News in brief

April 10, 2008

UNIVERSITY FUNDRAISING

Whitehall sets matching scheme

The Government has confirmed details of a scheme that will boost incentives for universities to fundraise. Following a consultation with the higher education sector, the Government has announced that its £200 million scheme to match-fund donations received through universities' fundraising activities, announced in February, will operate on a three-tier basis. In one tier, the Government will match donations pound for pound, up to a limit expected to be set at about £100,000. A second tier will offer universities £1 from the state for every £2 they raise from donations, up to a cap expected to be about £2 million. In a third tier, the Government will pay £1 for every £3 raised, but with a higher cap expected to be about £5 million. A spokesman for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills said that it had not yet set any caps, as it was waiting to see which tiers institutions opted into before setting the limits. It is hoped that the scheme will help to raise about £600 million on top of the £200 million pledged by the Government. University mission group Million+ has called the tier system unfair because it would mean that the greatest beneficiaries of the scheme will be the institutions that already raise the most money.

UK EDUCATION POLICY

Pressure group has a word

The Manifesto Club, which calls itself a "pro-human campaigning network", has launched a petition on the Downing Street website calling for the Government to put the word "education" in the names of all the departments dealing with schools, colleges and universities. The campaign is led by Manifesto Club member Dennis Hayes, who is head of the Centre for Professional Learning at Canterbury Christ Church University. The petition says: "Every generation has a crisis of education. This usually takes the form of worries about what should be the content of education for future generations. But a unique crisis seems to have afflicted the Government which has set up a Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and a Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). Spot the missing word? It's education!" The Manifesto Club's aim is "to bring together individuals whose ideas don't necessarily fit into the politics of Left and Right, but who believe in developing people's creativity and knowledge".

CLARIFICATION

In our recent feature story on academic pay, "How much are you worth?" (13 March), we suggested that David Greenaway was vice-chancellor of the University of Nottingham. Professor Greenaway takes up his duties this summer. Until then Sir Colin Campbell is still in office and busier than ever. Sir Colin's base salary for the 2006-2007 financial year increased by 8.7 per cent on the year before to £250,000. Our reported .3 per cent rise did not disaggregate the pension payments that were related to previous years of service. Our apologies to both Sir Colin and Professor Greenaway.

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