On 20 September, Universities UK, the organisation which represents UK universities, organised a conference to look at ways of improving efficiency and quality in higher education.
The event programme outlined the value and timeliness of the event, and the pertinence of the issue: "If the UK is to not only survive but thrive in the 'knowledge economy' of the 21st century, then higher education will be central to economic growth. This means that institutions will need to become lean, agile and adept at 'doing more with less'."
But not everyone is in favour of an efficiency drive, and some feel that the language - and term 'efficiency' - is two closely associated with a political agenda. In a comment on Twitter, William McEvoy referred to the concept of a lean and mean HE machine as "Thatcherite jargon."
So, when the language itself polarises, how can university managers and stakeholders reach a consensus about the challenges facing HE and find the best way of dealing with them?
On Friday 30 September, we are hosting a live chat that aims to look at the challenges in different areas of HE and the leadership qualities needed to drive efficiency and benchmarking.
Are universities lean, agile and adept at doing more with less? And if not, what can they learn from each other - both in the UK and internationally?
Join us at 1pm or post your comment below now
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