{"id":133,"date":"2017-10-26T16:39:58","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T16:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/?p=133"},"modified":"2017-11-22T11:43:24","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T11:43:24","slug":"i-got-92-problems-but-a-pitch-aint-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2017\/10\/26\/i-got-92-problems-but-a-pitch-aint-one\/","title":{"rendered":"I GOT 92 PROBLEMS BUT A PITCH AIN\u2019T ONE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faced with UA92, the new higher education venture fronted by ex-manchester united players , one must confess to a certain confusion. One\u2019s immediate reaction was, frankly, hilarity. This was then tempered by a realisation that this project was a rare example of sportsmen putting their (considerable) money where their (also considerable) mouths were. Then one realised that the project is, however well-intentioned, primarily a money-making venture, and one starts to feel uneasy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, cleaving close to the subtext mission statement to carp and criticise, it is perfectly possible to think that this project is a jolly commendable idea in many ways while also thinking that it is not necessarily something that Lancaster University (yes, that\u2019s uppercase) should necessarily be hitching its wagon to. Of course, we don\u2019t know the fine details of the deal, but we\u2019re sure larger and better-informed minds than ours have no doubt thought long and hard about how it will work, and what our commitment and investment should be. However, a number of questions persist, most of them under the umbrella of ‘what could possibly go wrong?’ University teaching is described in the publicity as the third leg of a triad, along with sport and business. Even allowing for the VC\u2019s recent comments on building links with business, this goes beyond links and into partnership. That\u2019s a sea-change. Maybe a good one, but it\u2019ll be difficult to distance ourselves if this all goes wrong, and it might. UA92, it seems, aims to fill a gap somewhere between HE and FE, mixed up with a kind of Matthew Arnold-esque emphasis on mens sana in corpore sano, building character and quadriceps with equal enthusiasm, maximising self-reliance and oxygen uptake in the same programme. If it works, fine. If it doesn\u2019t, our name is all over it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which is odd, because you can go through the UA92 website for a long time without discovering what Lancaster University will actually do for these lucky students. You will discover that \u2018Universities have traditionally placed academic learning at the core of the curriculum, supported by character development for the world of work\u2019. By comparison, UA92 will deliver \u2018a curriculum with employability and character development at the core wrapped around by academic development.\u2019 Um, ok, well, that doesn\u2019t sound so much like a vision, more a change of emphasis at most. And are we happy to be the afterthought in this arrangement? <\/span><\/p>\n

We learn further that the \u2018Target Talent Curriculum\u2019 (harrumph) seeks \u2018to put personal development at the core of the learning experience\u2019, and that it will focus on providing students with ten attributes: academic learning, life skills, work experience, how to survive in demanding workplace situations, leadership skills, peer group analysis, participative learning, fitness, and presentation and financial skills. Leaving aside the Blair-esque meaninglessness of a phrase like \u2018Target Talent Curriculum\u2019, we note that of the ten desirable attributes, academic learning is just one. Not their priority, then. Is this to be like the Associate College scheme, where students come here for a top-up degree in their third year? If so, will these students, however bursting with peer-group analysis skills they may be, find the academic playing field to be level? Or will the field be re-marked to fit them, in which case how will their degrees compare to those students who have been here for three years, pale of skin and character, and short on resilience and the ability to survive in demanding workplace situations, but nevertheless well-trained in passing exams?<\/span><\/p>\n

But harken we to the words of the VC. \u2018This is a good time to test the appetite for a venture of this nature for two reasons. Firstly, the government wishes to open up the Higher Education marketplace to new and innovative ways of delivery. Secondly, businesses are becoming increasingly interested in how Higher Education can prepare students for working life. This project is designed to address both of those ideas head on.\u2019 So that\u2019s all right then.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Faced with UA92, the new higher education venture fronted by ex-manchester united players , one must confess to a certain confusion. One\u2019s immediate reaction was, frankly, hilarity. This was then tempered by a realisation that this project was a rare … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":568,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[78,53,120,54],"class_list":["post-133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-academic-standards","tag-football-university","tag-issue-167","tag-ua92"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p99sHo-29","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":773,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/10\/11\/spawt-nothing-compares-to-ua92\/","url_meta":{"origin":133,"position":0},"title":"SPAWT: NOTHING COMPARES TO UA92","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"October 11 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"On 27 September the University provided staff with another update on progress with its UA92 project. Senior managers were present to give us a most positive spin on the work which has taken place over the last year; including Simon Guy, FASS Dean and Interim Principal for 2017-18, and Craig\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":478,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/03\/15\/spawt-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":133,"position":1},"title":"SPAWT!","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"March 15 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"TRAINING GROUND MOVES News from Manchester of continuing local opposition to the onward march of Gary Neville\u2019s Barmy Army (subtexts passim ad nauseam). The campaign this time is to protect Turn Moss, a stretch of open green space on the outskirts of Trafford. The Council is backing Gary\u2019s plan to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":524,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/04\/26\/spawt-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":133,"position":2},"title":"SPAWT!","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"April 26 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"SALFORD QUEASE When asked if Gary Neville had 'shopped around' other universities before settling on Lancaster as his business partner, the Vice-Chancellor didn't 'believe' this to be the case. It turns out that this actually was the case, and that Gary had had extensive talks with Salford University about a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":566,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/05\/10\/ua92-updates-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":133,"position":3},"title":"UA92 UPDATES","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"May 10 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"TRAFFORD ELECTION TREAT As predicted in subtext 176, opposition to Gary Neville's plans to colonise Turn Moss, the Stretford open green area, proved to be crucial in overturning the Conservative majority on Trafford Council, with Labour gaining four seats and the Greens (unexpectedly) gaining two seats. One of Labour's first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":266,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2017\/12\/07\/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-leadership\/","url_meta":{"origin":133,"position":4},"title":"NEVER MIND THE QUALITY, FEEL THE LEADERSHIP!","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"December 7 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As we draw nearer to the Xmas break this is the time when stories emerge to guide us through the shambles in which we find ourselves. Of course, we always were in a state of confusion but the events of the last year have made the nature of what is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":738,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/09\/13\/gary-neville\/","url_meta":{"origin":133,"position":5},"title":"GARY NEVILLE","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"September 13 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We thought maybe we could adequately recap how the year has gone re: The Gary Neville University in a snappy hundred and fifty words. That's University Academy 92, a private university that we're partnering up with a group of ex Manchester United players to build. Sadly, condensing this omnishambles into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "history"","block_context":{"text":"history","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/568"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions\/134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}