EPC

1
EPC

• Aims, Objectives and Future
• Professor Ray Allen
• President-elect EPC
• Professor of Chemical Engineering
• The University of Sheffield

2
EPC Engineering Professors Council

• Formed in 1994 from predecessor bodies
• Engineering Professors Conference (1959)
• Committee for Engineering in Polytechnics (1981)
• Every Engineering University in the UK a member
• Subscription basis
• Every senior engineering academic can participate
• Professorial status not necessary
• We exist to promote excellence in Engineering
  Higher Education

3
What do we do?

• Communicate
• despite the well known negatives, Engineering in
  UK HE has an enormous capacity for excellence
• We try to let the world know this
• Lobby
• Policy makers tend to overlook
• Engineering in the context of science
• HE in the context of industry
• We try to correct this

4
What do we do?

• Lead
• The best way of keeping control is to take the
  lead
• We provide thought-leadership in issues likely to
  be of significance
• Inform
• Senior academic staff need information, a place
  to talk about common problems and develop
  (common?) positions
• We provide the mechanisms for this
• We are independent of University management

5
How do we do it?

• Annual Spring Congress (rotates around our
  membership)
• Formal programme of speeches and presentations
  from politicians, government officers,
  engineering leaders, research and teaching
  funding Councils, European representatives, own
  members, etc.
• Scheduled committee meetings
• 6 pa
• 1 two day retreat

6
How do we do it?

• Conversations
• politicians and Government Ministers
• Other stakeholders
• QAA, ETB, ECUK, HEFCE, UUK, SEFI et al
• Professional Bodies
• EPC Project Initiatives
• Learning outcomes
• Assessing Learning Outcomes
• Bologna related activities
• The true Cost of Teaching Engineering (With ETB)
• Engineering Ethics (with RAEng)
• Mathematics

7
How do we do it?

• Join with other initiatives
• with UUK, ECUK , SEFI, European Deans of
  Engineering etc
• European accreditation European Network for
  Quality of Higher Engineering Education for
  Industry (ENQHEEI)
• QAA Benchmarks.
• ECUK UK-SPEC
• Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject
  Centre (former LTSN)
• CaSE (Save British Science )Peter Cotgreave

8
How do we do it?

• Sectoral Groups
• Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Aeronautical Engineering

9
How do we do it?

• Working groups
• Admissions to degree courses Dik Morling.
• Communications (internal and external) Ray Allen
• Mathematics (Fred Maillardet / Dik Morling)
• QAA Output Standards/Engineering Benchmarks (Fred
  Maillardet)
• Ethics (Fiona Martland, Raffaella Ocone)
• True Cost of Teaching (Helen Atkinson)

10
How do we do it?

• Respond to Government
• HEFCE changes in funding rates for engineering
• Professional bodies teaching of Health and
  Safety
• Top-up fees
• RAE Review (Roberts)
• RAE 2008 (nomination of panel members)
• Standards in Post-Graduate degree programmes
• Scientific Publications
• Centres for excellence in teaching and learning

11
How do we do it?

• Respond to Government (continued)
• Strategic Science Provision in English
  Universities
• HEFCE Review of teaching funding method
• Proposals for National Credit Arrangements for
  Higher Education in England- UUK
• The UK honours degree Provision of Information
  UUK
• DfES consultation document on the RAE

12
How do we do it?

• Respond to the Media
• Difficult because of response times
• Letters to editor
• Briefing of Journalists
• We need to be better at this

13
How do we do it?

• Annual Focus meeting
• (London, Autumn)
• Selective topics to help EPC formulate policy

14
Why a Forum?

• Meetings with Politicians
• Dr Kim Howells, Minister for HE.
• Stephen OBrien, Shadow Minister for Higher
  Education (Conservative)
• Barry Sheerman, Chairman of the Education Select
  Committee.
• Bill Rammell, Minister for Lifelong Learning and
  Higher Education (LLHE).
• Boris Johnson, Opposition spokesman on Higher
  Education
• Phil Willis Chairman of the Scientific Select
  Committee
• Senior Civil Servants MINEFI and Dept Education,
  France
• Jacqui Smith, Minister for Schools

15
Topics discussed

• Graduate employment
• Government Funding for students and Departments
• Status of Engineers
• Tax breaks for companies who sponsor engineering
  students
• Stronger links with industry
• Industrial funding of graduate training
• Effects of the RAE on the balance of activity in
  Universities especially related to professional
  courses like engineering
• Recruitment of staff and students in engineering
• Salary structure for reward and retention of the
  best staff
• Bologna
• Subject shortages for delivering government
  policies
• What is a University?

16
..and for the Future?

• Continue our campaign
• to get Engineering recognised as an exciting,
  worthwhile, important and rewarding profession
  for students to enter whilst
• striving for proper funding for the quality of
  courses that are needed to train the world class
  individuals that this country, and the world
  generally needs so badly.

17
Major issues for the future

• Real costs of Educating Engineers
• International benchmarking
• Mathematics
• Student numbers
• Funding levels for engineering courses
• Evaluation of Input and Output standards
• Impact of Bologna on the MEng
• and...whatever you tell us

18
Forum is a working event

• Morning session has 4 presentations
• RAE ie research issues
• Bologna ie international issues
• Cost of Teaching ie funding issues
• Admissions ie issues of numbers quality
• Afternoon has 4 parallel workshops
• Chairmen and rapporteurs identified
• Aim for a common view of priorities for EPC
• Realistic but challenging objectives

19
Beyond this Forum

• At any time, throughout the year, we welcome
• All feedback
• Any ideas
• Volunteers for participation
• Find us at
• www.epc.ac.uk

20
Forum is a working event

• Working Lunch 13.00 13.30
• Rapporteur feedback
• first cut at conclusions
• Output
• policy document (about 4 sides)
• Circulated to all attending and all members
• Reception at Westminster
• key politicians invited
• tell them yourselves what we have decided.