This reports considers the question of university governance and suggests that fundamental changes are needed because the balance of interests in our universities is rapidly changing. Students are increasingly taking on the full costs of their education, the state is moving towards being a loan facility rather than a granting body, and the pressures of competition are driving universities to be more entrepreneurial. Yet, the one unique role of the university, its “neutral space” for the generation and dissemination of knowledge, must still be preserved at all costs. The report looks at emerging questions for this changed new era. Whose interests should institutional governors serve in future? What skills should be required of future governors? And what authority should they hold, or should be held over them?
The UK's only independent think tank devoted to higher education.