A prominent group of British university teachers this week called on the funding councils to stop supporting low-quality research and put money into improving university teaching instead. The National Academic Policy Advisory Group, which includes members from the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Conference of Medical Colleges, insists that all re- search money should be spent on world- class work.
The funding councils' Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) judges the quality of research carried out in individual university departments, and rates it on a scale of l to 5. In the last assessment, in 1992, departments ranked as low as 2 received funding. The group says this should not happen in this years exercise. Funding councils have not yet announced how they will distribute money from now on.
In a report called Research capability of the University System launched this week the group claims that funds are needed to pay for the “professional development” of university teachers who are not active in research, to help them keep up with their subject and improve the courses they teach.
It recommends that about 50 million, including money which is currently used to fund research in departments ranked at level 2, should be used to pay for this. It advises that the money should go only to those departments that are not competing for research money through the RAE.
The group believes that some universities have been expanding their research departments in order to attract research money. Some universities, it claims, are better suited to teaching than research, and should be encouraged to develop their expertise as educators.
“There's no use pretending that 104 universities could have the same job in life,” says David Harrison, master of Selwyn College, Cambridge, who chaired the group . A university could have some departments that are strong on research and others that are known for their top -grade teaching, he says.
But some people have some doubts about the group's recommendations. “It seems to be about developing further the distinction between research and non - research universities.” says Paul Cottrell of the Association of University Teachers, "If professional development money is a good idea, then it's a good idea for all university teachers."
The National Academic Policy Advisory Group says that money should be given to.
A．all the teachers
B．the best researchers.
C．the best teachers.
D．the needy universities .
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