Letter: Universities left to fly blind
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We write as 681 deeply concerned academics working in both Oxford and Cambridge. Both universities have in the last weeks held meetings of their respective senates (Congregation in Oxford and the Regents of the Senate in Cambridge) to discuss aspects of the changes currently under way in the funding of higher education in England.
We note with dismay and alarm that universities are being forced to take major decisions, with unknown consequences, at a breakneck speed. We are being asked to "fly blind" over matters of the utmost importance in respect of our ability to continue to deliver world-class education and research.
We, along, with all serious economic analysts, accept that the form and shape of an economically advanced nation's HE system is crucial to its capacity for future growth. But we fear that the proposed new model by which "the money follows the student" will produce random effects in the HE sector, depriving some courses of income streams, and decimating the funding for teaching in some institutions, without any coherent and publicly announced policy in regard to which of these institutions and courses the Government believes should be left to fail. As has been publicly announced, this is to be left to the market to decide.
If, as David Willetts and Vince Cable have said, the HE sector needs to be more diverse, there needs to be an informed and open public debate on how that diversity is to be shaped, what it may consist of and the aims and objectives for wanting to introduce such diversity. Under the current proposals we see the Government's preferred mechanism for delivering these outcomes – "student choice" – as an extremely risky and irresponsible experiment. It appears to rest on no more than an article of faith – a belief in the absolute wisdom of the market.
Given this we ask Mr Willetts and Dr Cable to halt the current plans for implementing this enormously risky legislation with undue haste and until such time as the possible outcomes and consequences of these proposed changes have been coherently and rigorously examined. We believe that a public commission of inquiry is urgently required, properly and fully consultative, and charged with the responsibility of examining these issues. We ask them to set in motion such an inquiry.
Cambridge signatories:
Dr Harry Adamson
Dr Sebastian Ahnert
Dr Mike Aitken
Dr Anne Alexander
Dr Stephen Alford
Dr Salim Al-Gailani
Dr Lori A. Allen
Dr Richard Ansorge
Dr Houshang Ardavan
Dr Gareth Atkins
Dr Hugo Azérad
Dr Michelle Baddeley
Dr Alexi Baker
Dr Michael Banner
Professor Zygmunt G Baranski
Professor Graeme Barker, FBA
Dr Horace Barlow
Professor Sir Patrick Bateson
Professor Sir David Baulcombe, FRS FMedSci
Professor Sir Christopher Bayly
Dr Susan Bayly
Dr Felicitas Becker
Bruce Beckles
Dr Andrew Bell
Duncan Bell
Mr Toby Benham
Amira K. Bennison
Professor Lionel Bently
Emeritus Professor German E. Berrios
Dr Eugenio Biagini
Dr Robin Boast
Dr S. R. Boss
Dr Nazim Bouatta
Dr Deborah Bowman
Professor Richard Bowring
Dr Rowan Rose Boyson
Dr Rob Bracewell
Sir John Bradfield, CBE, PhD
Dr Cecilia Brassett
Dr Michael Bravo
Professor Sarah Bray
Professor Ted Briscoe
Dr Chris Brooke
Dr Jude Browne
Dr Nick Bullock
Mr Christopher Bunn
Dr Anita Bunyan
Ms Joanna Burch-Brown
Dr Brendan Burchell
Dr Bill Burgwinkle
Dr Catherine Burke
Christopher Burlinson
Dr Jeremy Butterfield
Dr Gilly Carr
Professor John E. Carroll
Dr Stefano Castelvecchi
Dr Nigel Chancellor, MA PhD DL
Professor Hasok Chang
Dr Ruth Charles
Professor Monojit Chatterji
Dr Anson Cheung
Christopher Chippindale
Dr Mike Clark
Professor Nicola S. Clayton, FRS
Dr Margaret Cone
Dr Philip Connell
Professor Anne Cooke
Professor Helen Cooper
John Cornwell, MA (Oxon) HonD.Litt, FRSL
Dr Stephen J. Cowley
Dr Joanna Craigwood
Dr Joseph Crawford
Mr T. J. Cribb
Dr Nathan Crilly
Dr Carly L. Crouch
Professor Jon Crowcroft
Dr Martin Crowley
Dr R. A. Crowther, FRS FMedSci
Dr Graham Cunningham
Dr Devon Curtis
Dr Richard Dance
Dr Susan Daruvala
Professor Peter de Bolla
Soraya de Chadarevian
Professor Nicholas de Lange, DD
Dr Sabine Deiringer
Dr Lucy Delap
Professor James Diggle
Ms Jo Dillon
Dr Liz Disley
Dr Martin Dixon
Dr Beci Dobbin
Dr Elizabeth Drayson
Dr Caterina Ducati
H. J. Easterling
Professor P. E. Easterling
Colin Edwards
Dr Karin Ekholm
Dr Mark Elliott
Dr David Ellis
Dr Harri Englund
Dr A.L. Erickson
Dr Ben Etherington
Dr Dafydd Wyn Evans
Professor G. R. Evans
Dr Georgina Evans
Dr Paola Filippucci
Professor Alison Finch
Dr Roy Flechner
Professor John Forrester
Dr Alastair Fraser
Dr Colin Fraser
Dr Andrew D. Friend
Christophe Gagne
Ms Frances Gandy
Dr Sinéad Garrigan Mattar
Professor Vic Gatrell
Professor Philip Gibbard
Dr Nicholas J. S. Gibson
Dr A. M. W. Glass
Heather Glen
Professor Ian M. Glynn
Dr Julia Goedecke
Professor Simon Goldhill
Mr Martin Golding
David Goode
Professor Michael J. C. Gordon
Professor Robert P. Gordon
Professor Usha Goswami
Professor D. O. Gough
Dr Emily Gowers
Professor Hans-F Graf
Dr Mia Gray
Dr Felicity Green
Professor Roger Griffin
Timothy G. Griffin
Dr Boris (Berry) Groisman
Dr Jonathan Grove
Dr Jochen Guck
Revd Dr Malcolm Guite
Dr Dr Khatuna Gvaradze
Dr Maximilian Gwiazda
Dr Cesare Hall
Professor E. W. Handley
Professor Chris Haniff
Professor Philip Hardie, FBA
Dr Philippa Hardman
Dr R. M. Harris
Dr Victoria Harris
Dr Louise M. Haywood
Dr Vanessa Heggie
Dr Alan Hendrick
Ms Maruta Herding
Dr Anita Herle
Dr David Hillman
Dr Catherine Hills
Professor Boyd Hilton
Professor Melissa Hines
Dr Edward Holberton
Dr Marian Holness
Dr Theodore Hong
Dr Nick Hopwood
Dr Alex Houen
Dr Sarah Houghton-Walker
Dr Jana Howlett
Dr Michael Hrebeniak
Dr Hugh Hunt
Dr Emma Hunter
Professor Arieh Iserles
Professor Mary Jacobus, FBA
Hubertus F. Jahn, MA, PhD, Dr. phil. habil.|Dr Lila Janik
Professor Nick Jardine, FBA
Professor Simon Jarvis
Dr C. V. Jeans
Dr Richard Jennings
Ms Sarah Jennings
Ray Jobling
Dr Stephen John
Mr Aylmer Johnson
Dr Charles A. Jones
Dr Mike Rodman Jones
Dr Neil Jones
Mr Peter Jones
Professor Richard Jozsa
Dr Alexandre J. Kabla
Dr Eivind Kahrs
Dr Anne-Sophie Kaloghiros
Dr Johannes Kaminski
Dr Shireen Kanji
Dr Geoffrey Kantaris
Dr Natalie Kaoukji
Dr Shruti Kapila
Dr David Kemp
Dr Kate Kennedy
Professor Simon Keynes, FRHistS, FSA, FBA
Dr Jean Khalfa
Anny King
Dr Lawrence King
Professor Jacek Klinowski
Dr Andreas Kontoleon
Professor Peter Kornicki, FBA
Dr Sandra Korte
Dr Olga Kucherenko
Professor Richard Lambert
Professor Christel Lane
Dr David Lane
Professor Anthony Lasenby
Dr Joan Lasenby
Adrian Lashmore-Davies
Dr Msry Laven
Dr Clive Lawson
Dr Sian Lazar
Lois Lee
Melanie Leggatt
Dr David Lehmann
Professor Angela Leighton
Dr Emily Lethbridge
Dr Tim Lewens
Dr Hallvard Lillehammer
Dr Pei-Yin Lin
Professor M. M. Lisboa
Mrs Corinne D Lloyd
Martin Lucas-Smith
Dr Raphael Lyne
Professor Alan Macfarlane
Dr Robert Macfarlane
Dr Mirca Madianou
Dr Marta Magalhães
Dr Janet Maguire
Dr Alyce Mahon
Dr Jonathan Mair
Dr Nicholas Marston
Dr Stuart Martin
Professor Jean Michel Massing
Dr Neil D. Mathur
Dr Emma Mawdsley
Professor I. Nicholas McCave
Dr Maryon McDonald
Dr P. G. McHugh
Professor David McKitterick, FBA
Professor Rosamond McKitterick
Dr Jane McLarty
Dr Laura McMahon
Mr Allan McRobie
Dr Leo Mellor
Dr A. C. Metaxas
Dr D. R. Midgley
Thomas Jeffrey Miley
Dr Perveez Mody
Dr Iris Moeller
Professor Keith Moffatt
Niklas Möller, PhD
Ms Sarah Monk
Professor James E. Montgomery
Brian C. J. Moore, Ph.D, FMedSci, FRS
Revd Dr Jeremy Morris
Ruth Mugford
Dr Craig Muldrew
Dr Kevin Musselman
Mr Robert Myhill
Dr Ayesha Nathoo
Dr Yael Navaro-Yashin
Professor Robert Neild
Dr Máire Ní Mhaonaigh
Jane Nolan, Ph.D.|Dr Isabel Noronha-DiVanna
Anastasia Norton-Piliavsky
Dr Sarah Ogilvie
Dr Roger O'Keefe
Dr David Oldfield
Professor Robin Osborne, FBA
Dr Stephanie Palmer
Mr Richard Partington
Dr Unai Pascual
Dr Kanak Patel
Dr Ian Patterson
Professor Roger Paulin
Professor Lawrence C. Paulson
Dr Kate Peters
Dr K. C. Plaisted Grant
Professor Christopher Prendergast
Dr Andrew Preston
Dr Claire Preston
Professor Michael Proctor, FRS
Mr J. H. Prynne
Dr Sadiah Qureshi
Dr Robert Ralley
Dr Adam Ramadan
Dr Gabriela Ramos
Dr Roland E. Randall
Revd John Rawlinson
Dr Sophie Read
Dr Nicky Reeves
Dr Alastair J. Reid
Dr Alice Reid
Dr Richard Rex
Michael Rice, MA (Oxford), PhD (Cambridge)
Professor Keith Richards
Professor Ian Roberts, FBA
Dr Eleanor Robson
Dr Pernille Røge
Dr Julius Ross
Dr Lucia Ruprecht
Dr James Russell
Dr Steve Russell
Professor Kenneth Ruthven
Dr Peter Sarris
Professor Simon Schaffer
Dr Pia Schober
Dr Jason Scott-Warren
Professor Ken Siddle
Professor Brendan Simms
Dr Jon Simons
Professor Ajit Singh
Dr Christina Skott
Mr Brian Sloan
Dr Peter Smith
Peter Sparks, MA dip arch ARB RIBA
Ms Michelle Spear
Dr Kate Spence
Mrs Debra Spencer
Dr Thomas Spencer
Professor David Spiegelhalter
Ms Michelle Spring
Professor Peter Spufford, Litt.D., F.B.A.|Nathalie Squire
Dr Florian Steinberger
Dr Adam Stewart-Wallace
Dr Jacopo Stoppa
Alan Strathern
Dame Marilyn Strathern
Dr Zoë Svendsen
Professor Simon Szreter
Dr Trudi Tate
Dr Angie Tavernor
Dr Alice Taylor
Miss Katie Taylor
Ms Emily Thomas
Dr Christopher Tout
Daniel Trambaiolo
Dr Nick Treanor
Dr Gail C. Trimble
Professor David Trotter
Dr Andrew Truman
Dr Oksana Trushkevych
Professor Lorraine K. Tyler, FBA
Stefan H. Uhlig
Dr Olga Ulturgasheva
Mrs Isobel Urquhart
Dr Danielle van den Heuvel
Dr Helen Van Noorden
Professor Megan Vaughan
Sridhar Venkatapuram, MSc MPhil PhD
Dr Vincenzo Vergiani
Dr Piers Vitebsky
Dr Adam Wagner
Dr Marcus Waithe
Dr Jennifer Wallace
Professor Alexandra Walsham, FBA
Professor David R. Ward
Professor Mark Warner
Dr Helen Watson
Dr Peggy Watson
Dr Roger Watson
Dr Ruth Watson
Mr Steve Watts
Dr Teresa Webber
Dr Darin Weinberg
Dr Judith Weiss
Roberta S. Wells
Dr T. O. White
Dr Ruth Williams
Dr Daniel Wilson
Ms Lydia Wilson
Dr Edward Wilson-Lee
Dr Stuart Wimbush
Dr Matthew Wingate
Professor Glynn Winskel
Dr Phil Withington
Professor Daniel Wolpert
Dr B.C. Wood
Mr Vince Woodley
Professor John B. Young
Dr John Young
Ms Mary Young
Dr Nicholas Zair
Dr Nicolette Zeeman
Dr Andrew Zurcher
Oxford signatories:
Ruth Abbott
Dr Michael Abecassis
Mrs Genevieve Adams
Dr Frédérique Aït-Touati
Dr Rowena E. Archer
Dr Walter Armbrust
Dr Matthew R. Arthington
Dr Laura Ashe
Dr Suzanne Aspden
Dr Mark Atherton
Mr Alain Ausoni
Dr Anita Avramides
Dr Jennifer Baines
Professor Ros Ballaster
Professor Marcus Banks
Dr Andrew Barry
Dr Chimène Bateman
Dr Robert Belshaw
Dr Lisa M. Bendall
Dr Mette Louise Berg
Dr Giles Bergel
Dr Michael Biggs
Professor Elleke Boehmer
Mr Andrew M. Boggs
Dr Guido Bonsaver
Professor Georgina Born
Dr Carole J. A. Bourne-Taylor
Dr Rory Bowden
Professor E. L. Bowie
Dr Joy Boyce
Dr David Bradshaw
Dr Timothy Bradshaw
Robin Briggs, FBA
Professor Susan Bright
Dr Marc Brightman
Dr Helen Brookman
Professor John Broome
Dr Catherine Brown
Lesley Brown
Mr Peter Brown
Professor Angus Buckling
Dr Christina D. Buesching, DPhil. MSc
Dr Harvey J. Burd
Dr Theresa Burt de Perera
Dr Ben Burton
Dr Jonathan Burton
Professor Christopher Butler
Dr Sandie Byrne
Dame Fiona Caldicott
Professor Terence Cave
Andrea Cerase
Dr Tak Wing Chan
Mindy Chen-Wishart
Dr William Child
Professor Eric Clarke, FBA
Professor Craig Clunas, FBA
Dr Juan-Carlos Conde
Professor Thomas Corsten
Dr Cathryn Costello
Sir David Cox, FRS
Dr Tony Cox
Professor John Creaser
Professor Roger Crisp
Professor Jonathan Cross
Professor Valentine Cunningham
Dr Bruno Currie
Dr Alexandra da Costa
Dr Patricia Daley
Dr Armand D'Angour
Dr Inge Daniels
Professor Roger Davies
Professor Marian Dawkins
Dr Xon de Ros
Dr Jan-Georg Deutsch
Dr Martina Di Simplicio
Professor Graeme B. Dinwoodie
Dr Robert Douglas-Fairhurst
Dr Carolin Duttlinger
Dr Elisabeth Dutton
Dr Janet Dyson
Jas' Elsner
Dr Sos Eltis
Marie Elven
Dr Elizabeth Ewart
Professor Paul Ewart
Dr David Fallon
Dr Nathalie Ferrand
Professor Robin Fiddian
Dr Peter Fifield
Melanie J. Florence, MA, MPhil
Miss Catarina Barceló Fouto
Professor Donald G. Fraser
Professor Michael Freeden
Dr Paloma Garcia-Bellido
Dr Merryl Gelling
Professor Robert Gildea, FBA
Professor Stephen Gill
Professor Vincent Gillespie
Dr Susan Gillingham
Dr Kathryn J. Gleadle
Dr Stephen Goddard
Dr Erin Michelle Goeres
Dr Manuele Gragnolati
James Grant
Kathryn Grant
Dr Daniel Grey
Dr Ashleigh S. Griffin
Daniel Grimley
Dr Peter Haarer
Dr Volker Halbach
Dr Nicholas Halmi
Dr Heather Hamill
Professor Ralph Hanna
Mr R. M. Hargrave
Professor Stephen Harrison
Professor Barbara Harriss-White
Mr Nicholas Hearn
Dr Emma Herdman
Volker Heuchert, D.Phil (OXON)
Dr Judith Heyer
Professor Edward Higginbottom
Dr Thomas Hinton
Dr Kerstin Hoge
Dr Mike Holland
Dr Tim Horder
Professor Howard Hotson
Dr Matt Houlbrook
Dr B. Todd Huffman
Dr Adam R. C. Humphreys
Professor Gregory Hutchinson
Professor John Hyman
Dr Ben Jackson
Professor Ann Jefferson, FBA
Dr Paul J. Johnson
Dr Peter Johnson, MA, D Phil Oxford; MA, MBA Stanford
Dr Lindsay Judson
Professor Alex Kacelnik
Hilary Kalmbach
David Karlin, PhD
Dr Adrian Kelly
Professor Catriona Kelly, MA D.Phil FBA
Dr Anna Kemp
Simon Kemp
Dr Tarunabh Khaitan
Dr Marie-Chantal Killeen
Dr B. C. A. King
Professor Katrin Kohl
Dr Britt Koskella
Dr Alexander Krasovitsky
Dr Philip Kreager
Tom Kuhn
Dr Helen Lacey
F. J. Lamport
Robin Lane Fox
Carolyne Larrington
Dr Elizabeth Eva Leach
Dr David C. Lee
Professor Karen Leeder
Dr David Leopold
Dr Owen T. Lewis
Dr Conrad Leyser
Mrs Henrietta Leyser
Professor David J. N. Limebeer, MA, PhD, DSc, FREng, FIEEE
Dr David Lincicum
Dr Paul Lodge
Dr L. Lonsdale
Dr Charlie Louth
Professor Vaughan Lowe, QC
Nikolaj Lubecker
Dr Daniel Lunn
Dr Katherine Lunn-Rockliffe
Professor Ernesto Macaro, PhD
Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, DD, FBA
Dr Fiona Macintosh
Professor Laurie Maguire
Professor Martin Maiden, BSc, MA, PhD, FRCPath
Professor Martin Maiden, FBA
Dr Rachel Mairs
Dr Francesco Manzini
Professor Laura Marcus
Dr Sophie Marnette
Mr Kyle Martin
Manon Mathias
Dr Thibaut Maus de Rolley
Dr David Maw
Dr James McBain
Dr Ciara McCabe
Dr Kate McClune
Peter McCullough
Dr Peter McDonald
Professor Martin McLaughlin
Dr John McTague
Dr Michèle Mendelssohn
Dr A. C. Merchant
Dr Quentin Miller
Dr George Molyneaux
Professor A. W. Moore
Dr Gerald Moore
Dr B. Morgan
Dr Llewelyn Morgan
Dr Teresa Morgan
Dr Carolyn Morningstar
Katherine Morris
Boris Motik, dr. rer. pol.
Revd Dr John Muddiman
Professor Stephen Mulhall
Dr Kathryn Murphy
Dr Susannah Murphy
Dr Karma Nabulsi
Dr Chris Newman
Dr George Nicholson
Dr Michael A Nicholson
Professor David Norbrook
Dr Natalia Nowakowska
Dr Edward Nye
Bernard O'Donoghue
Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve
Professor Neville N. Osborne
Professor Nigel F. Palmer, FBA
Dr Dimitris Papanikolaou
Derek Parfit
Dr Sowon Park
Professor Robert Parker, FBA
Dr John Parrington
Dr Georgina Paul
Dr Claudia Pazos Alonso
Professor Christopher Pelling, FBA
Revd Emma Percy
Professor Anthony Phelan
Dr Tamson Pietsch
Dr Fernanda Pirie
Dr William Poole
Dr Oliver Pooley
Dr Richard C. Powell
Dr Jonathan Prag
Professor Sir Curtis Price
Mr Nicholas Purcell, FBA
Dr Diane Purkiss
Dr Josephine Crawley Quinn
Mr David Raeburn
Joshua Randall
Professor Sarah E. Randolph
Dr Joel D. S. Rasmussen
Professor Jim Reed Taylor
Dr Kate Rees
Professor Gesine Reinert
Professor Tobias Reinhardt
Dr Grant Ritchie
Professor Julian Roberts
Professor Ritchie Robertson
Dr Lynn Robson
Professor David Rogers, MA D.Phil. (Oxon)
Professor Suzanne Romaine
Professor George Rousseau, BA, MA, Ph.D, FRHistS
Marine Roussillon
Lucinda Rumsey
Dr Richard Rutherford
Professor Alan Ryan
Dr Cressida Ryan
Dr Reena Sastri
Mr A. V. C. Schmidt
Dr Richard Scholar
Dr Claudia Schrag
Dr Elizabeth Scott-Baumann
Dr David Sergeant
Professor Michael Sheringham
Dr Rebecca Shipley
Dr Steven Sinkins
Dr Emma Smith
Dr Lesley Smith
Dr Olivia Smith
Tim Smith-Laing
Dr Matthew Sperling
Professor Fiona Stafford
Dr Chris Stamatakis
Ms Beate Steinhauser
Dr David Steinsaltz
Dr Giuseppe Stellardi
Professor Tiffany Stern
Ms Allison Stewart
Dr Robin Stinchcombe
Dr Scott Sturgeon
Bernard Sufrin
Professor Endre Suli
Dr Annie Sutherland
Mr William Swadling
Dr Helen Swift
Professor Michelle Szkilnik
Dr Lucy Tallents
Emanuela Tandello
Professor Oliver Taplin
Dr Julie Taylor
Dr Mark Thakkar
Dr Joseph Tobias
Dr Selina Todd
Dr Rowan Tomlinson
Dr Adrianne Tooke
Dr Luke Treadwell
Dr M. Treisman
Dr Emily Troscianko
Dr Kate Tunstall
Dr Marion Turner
Dr Christopher Tyerman
Dr Tobias Uller
Dr Henriette van der Blom
Professor Alain Viala
Professor Heather Viles
Professor Angela Vincent, FMedSci
Professor Annette Volfing
Dr Josephine von Zitzewitz
Dr Jake Wadham
Professor Keith Ward, FBA
Professor Alan Ware
Dr Caroline Warman
Professor Ralph Wedgwood
Joanna Weinberg
Professor Martin L. West, D.Litt., FBA
Stephanie West
Dr Mary Whitby
Dr Tim Whitmarsh
Professor Richard Whittington
Professor Chris Wickham
Dr Stuart Wigby
Professor Andreas Willi
Dr Abigail Williams
Dr Claire Williams
Mr Gavin Williams
Dr Hannah Williams
Dr James Williams
Seán Williams
Dr Stephen G. Williams
Dr Wes Williams
Professor Andrew Wilson
Dr Matthew Wood
Dr Jennifer Yee
Dr Jarad Zimbler
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