A slight thematic aside for this blog maybe but I can't help making a few notes on the recent "merger" of ECA with UoE... I don't intend to spend huge amounts of my time seething about it but noting down initial feelings may be useful at some point, who knows...
It's first of all worth considering the term "merger." This is not a merger, it is and has always been a take over. That is how it feels at least.
Returning to ECA this semester to find cheaply made UoE banners hung in ever conceivable location was a little disheartening. I had hoped that the university may have had the grace to allow ECA to hold on to at least a sense of Independence. Given that at every meeting, interview, polling session and focus group I attended, (& I attended quite a few,) this was considered a key issue. UoE is a completely different type of institution with different attitudes towards teaching and to its students, and so it should be, but when a small institution is suddenly consumed by a much larger one the smaller institution could be forgiven for being nervous about how its practices and nuances are going to be maintained or supported, if at all.
Even the muffins are branded UoE. There is no doubt in anybodies mind that they are now part of the university. Whether this brings with it more benefits than problems is still yet to be seen but in terms of making the students (& staff) feel uneasy I think we're off to a good start.
Here's hoping things get better.
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