Let’s undertake some serious study before giving university status to institutes of technology

THREE issues affecting higher education in this country need serious debate. They are university status for institutes of technology (ITs), funding for universities, and postgraduate training.

Such debate should take account of promotions in Britain of institutions whose performances did not merit university status.

There were 26 universities in Britain the early 1960s. Each had only a fraction of the enrolments in these today. Their calibre of the student was arguably among the world’s best.

The Robbins report then recommended the founding of a number of new universities. Thus 12 universities, including the University of Ulster, were founded on greenfield sites and six colleges of advanced technology were raised to university status.

The new universities have done well; some have world status already, though a number struggled in their early days.

More recently, numerous institutions were given university status. Now there are 100 universities in Britain. Few, if any, of the more recent promotions have had the desired impact.

Employers with whom I have spoken regard a pass degree at a leading university to be better than a first-class honours from some of these newer universities.

Ireland has been conservative in its awards of university status. About 18 years ago it was given to the University of Limerick and to Dublin City University.

These institutions were worthy, based on the calibre of students they attracted and on the impact of their graduates in the sciences and engineering at home and abroad.

But are there enough persons qualified now to fill more university places than we have at this time?

Equally important, do we have the calibre of staff needed for university status in the ITs that seek promotion? The latter can be determined readily if rigorous teaching and research assessment exercises are put in place. The ISI Web of Knowledge will provide the numbers of citations for scientific and learned publications of everyone who is active in research.

It is not the number of publications that is important, but the impact as judged by citations in peer reviewed journals of appropriate status. A minimum 15,000 total citations might be set for each IT (single departments in leading universities abroad will have many, many more).

Also, at least 20 faculty members might each be expected to have more than 300 citations.

Some will argue that people in the ITs have not had the resources to carry out research. I cannot offer sympathy.

Programmes are in place for IT personnel to support students, at least to masters level, and faculty members at universities are generally more than willing to collaborate. There are some exceptional faculty members in some of the ITs, but not all members might relish forfeiting about a half a year of leisure to work at the frontiers of their disciplines.

The calibre of the degree awarded is of fundamental importance. Different institutions will have their specialities, and that is important. However, there should be rigorous assessment of what is taught. A detailed syllabus might be required for each course, and even the content of each lecture assessed.

There should be inspection of the ways that courses are taught.

Finally, for degrees to have high national and international standing, examinations might be set initially by external examiners and marked by them.

Pronouncements by the provost of Trinity and the president of UCD have indicated that the funding of Irish universities has not kept pace with inflation.

These university leaders have not emphasised that faculty heads in Irish universities and ITs are arguably the best paid in the world. Some are worth their pay, but if all were, then we would have seven universities in the world’s top 100 (and not just one).

I wonder why it is that a middle range technician in Irish ITs and universities is worth more than a professor of status in a leading British university?

True, Irish universities are lacking in state-of-the-art equipment that is needed for world-class research. Some overcome that difficulty by collaborating with laboratories abroad.

But if we are to produce world-class researchers it will be necessary to have access to such equipment in Ireland.

Every university and IT cannot have state-of-the-art equipment. Such instrumentation might well be located for all in the region at one centre in the east and one in the west.

The need for 10,000 PhD graduates in the next few years is stressed. A PhD in name only is worthless. A PhD programme lasting for at least four years, and more likely five, is essential.

Advanced examinable core courses are vital in the first two years. IT graduates should be welcome and their project supervision might be shared by faculty in the ITs and at a host university.

Graduates from institutions with a wide range of standards are admitted to postgraduate studies in leading American universities. But to remain enrolled, all must maintain a ‘B’ average.

In effect that means about half survive. But those who survive have huge commitment and are very able.

We must have the same ethos here if our fourth-level training will lead to the frontier research that will sustain the Celtic Tiger through indigenous industries that utilise the resources we have.

Michael Hayes

Aylrue

Labasheeda

Co Clare