Dr Petrina Stevens, the graduate representative on OU senate, reports from the January meeting…
The OU is still in the boxing ring, fighting for equality for part-time students, and believe me, it’s not pulling its punches. As the OU wants to ensure that part-time students are treated equally with full-time students in all four nations of the UK, it is constantly repeating the message within government circles. Whilst ministers mostly recognise that Higher Education students are not all 18 to 21-year-olds, all MPs need that understanding, to make informed decisions and contributions to the debate.
As I know from my own experience and from your feedback, alumni members considering new courses or postgrad courses are put off by the expense. With regard to repayment of loans for undergraduate study, however, there may be hope. For those already earning over £21k (the salary at which loans must begin to be repaid), an active dialogue is taking place. Martin Bean hopes to gain clarity on repayment arrangements for loans; information to prospective students and support for widening participation in the run up to the White Paper.
Thank you so much for your comments regarding Senate topics. I hope I have covered the concerns around postgraduate loans. Regarding your ideas for income streams, it seems you are in line with OU thinking. Companies often use OU courses within their own CPD and these can be tailored to suit, especially for large companies where the demand will be high. A point was made that companies need to understand the long-term good these courses can bring to them. There are a number of practice-based taught Masters degrees (also postgraduate diplomas and certificates) where students can address company-specific workplace problems through action-research. There is always someone to help on the choice of courses for your staff development plan. For businesses, the Business School (now named the School of Business and Law) should be your first point of contact (see their CPD courses). However, other faculties also provide the same approach to postgraduate study.
Thanks also for the link to The Economist article one of you sent, and for making the point that the OU needs to stress the commercial argument for the value it provides. I know the OU works very hard in this area, but maybe it is time for the alumni to promote the OU within their own areas of work. Through their own biography alumni members could enhance public awareness, (as you suggest) through business websites such as Linkedin.
If any of you have already brought the OU into your CPD programme, it would be helpful to know how you used the OU as an educational provider. This also applies to those places of work outside the business umbrella, such as schools and hospitals who already work closely with the OU. These experiences will be a great help to alumni members who would like to support their workplace development.
As Martin Bean recognises, we are very publicly fighting for wider participation, but it must be acted upon and not just spoken about.