Do university excellence initiatives work?

Very nice overview. One issue that is missing is why might these initiatives work? Just by having an initiative or throwing money at areas of research does not imply you get better research (as Simon Marginson points out, you can get just get more 'dross'). Smart people, capable people are not easy to come by -- which is generally why it is found that money and incentives can improve teaching much more easily than it can improve research (as teaching 'quality' can easily be improved with more time spent with students or time on teaching more slickly but money does not take a marginal scholar and turn them into a star). My own experience (and the data) seems to indicated that what the excellence frameworks do is not just what the article says -- i.e., move the university focus onto specifica 'high impact' areas -- but that it influences hiring and promotion. People we might consider 'ok' for a position 10 years ago simply wouldn't pass muster today. We also chase people with specific profiles and ask them to keep playing the same game. A colleague gave a presentation where he looked at fellows of an academic organization over time and decades. What he showed was that 20-30 years ago people's outputs started to decline in their 50s as they moved into administrative roles and did other things. Today that is not seen as those that show they can produce under the new 'excellence norms' get asked to keep up the pace into their 60s. This also has exacerbated the bifurcation of academia into academic and administrative specializations: those that show they can publish keep publishing, while those that can't prove their worth to the frameworks early move into administrative roles much earlier and become career administrators.

Universities traditionally like to hire and promote people who they know among academic staff. As a result any discussion of what to do to achieve excellence becomes a regurgitation of what was said or done before. In addition, their bureaucracies stymie any effort at innovation and creativity. This is further aggravated by an eternal prioritization of money to get things done. Any university, irrespective of its position in the World University Rankings, that is willing to do the following, shall achieve recognizable exvellence: a.) Engage in continuous workshop training of academic staff until there is a visible shift from lecturing to teaching; b.) Orient academic staff to engage in research that is aimed at solving real world problems such as inflation, unemployment, crime, juvenile delinquency, poverty and others; c.) Collaborate with community groups to imp!event projects in schools that are underperforming d.) Introduce at least a three credit practicum in every degree major so that graduating students would be in a better state of readiness to contribute to the world of work.