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University workers hit by increase in violence University and college staff in Edinburgh are facing growing levels of violence and abuse from students, lecturers' union leaders warned yesterday. One...
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Laurie Taylor Column
Understanding the Framework Agreement Dave Goodenough, Deputy Assistant Head of Human Resources at Poppleton University, replies to questions about the modernisation of pay structures. Q. What...
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'In 1386, young men had to repay the cost of lodging if they left before they finished. Top-ups solve that now'
It can be hazardous running an elderly institution such as New College, Oxford, not least when you get curious about what its creator thought the institution was set up to do. It's worse if you have...
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Leader: Proof that it really does pay to learn
The rate of return from higher education - to both individuals and the state - has been debated since well before top-up fees were on the horizon. It had a report to itself in the Dearing Inquiry of...
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Leader: Strength in numbers
This week's launch of GuildHE represents a welcome sign of life among those smaller institutions that can too easily be ignored in the scramble for influence over higher education policy. The...
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Do grades still make the grade? 1
Stephen Gorard and his colleagues have produced a very comprehensive and valuable review of the literature on widening participation ("Experts: access policy futile" and Opinion, September 15). While...
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Do grades still make the grade? 2
Stephen Gorard makes claims that link qualifications to class and income. But an association or correlation between two variables does not imply a causal connection, as any undergraduate is taught....
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Do grades still make the grade? 3
Stephen Gorard advocates a hurdle system for university access. My experience of such a system was excellent. I passed the matura (similar to the baccalaureate) with reasonable grades and...
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Do grades still make the grade? 4
Stephen Gorard asks "Why use qualifications as a means of rationing higher education?". For mathematics, in which university courses build on foundations laid at school, the answer is obvious: to...
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Do grades still make the grade? 5
I'm delighted that the widening participation review concluded that universities should scrap entry requirements. I argued a couple of years ago that selection was discriminatory, that there should...
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Do grades still make the grade? 6
Stephen Gorard writes about "respecting the choice of those who reject higher education". Pupils I have worked with who come from poor and largely bookless homes will be intrigued by the notion that...
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Big benefits 1
The conclusions drawn in "Transfers prove costly" (September 15) do not reflect the performance of university technology-transfer offices (TTOs). While the costs of TTOs are known, income generated...
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Big benefits 2
It is correct that covering costs of technology transfer or making a profit is extremely difficult, but it is not impossible. A properly organised and managed unit should at least break even, but...
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Understanding needed 1
I was deeply moved by the tragic case of Diana Winstanley ("Suicide don under 'huge stress' in job", September 15). I have personal grounds for empathy. My university refused to give me leave, even...
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Understanding needed 2
It is unfortunate that the article about Diana Winstanley's suicide was largely framed in terms of university staff support services. As Sally Hunt said, workloads and other sources of staff stress...