dear all,
I fully agree with the points made by colleagues so far, and wd like to make a couple more observations.
(a) it seems to me that the year abroad fees issue needs to be taken on as matter of urgency not only by the subject centre in southampton, but also by ucml as the national representative body for mod langs in the uk: we need face to face meetings with relevant ministers.
(b) there is also the issue of erasmus students - and self-funded eu students - studying in the england: this will affect degree programmes across the board, and my fear is that under the new fees regime, erasmus etc study in the england will implode - which may lead to loss of our partnership agreements with ec unis in a wide range of subject areas. I would like to hear a public statement from dave willetts on the govenrments's position in relation to erasmus and linked funding issues.
regards, steve
-----Original Message-----
From: JISCmail German Studies List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dr D.R. Midgley
Sent: 09 March 2011 10:17
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Fwd: [FRANCOFIL] Saving the year abroad post-2012
I think this message should be seen by the GERMAN-STUDIES list too.
David
--
Dr D.R. Midgley
Reader in German Literature and Culture
St John's College
Cambridge CB2 1TP
Tel. ++1223 338779
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 23:03:03 +0000
From: Tony Chafer <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [FRANCOFIL] Saving the year abroad post-2012
To: [log in to unmask]
Dear colleagues,
Many of us in English universities are very concerned that the four-year
language degree will be increasingly difficult to maintain after the
2012 fee increase. While we welcome the government's decision to
maintain the Erasmus fee waiver for next year, we need to persuade
government to retain the waiver after 2012. We also need to persuade it
to extend the waiver to countries outside the EU, so that students who
are required to spend a year abroad in [eg Latin America, China, Japan]
are not disadvantaged in fee terms. But this on its own will not be
sufficient to guarantee the future of the year abroad. With other arts,
humanities and social science degrees lasting three years, will students
interested in studying languages be prepared to incur a further year of
debt in order to take a 4-year degree programme? Or will a course with a
'minor' language route and no year abroad or no language look more
attractive, as these can be completed in three years?
Following the success of our emailing and writing campaign to keep the
British Council assistantship scheme, can I encourage colleagues to now
do the same and write emails/letters to both/either: the Minister for
Higher Education, David Willetts and the Chief Executive of HEFCE, Sir
Alan Langlands, urging them to provide targeted support for the year
abroad under the new fees regime.
At Portsmouth our Deputy Vice-Chancellor agreed to write to the Minister
on this. A number of us have also written in a personal capacity to the
Minister and have received broadly supportive - but non-committal -
replies. It would be good if, as with the assistantship campaign, a
large number of colleagues could now write and thus add weight to our
case.
For information I provide below a synopsis of the points made by our DVC
in her letter, which colleagues may find useful in drafting their own
letters.
1) pleased to see the recent announcement by Mr Willetts of the
retention of the fee waiver for students who undertake study abroad
through the Erasmus scheme. Emphasised importance of this continuing
post-2012.
2) expressed concern that, in the context of the new fees regime that is
being introduced in 2012, many students will be put off studying modern
foreign languages because, unlike other arts, humanities and social
science degrees, students taking language degrees follow four-year
degree programmes, which involves them incurring a further year of debt
for their living costs, plus a further year of fees (albeit probably at
a reduced level) if they are not on an Erasmus programme.
3) pointed out that 25% of students on modern language degree programmes
come from independent schools, as against 9% for all degree programmes.
Suggested that this trend towards narrowing participation will
accelerate further unless specific measures are introduced from 2012 to
support the extra year of study that modern languages students
undertake.
4) recommended that the following measures are considered:
* the provision of targeted funding from the BIS/HEFCE to support the
year abroad, for example through full bursaries or partial bursaries
combined with interest-free loans;
* the extension of the fee waiver to non-Erasmus placements, so that
students electing to undertake placements outside the Erasmus scheme are
not disadvantaged. (pointing out that an increasing number of students
now take up placements in China, Central and Latin America and Africa,
all of which are likely to be of increasing economic and strategic
importance to the UK in future).
5) pointed out that any reduction in the number of students taking a
language degree post-2012 will have an impact on the number of language
teachers being trained, which will in turn make it much more difficult
for the government to deliver its policy of increasing the take-up of
modern foreign languages in schools.
I apologise to Francofil colleagues living in more enlightened countries
than this one for cluttering up your inbox with an issue that does not
directly concern you. For this, I can only request your forbearance.
Cordialement
Tony Chafer
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