How is your student support?

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

We all know the increasing importance of "student experience" these days. One aspect of that is the services in your HEI that support students e.g. chaplaincy, wellbeing services, outreach work, volunteering... Although they are expensive to run, they have a huge impact on reputation and on the ability to recruit. (If you are in any doubt, see