Strong opposition to private university

Press, 12 November 1977, Page 11

Strong opposition to private university

NZPA London The first private British university to open in more than half a century, and the only one offering a two-year degree programme, will produce its first graudates at the end of this year. Housed in old Army barracks in a small town about 30km from Oxford, the university college at Buckingham has not received a Royal charter to grant degrees but it offers a “licence” at the end of an 80-week programme which is recognised by other universities —■ but not by the Government — as a degree. The university was set up in 1973 and opened in February, 1976, with 65 students. Now it has 160 students, and there are plans for 250, next year rising to a maximum of 600 in a few years. Its principal, Professor Max Beloff, formerly Gladstone professor of government and public administration at Oxford, said in an interview that the university was set up to offer an alternative to the “education establishment.” “In the ’6os and ’7os the idea of huge factory-type universities developed and was put into practice. We are trying to move back to the tutor-student relationship which was the traditional method of instruction at Oxford and Cambridge. “We can try new things. We believe our roie academically is to experiment.” Undergraduate courses had become far too narrowly specialised recently, said Professor Beloff. “There is a strong case for an approach between that of polytechnics and universities in which all students gain some knowledge of language, maths, science and history even if they are humanities students.” Most Buckingham students —half of whom are British and the other half from 30 countries including the United States, Australia, Nigeria and Malaysia — are reading- law in a programme which has been approved by the legal profession’s governing body. “Our law students do not do quite as many law subjects in two years as undergraduates at other universities would do in a

three-year programme. Instead, they are required to take language and a science course, plus other general studies, to help them cope on the broad level as they will bane io do in the working world,” said Professor Beioff. A course in European studies, including a year of law studied in Aix-en-Provence, France, begins in February to train people aiming for fields such as Common Market law and international business law. “We think people need to attend university to gain the skills needed in the business world, not to become critical of the working world and end by sheltering in the academic world,” one professor said. The university’s outspoken aim, to remain free of State aid which could hamper its independance, has made the first years difficult. Its doors were open at a bad time, in terms of the country’s economic situation. The Labour Government with its firm commitment to abolish the grammar school system, does not look favourably on a new, private university which charges fees of about $3200 a year, according to Professor Beloff. The National Union of Students has campaigned against the university. A Buckingham students Nigel Hawkins, said: “Our students union voted against joining the N.U.S. after it petitioned local authorities not to give even discretionary grants to our students. They called Buckingham a ‘play-ground for the rich’.” The university council has admitted that there is little chance of its obtaining a Royal charter to grant standard degrees under the present Government. But Professor Beloff said that did not trouble him. “The inportance of a degree is the learning that it incorporates and the recognition of other educational institutions if someone wants to complete a post-graduate degree. We have that.” While universities recognise the university’s licences as degrees by admitting Buckingham graduates and accepting trans-

fer of credits, many academics and bodies within the academic world, such as the National Council for Academic Awards, look at Buckingham with suspicion. Buckingham’s academic year runs similarly to schools in New Zealand — from February to December — whereas other universities in Britain have an academic year from September to June. Students at Buckingham are not eligible for the mandatory awards from local authorities that other students in the country may receive. Only two local authorites in the country grant discretionary awards to Buckingham students. But the dean of admissions (Dr J. Clarke) said: “If nothing else, by our very existence we are putting pressure on the establishment to consider starting two-year degree programmes.”