Eleventh place is just the start of York’s journey to Vocationville
As if the current graduate climate wasn’t frightening enough, the University of York has given its graduates something else to lose sleep about with the announcement that it has fallen out of the top ten Universities in the country, according to The Times. Looking at this year’s list, it’s clear that York has not been pushed out of the top ten; it has dropped the ball.
The University’s most pressing problem is that it is currently attempting to be all things to all people. Rumours are that Cantor is advocating a raise of the budget cap that aims to retain a level of exclusivity in higher education, while at the same time doubling the size of campus for the benefit of subjects like ‘Film and Television’. It’s a well known fact that if you try to do too much, you’re likely to fall flat on your face. This University needs to focus on enhancing already established subjects for the current crop of students instead of diverting resources toward vocational subjects.
Up until now, York has been seen along with Durham and Warwick as the first stop for those who have had their Oxbridge applications swatted away. With the arrival of Heslington East and its vocational clusterfuck, we are in grave danger of wandering into the territory of being compared with Oxford Brookes, Southampton and Brighton. Lovely places, as long as they don’t live on your CV.
Predictably, Oxford and Cambridge are at the top of this year’s list, but the back end of the top ten this year is comprised of Exeter and Bristol. Now, I know that Yorkshire is primarily known for cricket and real ale but I refuse to be beaten by a pair of cider swilling South-Westerners in an academic standoff. How we’re supposed to have pride in our University when it can’t hold off the challenge of two competitors too close to Wales to be considered civilised is beyond me.
So, what do we expect from York in the future? Well, with the imminent expansion of the student populous combined with a frankly unprepared staff contingent, we can only expect a slippery slope to Vocationville. The powers that be made the executive decision that a bigger campus will somehow produce better results, but they forgot one thing: If you put enough monkeys in a room with a typewriter, one will write you Shakespeare. Not all of them.
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