Universities ‘diverting money from teaching’
Sean Barrett, senior lecturer in Trinity’s economics department, raised concerns that money intended for university teaching costs is being diverted to fund management-heavy and research-focused changes.
The country’s seven universities — particularly University College Dublin, University College Cork and Trinity College Dublin — have begun major reforms in recent years, consolidating academic faculties into smaller colleges, replacing elected academic officers with managers and increasing research spending.
Mr Barrett questioned the value of the changes and the possible impact on standards of students at entry and the education they receive. He said the shedding of lecturing duties to undergraduates by senior academic staff was unique to Irish universities.
The average subsidy taxpayers make to each student in arts, social science or business is €6,000, but Mr Barrett says the tuition subsidy for a student taking five courses given by a junior staff member is just €500.
“The dilution of the higher education subsidy by universities placing undergraduates in large class sizes, and the downgrading of undergraduate lecturing by universities to cross-subsidise other activities, is seriously open to question from the perspective of taxpayers, students and the wider society,” he wrote in a paper published in the journal of the Institute of Public Administration.
Mr Barrett suggested a more active role for the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) to ensure money voted for undergraduate education is not diverted to other functions, as a remedy to the shortage of checks and balances provided for under the 1997 Universities Act.
“The role of the C&AG should include the examination of projects and project appraisals before resources are spent, rather than merely examining the after-effects,” he wrote.
He said a lack of accountability results from the rise of managerialism and the creation of posts such as executive vice-presidents, directors of research and development and school administrators, with salaries believed to substantially exceed those of academics.
“Elected deans and heads of department will be replaced by this appointed managerial class and extra administrative costs will be required,” he said.
The paper says Irish universities are storing problems for the future by borrowing or running down reserves to finance reforms with doubtful benefits. He said the changes compound difficulties such as reduced entry standards and increased per-student costs caused by prioritising science and engineering.
“There is no evidence that Irish universities or education in general have reduced growth in the economy by favouring arts and business courses at the cost of science and engineering,” he wrote.
Mr Barrett pointed to recent reports ranking Ireland well above average in the proportion of science and engineering graduates from third-level institutions.
