The solution is to privatise Oxford

Oxford University has become headline news again, with everybody chipping in to say how they think it would best be run. The reasons for this new-found interest are radical proposals put forward by its vice chancellor, John Hood, which suggest replacing the traditional system of governance with a more ‘top-down’ managerial approach. Vice chancellor Hood wants ‘outsiders’ to supervise the running of the university. After hanging in the balance for a while, these proposals were defeated last week by 730 votes to 456. This week it was decided that there should be a further postal ballot, but this may produce the same results. Changes billed as ‘modernising governance’ are not popular at ancient institutions.

But though there’s not much academically wrong with Oxford — it recently came third in the world in the Times Higher Education Survey (Cambridge came second) — the university does need a very fundamental change of direction.