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This episode of My Imaginary University features Debbie McVitty, Editor of Wonkhe and prominent higher ed commentator who creates a rather special institution, the University of All the Feels or Feels Uni, a place where, as their slogan has it, "when we do something we meant to do it that way."
Debbie gives us a broad sweep of information about the university covering many dimensions of curricula, structure and the student experience. Feels Uni takes the emotional side of things really seriously, soul enrichment is foundational, but students are also expected to look after themselves physically - 6am jogs aren't absolutely compulsory though.
Disciplines are organised a bit differently and students are actively involved in co-creating project-based activity too. It's generally a very curious institution and in addition to lots of questioning students are active participants in governance in a quite distinctive way. As VC Debbie is very much a benign facilitator but leads the way on free speech and emotional maturity. She has also selected an earthy anthem for Feels Uni which everyone can get behind.
A real feel-good higher ed creation. -
In the latest episode of the podcast in which notable sector figures are invited to dream up a fictional university we have Professor Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Birmingham, who delivers a novel idea to improve Parliament, politics and public discourse.
Adam presents us with Democracy University, a very special kind of institution which provides compulsory training for all legislators, who will in future be required to graduate from DU before taking up their elected places. MPs and others receive rigorous training featuring different ways of thinking - from Hobbes to Rawls - well as studying literature and learning how best to evaluate evidence, quantitative and qualitative.
On this leafy midlands-based campus students enjoy a compulsory and stratified residential experience, mixing with other legislators from across the world. The university offers a home to think tanks from across the political spectrum too, to ensure all points of view are covered in both teaching and research. In addition, access to the internet is severely restricted by a vice-chancellor who enjoys all the powers of an absolute monarch. DU's anthem is, appropriately, an impressive Gil Scott-Heron political epic. I hope you agree it's an excellent episode. -
Manglende episoder?
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Season 2 of My Imaginary University kicks off with a thoroughly novel creation from Professor Mark Peace, the newly appointed Academic Director of the King's Experience at King's College London. Mark presents Cuckoo University, an incredibly lean organisation with no buildings and very few staff, which is dedicated to enabling students to make the most of the Lifelong Loan Entitlement, assuming full implementation. (For those with questions about where we are with the LLE under a new government they are advised to have a look at this recent article on Wonkhe.)
The university operates in different places at different times, provides intense learning experiences for students - mainly in newly built hotels - and essentially is the lubricant enabling meaningful learning journeys for a broad learner population.
Cuckoo U offers just one degree, focusing on the unifying discipline of Deliverology, and also uses its convening power to bring institutions together to support wider societal challenges.
The university's graduates are exceptionally successful and as VC Mark has a strong pedagogical rather than managerial focus. He is though banning both acronyms and a number of fonts and powerpoint templates. Although doubts remain about the university's name it does have a very heroic theme tune. -
Our latest imaginary vice-chancellor is Paul Clark, formerly of HESA and UCL and now an independent strategy consultant.
Paul has created a novel institution which is rooted in the past but with an eye very much to the future. There aren’t huge numbers of students on campus at this super-connected ivory tower of an institution but it does have a large online presence. It's a full service university but with a strong leaning towards the humanities, a huge research budget and a temperate northern European location. The university enjoys a light touch regulatory environment and a campus which combines the tradition of All Souls with the modernity of Apple's Californian HQ.
Paul sees himself as something of a compassionately ruthless VC but is nevertheless extremely supportive of the student experience, even if he is largely in favour of banning most academic dress. It certainly ain't no party and it ain't no disco at this most distinctive of universities. -
Time for a further landmark in the My Imaginary University podcast series. It is another live recording but our first at an international conference. This recording was made at the 2024 HUMANE annual conference at the University of Amsterdam and features not one but two imaginary higher education institutions. Our creative presenters are Leon Van de Zande, Secretary General at the University of Amsterdam, and Marianna Bom, Chief Financial Officer at Aalto University in Finland.
Leon's imagined university is the home of Peace and Quiet, a very non-hierarchical institution where there is genuine parity of esteem between teaching and research. The university is city-based with strong civic engagement, an international outlook and a very laid back Vice-Chancellor. No-one there cares about rankings but they do have a nice social environment, just quieter and more peaceful than most and therapy dogs to support students in all parts of the campus.
Marianna presents Transition U, an institution designed for those 50 and above who have messed up their first career and have time to learn to have another go as well as having plenty of disposable income. It’s not just a university for failures though as students at this start up also go on to great careers (indeed some even offer careers advice to students at the University of Peace and Quiet). The university's symbol is a phoenix rising from the ashes, a very apt image for those seeking to move on from their mid-life crises.
The contrast in the anthems for our two universities could not be more striking with upbeat hits facing off against something a lot more peaceful.
Both imaginary vice-chancellors do a great job of handling questions from the floor, making this a really entertaining episode. -
Our innovative creator in the latest edition of the My Imaginary University podcast is sector stalwart and HE consultant at large, Aaron Porter. Aaron's bold university idea is to create an institution dedicated to serving the public sector and educating prospective public service professionals from nurses to teachers to fast stream civil servants. With campuses based in former department stores in both Blackpool and Belfast the university has struck a novel student funding deal with government in return for its strong public service ethos. Student selection is via a potential-judging personality test and the student experience is very much focused on representation rather than nightclubs. The university also runs an academy for aspiring MPs and councillors and guest lectures from Nadine Dorries have proved to be surprisingly popular.
As Chief Executive, Aaron is happy to delegate extensively but is always keen to turn up to graduation. Governance across the Irish Sea is surprisingly straightforward, bans have been banned by government order and the university's anthem is very much not one for the kids. -
My guest on this episode of My Imaginary University is Alistair Jarvis, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Partnerships and Governance at the University of London.
Generously supported by a billionaire philanthropist, Alistair's university is based on three campuses on estates by the sea on the south coast of England, Dubai and Nigeria. The three campuses are equal in every way and every student is mobile, studies other languages and all fees are paid.
The university's campuses really are a special feature: they all have nice beaches and are open, integrated into their communities and offer great food as well as work and 'compulsory volunteering' opportunities.
In educating future socially conscious global leaders the university has a strong access mission, recruits world-wide on the basis of potential and has also just decided to launch into the online realm. However, it remains without a name or an anthem so is running competitions to come up with suggestions for both. Let's hope they are sensible ideas. -
This episode of My Imaginary University stars Johnny Rich, who is Chief Executive of the Engineering Professors' Council and of Push, the independent university guide, among other roles. Johnny is proud to be the Vice-Chancellor of Camford University, a post he was appointed to some years ago with a bold remit to change the ancient institution.
As VC he has instituted a radical approach to contextual admissions and the university is now using AI to support identification of potential, including deploying an alternative version of dating software to help with selection. The university has also adopted a radically holistic student experience which is employability focused and concerned with developing rounded graduates with the ingredients of knowledge, skills and broader character attributes including values.
Students can see the mix of ingredients they need for their chosen career path and engage with an exciting and innovative curriculum which includes real world projects involving local businesses - no town and gown divide here - and student-led elements throughout.
Johnny, although he might don a mortar board every now and then, is not the kind of VC, or 'vision captain', you will find wearing a tie. Camford benefits from its rich history as well as being cutting edge and indeed has the most haunted university building in the world which just happens to be home to a research centre dedicated to proving it isn't actually haunted.
Nothing is banned here except a closed mindset and the university is dedicated to helping graduates build their social capital with the strong support of alumni. Finally we learn that the university's anthem, as voted for by staff and students, is a really revolutionary tune by a very popular contemporary artist. -
This edition of the podcast stars Professor Julie Sanders, Vice-Chancellor and Principal at Royal Holloway, University of London. Julie offers a novel concept, Greenworld Univerisity, a constellation of campuses based on the notion of green world spaces in Shakespeare or spaces of possibility. Her university has a very broad offering - not just Shakespeare - and provides huge flexibility in learning patterns for students who can enjoy the right to roam academically and expect a transformative experience.
Greenworld University has quite a porous structure and also brings in broader support including from the wider community. Many things are green including the campuses whether on leafy or post-industrial sites or indeed online. Research is very fluid too and integrated with education - there are opportunities for collaboration and mobility for staff and students across sites and in and out of industry too.
We also learn about governance, which is distributed across the half a dozen sites in the UK and the others further afield, and the importance of belonging, conviviality, food and spaces of encounter at Greenworld. Distinctively, the university focuses less on competitive sport and more on the shared experience of frequent dancing although there is no space for prima donnas. Cross-national and inter-generational learning is important too, including in student accommodation and in the wider university spaces and there will be plenty of time for Julie, as VC, to interact with staff and students instead of in meetings.
Finally, in an inspired touch, we learn that the Greenworld University anthem is a very fitting tune for those seeking to dream impossible dreams. -
This episode of My Imaginary University is rather longer than usual and follows a slightly different course to previous editions. My guest this time is Professor Sir David Eastwood, most recently, until his retirement, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham but someone with over 25 years of senior leadership in the sector.
David explores some of the history of higher education, starting with medieval universities and their surprising employability focus before moving on to the development of the University of Birmingham and subsequent civic institutions. Noting that many universities now are looking to rediscover a civic mission, recognising that this is not at odds with sustaining an international outlook, we also explore the changes in university governance which used to have a much greater civic input.
We explore the pioneering interdisciplinary approach of Keele from 1950 and the distinctive success enjoyed by the University of Warwick following its very different approach to dealing with the 1981 university cuts. Noting the importance of scale for university success David observes that creating a substantial challenger university is always going to be difficult. Nevertheless, he is prepared to try and moves on to outline his imaginary university which he is confident he can make succeed within the current UK HE environment (assuming a massively generous endowment). Whilst he loves the undergraduate offer this would be an exclusively graduate university with a strong research base.
The university will offer some big set piece events including major presentations by visiting lecturers with the aim of elevating public debate. And it is going to offer some distinctive musical choices from Beethoven to Mahler. It's a great long view of universities through the ages and a novel idea for an extremely well funded imaginary graduate institution from someone with the experience to deliver. -
This episode is a bit of a landmark in the My Imaginary University podcast series. For the first time we recorded the podcast in front of a live and indeed lively audience at this year's Wonkhe Festival of Higher Education at Senate House, University of London. My imagineer this time is Amatey Doku, Senior Consultant at Moorhouse Consulting and he presents us with a genuinely novel package of higher education innovations.
Amatey holds up a black mirror to higher education with his creation of Bandersnatch University, derived from a TV show from a few years ago with a variety of viewer-driven endings. Amatey sets out a really bold vision for his strongly student-oriented university based on five campuses in a number of higher ed cold spots which are a bit different from the norm but each with a huge atrium to host the very important Wednesday night dinners which bring the whole community together.
We learn about the typical week for every student, coaching, individual study, novel learning sessions and a big end of week show and tell session. The university is not concerned with league tables but prospective students find the model very attractive and fans of Call of Duty can find a home here too. Other novelties include committee meetings which last no more than 15 minutes, compulsory plates for catering and rotating famous and yet unmemorable presiding officers at graduation in lieu of a chancellor.
I hope you will agree it is a landmark episode in more ways than one. -
The latest episode in the My Imaginary University podcast series stars Vicki Stott, Chief Executive Officer of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. Vicki's imagined institution is very much in a utopian vein with a near unlimited funding stream (thanks to Bill and Melinda) and little regulatory intervention. The university is described as a coalition of mavericks but where everyone has responsibility for delivering social benefit as well as education and research. Remarkably though the university moves to a different brownfield location every 25 years or so once its key local goals have been met but leaving a powerful legacy behind.
Completely contextual admissions, civic engagement in every course, no exams and free lunches for all are other distinctive features of the institution. Leadership is distributed among those staff who measure up to Vice-Chancellor Vicki's severe criteria which include tattoos and creative swearing. Perhaps surprisingly there is a question mark about the place of the students' union although nothing is banned on campus.
It's a fantastic social experiment with massive social, economic and health benefits and one which I am sure will find favour with many (although Vicki's audibly snoring dog clearly disagreed). Finally there is an exciting and highly relevant crowd-sourced Spotify playlist to listen to afterwards.
You can find the playlist, which has some entertaining selections, here. -
This episode of My Imaginary University features Heidi Fraser-Krauss who is Chief Executive Officer of Jisc. Heidi offers us a distinctive northern university which has been built by the people for the people. Whilst traditional redbrick in some ways it has a strong research portfolio as well as a substantial adult education programme and is a very open campus. The university town benefits significantly from the vibrant multiculturalism and international make up of the institution.
It's not just the campus which is open though - the curriculum is extremely flexible and follows something akin to the Scottish general degree model. Heidi is a very visible and down to earth Vice-Chancellor - a reluctant one perhaps but with no airs and graces and very closely involved with the students' union too.
Distinctively this university has a strong focus on efficiency with the aim of removing unnecessary complexity from its operations in order to deliver savings for investment in education and research.
No-platforming is banned and constructive debate is encouraged as are student clubs and societies of all kinds, but especially for mountaineering, and are rightly seen as key aspects of student life and belonging.
Finally we learn that the university anthem is the powerfully directive tune which provides essential advice for those studying in the north. -
The latest episode of My Imaginary University draws on the creative capabilities of Professor Emma Flynn, outgoing Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at Queen's University Belfast and shortly to start as Provost at the University of Warwick.
Emma offers us the most remarkable and fantastical institution - a World University which seeks to recognise the huge power of institutions across the globe to understand and change the world and lives. This university aims to convene the best people from all parts of the world to collaborate instead of competing to come up with solutions to the big global challenges.
The university's HQ and principal campus can be found sitting above all national and cultural boundaries: in a very large space station. It is staffed by both permanent staff and visiting or seconded academics and business leaders and Emma believes that its global collaborative approach will be a real catalyst for success.
With a curriculum focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and a global research collaborative programme and student mobility scheme it will be overseen by a Nobel Peace Prize winning Chancellor with some astronaut back up.
All in all it is a remarkably out there proposition, which can't fail to take off. And with a genuinely international global anthem from a surprising source it is sure to succeed in this century as well as in the 25th with Buck Rogers. -
This episode of My Imaginary University features Alex Usher who is the President of Higher Education Strategy Associates. Alex is an internationally recognized expert on a range of fields within higher education and is the first My Imaginary Uni podcast participant from outside the UK.
The vision for a new institution is a novel one - Alex is keen to create Rustbelt U, an HEI which will be at the forefront of an economic renaissance and leading on the levelling up agenda in a city somewhere rather like Stoke on Trent or similar in the UK, Europe or North America. Wherever the precise location Rustbelt U is a very externally focused, comprehensive and mid-sized university and has a distinctive matrix organisation of academic disciplines. There is a lot of interdisciplinary activity and a significant investment in curricular specialists to support a different approach to academic design and delivery.
There is work based learning at scale too and plenty of international partnerships built around strong thematic research activity. Students have a different attitude thanks to the integration of work into learning but don't all wear ties. The campus experience is, distinctively, built around a high quality food offer. There is food everywhere and it really drives the campus as well as community engagement.
But this is very much a university in and of its community whether that is in Stoke or Gdansk (and there will definitely be an international rustbelt uni network) and focused on driving regeneration in its area. And as Vice-Chancellor Alex will both promote civility on campus and be a "pain in the ass" in driving forward delivery of Rustbelt's mission. We really just can't get enough of this kind of thing. -
For this edition of My Imaginary University I invite Iain Mansfield, think tank researcher and former special advisor to several government ministers, to create his ideal HE institution. Iain's imagined university has a long history, dating back to the 1330s, and is a small but perfectly formed collegiate institution based in Stamford in Lincolnshire. The University of Stamford delivers on educational excellence and rigour as well as widening participation and specialises in core science and arts disciplines (plus stamp collecting) with a strong liberal arts leaning - all freshers have to study both maths and history. League table ambitions are relatively modest and the university is relaxed about regulation too.
There are some notable features though including the sovereignty of the academic senate, a de-emphasising of efficiency and a strong sense of vice-chancellorial accountability. Not only this, the students' union is an entirely voluntary activity - no student auto-enrolment here - and there is a ban on any kind of collective positions on big issues.
Inspiration is provided both by the Chancellor, a resurrected G K Chesterton, and the university song, Sogno di Volare or The Dream of Flight, inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, which really captures the ambition of the institution.
There are certainly some distinctive features at the University of Stamford across every aspect of institutional operations. -
In the latest podcast in the My Imaginary University series Eve Alcock, Head of Public Affairs at the Quality Assurance Agency, and Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe, present their vision for a rather different kind of HE institution. This university, whilst definitely a campus operation, provides for students primarily on a short intensive block basis, thereby combining both residential and remote learning provision. It is a quite novel structure therefore which is intended to reinvent the way everyone looks at learning but is very much in line with the current lifelong learning policy trajectory.
The model also envisages strong industry links, community engagement and applied learning which ensures that, as Eve puts it, the "employability stats are through the roof" although the leadership is so confident about their metrics they really do not care for the rankings. The university is also a regulator's dream and committed to supporting students within and alongside the curriculum.
The university enjoys a unique co-leadership model where the Vice-Chancellor and the students' union President work closely together on all the big decisions and the SU is in charge of most non-academic expenditure. Furthermore, students are required to spend time on committee work - it's credit rated too - but any mandatory short online learning modules around free speech etc are banned. As are old-style traditional lectures with no thought given to student engagement.
It's a positive vision for a very different kind of university with a new state of mind. Good times indeed. -
In this latest episode of the podcast sector legend Mary Curnock Cook dreams up a challenger institution which is something she wants to turn from imaginary to real. Whilst the branding might need some work, Founders University (FU?) is going to offer a distinctive prospectus for ambitious entrepreneurs, students who want to start their own companies or indeed want to learn about funding others' start-ups.
Mary acknowledges that it will be a tough sell, not least because of the base in Swindon, but believes the emphasis on collaboration, an agile approach to learning and curricular co-creation will really appeal to partners (which is what learners are called here). On offer then is a very different set of business pathways with learning happening in sprints and lots of scrums too. Admission is by pitch combined with other screening but the programmes would be really demanding and guaranteed to lead to positive outcomes.
VCs would provide funding and the VC would be a CEO to avoid confusion. There will be a Chancellor though. There would be a strong emphasis on partner self-organisation and the principal disciplinary sanctions would be reserved for shirkers who let their teams down.
It's a bold vision for a very different kind of challenger university and we can certainly see clearly now why Mary's ambition is to make it real rather than imaginary. -
In this episode Andy Westwood, Professor of Government Practice at the University of Manchester, creates an imaginary university formed from a distinctive combination of redbrick, plate glass and post-92 universities as well as an FE component.
Wrottesley-Rummidge University aims to be more than the sum of its parts and presents itself as a university that doesn't know its place but knows its place. It has a tiny medical school but a huge social science offering. The university has a strong civic mission but also has an international profile which is helped by the multinational make up of the local football team.
The university's federal structure is sufficient to confuse the rankers and it also intends to push back firmly against the various regulatory authorities with the aim of creating a new framework for regulation for the sector.
Music, drink and food are important here and there is a massive students' union building which Andy expects to attract bigger acts than he managed when events manager at Manchester's SU.
The only things banned at the university are service hubs and in terms of the campus vibe, responding to the suggestion it sounds like Paris in the late 60s, Andy proposes the feel is much more South Bank (another football link) than Left Bank.
Wrottesley-Rummidge is a very distinctive kind of federal university then with an unsurprising anthem given its Midlands musical heritage and a very charismatic chancellor too. It's a really enjoyable and creative effort from Andy. -
In the latest episode of My Imaginary University I speak to Douglas Blackstock, former Chief Executive of the QAA about his idea for a novel and non-traditional kind of university. His extremely niche institution, provisionally named the European University for Regulation of Organisations, is handily located in Luton, close to some excellent transport links.
The core idea behind this new university is that it provides courses, at all levels, for both regulators and the regulated and if Harvard are offering programmes in this area then why not. The two different groups study in two separate buildings and segregation is rigorously maintained by means of a linking corridor and a revolving door. Being located close to Luton airport is key for international student recruitment but also for short course provision (in partnership with the Premier Inn).
Douglas is confident of demand, seeing regulation as always having a consistent market, a bit like funeral directors, and is aiming to ensure genuine participation from students, both regulators and regulated, in dealing with every aspect of the university's own operations, from HE regulation, to student codes of discipline.
Finally, Douglas bemoans the lack of a huge donor to support his vision but nevertheless comes up with a strong range of potential university anthems. - Vis mere
