Title: The Changing Role of the Professor: an NCUP Perspective
1The Changing Role of the Professor an NCUP
Perspective
- Gavin C Reid, University of St Andrews
- President, National Conference of University
Professors
2What is the NCUP?
- The NCUP was founded in 1989 to promote
beneficial developments in the UK university
system - http//www.swan.ac.uk/ncup/
- We aim to contribute constructively to the debate
on matters relating to our university system
3The NCUP Mission
- Its founders, who included Lord Sutherland, felt
that professors had a particular responsibility
for the academic directions of universities - These founders concluded that a forum for the
discussion and expression of their voice on such
issues was needed - The NCUP is dedicated to the impartial
communication of information and advice about
higher and further education in general
4Who are Members of the NCUP?
- Our organisation is restricted to members of the
UK professoriate - They are drawn from a wide constituency, by
discipline, gender and institution - There is an active constituency of emeritus
professors
5Membership Priorities
- The Questions asked was How would you rate the
following themes, as regards their importance to
the NCUP? - (Eighteen items were ranked on a scale of 1 to 5,
where 1 unimportant, and 5 very important).
Top ranked were - University funding --5--
- The RAE --4--
- Top up fees --4--
- The concentration of research funding --4--
- Teaching quality assessment --4--
- Salaries --4--
- Pensions --4--
- Education policy --4
- Other mattered considered included IP, patents,
commercialization, globalization, distance
learning, new elites, terms of work
6Professorial Roles
- The questions asked was What professorial roles
would you see as most important? - As before, ranking was on a 5 point scale, where
1 unimportant, and 5 very important.
Results - Management --4--
- Teaching --4--
- Administration --3--
- Research --5--
- Fund-raising --3--
- Outreach --3--
- Publishing --4--
- Broadcasting --2
- This was the full list of roles ranked
7The Duties of a Professor
- The questions asked was How important are the
following skills to ones ability to discharge
the duties of a professor? - Again, ranking on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1
unimportant, to 5 very important - Personnel management --4--
- Financial control --4--
- Project management --4--
- Leadership --5--
- Counselling --4--
- Mentoring --4--
- Vision --5--
- Organization --4--
- Literacy --4--
- Oratory --4--
- Persuasion --4--
- Time Management --4--
- Innovation --4--
- Team Work --4
- Accounting, budgeting, numeracy, mission were
lower ranked
8The Standing of the Professor
- The questions asked was What do you believe most
enhances the standing of Professors at large? - Again, ranking was on a scale of 1 to 5, where
1 unimportant, and 5 very important. Results - Intellectual Eminence --5--
- Public Service --4--
- Creativity --4--
- Visibility in the media --3--
- Publishing --4--
- Prize winning --3--
- Lobbying --3
- These were all the attributes listed
9Special Issue 1 Top Up Fees
- Do you find the replacement of upfront fees with
zero-rated loans an improvement? - Yes 80 No 20
- Tuition fees will be capped at 3k until 2009-10.
What time horizon do you favour? - Earlier 50 The same 30 Later 20
- Poorer students (about one third) will now get
1.5k living costs, fee remission of 1.2k, and
bursaries of 0.3k, totalling 3k, the maximum
fee proposed under the new bill. Is this - Unsatisfactory 39.2 Just Adequate 27.5
Satisfactory 33.3 - Should Scottish universities follow the funding
proposals for English universities? - Yes 53.3 No 46.7
10Special Issue 2 Protecting the UK Science Base
- How has HEFCEs research funding, based on RAE
ratings, affected the financial viability of
science departments? - Very negatively (47)/negatively
(44)/neutral(7)/positively(0)/very
positively(0) - How desirable is it to increase the concentration
of scientific research into a few departments? - Very desirable(9)/desirable(9)/neutral(6)/undes
irable(45)/very undesirable(39) - How desirable are teaching-only science
departments? - Very desirable(0)/desirable(9)/neutral(6)/undes
irable(40)/entirely undesirable(46) - How financially viable are teaching-only science
departments? - Completely viable(3)/viable(9)/neutral(32)/non-
viable(44)/utterly non-viable(12) - How important is it to maintain a regional
capacity in science teaching and research? - Very important(68)/important(29)/neutral(3)/uni
mportant(0)/entirely unimportant(0) - Should the Government intervene to ensure
continued provision of scientific subjects of
strategic national or regional importance? - Yes(91)/No(9)
11The NCUP Prize Essay
- The National Conference of University Professors
(NCUP) offered prize monies totalling 1000 for
the best three essays submitted to the NCUP on a
given theme - At the discretion of the Prize Committee, three
Prizes were awarded First Prize, 500 Second
Prize, 300 Third Prize 200 - This Prize was open to any UK professor who was
already a member of the NCUP (or who became a
Member of the NCUP before being considered for
the Prize) -
- The topic for the Prize this year was The
Changing Role of the Professor
12Prize Winning NCUP Essays
- Professor Peter Beresford Including Everyones
Knowledge and Experience (Professor of Social
Policy and Director of the Centre for Citizen
Participation, Brunel University) - Professor Susan Bassnett Resistance and
Communication (Centre for Translation
Comparative Cultural Studies, University of
Warwick) - Professor Michael Hyland The Link between
Research and Teaching (Professor of Health
Psychology, University of Plymouth)
13Including Everyones Knowledge and Experience
- Focuses on disability, including mental health
- Notes that recent legislation, emphasising
anti-discrimination, provides opportunities for
wider participation among senior academics - Suggests that extending the diversity of the
professoriate can help us address the
interconnections between the personal and the
academic
14Resistance and Communication
- Argues that prime responsibility involves
ensuring continuity through - The provision of adequate nurturing for the next
generation - Resisting short-term solutions driven by
non-intellectual demands - Further
- Draws a distinction between professorial
leadership in a given research field and
university management - Role of the professor as intellectual leader, and
source of inspiration for younger colleagues, is
important when H.E. is changing rapidly and
subject areas are under threat of extinction - The professor has a fundamental responsibility
both to the university community and to the
community of scholars
15The Link between Research and Teaching
- Research active staff can help to provide
students with understanding, by 'telling the
story' of research activity -
- Supports the traditional university system in
contrast to teaching only universities and
research centres - There is a challenge of developing understanding
in classes with large student intakes - One solution is 'research rotation' where small
groups of students experience the apprenticeship
role within the environment of active researchers
16A New Division of Labour
- The new division of labour applies to the
division of thought - It is not just that we as professors are
specialists in terms of disciplines, we are also
specialists in the way we perform tasks e.g.
teaching, administration, research - The form this new division of thought may take
can vary over time, location and function
17Forms of the New Division of Labour
- Research only Professors
- Teaching only Professors?
- Managing/Administrating Professors?
- Varying emphasis by age, seniority, function,
location and preference - Each may have a different composition of division
of thought at different times and places
18Evolving Division of Labour Professor 1
- Duties Teach Admin Res Manag
- Year
- 1-10 30 10 50 10
- 11-20 25 20 35 20
- 21-30 15 35 20 30
- 31-40 5 40 5 50
- Percentage effort over teaching, administration,
research and management duties
19Evolving Division of Labour Professor 2
- Duties Teach Admin Res Manag
- Year
- 1-10 60 5 30 5
- 11-20 40 10 40 10
- 21-30 20 10 50 20
- 31-40 10 10 70 10
- Percentage effort over teaching, administration,
research and management duties
20Contacts
- NCUP SECRETARIAT
- Mrs Margaret GoodeNCUP SecretariatChemistry
Dept, Grove BuildingUniversity of Wales
SwanseaSingleton ParkSWANSEASA2 8PP - Email ncup_at_swansea.ac.uk
- Tel/Fax 01792 295261
- Or gcr_at_st-andrews.ac.uk