What is education? Guest Speaker (Olive Hopker)

Olive Hopker

Olive Hopker is Head of Planning and Development. She was talking to us about Collaboration VS Competition. At the beginning of the lecture she gave us a handout that we had to read to ourselves for a few minutes about examples of government statements. This handout had a few quotes on it by Leighton Andrews and the spokesman for Welsh Government in Wales. She told us that the Governent is promoting the benefits of collaboration in education covering higher education, local education authorities and 6th form schools. She then gave us some examples of collaboration and competition which are listed below.

Collaboration

• External examiner
• Research projects
• Library access
• ICT
• Academic development

Competition

• Student Recruitment
• Leauge tables
• Research funding
• Staff recruitment
• Development Funding
• Student places

She then said that there are benefits for collaboration including:

• shared expertise and knowledge
• greater efficiency
• cost saving
• greater effectiveness
• enhance reputation
• value of external eye

An External eye is someone who looks at whats being done and suggests ways to make it better.

She then explained the benefits of competition:

• Promotes efforts to do better
• Provides choice of alternative products / services.

She then went on to talk about HEI (Higher Education Institutute) giving examples of benefits and limitations. She also talked about the Regional Dimension to the Planning and Delivery of Higher Education which is directed and controlled by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW). HEFCW is the body responsible for allovcation of public funding for HE across Wales.
HEFCW call for regional strategies with details of course rationalisation and bids for reward funding. She explained the definitions of the three regions:

1. North - Bangor, Aberystwyth and Glyndwr
2. South East - Cardiff, Glamorgan, Newport and UWIC
3. South West - Swansea, Swansea Met and Trinity St David