It is a favourite pastime these days for universities to gripe and complain about the heavy hand of government in their day to day activities. Granted the reporting requirements have increased significantly over the years and also granted that there seems to increasing concern that universities are doing a poor job of preparing their graduates for the modern work force (whatever that means) and in the right applied subject areas.
Here in BC, we are subject to a requirement that 25% of all the funding we receive from government goes to high demand occupations according to the somewhat questionable labour market demand model. Since all post-secondary institutions can easily prove that at least 25% of all their programming meets this criteria the whole thing is largely an accounting exercise. The BC government has also recently introduced a quality audit system in addition to the degree approval processes already in place.
I have just returned from Europe, having visited a number of institutions and government agencies and I can say without question that we have it pretty good here. I think we have all heard of the horror stories related to the UK Research Assessment Exercise which then allocates research funding to the highest scorers. Not satisfied with that, the rumours are that this is to be extended to teaching assessment. The Swedish Higher Education Authority is currently considering an audit process that again will reward institutions on how well they score. The University of Sweden on the other hand, as a point of pride, makes a point of not over rewarding successful research centres. They believe that helping more broadly allows for new fields to emerge. Not sure how that will square with the government position.
In comparison, the approach by the BC government, which is focussed on individual institutional improvement consistent with mandate is a breath of fresh air. It will not stop the complaining though.