Exeter's University

Jeremy Black

Description

Tracing the development of the University of Exeter over the six decades since it was granted its royal charter in 1955, this book tells the history of the institution and its community. Jeremy Black draws on a wide range of resources, from archival material to the personal recollections of staff and students. He records and analyses the story of the university as it engaged with the need to expand and evolve while responding to constant financial and political pressures. The book includes interviews with leading university figures, contributions from former students, and a postscript looking to the future. It charts the University of Exeter’s changing place in the world of higher education.

from the author’s Preface …

'In 2013–14, I wrote The City on the Hill: A Life of the University of Exeter, which was published in 2015 as part of the university’s Diamond Jubilee. That extensively illustrated and very heavy book is a worthy memorial. This is a

different book: it draws on some additional research, while the opportunity to rewrite the study, and bring it up to date has proved welcome. The work has been greatly eased by the great friendship and wonderful co-operation I have

encountered. Staff and students, past and present, have given much time, to pass on information and opinion, to answer questions, and to read and comment on drafts.'

Preface

The Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors

Abbreviations

1. Introduction

2. The 1950s: The New University

3. Into the 1960s: Major Expansion

4. The Later 1960s: Social Change

5. The Early 1970s: The Brakes Go On

6. The Later 1970s: A Divided University

7. The Early 1980s: Crisis for an Old Order

8. The Later 1980s: Difficult Years, Again

9. The Early 1990s: Change Starting

10. The Later 1990s: New Strategies

11. The Early 2000s: Restructuring

12. The Later 2000s to the Present: the Big Bang

13. Into the Future

14. Conclusions

Sujets

• Maison
• Maison
• HISTORY
• EDUCATION
• Histoire
• Sudoeste de Inglaterra
• Reference
• University
• University of Exeter Press
• Higher
• History of education
• Level
• General officer
• Ireland
• South West England
• School
• Higher education
• History of Europe
• Educational psychology
• Stephen Ireland
• Great Britain
• General
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: University of Exeter Press
• Date de parution: 02 mai 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781905816071
• Langue: English

Extrait

Exeter’s University
Tracing the development of the University of Exeter over the six decades since it was granted its royal charter in 1955, this book tells the history of the institution and its community. Jeremy Black draws on a wide range of resources, from archival material to the personal recollections of staff and students. He records and analyses the story of the university as it engaged with the need to expand and evolve while responding to constant financial and political pressures. The book includes interviews with leading university figures, contributions from former students, and a postscript looking to the future. It charts the University of Exeter’s changing place in the world of higher education.
Jeremy Black is a leading scholar in the field of British history and the author of more than one hundred books. He has held the Established Chair in history at the University of Exeter since 1996.
Exeter’s University: A History brings to a wider audience an updated version of the story first published by Jeremy Black in The City on the Hill (University of Exeter, 2015).
from the author’s Preface …
“In 2013–14, I wrote The City on the Hill: A Life of the University of Exeter , which was published in 2015 as part of the university’s Diamond Jubilee. That extensively illustrated and very heavy book is a worthy memorial. This is a different book: it draws on some additional research, while the opportunity to rewrite the study, and bring it up to date has proved welcome. The work has been greatly eased by the great friendship and wonderful co-operation I have encountered. Staff and students, past and present, have given much time, to pass on information and opinion, to answer questions, and to read and comment on drafts.”

for David Morgan-Owen and Robin Swinburne
First published in 2018 by University of Exeter Press Reed Hall, Streatham Drive Exeter, EX4 4QR, UK www.exeterpress.co.uk
© 2018 Jeremy Black
The right of Jeremy Black to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Hardback ISBN 978 1 905816 06 4 Paperback ISBN 978 0 85989 443 2
ePub ISBN 978 1 905816 07 1 PDF ISBN 978 1 905816 08 8
Cover image: Painting of buildings on the Streatham Campus © Lowe. Photograph courtesy of the University of Exeter The publishers have made all reasonable efforts to identify and contact the copyright holder of the image.
Typeset in Goudy by Forewords, Oxford
CONTENTS
The Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors
Abbreviations
Preface Chapter One Introduction Chapter Two The 1950s: The New University Chapter Three Into the 1960s: Major Expansion Chapter Four The Later 1960s: Social Change Chapter Five The Early 1970s: The Brakes Go On Chapter Six The Later 1970s: A Divided University Chapter Seven The Early 1980s: Crisis for an Old Order Chapter Eight The Late 1980s: Difficult Years, Again Chapter Nine The Early 1990s: Change Starting Chapter Ten The Later 1990s Chapter Eleven The Early 2000s: Restructuring Chapter Twelve The Later 2000s to the Present: The Big Bang Chapter Thirteen Into the Future Chapter Fourteen Conclusions
Notes
Index
THE CHANCELLORS Mary, Dowager-Duchess of Devonshire 1955–1972 Viscount Amory of Tiverton 1972–1981 Sir Rex Richards 1982–1998 Lord Alexander of Weedon 1998–2005 Baroness Floella Benjamin 2006–2016 Lord Myners of Truro 2016–Present
THE VICE-CHANCELLORS Sir James Cook 1954–1966 Sir John Llewellyn 1966–1972 Professor Harry Kay 1973–1984 Sir David Harrison 1984–1994 Sir Geoffrey Holland 1994–2002 Professor Sir Steve Smith 2002–Present
ABBREVIATIONS ADC Academic Development Committee APC Academic Policy Committee ASA Academic Staff Association AUT Association of University Teachers COSGOD Composition of Senate and Governance of Departments CUC Combined Universities in Cornwall CVCP Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals of the Universities of the United Kingdom DES Department of Education and Science DVC Deputy Vice-Chancellor EAUT Exeter Association of University Teachers EGM Extraordinary General Meeting fte full-time equivalent HEFCE Higher Education Funding Council for England IMF International Monetary Fund LEA Local Education Authority NSS National Student Survey NUS National Union of Students PMS Peninsula Medical School PRC Planning and Resources Committee PVC Pro Vice-Chancellor QAA Quality Assurance Agency RAE Research Assessment Exercise REF Research Excellence Framework RLA Readers and Lecturers Association, initially Association of Readers and Lecturers SHiPSS School of Historical, Political and Sociological Studies STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics TES Times Education Supplement THES Times Higher Education Supplement UFC Universities Funding Council UGC University Grants Committee UUK Universities UK VC Vice-Chancellor VCEG Vice-Chancellor’s Executive Group
Board of Senate was the body established to meet before Senate and deal with all unreserved business.
1981/2 indicates the university year 1981/2, i.e. from the autumn of 1981 to the end of the summer of 1982.
In pre-decimal currency £1 = 20 shillings (sh) = 240 pennies (d). Therefore 1 shilling equalled 5 new pence.
Votes are given as pro – anti – abstentions. If there are only two figures they are for pro and anti.
PREFACE
A community as well as an institution, a university has a history that is of its own, with committee calling to committee from hillocks of power while staff and students toil in the valleys (well sometimes). A university, as community and institution, experience and aspiration, is also a reflection, willing or unwilling, of wider social and political currents. This element does not tend to receive due attention in university histories, which focus on the internal history and generally treat outside intervention as a malign case and cause of fiscal pressure. That leads to the somewhat disassociated character of these university histories; but that is not the goal or the method here. Instead, the relationship between the University of Exeter and the wider world is an integral part of the story, not an episodic add-on. With long-standing interests in Africa and the Arab world, the university has never been parochial.
In 2013–14, I wrote The City on the Hill: A Life of the University of Exeter , which was published in 2015 as part of the university’s Diamond Jubilee. That extensively illustrated and very heavy book is a worthy memorial. This is a different book: it draws on some additional research, while the opportunity to rewrite the study, and bring it up to date, has proved welcome. The work has been greatly eased by the great friendship and wonderful co-operation I have encountered. Staff and students, past and present, have given much time, to pass on information and opinion, to answer questions, and to read and comment on drafts. Without this help, the study would have been much lessened. It has proved a particularly opportune moment to undertake research, as there are still staff, both academic and administrative, from the 1950s, for example Ken Schofield and Reg Erskine respectively, able to offer me shrewd judgements. They have also provided the sense of an institution whose culture at times can appear as those of earlier centuries, as opposed to that of only sixty years ago.
I have benefited from the friendly help provided by the staff in Research Commons and from the loan of personal and other papers and material, notably by Martin Biddle, David Catchpole, Kenneth Coe, John Noel Dillon, Mike Duffy, Nick Eastwood, Jeannie Forbes, Bob Higham, Richard Hitchcock, Geoffrey Holland, Roger Kain, Janice Kay, Stephen Lea, Ian Powell, William Richardson, Brian Ridge, Ken Schofield, Russell Seal, Malcolm Shaw, Michele Shoebridge, Mike Weaver, Stephen Wilks and Peter Wiseman. I would like to thank James Hutchinson for facilitating access to the Guild [Student Union] records. For this version, I have been helped by comments from David Allen, Simon Baker, Jonathan Barry, David Batty, Barrie Behenna, Bruce Coleman, Malcolm Cook, Kate Davison, Melody Dougan, Mike Duffy, Christine Faunch, Simon Holme, Rob Johnson, Janice Kay, Jacqui Marshall, David Morgan-Owen, Malyn Newitt, Tim Niblock, Ryan Patterson, Philip Payton, Steve Smith, Adrian Stones, Robin Swinburne, Nick Talbot, Andrew Thorpe, Christopher Thorpe, Richard Toye, Oliver Warman, Stephen Wilks, Peter Wiseman, Michael Wykes and George Yagi. It is a great pleasure to dedicate this book to two former students, now friends, and, in doing so, to recognise the satisfaction of staying in touch with so many former students.
Unless otherwise indicated, footnotes refer to documents in the university archives, although, as an instance of the range of other material available there exist totally unfair, but brilliantly dubbed, sections of the 2004 film Downfall . ‘Exeter University Hitler Rant’ relates to the disruption to student life caused by building projects, while ‘Exeter University Hitler Downfall Parody’ discusses student admissions. 1 Sources need interpreting. A blast from the past occurs in the minutes of the meeting of Works Committee on 8 October 1965:
It was agreed that permission be given to members of staff wishing to shoot over the estate with either shot gun or .22 rifle for the purpose of keeping down vermin, provided that this took place in the early morning and was covered by third party insurance.
This was an echo of the university’s background in an agricultural county and with a staff many of whom had fought in ‘the war’. However, before assuming that 1960s’ Exeter echoed to the sounds of staff shoots, with students risking life and limb accordingly, an historian knows the need to read many, many series, so note the qualification in Council minutes a month later: ‘The Council resolved that