Having published in the past in newspapers about the changes being brought into English universities, and the problems some of these are causing for both staff and students, I was asked to write on some of these issues by the Think Tank ‘Civitas’. Think Tanks are organisations that perform research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most policy institutes are non-profit organisations and Civitas is an independent Think Tank not affiliated with any political party, but engaging with topics of interest to them, of which education is one.
Like me, Civitas is concerned that the wider public does not really know about the many changes being introduced at universities at the moment, and about the consequences these may have. My piece is specifically about what happens when universities no longer see the people who attend them as students, but only as consumers: www.civitas.org.uk/content/files/thestudentasconsumer.pdf