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► In Conversation with Professor Michael Hoey

A conversation between Danielle Grufferty, Guild President, and Professor Michael Hoey, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Internationalisation and Director of Curriculum Review. 
Dannie:   Thank you very much for meeting with us, Michael, we know you’re incredibly busy at the moment. 
Michael:  No problem. 
 
Dannie:  So what is the Curriculum Review?
Michael: The Curriculum Review is a review of every degree programme in the university, both  postgraduate and undergraduate, with a view to making the degrees as attractive to students as we can make them. 
 
Dannie:  And why is the University going through this change at the moment?
Michael:  The Curriculum Review grows directly out of the Strategic Plan which was agreed last year. One of the key goals of that plan is that we improve students’ experience of their degrees to such an extent that we get an overall student satisfaction rating of 90% in the National Student Survey.
 
Dannie:  Will this affect current students at the University of Liverpool?
Michael:  No, it won’t directly affect any students currently here. The new undergraduate programmes will come on stream in 2011, but of course will only affect students coming to the university that year. The only way in which students will be affected is if they plan  to move on to Masters study when they graduate. The new Masters programmes should be in place in 2010-11, except for integrated Masters programmes, which will be reviewed at the same time and on the same timescale as the UG programmes.  
 
Dannie:  And will students be consulted on the specifics of each programme’s curriculum review?
Michael:  Definitely.  The details have still be worked out, but current plans are that all Masters students will be involved in meetings to discuss planned changes to the Masters degrees, and every undergraduate student will be asked to complete a questionnaire on planned changes to the degrees they are on, in place of the module evaluation questionnaires they usually fill in. We hope that at least one student rep will be on every review team. Staff-Student Liaison Committees and, in the Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Student Parliaments will also be consulted.   
Dannie:  What will the Curriculum Review mean for students who come to Liverpool in 5 years time?
Michael:  They should get a glimpse of what it is like to do research, a more adventurous range of learning and teaching experiences, a wider range of types of assessment, a more internationally focused curriculum, improved employability, more help with research and learning skills, more opportunities for work placement or going abroad and a greater pride in being a graduate of a great university! 
 
Dannie:  Some students would look at your consultation and be alarmed about a proposed reduction in module choices. How would you respond to this?
Michael:  It is not the number of choices that matter, so much as the quality and relevance of the options. Under the new arrangements, we hope that the modules will be more interesting and allow students to go into a little more depth. More generally, it is our hope that all the improvements I just mentioned will more than outweigh the loss of some options. The phrase I repeatedly use is that we are looking for ‘an appropriate range of options’ – not too many but not too few either.
 
Dannie:  How will the changes to the credit framework affect students?
Michael:  It will make it easier for any student who wants to transfer to another institution, either in the UK or in Europe. It will also bring our Masters programmes into line with European requirements, something that would put us ahead of many other universities. It will in many cases reduce slightly the number of modules that a student takes.
 
Dannie:  How will your role as Pro-Vice Chancellor for Internationalisation affect the review, bearing in mind the internationalisation proposals in the review?
Michael:  It has always been central to the curriculum review that UK students should be able to see the global implications of what they are studying and that our degrees should be attractive and relevant to students from all over the world, so I will continue to be involved. It is my ambition to see Liverpool take its place internationally as one of the great world universities. It already is, in many respects, but the curriculum review should enhance its status still further.
 
Dannie:  Thanks again for your time.
Michael:  My pleasure. 

 

What question would you ask Michael Hoey if you had the opportunity? E-Mail: Edward.Moloney@liv.ac.uk

 

 

 
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