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Is it so good to
talk? Universities are being forced to become proactive in the face of the impending financial crisis that prompted the Dearing report. Many colleges are looking to the business community when generating much-needed income. Offering campus facilities as conference venues has become one of the most widely adopted and effective means of exploiting university resources. Students are no longer the sole consumers in university business and may well suffer as a result. Organisations such as British Universities Accommodation Consortium can now offer 120,000 rooms in sites which provide the equivalent of four-star accommodation and superb lecturing facilities. Because many of the necessary resources would otherwise be redundant over the long summer break, universities can offer highly competitive packages. As such they now command a 10 per cent market share of the "corporate gathering business." Warwick University
has won the magazine Meetings and Incentive Travel's coveted "Best
Academic Conference Venue for businesses seven times since 1990. Its
success in this area has been well publicised: the Independent on Sunday,
the Telegraph and the educational press have all recognised its economic
achievement. Tony Blair paid it a visit in the run-up to the election. And little wonder. Warwick has adopted an entrepreneunal approach which has brought it £6million Profit from this area. It generates 60 per cent of its income through these and other business initiatives and is able to expand despite dwindling government funding. Financial
and managerial improvements have brought with them material and educational
gains for the students. Warwick spokesman Peter Dunne said: "All
the revenue Last year it spent £6 million on student residences as well as £4.2 million on conference and dining facilities and £2 million on two year-round conference centres. Success here has meant that the students, as well as the university, recognise the benefits. Jo Scaife, president of the students' union, is enthusiastic: "Students benefit massively from conferences as the income generated can be ploughed back into the university. The accommodation is so good, the only thing they grumble about is having to leave in the morning for lectures." Rents are kept in line with privately rented accommodation but as utility bills and travel expenses are negated, living on campus is "considerably cheaper". Applications have increased by three per cent. Unfortunately, not all institutions have felt such universal improvements following these developments. The National Union of Students has become increasingly concerned that the "Unnecessary upgrading of accommodation is resulting in increased rents. Students don't necessarily want en-suite bathrooms and small bars of soap." It is sympathetic, however. The spokeswoman continued: "Government funding cuts have forced universities to adopt imaginative solutions, of which conferences are the most practical. They do need to remember their primary purpose, which is education." The University of Kent at Canterbury (UKC) pales in comparison to the Warwick experience. An independent body responsible for residential services - Hospitality (UKCH) - was created two years ago. Since then, student rents have increased by 15 per cent. The university argues this has been necessary to stem the long-term deterioration of accommodation. Many students at Kent believe this move was not made for their benefit but rather that higher prices are necessary to improve the university's competitiveness in the conference market. Richard Barnett, director of Hospitality, justifies the strategy: "All funds generated, approximately £750,000 each year, are used to refurbish and decorate Kent's 3,000 bedrooms. Students also directly benefit from projects such as the £300,000 refit of one university bar. "Every penny I generate above costs is used for regeneration." Despite these reassurances, the trading wing of the university has faced animosity from both students and staff, earning the title, "UKC Hostility." This was heightened during the Lambeth Conference - which happens every ten years at Kent and ended last week - after services were dramatically improved. Helen Rogers, sabbatical women's officer, "felt snubbed" when the university - which had largely ignored a 10-year Relight the Night campaign - put up street level illumination for the Anglican bishops. Students living in one college were equally angered when their dining hall was reopened for the conference after dining facilities had been closed. The prospectus promises fully catered accommodation but residents have to use other college refectories. Stephen Holland, secretary of the Association of University Teachers at Kent, was more pragmatic: "Privatisation of university activities - having to make a profit to offset government cuts - generates a sense of hostility." As the demands of the conference delegates and the now more consumer-orientated student body, both of which bring in income, take priority, he says, "conditions of service are taking a back seat. For example, facilities for academic staff are being eroded." For now, universities are reaping the benefits of exploiting new areas of business but as competition increases, market forces dictate that more areas of academic life are geared towards satisfying the demands of consumers, including fee-paying students. Brendan Montague is editor of Kent University students' union newspaper, Kred. |