Challenges of the new century

Pay, quality assurance and other topical matters are bound to dominate next week's annual meeting of the vice-chancellors of Britain's universities. But what is really needed is a broader strategic vision for UK higher education.

In the last of our summer series (right), Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals president Howard Newby reiterates his warning of the challenge facing British universities as the century ends.

His case is pointed up by our report (page 15) of the response by the big North American research universities to the threat from the flexible for-profit institutions that are after their students. If Stanford, MIT and others are promoting distance-learning provision, both publicly supported universities in Britain and the for-profit pioneers need to watch their backs. Business could rapidly drain away. Apart from the Open University, all too few UK institutions have much distance learning to exhibit. London University has its external degree structure and the London School of Economics has put its toe in the water (THES, June 11), but bold initiatives are lacking.

British university teachers are as talented as any but have been grievously distracted by increases in student numbers and assessment overload. Less parochial preoccupations are urgently needed if these skills are to be used to best effect and UK universities are to remain internationally competitive.