Open University
The Open University is a public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off-campus; many of its courses can also be studied anywhere in the world. There are also a number of full-time postgraduate research students based on the university campus at Walton Hall in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, where they use the staff facilities for research, as well as more than 1,000 members of academic and research staff and over 2,500 administrative, operational and support staff.
The OU was established in 1969 and was initially based at Alexandra Palace, north London, using the television studios and editing facilities which had been vacated by the BBC. The first students enrolled in January 1971. The university administration is now based at Walton Hall, but has administration centres in other parts of the United Kingdom. It also has a presence in other European countries. The university awards undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as non-degree qualifications such as diplomas and certificates or continuing education units. It also offers unique Open Degrees, in which students may study any combination of modules across all subjects.
With around 200,000 students including around 34% of new undergraduates aged under 25 and more than 8,599 overseas students, it is the largest academic institution in the United Kingdom by student number, and qualifies as one of the world's largest universities. Since it was founded, more than 2.3 million students have studied with the Open University. The Open University is one of only two United Kingdom higher education institutions to gain accreditation in the United States by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. It also produces more CEOs than any other United Kingdom university. Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown, astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell, broadcaster Anna Ford and actress Glenda Jackson are among those who have tutored for the OU.
History
The Open University was founded by the Labour government under Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson was a strong advocate, using the vision of Michael Young.Planning commenced in 1965, under the Minister of State for Education Jennie Lee, who established a model for the OU as one of widening access to the highest standards of scholarship in higher education, and set up a planning committee consisting of university vice-chancellors, educationalists and television broadcasters, chaired by Sir Peter Venables.
The British Broadcasting Corporation Assistant Director of Engineering at the time James Redmond, had obtained most of his qualifications at night school, and his natural enthusiasm for the project did much to overcome the technical difficulties of using television to broadcast teaching programmes.
Wilson envisaged The Open University as a major marker in the Labour Party's commitment to modernising British society. He believed that it would help build a more competitive economy while also promoting greater equality of opportunity and social mobility. The planned use of television and radio to broadcast its courses was also supposed to link The Open University to the technological revolution under way, which Wilson saw as a major ally of his modernisation schemes.
However, from the start, Lee encountered widespread scepticism and even opposition from within and beyond the Labour Party, including senior officials in the Department of Education and Science, her departmental head Anthony Crosland, the Treasury, ministerial colleagues, such as Richard Crossman and commercial broadcasters. The Open University was realised due to Lee's unflagging determination and tenacity between 1965 and 1967, the steadfast support from Wilson, and the fact that the anticipated costs, as reported to Lee and Wilson by Arnold Goodman, seemed very modest.
By the time the actual, much higher costs became apparent, it was too late to scrap the fledgling university. The university was granted a royal charter by the Privy Council on 23 April 1969.
Organisation and administration
Staff
The majority of staff are part-time associate lecturers and, as of the 2021–22 academic year, almost 5,000 work for the OU. There are also 1,427 salaried academic employees who are research active and responsible for the production and presentation of teaching materials, 2,502 who are academic-related and 1,905 support staff. Salaries are the OU's main cost—over £598 million for the 2021–22 academic year. In 2010, The Sunday Times named OU as one of the 'Best Places to Work in the Public Sector'.Credit union
Open University Employees Credit Union is a savings and loans co-operative established by the university for staff in 1994. A member of the Association of British Credit Unions, it is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the PRA. Ultimately, like the banks and building societies, members’ savings are protected against business failure by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.Academic divisions
Faculties
In 2016, the university reorganised its departments and now operates with the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences ; the Faculty of Business and Law ; the Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics ; and the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies. It also runs Open and Access programmes via PVC-Students, and programmes from the Institute of Educational Technology via WELS.Open University Business School
In 1982, Open University offered a course titled, "The Effective Manager", developed by a team that was led by Charles Handy. After the reported success of the course, Derek S. Pugh proposed the establishment of a business school. In 1988, the Open University Business School was founded by the Faculty of Management department, for which professor Andrew Thomson was appointed to head. Thomson's main goal was the offering of an MBA programme, which was eventually funded through a grant from the DES. In 1989, the first class of MBA students were enrolled.The Open University Business School is accredited by the international accrediting bodies AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS, known as triple accreditation.
Some selected rankings:
- The OU Business School's MBA programme was ranked 13th in the Financial Times’ global rankings of online and distance learning MBA providers which featured five European schools, four of which were in the UK.
- Ranked fifth in the Global Online MBA Rankings by CEO Magazine and 1st for UK institutions.
- Ranked sixth in the world for the QS Distance Online MBA Rankings.
Singapore Institute of Management Open University Centre
Academic profile
Teaching methods
The OU has used a variety of methods for teaching, including written and audio materials, the Internet, disc-based software and television programmes on DVD. Course-based television broadcasts by the BBC, which started on 3 January 1971, ceased on 15 December 2006. Materials comprise originally authored work by in-house and external academic contributors, and from third-party materials licensed for use by OU students. For most modules, students are supported by tutors who provide feedback on their work and are generally available to them at face-to-face tutorials, by telephone, and/or on the internet. A number of short courses worth ten credits are now available that do not have an assigned tutor but offer an online conferencing service where help and advice are offered through conferencing "moderators".Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, some modules have mandatory day schools. Nevertheless, it used to be possible to be excused on the basis of ill health and many courses have no mandatory face-to-face component. Similarly, some modules used to run week-long summer schools offering an opportunity for students to remove themselves from the general distractions of their life and focus on their studies for a short time.
The university no longer offers any in-person tutorials - all teaching is done online.
For many years the OU produced television and radio programmes aimed at bringing learning to a wider audience. In its early years, most of these were in the form of documentaries or filmed lectures. Latterly, most OU-associated programming was mainstream and broadcast in peak hours, including series such as Rough Science and "Battle of the Geeks", while older-style programming was carried in the BBC Learning Zone.
In 2004, the OU announced it was to stop its late-night programmes on BBC Two, and the last programme was broadcast at 5.30 am on 16 December 2006. The university shifted its focus to semi-academic television programmes, such as many now broadcast on BBC Four.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education review published in December 2015 found five areas of good practice and made three recommendations for improvement. The English national survey of student satisfaction has twice put the Open University in first place.
In October 2006, the OU joined the open educational resources movement with the launch of OpenLearn. A growing selection of current and past distance learning course materials will be released for free access, including downloadable versions for educators to modify, plus free collaborative learning-support tools.
In the early 2000s, the OU researched the use of virtual worlds in teaching and learning, and had two main islands in Second Life. In May 2009, these regions formed the basis of a case study by Linden Lab, the company which owns Second Life.
In mid-2010, the university led the list of contributing universities in the number of downloads of its material from the educational resources site iTunes U, with downloads of over 20 million. Open University continues to adopt Moodle as the Virtual Learning Environment with their own team deploying custom plugins.
In 2013, the OU began a massive open online course platform called FutureLearn, which is the UK's largest provider of free online courses.