“The government’s university funding body has backed away from efforts to force Cambridge to end its centuries-old tradition of academics running the institution themselves. The ancient university has agreed to provide more information to account for the public money it receives from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) — more than £181m in the coming year — but has resisted pressure to have a majority of external members on its governing council. Oxford, the only other British university run by a body with a majority of academics, has also been under pressure for years to reform its governance to bring it into line with the structure recommended by HEFCE, and was bitterly divided when this was proposed by the vice-chancellor, John Hood. His proposals were rejected by a vote of the dons at Oxford …” (more)
[Donald MacLeod, Guardian, 20 March]