Queen's University Belfast began working on its strategic development plan following the Research Assessment Exercise in 1992. At that time, only two departments were given ratings of five - the second highest possible grade.
In 1996, when the next exercise took place at Queen's, six departments achieved ratings of five. These were agriculture, physics, electrical and electronic engineering, the Institute of Irish Studies, archaeology and palaeoecology and music. The department of mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering scored the top five-plus-star (5*) rating. A number of departments, meanwhile, achieved threes and fours, but clinical dentistry, anatomy and the built environment (architecture) were given ratings of only two. In an ensuing league table of British universities, QUB was ranked 49th.
According to the report of the academic planning group, Queen's is failing to achieve its full potential. "Although Queen's is a university which has had, and still has, a national and international reputation, its standing has declined over the last two or three decades," the report states.
Teaching standards, the report says, are good, "but it is important not to become complacent and to continue to strive to improve teaching". Queen's boasts a number of research areas of international excellence, the report adds, but "there are too many that do not reach this standard".
The report recommends that premature retirement and severance schemes be offered to "all research-inactive staff". However, "a proactive approach will be taken to managing poor performance. Clear performance targets and timetables will be set for all staff. Where performance does not meet the required standards, the disciplinary process will be activated."
In the school of engineering, only environmental planning and architecture (built environment) scored poorly in the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) - obtaining grade 3b and grade two respectively. The report notes that these departments underwent "careful consideration", but that the planning group accepted the case made by the school of engineering on their behalf. Queen's has the only chemistry department in Northern Ireland, but in the 1996 RAE it was awarded only a grade 3b. An external review, the report notes, was highly critical of the school in which there was "little research leadership", "few luminaries" and "a considerable number of mediocre staff". The planning group, however, has accepted a plan to revitalise the department and recommends an investment of £286,000 over four years.
Queen's also has the only school of pharmacy in Northern Ireland, which received a grade 3b in the last assessments. The employment of six new lecturers is recommended in order to meet the target grade four in the next RAE.
The report recommends the closure of the geology department, which it describes as "a high cost area with insufficient student demand and research income to maintain it". Statistics and operational research is also to be disbanded. "All five members are inactive researchers" and student demand is low, the report comments. Although Queen's enjoys a strong college of humanities, it does contain pockets of weakness, in the view of the planning group. "The existence of uneconomical units has inhibited the development of new subject areas . . . within the stronger units in the college." Two units - music and the Institute of Irish Studies - were awarded grade five in the last RAE, while history, anthropology, French, Hispanic studies and Celtic (studies) all received four.
Disappointing performers include English, classics and German, which all received 3a, and Semitic studies, which was awarded a grade of 3b. The report recommends the closure of Semitic studies, which has "no real prospect of improvement in the RAE rating". Teaching, too, is to discontinue in Italian, where although "student demand is moderate and teaching quality quite good", there is "no research culture and no prospects of developing one".
Law's performance (grade 3a) in the 1996 RAEs "reflects a certain amount of parochialism and a tail of under-achieving staff". However, appropriate action is being taken and the planning group expects the unit to gain a grade four in the next assessment.
In the college of health and medicine, no unit achieved more than a grade 3a. "The college has a research culture, but the quality of the research, as judged by the RAE results, is not strong and requires considerable attention if it is to achieve higher grades," according to the report. The planning group also recommends the transfer of podiatry to the University of Ulster.
It's all tough and challenging stuff and prompts the question: will universities in the Republic have the courage to display such openness and clear thinking?
