All I want for Christmas: the higher education wish list

Aidan Byrne, senior lecturer in English, cultural studies and media, Wolverhampton University It's been a tough year outside the classroom, and a great one inside it. I've marched, frozen on the picket line and engaged in intellectual battle with our political overlords. So there are only two things I'd like for Christmas. The first is a thick pair of woolly socks, because something tells me I'll be stamping my feet outside my university's gates again soon. My second request is for a big, cosily-lined and soundproofed cardboard box. Inside will be a reading lamp, an iPad hooked up to Athens, and a stack of all the books I've been intending to read all year. I shall crawl in and ignore the world (and my marking) for a brief span. Gove, Willetts, AC bloody Grayling, pensions, fees, McDonaldisation, two-tier education: I resent having to know and worry about these things, and crave the space and time to return to think once more about Welsh literature and masculinity. My box won't have a news feed. I'll swear off Guardian Higher Ed, blogging and Twitter, and offend Plato by becoming a satisfied pig, just for a while. The alternative is a one-way ticket to the Faroe Islands. A man can dream… Tennie Videler, programme manager - researchers, Vitae My HE-related wish for Santa Baby to slip under the tree is this: that researchers will celebrate their talents. People working towards their doctorate and research staff (including post-docs) are such talented people with a broad set of skills but they often don't realise it. Many take their accomplishments for granted. This is in part because the peers they compare themselves to are some of the most intelligent people in society. I'd also wish for researchers to be more proactive in terms of their careers: only a fraction will end up in permanent academic positions, so it is well worth considering and looking into all the options. Their research experience will be of immense value in a wide range of careers and to many employers. Researchers need to be prepared to explain and evidence their talents to a range of potential employers. The Researcher Development Framework provides a language for researchers to celebrate their skills. Merry Christmas! Derfel Owen, student engagement and participation development manager, University of Exeter All I want for Christmas are more creative ideas about widening participation to replace the usual unimaginative stuff about bursaries (my views on this can be found here ). Some of the numbers may be a bit arbitrary, but inspired by the 12 Days of Christmas , here's what I would do to get more students into university instead of giving prizes to students who have already made it: Sponsor 12 academy schools with direct routes into universities Take 11 Access to HE students to meet David Willetts to talk about the AAB policy Fund 10 % more university places Make £ 9 K fees tax deductible for courses delivered in the workplace 8 FE colleges will be granted degree awarding powers because they have better links with deprived communities Set up 7 credit transfer partnerships to make it easier for students to dip in and out of study in a way that suits their lifestyle Open university libraries and collections for 6 weeks of summer holidays 5 golden rings for the sake of tradition 4 days tax-free for any business that will grant the equivalent time to graduates to visit schools promoting HE Allocate 3 days for every academic in the UK to visit local schools to talk about HE Double the number of 2 year degree programmes Make it mandatory for every school pupil to take at least one look at the BestCourse4me website Mary Churchill, special assistant to the vice president of institutional advancement at Queens College , City University of New York All I want for Christmas is world peace. It's always my first choice but barring that impossible dream, I'd like another impossible dream - one that's particularly impossible within higher education: equality of outcomes. At the very least, I would like a serious conversation on what would be needed to create an education environment that would facilitate an equality of outcomes. Equality of opportunity (aka meritocracy) is a theory and although it has its theoretical merits, in practice, it is disproved in thousands of tiny ways every single day. Every time this theory fails, another person's life chances are reduced. If an equality of outcomes was taken seriously in the ranking of universities and colleges, the higher education sector would be moved to enact radically different policies and practices. And perhaps move us towards peace on earth. Sue Beckingham, educational developer, Sheffield Hallam University All I want for Christmas is an app that will help me organise my busy life. Like many others, balancing full-time work and home life is a challenge. Along the way I've become accustomed to swapping hats between being mum, partner and employee but then I added one more when I made the decision to return to higher education and become a student again. I need an app that will remind me when my next deadline or birthday is. One that will prompt me with my pre-recorded 'to do' notes at timely intervals. One that will record all my login details in one safe place so I can access the multitude of platforms that I now engage with - from Blackboard and email to Skype and a whole host of social media tools - with one press of a button. One that will colour code my activities for the different hats I wear. …And because Santa knows I've been good this year, I'd also really like an iPad 2 to download this app on to. Ian Robson, full time senior lecturer and part time PhD student, Northumbria University Probably the best thing I could get this Christmas would be a jumbo pile of index cards, a wall to stick them on and a day to play with them. Oh, how I wish it sounded more impressive than that. But before you picture a rather sad little Christmas scene, allow me to explain. The index cards are on my list because they will show me just what hard work can do. You see, in amongst talking to my research participants and transcribing interviews, I'm on a roll of reading and thinking which is opening up my thinking in new ways. The reading has been heavy going: on topics such as narrative hermeneutics (Ricoeur), the development of values (Joas) and the social construction of identity (G H Mead). Those index cards are going to help me see what I've been thinking as I map out key ideas then relate them on a wall or big table top. Realising those connections and being able to articulate them will be a big present for me. Harriet Dunbar-Morris, executive assistant (learning and teaching), University of Bath To take my inspiration from a well-known Christmas song, I hope that, in the spirit of Christmas giving, our 'true love' (the Rt Hon David Willetts MP, minister for universities and science) will give to the higher education sector: 12 Months Preparation (for any future changes) 11 Tiny Concessions (in response to consultations) 10 Seconds Reflection (before dismissing suggestions) 9 Valued Voices (in open debate) 8 Words of Wisdom (for a holistic HE policy) 7 Reasonable Requirements (for autonomous institutions) 6 Sensible Suggestions (for visas for international students) 5 Golden Rules (for achieving widening participation and social mobility) 4 Mission Groups' agreement (on all of the above) 3 Winning Ways (to lift the numbers cap) 2 Perfect Policies And 1 world-class HE system! Patrick McGhee, vice chancellor of University of East London , takes inspiration from Mariah Carey's song for this ode to the student All I Want For Christmas I don't want a lot for Christmas There's just one thing that's fine I don't care about the profits Underneath the bottom line I just want you at your U More than you could ever know Make your dream come true... All I want for Christmas, is you. I don't want a lot of lending There is just one grant I see I don't care about the rhetoric All around the SLC I don't want to see you anxious Fretting on that UCAS place Vincent C won't keep you happy With a cash for places race. I just want you to be learning More than you could ever know Make my wish come true All I want for Christmas is you... I won't ask for much this winter I won't even wish for snow We will beat that core and margin Align against the common foe. I won't make a pledge and break it As was done by old Saint Nick I won't even stay awake to Watch a dodgy three-card trick All the fees are confusing Oh so complex everywhere And the sound of youngsters' Wailing fills the air Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas This is all I'm asking for: Across the country to see new students Walking through a library door Oh I just want them to be shown More than I could ever know Make my wish come true All I want for Christmas, is you