The government today published its technical consultation on constitutional reform of the higher education sector. Yawn. I can tell youre bored already.
And why not. Universities have already got a revolution in funding to deal with as tuition fees replace block grants. And the potential for a second, market revolution if ministers can just find a way to get rid of student number controls. What could possibly be as important as these bankrupting threats?
Only something that redefines what a university is, who can offer degrees and all the other fundamental rules of the game.
Welcome to the governments technical consultation on constitutional reform of the higher education sector, potentially the third and biggest revolution and buried so deep in the silly season that they even published it on a Thursday and didnt give the Times Higher a copy in advance. Now there is something you really want to stay buried.
Update 2.30pm
Alan Langlands response to the consultation is intriguing. The HEFCE chief executive clearly knows what the governments vision is. He spells it out in the first paragraph of his quote. But then he goes on to say what HEFCE will aim to do, which is not quite the same.