Mark Featherstone-Witty, chief executive of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and co-founder of the institution with Sir Paul McCartney, pulls no punches when describing the early days of his institution鈥檚 existence. 鈥探花视频 gave them the oxygen to say lots of negative things about us,鈥 he says of critics who came forward at the time.
In the first years after it opened its doors in 1996, LIPA was beset by scandal. Refurbishment costs for the main building (Sir Paul鈥檚 old school) amounted to 拢13.5 million, 拢6 million more than estimated; senior academics quit following what was described at the time as 鈥渁 breakdown in morale鈥; and a 2001 Higher Education Funding Council for England report told the institution to 鈥渃onduct a full review of the effectiveness of its governance arrangements鈥.
In those troubled times, several LIPA employees contacted THE to blow the whistle on what they felt were unacceptable practices at their institution, as Mr Featherstone-Witty recalls.
He said: 鈥淚t was more than just a job for me 鈥 it was quite personal.鈥
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Thirteen years on from the Hefce report, LIPA now offers eight undergraduate courses across performing arts disciplines, in addition to three foundation courses. All are validated by the nearby Liverpool John Moores University.
鈥淣obody in living memory has started a higher education institution from scratch in the UK, except us,鈥 Mr Featherstone-Witty told THE when asked about the initial difficulties. 鈥淵ou might be right to say we were naive, but there was no blueprint either. As we did what we could, the bureaucrats were filling up the holes behind us to make sure it didn鈥檛 happen again. So you still can鈥檛 start a higher education institute from scratch in this country like you can in the US. Various things become universities, like polytechnics, but you can鈥檛 start at the very beginning.鈥
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The institution is now oversubscribed (with 15 applications for each place), and LIPA interviews every one of its more than 650 successful applicants (or, more accurately for its performance-heavy courses, auditions them). According to its most recent accounts, the institution has reported a combined surplus of about 拢2.5 million over the past two years.
It is a far cry from the early years, when the institution鈥檚 financial position was so perilous that Mr Featherstone-Witty was forced to explore more creative ways to make money. One, he said, involved a national newspaper who had claimed 鈥渢hat this whole thing was falling to pieces and somebody needed to be blamed. They couldn鈥檛 blame Paul McCartney so they blamed me. In the end they lost a libel case and paid out 拢15,000; I thought this was a rather novel way of making money.鈥
LIPA also tried to pass some of the financial burden on to students. 鈥淭o get ourselves out of revenue issues, we started charging students a 拢500 facilities fee,鈥 he says 鈥 adding that they were subsequently told that they 鈥渃ouldn鈥檛 do that鈥.
LIPA is now extending its reach further down the education system. A free school that will eventually accommodate 364 primary students will be opened by LIPA in partnership with Edge Hill University in September, while a LIPA sixth-form college is hoping to receive accreditation from the Department for Education in time to receive its first intake next year.
鈥淭he primary school is part of our widening participation agenda,鈥 Mr Featherstone-Witty said. 鈥淲e have to engage with primary schools, but how the hell do you do that without doing something completely superficial? We thought, let鈥檚 do it properly.鈥
In numbers
96% of LIPA鈥檚 graduates are in work three years after leaving the institute, and 87 per cent of them work in the performing arts
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Campus news
Liverpool Hope University
A lecturer in education and disability studies has been named one of the UK鈥檚 10 most influential academics with a disability. David Bolt of Liverpool Hope University, who has a visual impairment, came seventh on the Disability News Service鈥檚 list, which was topped by Stephen Hawking. Dr Bolt is senior lecturer in education studies and director of the faculty鈥檚 Centre for Culture and Disability Studies, as well as being editor of the internationally recognised Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies and leading the university鈥檚 Disability Studies MA.
University of Birmingham
A dinosaur species from South America has been identified in research by an international team of scientists. The 200 million-year-old fossils are from the La Quinta Formation in Venezuela, and are the first dinosaur find in the north of the continent. They were discovered by a team including Richard Butler, fellow and academic keeper at the Lapworth Museum of Geology, University of Birmingham. He said the discovery of Laquintasaura venezuelae could show that a 鈥渕ass extinction at the end of the Triassic period may actually have been key to driving the early evolutionary rise of dinosaurs鈥.
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Glyndwr University
The former footballer and now pundit Robbie Savage has been awarded an honorary fellowship by a Welsh university. Glyndwr University gave the former Premier League midfielder the award for 鈥渟ervices to sport鈥, which Mr Savage described as a 鈥渨onderful surprise鈥. The player, now a BBC commentator, was born and raised in Wrexham where the university is based. 鈥淚 may be the 鈥楳r Marmite鈥 of football but I have remained determined, direct and given blood, sweat and tears for the game I love,鈥 he said in a statement.
Bournemouth University
Academics at a university on the South Coast have linked an infectious disease to changes in weather patterns. Researchers from Bournemouth University found that the El Ni帽o Southern Oscillation phenomenon can trigger outbreaks of Buruli ulcer, a bacterial disease that affects thousands each year, in French Guiana. Lead investigator and PhD student at Bournemouth, Aaron Morris, said that this type of research is 鈥渧ital in understanding how climate change will affect the dynamics and emergence of pathogens in the future鈥.
University of Dundee
The Scottish Funding Council has made almost 50 fully funded MSc places available at a Scottish university to help improve the skills base of the country. Students will be able to apply for funding in subjects including data engineering, geotechnical engineering and water hazards, risk and resilience at the University of Dundee. The scheme is in its second year and may take into account applicants鈥 work experience as well as their academic record.
Anglia Ruskin University
Openly gay job applicants in Cyprus are about 40 per cent less likely to be offered an interview than those who do not disclose their sexuality, according to research. Nick Drydakis, senior lecturer in economics at Anglia Ruskin University, sent fake applications for positions advertised on job websites in Cyprus. The applications were almost identical, but some candidates had been a volunteer for an environmental charity while others had been a member-volunteer in the fictitious Cypriot Homosexual Association. The research was published in the International Journal of Manpower.
Royal Veterinary College
Student vets are currently starring in a new BBC Two documentary series. Young Vets, which started on 19 August, follows 10 final-year students at the Royal Veterinary College as they put their learning into practice for the first time in farms and animal hospitals. Broadcast over three consecutive weeks, the series will show trainee vets carrying out caesareans on sheep, helping a dog with a broken back to walk again and treating a horse with sinusitis.
Goldsmiths, University of London
A university has been nominated for a diversity award thanks to its high number of female managers. Goldsmiths, University of London is the only higher education institution shortlisted for the Diverse Company Award at next month鈥檚 National Diversity Awards. Six out of seven heads of service at Goldsmiths are women and more than half of its senior management team are female. The nomination also recognises Goldsmiths鈥 initiatives aimed at recruiting students from deprived areas, including fee waivers for Lewisham students and Open Book, which has helped 60 adults from offending and addiction backgrounds to secure places on undergraduate courses.
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