Let’s not turn academia’s divine comedy into a tragedy

Nicely written as always, and it may also be true. I remember when I worked in the claims department of an insurance company and the motor claim form had a space on it signposted, Do Not Write in This Space. None of us had a clue what it was for. But the piece doesn’t really deal with how a university manager should act. My own view is that we are buffers between the cruel world out there, Governments, Funding Councils, Quality whatevers, and the university infantry, simultaneously translating between the two and protecting staff as far as we can so they can just get on with the joy of teaching (not joking) and the passion of research. Sometimes the lecturers in the trenches have to bend a bit. To say we don’t care about teaching or research assessments is naïve, that way lies the dole office, maybe not for you but a colleague. But the point about the uncanny and old course validation documents is well made, how we sweated over the word counts and now they are only fit for the shredder.

This is an excellent piece, that made me smile and grimace at the same time. Having come to academia from outside, I recognise all too much of it, but it is also so similar in principle to other sectors...one of the differences being that academics really do think that they matter SO MUCH! One thing upon which I would differ...that 'tragedians' "...don’t have Lear’s rages, or Othello’s jealousy, or Macbeth’s murderous lust for power." Oh yes they do...!

So obvious that the comedians are good and the tragedians are, if not evil, so at least misguided and wrong. It is so simplistic! The university also has a third category - the audience that cheers and boos, applauds and sleeps. They are the members of faculty and administration who are looking but not acting. And as in any theater, they are the most numerous.

Interesting and insightful, but this piece is a little one sided. What about those tragedians who fight the doomed battle against metrics. Who believe in universities as communities of scholars, rather than businesses. Who believe in education and erudition for their own sake, rather than a boost to employability or the economy. These people are no less driven to reach for abstract ideas of perfection, but are very much at odds with the adjust discussed university managers chasing REF scores and NSS rankings. Or the comedian managers, this that don't try and fight the absurdities the echelons advice them to protect those below because they know that, eventually The Centre will win, and they'll have to impose whatever nonsense they've come up with this time on this people that look to them for leadership?

Sheer delight to read!!

I must dissent with an aching question: Is this a parody or a caricature of a parody? Can anyone tell me, please?