“I run a research group of somewhere between a half dozen and a dozen people. They are mostly post-graduate level students, but usually with a couple of post-doctoral researchers included in the group. The funding for post-docs has come both from national funding sources – HEA PRTLI, Science Foundation Ireland, etc. – and from international sources such as the EU ‘Marie Curie’ programme …” (more)
[Science, society, stuff …, 23 March]
“Readers of this blog will by now be well familiar with the Irish ‘employment control framework’, the state-imposed mechanism for restricting the capacity of universities to hire and promote staff, even within budget …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 23 March]
“Restrictions on third-level colleges, pushed through by the previous government in its final days, have been greeted with disbelief by academics …” (more)
[Education Matters, 22 March]
“Ruairí Quinn is under intense pressure to abolish new controls on higher education recruitment. The controls apply to all staff employed in higher education, whether their posts are funded by the exchequer or not. The implications for research activity, funded privately or by the EU, are potentially disastrous …” (more)
[Irish Times, 22 March]
“If the Government insists that the civil service micro-manages our colleges, it will destroy third level education …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, Irish Times, 22 March]
“A set of funding and employment rules published by Brian Lenihan on his past day in office has caused uproar amongst academic staff for the obvious reasons that it would cripple coherent university research decision-making, would be a gross attack on the terms and conditions of employment, and would seriously interfere with academic freedom …” (more, discussion thread)
[Political World, 21 March]
“The employment control framework & how it affects you – The Employment Control Framework (ECF) is the name given to the policy whereby the Department of Finance issues binding instructions to public sector organizations regarding the staff numbers, staff mix, and terms and conditions of employment for these bodies …” (more)
[Colm Kearney, 21 March]
“The recent Employment Control Framework document has been the topic of much discussion in the last weeks. It has sent a collective shiver down the spine of the third-level system. The document itself is clear in its portents: in order to continue to receive state funding, we will have to barter our autonomy and freedom in the service of further centralised control …” (more)
[Jane Ohlmeyer, 20 March]
“An Irish Independent article, ‘Education chief hits attitude of arts academics’, citing comments from the new head of the Higher Education Authority (HEA), has caused quite a furore amongst Irish academics, especially those already outraged by the recent revision of the Employment Control Framework (#ecf11), which imposes stringent measures by the state on hiring and firing within universities …” (more)
[The Norman Wyse Commentary, 20 March]
“… But whereas the teachers’ unions are motivated by a long-standing trade union militancy, the university lecturers occupy a more dreamy sense of entitlement. And less realism: the teachers’ unions have already started revising their positions with the realisation that they could end up being exempt from the protection of the Croke Park deal …” (more)
[Eamon Delaney, Independent, 20 March]
“New rules governing appointments in the higher education sector are a ‘debacle’, a senior civil servant has claimed. In a scathing confidential assessment sent to senior education figures, Martin Shanagher, assistant secretary at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, says the moves will ‘penalise’ research activity, and were made without considering the full implications …” (more)
[Seán Flynn, University World News, 20 March]
“… I really would encourage people commenting to read the document first as it’s not very long. Some of the argument has conflated the provisions with university funding, with some people complaining about the ECF because it limits academic numbers and some people supporting it basically for the same reason …” (more)
[Liam Delaney, Irish Economy, 19 March]
“It would seem the campaign against the new Employment Control Framework (ECF) is gaining some traction …” (more)
[Des Fitzgerald, 18 March]
“New rules governing appointments in the higher education sector are a ‘debacle’, a senior civil servant has claimed. In a scathing confidential assessment sent to senior education figures, Martin Shanagher, assistant secretary at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, says the moves will ‘penalise’ research activity, and were made without considering the full implications …” (more)
[Seán Flynn, Irish Times, 18 March]
“The degree of misjudgment evident in the ‘employment control framework’ as issued to the Irish universities has now also been revealed in a leaked internal memorandum in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, published today in the Irish Times …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 18 March]
“In 1994 the Fine Gael / Labour government abolished university tuition fees. The reason that was given was that this was a barrier to some people going to university. This was, of course, complete nonsense …” (more)
[Science, society, stuff …, 16 March]
“IUA continues engagement with
HEA on ECF concerns.” (tweet)
[Irish Universities Association, 16 March]
“Here is the text of a letter I sent to Madame l’Editoir yesterday. James McInerney from NUI Maynooth has an excellent letter on the subject published today …” (more)
[Pass Level Politics, 16 March]
“How can the HEA know so little about the sector it purports to be the champion of? The ECF as presented is an absurd and ridiculous document utterly at variance with the meaningful operation of a vibrant third- and fourth level sector …” (more)
[Shane O’Mara, Irishscience, 16 March]
“It is probably true to say that the level of dismay and anger occasioned by the new ‘employment control framework’ in Ireland has taken the authorities by surprise …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 16 March]
Ninth Level Ireland 