She didn´t think she needed a Plan B when she set out to achieve her masters with the Open University. But now the plug´s been pulled on all OU Faculty of Social Sciences postgraduate programmes, and she´ll miss out by just one month, Carrie has fallen unexpectedly foul of Government cuts...
And so the budget cuts begin to strike down on us with the doggedly ferocious tenacity of a terrier nipping at a cankle; scuppering plans, halting progress and basically making a mess of things for a lot of people.
Of course we all knew it was coming, but we’re all so typically English and work hard to nurture our stiff upper lip and shake it off by flippantly proclaiming that “it won’t affect us, it’ll only affect other people” (other people who just so happen to be making the self same aquatic pilgrimage on the self same sailing vessel as us perchance? Thought so).
I must admit that so far the changes put in place by the new Government haven’t really bothered me. I don’t care that VAT has gone up, I buy expensive things so infrequently and live sufficiently well within my means that a change such as that actually has little impact on my day to day life. I didn’t expect that the rise in tuition fees would have any impact either; I’m midway through my last undergraduate module so I’ll have finished my honours degree before the backlash hits. Or so I thought.
An announcement has gone up on the Faculty of Social Sciences website to say that all Postgraduate programmes are being taught out and won’t be available after 2014 (which means the last intake for the first compulsory module is May 2011, BEFORE I finish my BSc Hons). I was intending on starting post grad study with the OU this winter so when I read the news my heart not only sank, but I felt as if the rest of my life was being held under water and slowly and painfully drowned while I was made to watch on in sickening horror.
I don’t expect non-students to understand fully; when I told my parents about it they were upset for me, obviously, but they didn’t really understand how devastated I was. I was in floods of angry tears because all I could focus on was the withdrawal of my planned MSc and the mutilating thought of not being able to complete the journey I’ve so excitedly planned out for myself and proudly announced to my peers on the world wide web. When I spoke to a friend of mine about it she asked what my Plan B was. Plan B? Why would I ever have made a Plan B, the OU has been on the go for decades, nothing’s going to happen to jeopardise their existence so nothing with them would ever change. Plan B? Plan Bs are for the pessimistic and faithless among us. Well, who’s faithless now eh?
Well, not me actually. I’ve managed to overcome my grief having had a couple of days of reflection. I usually find that given a good night’s sleep most problems dissipate and grant you a fresh perspective anyway so I’ve succeeded in getting beyond my extremes of anger, frustration, fear and despair. And I’ve since formulated such a Plan B which involves an MSc which I can embarrassingly say is, in some ways, better suited to me than my Plan A, with the exception of one slight problem; It’s not with the OU. Again, I don’t expect non-students or even brick uni students to understand, but being an OU student is different. For at lot of us it’s a lifestyle rather than just a simple choice of one uni over hundreds of others. A friend said he studies with the OU for “emotional and practical reasons” and I’m exactly the same. An increasing number of other universities offer distance learning so from a practicality point of view there’s little difference between them, but after nearly eight years with the OU I’m emotionally tied to it; it’s my longest ever relationship and the thought of that relationship breaking down is gutting. So in formulating my Plan B I had to ensure that it still includes OU study but it does so in the form of occasional short courses in subjects I’m interested in but don’t want to commit 60 credit points and hundreds of pounds to alongside the post grad study.
I can’t abandon the OU because of their decision to withdraw from post grad Social Science study. It’s not their fault. I’ve no doubt if it was feasible for them to continue to run the post grad modules then they would’ve done and I can’t imagine this is a decision the Faculty took lightly at all, but this marks the first of the Governmental changes which has had an impact on my life.
Lesson learned for the future: ALWAYS have a Plan B, and should you ever have to implement Plan B, make a Plan C.
Comments
Carrie - I feel for you. There is something very special about the OU - and it is different to other institutions. The sense of belonging is stronger somehow that with a 'brick' uni - and I say this as someone who studied at a 'brick' uni until my health got in the way.
The OU offers opportunities that just don't exist elsewhere. Many students are not just signing up to modules, they are signing up to its philosophy. I suspect the same is true for many staff - they work for the OU because they believe in its philosophy.
It must have taken a huge amount of effort to create the postgraduate social sciences programme, and it must be heartbreaking to see that work slowly fall apart as each module in turn admits its last ever student intake. Like you, I can't believe the faculty took the decision lightly.
Sadly, I don't think this will be the last area of retreat the OU makes. Many worthwhile modules and qualifications have disappeared from the OU's portfolio over the past year since I started my OU studies. Unfortunately, modules and qualifications have to pay their way. It is becoming increasingly hard to justify running a specialist level 3 or postgraduate module that only admits 200 students a year - so only 1000 students before the update / rewrite / retire decision that typically comes after five years. On the other hand, the OU has to offer a sufficiently enticing portfolio of modules and qualifications to attract new students.
I've seen enough not to have my heart set on any particular route, as the modules may no longer exist by the time I'm ready to study them. Fortunately, my study plans are pretty much set for the next four years as I work my way through the four compulsory 60 credit modules for a law degree. In my final year, I will choose from whatever is available then and fits within the six years allowed for a Qualifying Law Degree.
As you say, we never want to think the cuts will affect us.
Though I do well with most of the NHS, I've always had problems with our local Community Health Services. Tonight will be my fourteenth night sleeping propped up on the sofa due to their inability to sort out a replacement for my collapsed specialist mattress (I've been promised I'll get one in the morning, but they've already let me down once this week). I've spent the best part of a year now fighting them to replace my 7.5 year old wheelchair, which is falling apart. I realise that the NHS is on standstill budgeting, rather than cuts, but it is clear this service is only going to get worse over time as inflation and increased demand force cuts in service provision.
I will be caught by the upcoming abolition of Financial Support. Unless there is any continuing support for students who have had support so far, I will likely have £6150 of fees at 2011 prices to fund to complete my law degree (most OU law courses are £2050 for 60 credits). If I had any inkling that Financial Support could disappear, I would have thought twice before committing to a study pathway with such high fees. Of course, significant fee increases are coming, though the ray of hope there is that OU law courses are run in partnership with the College of Law, a private institution that receives no state support. Hopefully this will mean the upcoming fee rises are proportionately less than for courses the OU runs without a partner, as the OU only takes a portion of the total fee.
I hardly want to think about the upcoming changes in disability benefits. It is not my fault I'm the way I am. I worked when I could. I am doing my best to work towards a possible future career by studying with the OU, but, for now, there's no way I could work. Completing a 60 credit law module last year was a huge achievement.
All the best with Plan B - and here's hoping you can keep an ongoing link with your OU.
Many many thanks for your comment David, I think you hit the nail on the head when you said students are signing up to the OU's 'philosophy'. I want to continue to be a spokesperson for the OU so it's a shame my workload has in essence had to increase to maintain that link, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Sounds as if you're having trouble with the cutbacks yourself, it's a sad fact of society that we're both jointly responsible and jointly affected by the actions of ourselves as a whole. I tip my hat to you for making the effort to overcome a situation whose alternative would be to survive off the state.
I am currently doing a Masters in Social Science so you probably think I am lucky and maybe I am but.... It means I have to be done by a certain date, courses can't be taken in the order I wanted to as they are withdrawn and I have to study without a break to ensure I am done by the required date, leaving me no margin of error and no room to fail : ( No pressure then!
Sorry Carrie, I may have misunderstood but I believed that the OU were CHANGING their postgrad Social Sciences not DOING AWAY with them altogether, so were you not able to wait for the new courses to be set and then take the new courses to achieve your qualification?
I'd love to hear about how you approached making your Plan B Carrie. I'm a long way from your situation, with nearly five years undergrad to go, so anything could happen by then. However I had a look around at alternative postgrad options, and to be honest didn't find much distance learning with some tutor support.
Good to see there's light at the end of the tunnel !
David
Snoopyd - they have plans in the pipeline for a whole relaunch of the postgrad programme (I'm on the Social Science faculty committee as a Central Rep so I got a talk about it at the last faculty meeting) but the plans to relaunch have been postponed and they don't know until when. I COULD wait for the new programme to be launched, but don't have time for that. My plan was to go straight on to an MSc then start applying for PhD scholarships so I didn't want any gap in study, I just want to crack on and get stuck into it. All part of my "7 year plan".
David - it wasn't that difficult actually, I just [insert name of popular search engine here]'d "Social Science distance learning postgraduate" and started browsing through what came up. It took a while because most of the results were in fact part time courses rather than distance learning which is no good for me as I work full time 9-5 and can't change that, but I stumbled across a fantastic website which brought up a lot of options:
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/search_courses.htm
I filtered through the options and eventually found my Plan B.
http://prospectus.ulster.ac.uk/course/?id=9178
Hi Carrie,
I feel the same way. I had it all planned - a Master in Research as soon as I finished the undergraduate degree next year in summer.
Now I feel I have to re-evaluate all options as well as needing more financial resources to continue.
I had considered a brick and mortar university here in Ireland but love the way the OU works and it suits me perfectly as I work full-time like you.
I hope you plan B is a success and wish you all the best
I think the above comments about the unique philosophy and social mission of the OU are very important, particularly in this era of HE cuts. I also think efforts should be made on a collective basis to preserve this.
Towards that end, there's a group of us who've started a broad activist coalition of OU UG students, PG students, staff and alumni in an effort to mobilise in order to protect the unique social mission of the OU, and also in opposition to HE cuts more generally. If anyone's interested in joining us, you can find our blog here: http://ouactivists.wordpress.com/ and our Facebook group here .
Hi Marc, look out for the relaunched Platform over the next week or so. Plenty of scope there to go into a new 'groups' are and tell people about the blog (have added it to the blogroll) and Facebook group in order to drive more traffic.
Jane
Platform editor
Brilliant, thanks Jane.