The news that a new research initiative in Trinity is to introduce new ways of measuring the output of academics is not a bad thing in itself. In an age where Irish universities are forced to rely on non-state income at increasing levels, methods of raising funds that don’t rely on the state, be it through fees, philanthropy or commercialisation, should be embraced, including new initiatives to measure and maximise research output.
Embraced, that is, until it starts to harm the core mission of a university and those who work there. The Editorial Board argued recently that, while Trinity is in an unenviable financial position that means tough can be justifiably made, the decision to end promotions for support and service staff is one that cannot be justified in the same way that introducing a new line of Trinity towels can be. It’s a similar problem at the heart of this new initiative: seeing academics ranked internally within a school goes against the collegial nature that should remain at the very heart of a university.
Indeed, this is the distinction being made by the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) in Trinity, who have condemned this part of the project, as what are “effectively individual benchmarking or individual league tables”.
In a sector that has become increasingly obsessed with rankings, backlash has started to begin over what they measure and the direction that they are taking institutions in. We should be equally, if not more, sceptical of ranking individual academics – academics who work next door to each other, collaborate together, might take administrative or maternity leave, engage in types of research that aren’t so easily measured or take up jobs that contribute to this university like becoming a Tutor.
“I don’t want to be competing with my colleagues, I want to be working with them for the benefit of the institution. I think that’s what we should all be aiming for”, John Walsh, Trinity Branch Chair of IFUT, told this paper. It’s difficult to see many academics in Trinity feeling differently. With a similar system in the UK drawing increasing criticism, we shouldn’t be going down a similar road.
