The Stern Review makes some new recommendations for modifications to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) in the United Kingdom. Examples include: the inclusion of all staff; the non-portability of outputs from one institution to another; the proposal that staff can submit 0 to 6 outputs; the use of University-wide environment statements; and University-wide and cross-Unit-of-Assessment impact case studies. What impacts do you think that will this have on UK University research, and research management?
The new framework seems to move the ecology of UK universities closer to a zero-sum game (e.g. the non-portability of outputs between institutions) and to put at job loss risk staff who excels in areas other than research (the forced inclusion of all staff - i.e. those who previously were retained on the payroll because of their heavy teaching and administrative contributions).
So, to use the terminology I deployed in the paper below, the higher education environment in the UK is becoming less lenient and more exacting. Exactly what one would expect from living in neoliberal times.
Article Kinds of environments-a framework for reflecting on the poss...
Hi Colin, briefly:
if implemented for next REF, then probably:
all research staff and most departments entered.
A move to make more staff research inactive
Hirings will be front loaded at the beginning of each REF period
Some staff will have a lot of papers entered and others just one or two.
There will be pressure to close some Departments.
Probation will become tougher to get through for new lecturers.
When hiring you look for potential and whats in the pipeline.
Universities will become more desperate to keep good staff and may find it easier to do so. Cheers John
Dear John,
Your answer seems a good summary. Following that through, we should be now seeing a lot of hirings as we front load as near to t the beginning of the REF period as we can (NB. we are not!)
I provisionally agree on all your other points.
The only one I do not understand is the pressure to close some Departments. Do you mean they are teaching-heavy and therefore will pull down the the University's overall grade? Is that a good enough reason to do so?
Colin
You may be right, but let me muse randomly. Whereas previously Departments could submit as few as 15\%-20% of people get a ranking and use it, now they will have to submit almost everyone. Inevitably some departments who had previously done well will fall. This fall will impact on the University's ranking and may hit applications to the department concerned. Both will be new negatives in the calculus on whether to keep departments going. I think it is possible we will see universities focusing more on what they do best.
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