Onward march of the no-research regiment

The debate over whether good teaching is dependent on doing research too has been rumbling on for years with, most noticeably, Government signalling the advent of teaching-only universities in the face of vehement opposition from those who say the two are interdependent. Yet, as Claire Sanders reports, this has done nothing to stop the employment of teaching-only staff

The armies of academics working on the margins of higher education are brought into the front line by new data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

But interpreting the Hesa data requires, in the words of one vice-chancellor, "a full understanding of the 'dark arts'".

It certainly requires caveats.

The agency's new methodology, introduced for 2003-04, records for the first time academics working less than a quarter of full-time hours, the vast majority of whom are teaching-only.

There are two key caveats. The data, because of the drastic change in methodology, do not allow for direct comparisons over time. And there are questions over comparisons between universities.

Some universities, particularly those showing high percentages of teaching-only staff, say that not all institutions have been scrupulous in recording all their hourly paid staff. Those with no, or very few, teaching-only staff, deny this.

These are complex issues and, in a burgeoning higher education market where students pay close attention to league tables, such staffing information is important to the way institutions are perceived.

Roger Kline, head of universities at lecturers' union Natfhe, said: "Many universities, particularly new universities, boast that their staff do both teaching and research. For these universities to have so many teaching-only staff will not look good. After all, they like to contrast themselves with Russell Group universities that allow their big-name academics to concentrate on research, leaving the teaching to other academics and postgraduates."

But there is a silver lining. Universities with more teaching-only staff have better student-to-staff ratios, a key component of many league tables.

Analysis of Hesa data by the Association of University Teachers reveals wide and, in some cases, surprising variation.

At one extreme, some universities categorised nearly all their staff as teaching-only. These were predominantly specialist institutions, often with relatively low numbers of staff.

Birkbeck, University of London, categorised three quarters of academics as teaching-only.

A spokeswoman said that this reflected the college's large amount of continuing education work. If these people were excluded, then the proportion of part-time staff would be less than 10 per cent, she said.

But some multi-faculty universities, such as Aston, Derby, Bradford, Wolverhampton, Westminster, Brighton, Kent and Royal Holloway, categorised about half their staff as teaching-only.

Keith Thomas, director of human resources at Aston University, said that the high proportion of staff appearing as teaching-only included those on sessional teaching contracts.

"The university believes that the employment of such staff, who are often working in the world of business and commerce or may be clinical practitioners, enriches the student experience," he said.

A spokesman for Derby University said that the institution used a large number of sessional lecturers, particularly on courses involving professional practice, such as nursing and teaching. It has recently taken over a further education college and included these largely teaching-only staff in its Hesa returns.

In 1998, Bradford University's senate agreed to teaching-only posts, according to Jeff Lucas, the university's deputy vice-chancellor, but resolved to have no more than 20 per cent of academic staff on such contracts.

The fact that 2003-04 Hesa statistics show Bradford as having 50 per cent of academic staff on teaching-only contracts was down to the change in recording methodology, he said.

And he added: "It appears that not all universities complete their staff returns in the same way."

David Watson, vice-chancellor of Brighton University, said: "Teaching-only now includes a head count of a very large number of hourly paid teachers who do a few hours a week in areas such as art and design and business, where this is long-standing and good practice for a professionally oriented university such as Brighton. We have broad support for our academics as researchers and just 1.5 per cent of established staff on teaching-only contracts."

As The Times Higher reported this month, Westminster University has signed a deal to transfer some of its hourly paid lecturers to permanent fractional contracts.

A spokesman for Westminster added: "Many of these hourly paid staff come to teach their particular expertise. They do not want to engage in research or related activities."

About 30 institutions had a quarter to a third of academics categorised as teaching-only, according to the data.

Stephen Court, the senior AUT researcher who analysed the data, said: "The new Hesa data show a large swath of universities heavily reliant on teaching-only staff."

Some research-led universities stood out as having large proportions of such academics. The London School of Economics categorised more than a third of its staff as teaching-only.

They were all hourly paid teachers, said Alison Johns, director of human resources at LSE, who pointed out that all salaried academics had both teaching and research responsibilities.

At the other end of the spectrum, about 30 universities said they had no, or virtually no, teaching-only staff. These tended to be research-led universities. The universities of Bristol and Edinburgh had no such staff.

Oxford and Cambridge universities and Imperial College London had small percentages.

But some post-1992 universities also had very few, or no, teaching-only staff. These included Plymouth, Central England, Central Lancashire, Northumbria and Middlesex universities, as well as Bolton and Southampton institutes.

Roger Brown, principal of Southampton Institute, said: "At Southampton we do a lot of applied research and for this reason we have staff on combined teaching and research contracts."

Roland Levinksy, vice-chancellor of Plymouth University, said: "At Plymouth we value teaching and research equally. We have looked to the long-term future, and are not interested in bending the rules to suit the 2008 research assessment exercise."

Michael Driscoll, vice-chancellor of Middlesex University, said: "Middlesex has no second-class academic staff. Research and scholarship inform our teaching curriculum across the board."

* The Association of University Teachers and lecturers' union Natfhe are campaigning to improve the lot of hourly paid lecturers. Natfhe last month published Hiring Lecturers by the Hour , a report by Colin Bryson on the widespread use of hourly paid staff. The unions are determined that the framework agreement on pay and new European Union fixed-term regulations improve the lot of such academics.

Employers are optimistic. Jocelyn Prudence, chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Employers' Association, said: "Most hourly paid staff will be moved to indefinite contracts by August 2006 as a result of the framework agreement and the fixed-term regulations. By then - and for the first time - job evaluation will have been completed, delivering equal pay for work of equal value, providing much more transparency about how they, and all other staff, are paid and offering clarity about their roles."

What both Natfhe and the AUT want to see is the use of permanent fractional contracts, which offer far greater security.

claire.sanders@thes.co.uk

DOES IT REALLY MATTER IF OUR UNIVERSITIES EMPLOY A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF TEACHING-ONLY STAFF?

"Yes," said Michael Driscoll , speaking as vice-chancellor of Middlesex University rather than as chairman of Campaigning for Mainstream Universities.

"The traditional model in UK higher education is to have staff doing both research and teaching. To break this is to undermine the student experience and quality. It is also to undermine the professionalism of staff and to reduce teaching lecturers to second-class status. As women can get stuck on teaching-only contracts, there are major equal opportunities issues."

"Not especially," said Roger Brown , principal of Southampton Institute. "I am a pragmatist on this. The key is to ensure that mechanisms exist so that links between research and teaching can be maintained. For example, there must be links between research and the curriculum."

Universities UK is concerned. Tony Bruce , UUK director of policy, said, "Universities UK believes it is vital to maintain the link between teaching and research, and that the opportunities for staff to undertake research should be maximised. It is an inevitable consequence of increasing research concentration that more academics will be on teaching-only contracts, but with some 25 per cent of institutions receiving 75 per cent of research funding, that process has gone far enough."

Paul Ramsden , chief executive of the Higher Education Academy, said: "The council of the HEA has recently been discussing ways in which we can help institutions support part-time teachers. I can see many good reasons why universities would want to appoint teaching-only staff. There are no grounds for believing that such staff provide students with a less effective learning experience - as long as they are scholarly about their teaching, get the right opportunities to develop their professional skills, and keep abreast of current developments in their subject."

Liz Beaty , Higher Education Funding Council for England director for learning and teaching, said: "We acknowledge the importance to institutions of flexibility in both part-time students and part-time staff.

Teaching and research and the relationships between them are two key processes in higher education and we take these relationships seriously. We will be allocating £25 million over three years to support a research-informed teaching environment in less research-intensive institutions."

One hourly paid lecturer who preferred to remain anonymous commented: "I am sure that having so much teaching done by hourly paid lecturers who feel marginal to the university is damaging. I find myself having to reassure students that their studies will be fine even if I am not there. The truth is that they may not be fine."

Peter Knight , vice-chancellor of the University of Central England, said:

"I think the move to teaching-only contracts is damaging as it devalues the concept of partnership between teaching and research, and research strengthening the quality of the taught curriculum. It is yet another consequence of the research assessment exercise, but pleas that this is madness fall on deaf ears."

Another hourly paid lecturer said: "Student feedback forms often praise individual lecturers but are critical of university management. Students can see we are insecure and worried about who will teach them in the future. I am extremely worried."

'IT MAKES US FEEL MARGINALISED'

For Ann, an art historian who has worked as an hourly paid lecturer for the past six years, fractional contracts are the answer.

Like all the hourly paid lecturers quoted on these pages, she did not want to be named for fear of "blotting her copybook".

"Universities often say that hourly paid lecturers do not want permanent contracts.

"I have never met anyone who did not want more security," she said.

"As it is, I can be rung up at the last minute and asked to teach. There is no cover for when I am ill.

"I don't know if my contract will be renewed from one academic year to the next."

Ian has taught in an education department for the past eight years.

He has asked to be put on a permanent fractional contract, but has been told that it is not policy.

He has written to the institution pointing out that other universities are moving in this direction as they implement the pay framework.

That was nearly four months ago, but he has yet to receive an answer. "This year I have been asked to attend planning meetings for the following year - when I do not even know if I will be teaching," he said.

"The whole system makes staff and students feel marginalised."

TEACHING-ONLY TOP TEN

Universities with the highest percentages of teaching-only staff
Institution % of teaching-only staff

• Birkbeck 73
• Soas 66.3
• Aston 55.9
• Derby 51.2
• Bradford 49.6
• Wolverhampton 48.5
• Westminster 45.8
• Brighton 45.4
• Kent 44.9
• Royal Holloway 44.6

*Smaller specialist institutions excluded

TEACHING AND RESEARCH TOP TEN

Universities with thehighest percentages of staff doing both research and teaching
Institution % of teaching and research combined

• UCE 100
• Plymouth 98.4
• Luton 96.8
• APU 94.8
• Glasgow Caledonian 92.8
• Middlesex 92.6
• Nottingham Trent 90.3
• UEL 89.2
• Northumbria 86.3
• Goldsmiths 80.3

*Smaller specialist institutions excluded

RESEARCH-ONLY TOP TEN

Universities with the highest percentages of research-only staff
Institution % of research-only staff

• Oxford 63.1
• Cambridge 59.4
• Imperial 58.6
• Newcastle 46.4
• UCL 46.1
• Edinburgh 45.1
• York 45.1
• King's 43.7
• Bristol 43.6
• Dundee 43.6

*Smaller specialist institutions excluded