EAST YORKSHIRE UNIVERSITY

East Yorkshire University is a tertiary education establishment in Kingston, a city on the East coast of England. In recent years the organisation has undergone rapid and traumatic transformation, from a College of Higher Education to a Polytechnic, and now to a University. The reasons for these changes have been mainly political, central government wresting control of some higher level educational establishments from local authorities.

However, this government inspired move resulted in the University losing £3.5m annual 'topping up' funds from the local authority, but also meant that the institution had the potential to be more flexible in its operations and offer serious cost effective competition to the older established Universities. The new Universities (formerly Polytechnics) operate basically on very high student/staff ratios and offer little in the way of serious academic research, hence their cost structures are somewhat lower than the older Universities, which generally operate on much lower student/staff ratios and attach much greater importance to research.

When East Yorkshire University was a College of Higher Education it was organised on five different sites (one of them 35 miles away in Gormsby). Subsequent to the granting of Polytechnic status (in 1990) the institution was consolidated onto just three (all within walking distance of each other) and all located in close proximity to the University of Kingston (12,500 students). East Yorkshire University's new status came at a time when it had over 7,500 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) students and has set itself an objective of achieving a 60% increase in those numbers in the subsequent 8 years.

The city of Kingston also has an enterprising Further Education College which mainly offers courses up to, and including, "A" level standard, but which offers some post "A" level courses, such as the Chartered Institute of Bankers Foundation course, and the Institute of Housing examinations.

In 1990, the then East Yorkshire Polytechnic restructured into five faculties;

Campus "A" :
(1) East Yorkshire Business School (formerly the Business faculty),
(2) Science.

Campus "B" :
(3) Art
(4) Catering/Leisure management

Campus "C" :
(5) Social Sciences

Serious consideration has been given to the possibility of closing the Arts and Science faculties because they attract relatively small numbers of students. This would result in cuts in academic staff of approximately 10%. Within the last year a large portion of the Science building has been given over to staff from the Business faculty. A 'loss making' course 'Industrial Chemistry' has been abandoned, much to the disgust of several large local employers. The University of Kingston has taken up the course and guaranteed its future.

East Yorkshire University offers a wide range of courses from sub-degree (such as HND/HNC), through post-graduate and post-experience courses (including Master of Business Administration [MBA], Diploma in Management Studies [DMS]). Seventy percent of all students are from within the county of East Yorkshire. In the academic year 2002/2003, East Yorkshire University attracted just eight candidates to its three year part-time MBA programme (it needs at least 15 to be viable). These eight students were merged with approximately nine DMS (Diploma in Management Studies) students for classes. They were quickly 'de-merged' when both sets of students complained.

East Yorkshire Business School

Business courses are in great demand at East Yorkshire University, and it is for this reason that the Business faculty has been re-designated 'East Yorkshire Business School'. It is estimated that 50% of all East Yorkshire University's students are on a Business or Business related course, and that 70% of all students at the University take some business or business related subjects irrespective of the course they are pursuing. The average "A" level points score of full-time students is 10 (equivalent to two "D" grades and one "E" grade).

In the year 2002/2003 the East Yorkshire Business School generated a surplus of £2m whereas East Yorkshire University as a whole generated a surplus of only £1m. The latest figures indicate a deficit of £0.5m for 2003/2004.

The East Yorkshire University administration would like to continue with its policy of widening access to all courses, especially part-time courses, such as the BA (Part-time) scheme it operates. Many of the candidates on this scheme (currently numbering 560) have few, or no formal qualifications.

The University had established strong links with a number of Continental countries (particularly Holland, Germany and France) mainly through its highly successful BA European Studies, a broad based business degree on which students are expected to take the opportunity to study in one or more 'foreign' countries during the four years of their course. However, three of the five European partners recently pulled out of the arrangement amid some controversy. Some of the European Universities had apparently discovered that their students, spending an academic year at East Yorkshire University, had been attending classes with students from 'low quality' institutions in the same country. East Yorkshire University quickly found new partners.

Teaching and Residential Accommodation

Accommodation at East Yorkshire University has been something of a problem over recent years. Halls of residence (located on and off campus) provide accommodation for a maximum of 1,500 students; the rest are left to fend for themselves in the highly variable private rented sector of the property market which, since the government's recent reform of this sector, is showing signs of contraction. Within the last year one of the 'on campus' halls of residence has been converted into staff accommodation.

All three campuses are restricted in terms of land for development. On campus "A", for example, plans to convert the tennis courts into a car park caused widespread alarm. The Students Union condemned the idea, pointing out that potential students would be looking beyond mere academic distinction to the provision of 'social facilities'. The plan went ahead. East Yorkshire University was granted permission to build a 1,000 seat lecture theatre on spare ground towards the rear of the campus. The plan was abandoned.

The Students Union has also complained bitterly of the difficulties experienced by students (particularly part-time students in gaining access to computer facilities and library books essential to their studies. All first year students at the University are required to take IT (Information Technology), and many lecturers demand that assignments be word-processed.

Both the library and computer centre are open Monday to Friday 8:30 am to 9:00 pm, and 9:00 am to 12:30 pm on Saturday (during term time).

Timetabled hours for students fall within the following times:

Full-time students 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday through to Friday, (no classes Wednesday pm).

Part-time students 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm Monday through to Friday

Staffing

One of the first acts of the East Yorkshire Polytechnic administration immediately after its removal from local authority control was the 'restructuring' of the administrative and ancillary staffing arrangements. The administrative function (secretaries, typists, clerks) on each campus was 'centralised' into one building on each of the campuses. Departmental secretaries, for example, became faculty secretaries as the departmental structure was abandoned in favour of the faculty structure. This move resulted in a good many redundancies and demotions, but also produced some promotions. Other staff including gardeners, caretakers, maintenance workers and cleaners were also cut back.

These and other, similar, acts were interpreted by some to be the act of a management somewhat nervously 'settling in ' to their new roles/responsibilities. Many staff were hopeful that things would change in the future.

The University had seven Readers (senior staff responsible for research and the encouragement of research among other staff members) in the Adademic year 1987/1988. There are currently two Readers (both in the East Yorkshire Business School). Staff have been informed by memo that there are no promotion posts (from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer) available 'in the forseeable future'. However, new staff have been appointed to posts not available to incumbent staff and some new posts have been created. For example, the University of Kingston has created several Professorial posts. Arthur Prince, who was the Principal when the organisation was merely a College of Higher Education, had a brief spell as Director when the organisation became a Polytechnic, but is now Vice Chancellor of the East Yorkshire University. He is also now a Professor.

The latest round of pay talks between the lecturers' Union and management has resulted in what a Union spokesman termed 'a derisory offer' of 1.25%. The Union advised members not to accept the pay deal. Dissatisfaction persists and, in recent months, two votes of ‘no confidence’ in the Vice Chancellor have been passed.