LONDONS GLOBAL UNIVERSITY

Teaching and Learning Strategy for

Department of Economics
2011-15
Stage 1: the narrative or vision
What does the department stand for? What does it want to achieve? What is it going to do meet its
objectives?
Drafters may wish to look first at the questions below and use them as 'prompts' or suggestions for the kind of
things they might wish to include in their statement but this element of the strategy is intended to be as
'individual' as possible: a chance for the department to present its vision in its own words.

The department's ambition is to be perceived as the best Economics Department in Europe and
one of the best in the World. This entails:

To run top quality BSc, MSc and PhD programs attracting the best students.
To be able to attract and retain outstanding, internationally mobile academic staff at junior
and senior levels. We want to be seen as THE place to pursue a top academic career in
Europe and to be at the level of top 10 US departments.
To promote research that can have an influence on the importance public policy issues of
the day.
To be engaged in regular interactions (research collaboration, visiting posts both ways,
placing PhD students, attracting affiliate students) with top Economics Departments worldwide.
To develop mutually beneficial links with alumni.

The long-term goal of the department therefore is to maintain the quality of the students by
continuing to offer a curriculum which is informed by researchers at the forefront of their
particular areas of expertise. We wish to ensure that key research findings make it out to the
wider audience. Interaction with Government Departments and international agencies about

public policy is an important feature of the activities of members of the department.

Stage 2: the department in context

1

Strategic Environment

a) What external factors influence the design and delivery of the departments teaching
programmes?
This question encourages drafters to discuss those factors which are currently driving the departments strategy
on teaching and learning. Drafters may wish to consider any or all of the following in responding to this
question:
*
Changes in school curricula and in the skills / knowledge base of the student cohort on entry
*
Changes in the departments student profile (international student numbers; WP students etc.)
*
Developments in the discipline more broadly
*
The need to respond to innovation elsewhere in the sector
*
Student expectations of the programme and of the subject
*
The requirements / expectations of professional and accrediting bodies
*
The ways in which collaboration with overseas institutions may impact upon ideas about teaching and
learning
*
Funding issues and the need to generate income to support teaching activity
*
Any additional issues as determined by the departments context
In responding to this question, drafters should comment on both the undergraduate and the graduate teaching
that they offer.

Economics is an attractive subject to students both because of the rich career options it can lead
to and because of its engagement with topics of wide public interest. It is a subject of relevance
both to decision making in business and to policy formulation and economics graduates are
widely employable. It is nonetheless important to emphasise its coherence as a subject of
academic enquiry which teaches broadly applicable general skills. Teaching needs to equip
students with both an understanding of the subject matter of the discipline and an ability to
communicate that understanding outside of an academic environment.
At masters level there is a healthy demand for further training from individuals pursuing
professional careers with strong contents of economics or intending to pursue graduate
research degrees and the department's MSc courses are also heavily oversubscribed. The
department runs an MSc in Economics that emphasises generally-applicable microeconomic
and macroeconomic theory and econometrics but has also recently begun to offer an MSc in
Economic Policy to cater to needs of students working in applied fields and wanting a course
with a greater focus on applications.
The department's student profile at all levels is highly international. Between two thirds and
three quarters of its undergraduate students are from outside the UK at both undergraduate and
postgraduate level. This diversity in linguistic background and in expectations regarding the
teaching experience is a challenge to the department's teaching but also an opportunity for
developing the international orientation of its programme.

The teaching of economics at both undergraduate and postgraduate level assumes no prior
knowledge of economics. Although economics is taught in many schools at A level, it is not
part of the national curriculum and not offered by all schools, particularly in the state sector.
The long term trend in numbers taking the subject at A-level is downward in contrast to
numbers applying for university places. Few universities consequently make it a prerequisite of
entry. Teaching of the subject at A-level is, in any case, largely different from approaches
taken at university relying on less technical presentation as opposed to the more challenging
modelling approach taken at university level.
Much more important is an adequate grasp of mathematics. The department requires an A*
grade in A-level mathematics as a prerequisite of entry and requires students to take a further
two half units of mathematics for economists and a half unit of statistics in the first year as
preparation for study in later years. The department's teaching follows an approach which
values comprehensive training in empirical application and testing of economic theory and
therefore access to adequate computing resources is important to its teaching.
One of only four departments ranked as 5* in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise,
the department faces its main competition for students from its neighbouring department at the
London School of Economics which enjoys a similarly attractive location in London.
The main factors affecting changes in taught programmes can be summarized as:
1) The discipline is based around a core established body of knowledge which develops
gradually over time. New theories and evidence make their way into the curriculum
continuously and we go to great lengths to keep the courses up-to-date.
2) The content is also subject to change in emphasis and content in response to external
events, such as the financial crisis of recent years, and internal developments.
3) Changes in the funding environment which is likely to increase BSc students expectations
about the learning outcome. It is also likely to affect the mix of students on the BSc
programme in future years.

b) What will the key external challenges be for teaching, learning and assessment for the
department over the next four years?
This question invites consideration of the ways in which the factors influencing teaching within the department
might change. The response should therefore develop out of the response to question 1 (a).

Student numbers within the department have grown considerably over the last decade,
increasing by 45% from 621 in 2000/01 to 903 in 2010/11 and projected to increase further in
coming years. In contrast, the number of FT academic staff has remained approximately
unchanged over the same period producing much higher student/staff ratios than in the past.
This produces a number of problems such as very high exam grading loads, large amounts of
personal tutees per faculty member, high demand for teaching assitants, etc. We face constant

space problems and most teaching takes place outside the Economics Department and long
journeys across the campus between lessons are common for our students. This is one of the
issues that we get regular complaints from students about. We believe that none of these issues
are sustainable given the increased competition for students from other academic institutions in
the UK and in the rest of the world.
Increases in student numbers also increase the need for tutorial teaching relative to lecturing
hours and, to that extent, can be met in part by the employment of graduate teaching assistants
although the perceived decrease in student access to senior staff may be a source of
dissatisfaction.
Examining decisions need to be taken by lecturing staff and increasing numbers pose
particularly serious problems for fulfilment of examining requirements as staff marking loads
become increasingly difficult to manage. In the summer of 2007/8 the number of scripts
needing to be marked was the equivalent of about 5000 two-hour scripts; by 2009/10 that had
risen to about 6500. With no relaxation of time available for marking the demand to observe
marking deadlines becomes increasingly troublesome to meet.
The diverse international and ethnic backgrounds of students requires that the department
maintains a strong awareness of the differences in educational experience and expectations of
its students. The department monitors and will continue to monitor the differing attainments of
students of different backgrounds and is aware, for example, of the significant differences from
the average performance - in differing directions - of students from South Asian and East Asian
ethnic origins.
The department needs to keep curriculum and course content up-to-date as the discipline
responds to external and internal reevaluation. Advances in technological possibilities open up
opportunities for increasingly sophisticated teaching, for example in teaching of econometric
applications, and the department needs to ensure that it is ready to respond to these. It needs
also to maintain relevance of its teaching to the needs of future employers without sacrificing
academic integrity of degree content.
Mathematical preparedness is an issue of particular importance to performance in later years of
the degree and the department needs to adjust the content of its first year programme to ensure
adequacy of mathematical and statistical understanding in response to any changes in content
or standards of A-level mathematics.

c) How will this context shape the departments teaching, learning and assessment strategy over
the next four years?
Drafters should outline how the department is intending to respond to its current circumstances, and to those
future challenges identified above, over the next four years.

The changes in the funding environment for undergraduate students produce challenges that we
will need to react to even in the short run and an undergraduate review committee is about to

deliver a report to the HoD triggered by this (see further below).

Increasing use of teaching assistants requires a focus of attention on support, training and
evaluation. Teaching assistants currently undergo training through workshops run by the
Economics Network and through internal meetings. The department will review the adequacy
and appropriateness to its specific needs of this training. This will be supplemented by review
of ongoing evaluation such as peer assessment. Monitoring of the quality of student feedback
may have to be improved.
Relief of examining loads through partial use of electronic assessment methods has already
been trialled on the core course Econ1001 and the department will be looking into the
possibility of extending this to other large courses. Although the difficulty of developing
appropriate examination material increases the burden of exam-setting the reduction in hours
during the intense summer examination period is a high priority.
The Department has initiated a review of the undergraduate curriculum. We believe that there
is a need to consider the adequacy and appropriateness of first year mathematics and statistics
courses. The difficulty we have is that our needs may be hard to communicate to noneconomists and to some extent require skills not necessarily found in other subject areas.
Mathematics training has already been brought into the department and we are planning to
amend and extend the first year statistics offering. We also believe that we will have to widen
the supply of economics options. On top of this, future hiring decision will have partially to
reflect the need to augment our supply of macroeconomics courses.

Aims and Objectives for 2011-15

a) What are the departments key aims for teaching, learning and assessment for 2011-15?
Drafters are asked to briefly outline the strategic direction for the department in terms of its teaching activity,
given the external strategic context and the Institutional Learning, Teaching Strategy. Responses may consider:
*
The relationship between teaching and research within the department, and the profile of teaching as an
academic activity
*
How curriculum content and delivery methods might evolve and change (e.g. to become more
international; to respond to changes in the discipline; to reflect the needs of the student cohort)
*
How assessment methodologies might evolve to respond to curriculum changes and to changes in the
student cohort
*
Where the department would wish to position itself in relation to similar programmes offered by other
universities nationally and internationally
*
The staff profile of the department
*
The relationship between undergraduate and graduate teaching
*
Income generation strategies and support for strategically valuable teaching activity

The department aims to run top quality BSc, MSc and PhD programs attracting the best
students.
The long-term goal of the department, therefore, is to maintain the quality of the students by
continuing to offer an up-to-date curriculum covering the breadth of the discipline and which is
informed by researchers at the forefront of their particular areas of expertise.
The quality of the teaching delivered by the department hinges critically on the academic
quality of the faculty in the department. The department aims for being the top department in
Europe in terms of research quality and has a strong belief that the high quality of the research
in the department filters into high quality of the taught courses. Students get exposure to some
of the leading thinkers in the field and to the newest research in the subject area.
The department runs one of the most prestigious undergraduate programmes in Britain which
also attracts many overseas students. It is the aim to maintain this position. The student body is
extremely international and of very high quality with alumni doing extremely well on the job
market. We need to retain this standard and we need to consider strategies to exploit the
success of our alumni.
The MSc program is equally prestigious and we believe that there may be a scope to expand it
in the future. This could generate a significant amount of revenue but college constraints
currently prevent us from doing so. The most binding constraints here relate to space and to the
faculty cost induced by the dissertation requirement. We think that a major expansion can only
occur once space issues are addressed adequately by the college and once a less facultyintensive dissertation scheme can be implemented.
The PhD programme has been significantly reformed over the past years and we now run a
fully taught first year (MRes) programme. Placements from the programme have been very
strong in the past with UCL PhD alumni having found employment as assistant professors at
the most prestigious universities in the world. Keeping these standards is demanding but that is
our aim.

b) How will the departments teaching and assessment activity reflect and support UCLs key
priorities for teaching and learning in its provision over the period2011-15?
Research-led teaching
*

How does the research of departmental staff, and the research base in the discipline more generally,
influence the taught curriculum?

Education for Global Citizenship:

Drafters should consider how the following are reflected in the taught programme:
*
*
*

Global issues / perspectives considered in course content wherever appropriate

Consideration of methodologies used in other cultures
Teaching and assessment approaches which are accessible to students from a range of educational
and cultural backgrounds
*
The ways in which students at UCL develop their sensitivity to cultural difference
*
Programmes developed which equip students for employment in a range of countries
*
Assessment tasks devised to encourage students to communicate with a range of audiences, and to
work in teams
*
Collaboration on curriculum content or delivery with overseas partners
*
Integration of study abroad opportunities into the curriculum
Innovative and effective teaching and learning methodologies:
Under this heading, drafters should consider the following, in the context of their discipline:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Increased use of digital technologies to support course development, delivery and student collaboration
Student-led research
Distance and blended learning
Peer-to-peer learning
Redesign of teaching / learning spaces
Engagement with museums and collections resources
Engagement with information literacy and digital resources

Improved support for students learning (pastoral support; feedback and assessment):
Drafters should comment on their departments approach to:
*
*
*
*

The UCL personal tutor system and the Higher Education Achievement Record
Systems in place to support students to reflect on their own skills development
The departments approach to providing students with appropriate and timely feedback
Any other pastoral structures which operate within the department, as appropriate

Employability, entrepreneurship and leadership:

*

The profile of careers advice (both departmental and from the UCL Careers Service) within the
department and the support structures which encourage students to prepare for life after UCL
*
The extent to which the curriculum has been developed with an eye to students future employment
prospects
*
The scope within the curriculum for students to show intellectual and practical leadership
*
The scope for students to pursue their own research and to set the pace of their own learning
*
The role of Student Representatives within the departments decision-making structures
*
Any other academic opportunities within the department for students to show initiative and to develop
their entrepreneurship skills
Recognition of the importance of teaching and learning in maintaining UCLs international reputation:

*
*
*
*
*
*
*

The level of training and teaching expertise required of staff with teaching responsibilities
The process by which the teaching load is apportioned across the staff body
The way in which the peer observation of teaching system operates
The expectations of staff who have been asked to develop new courses
Promotion of staff achievements in teaching
The promotions process
Other opportunities for staff to develop their teaching practice

Where drafters identify areas under any of these headings where additional development is necessary, this
should be indicated in the response. Drafters shouldensure that these development needs are reflected in the
departmental strategic aims and objectives section (above).

Research led teaching

Participation in teaching is expected of academic staff within the department and their research
interests and the department's research strengths are reflected in the ranges of optional courses
offered. The department has particular strength, for example, in the areas of applied and
theoretical microeconomics and draws on this in design of courses and programmes. At
undergraduate level, for example, the course in Economic Analysis Econ3007 draws explicitly
on the latest research of staff many of whom are engaged with policy advice. The range of
courses offered at both undergraduate and postgraduate level include methodological courses
in microeconometrics, applied courses in policy areas such as taxation and migration and
innovative areas such as experimental economics and economics and psychology that draw on
cutting edge research within the department. At the postgraduate level the recent introduction
of an MSc in Economic Policy draws on the prominence of the department in policy relevant
practical research. The MRes and PhD programme is entirely research led and taught by some
of the leading academic economists in the world.
The international dimension
Economics is a subject with strong intrinsic international content. First and foremost,
economics training is fully transferable across national borders. This means that we get
students from all corners of the world and that they find jobs across the world.
Secondly, issues related to the global aspects of the world economy are at the core of many
topics in economics. Many courses deal explicitly with these issues but there is basically no
course that one way or another doesnt have to deal with the global dimension. To give some
examples: The economics of international trade and of international monetary movements are
central topics within the subject and are covered both in core courses and in specialist options
such as Econ1007 (The World Economy), Econ3004 (International Trade), Econ3005
(International Monetary Economics) The department has particular strength in the study of
international migration, hosting CReAM (Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration) one
of the foremost research centres in the subject and this is reflected, for example, in coverage in
Econ3007 (Economic Policy Analysis) and the specialist MSc option EconG037 (Economics
of Migration)
The composition of the department's academic staff is also highly international with 47 out of

59 academic and teaching staff members of non-UK nationality and that depth of international
experience informs departmental teaching practice. On the student side the department is also
highly international with the majority of the department's undergraduate students coming from
overseas.
The department now also tries to prepare students for the global nature of their future career. In
2010/11 the department introduced a four year degree programme incorporating a year abroad.
Initially, rather than admitting students directly to this programme, the option of a year abroad
at selected US institutions was offered to the best performing students at the end of the first
year of the BSc(Econ) programme; the department now considers applications for admission
directly to the programme. 2011/12 marks the first academic year with students in this
programme studying abroad, with the first cohort comprising seven students currently studying
abroad at UCLA, University of Chicago, and Columbia University. Eleven current second-year
students are in the process of transferring to this new programme for study abroad next year,
and there are currently seventeen first year students who were admitted directly to the
programme planning to study abroad in 2013/14. In addition to the three universities already
mentioned, we currently have agreements that enable us to offer study abroad at Georgetown
University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia,
and Washington University of St. Louis, and we are continuing to pursue further agreements.
The introduction of this programme offers students an excellent opportunity to broaden
academic horizons and enhances the attractiveness of the department to the best students.
Innovative teaching methodologies
The department aims to make the best possible use of modern digital technology. All courses
are expected to maintain a Moodle presence.
The use of electronic tests to relieve pressure on marking resources has been trialled in the
current year for one first year course and is expected to be extended to other courses if
successful.
We are open to teaching innovation but, at the same time, believe that it is important not to take
too many risks given that competition for students is extremely fierce.
Support
All undergraduates are assigned a Personal Tutor to provide individual academic guidance.
Personal tutors meet with their tutees at the beginning of each academic year, advising them on
module selection and taking an overview of their progress. A second appointment is scheduled
at the beginning of the second term. In addition to these scheduled meetings, personal tutors
make themselves available to their tutees at a regular weekly Office Hour and are always
available for individual appointments at other times. Meetings for the purpose of discussing
references are common in students' final year. At all these meetings the personal tutor has
online access to the tutee's academic file, enabling progress or difficulties (if any) to be
discussed in the light of recent performance.

The department is considering the best way to expand the number of scheduled appointments
so as to comply with college requirements in a context in which high departmental studentstaff ratios mean that individually scheduled personal tutor appointments have a particularly
high staff resource cost and there has been no strongly expressed student demand for
redirection of resources towards this particular end. So whilst, the department will do all it can
to comply with college regulation, it also eagerly awaits college assistance in terms allocating
us resources to be able to provide the required amount of staff-student contact.
Apart from taking an overview of a students progress and being a first port-of-call in the case
of any difficulties arising, an important responsibility of the personal tutor is to write
references for his or her tutees. Where a second reference is required for academic
applications, students are advised to approach the Departmental Tutor who, under recently
introduced reforms to the department's guidance on reference writing plays a pivotal role.
All undergraduate personal tutors are informed about their tasks and the role they could play in
a students' career in a separate meeting early in the academic year. All students are informed in
a group meeting in induction week about the importance of connecting with their personal
tutor.
For MSc students the programme directors act as de facto personal tutors. MSc students also
have individual supervisors for the compulsory dissertation.
In addition, monitoring of student performance is ongoing, and any student whose attendance
and/or coursework submission places him or her at risk of not meeting course requirements is
identified and contacted by the undergraduate studies administrator and then interviewed by
the Departmental Tutor. Such meetings can reveal a number of potential problems with the
student's academic foundations, or with non-academic matters such as finance, family or
relationship difficulties affecting academic performance or mental stress/illness. The
Departmental Tutor also consults with tutorial tutors on the progress of individual students and
tutorial tutors regularly report to the Departmental Tutor on individual students in their tutorial
groups if they feel the need arises. Typically, the Departmental Tutor will be alerted to around
5 to 10 students every term.
The Department is actively involved in the process of assisting students in overcoming the
transition from school to university by promoting the UCL Transition programme, screening
the Student Mentoring applications (from 2nd/3rd year Economics students), by engaging
regularly with the Departments' societies and StARs (Student Academic Representatives) and
by significantly updating the Undergraduate areas of the Departmental website and Moodle
sites to provide students with information to enable them to adapt better to the demands of
university life.
Added to this, The Economist's Society (one of two student societies) will as of 2012 operate a
mentoring programme for first-year students that assigns senior undergraduates to groups of
about 10 undergraduates. These mentoring groups not only serve to guide the students through
the bewildering variety of induction activities organised during induction week, but also to
offer support in coping with adapting to college life, attending tutorials and classes, managing

time and study-related questions. The Economics and Finance Society (EFS) provides students
with a wealth of options to start building their own networks and participate in recruitment for
work-experiences and internships primarily in finance and banking. The newly-established
Economist's Society plays a significant role in informing the students about career
opportunities beyond the fields covered by the EFS. This not only includes academic and
research careers but also, for example, journalism.
Employability
Economics graduates basically face no unemployment risk. This is partially due to strong
demand for economists and partially due to the reputation of the undergraduate and graduate
degrees.
In the latest available year for which we have information 42% of those for whom destinations
were known went into paid employment whereas 34% continued into further study.
The department works closely with the UCL Careers Service. Careers information is passed on
frequently through email, and the department hosts talks by Careers personnel on job-search
skills such as CV preparation and interview techniques. The department also organises careers
talks by ex-students or by outside recruiters, and assists students in obtaining placements or
internships by the production of references or by creating contacts, such as for example
recently with Samsung Electronics.
For advice regarding the local (UCL) offering in graduate programmes, undergraduate students
can always consult the Departmental tutor and/or the departmental Graduate tutors. The
department also actively seeks to attract contacts and speakers that will open up new or less
familiar career opportunities for students, such as for example recently with the IT start-up
``CloudSense''.
c) What objectives and timelines has the department set with a view to achieving its aims
for teaching and learning?
The department's regular committees deal with ongoing issues on a continual basis. The
department has also established three ad hoc committees, as discussed elsewhere, to deal firstly
with generation of innovative ideas for enhancing the undergraduate learning experience,
secondly with review of the undergraduate curriculum and thirdly with review of tutorial
arrangements. The first of these has already reported and its deliberations are under review
within the Departmental Teaching Committee; the second is still deliberating and expects to
report to Departmental Teaching Committee during the current academic year, though some
preliminary conclusions particularly relating to the first year programme are already being
implemented; the third will commence activities once the curriculum review committee has
finished. Once the reports of these committees have been digested, action points and
appropriate implementation timelines will be determined within the Departmental Teaching
Committee.

d) How will the department monitor progress against the objectives outlined in this strategy?
What indicators will the department use to track and measure its performance?
Drafters should indicate the structures and processes that are currently, or will be put in place, to ensure that its
strategic objectives for teaching are met. Reponses may consider:
*
The role of the Head of Department
*
The role of the Departmental / Faculty Teaching committee
*
The role of staff-student consultative committees
*
The function and frequency of curriculum review
*
The use of objective quantitative data (e.g. student attainment data; student recruitment data; RAM)
*
The use of external feedback measures (e.g. recognition; leadership on curriculum design and
development)
*
The frequency with which the department will monitor progress
Additionally, drafters should list 3-5 key indicators which the department will use to evaluate performance over
the period covered by this strategy.

The Departmental Teaching Committee has overall responsibility for monitoring, evaluating
and implementing change in our teaching programme. It delegates oversight of the graduate
programmes to the Graduate Committee. DTC and GC report to the Departmental Meeting,
where major issues of policy are discussed.
Staff are encouraged to develop new teaching ideas and to try new teaching and assessment
methods in their courses provided that they remain consistent with departmental and faculty
policy - in particular with minimal standards for feedback on submitted work - and with the
described content and assessment methods of the course in question. Reports on the success of
innovative techniques can be made to the Departmental Teaching Committee and considered
for wider application. More radical ideas for the teaching programme are, if needed, discussed
first in these committees and can be taken to full consideration at a Departmental Meeting if
sufficiently important. The department is open to new thinking and the need to keep its
teaching programme under constant review as the university sector passes through a period of
rapid change with substantial increases in financial commitments of students. As evidence of
this, the Head of Department, Professor Morten Ravn, has recently appointed committees
reporting to DTC and asked, in one case, to review the content of the curriculum, in another to
generate innovative ideas for enhancement of the undergraduate learning experience and, in a
third case, to assess tutorial practices.
The Boards of Examiners for each programme determine examining policy and make
examining decisions, with the active involvement of visiting examiners.
Selection of academic staff is handled by an Appointments Committee, and development by a
Tenure and Promotions Committee. The department devotes a large amount of resources and
efforts to hiring. Hiring of junior faculty takes place in a centralized job market where
candidates are first interviewed in early January at the American Economic Association annual
conference; thereafter a selection of candidates are selected for a visit to the department where
they meet with a large cross-section of the faculty and give a seminar. The final selection is
made by the department jointly with the HoD having the final responsibility. Candidates will

typically have multiple offers from different institutions and we often find ourselves competing
with the top economics departments in the world. Senior hiring is equally competitive but does
not occur in a centralized market and selection is often driven by field concerns. Senior
appointments are made by a smaller cross-section of the department involving the HoD and
other senior faculty. Selection, review and development of Teaching Assistants is the
responsibility of DTC.
An Annual Monitoring Report now draws together data and lecturers' reports from the Review
process for each course within the undergraduate and MSc programmes. AMRs are circulated
to staff and SSCC members, and are reviewed by DTC.
Feedback from students plays an important role in quality management and enhancement.
Students are encouraged to raise issues regarding teaching as soon as they arise with the
relevant lecturer or class teacher, their personal tutor, Departmental Tutor, BSc Programme
Director or Head of Department as appropriate. Feedback is received through a number of
routes:
Student representatives are invited to attend Departmental Teaching Committee meetings.
For every course, student participants complete Course Evaluation Forms, for every course.
Students grade course content and delivery (both classes and lectures), and have scope for
free comment. Summary statistics are reviewed formally by DTC and the Faculty Teaching
Committee, circulated to staff, and posted on the departmental website.
Results of the National Student Survey are discussed at Departmental Teaching Committee.
Staff-Student Consultative Committees are convened at both the undergraduate and
graduate level, and provide two-way consultation on teaching and learning. Issues arising
from Staff-Student Committees are regularly brought to Departmental Teaching Committee
and Graduate Teaching Committee meetings, and the Department responds seriously and
positively to student initiatives raised through the Staff-Student Committees.
Informal monthly ``Roundtable'' meetings occur every month at which the departmental
tutor and the undergraduate studies administrator meet with a delegation of the Economist's
Society that includes the Student representatives of all undergraduate years. The informal
notes of these meetings are reported back to the students by the Economist's Society's
periodical the ``Drayton Weekly''
Student Progress Meetings with personal tutors provide an informal information channel.
Students express views about particular courses and teaching that can be of considerable
value in identifying problems.
The department also reviews student attainment data on all of its courses.
Staff are encouraged at all times to discuss their teaching informally with other staff and the
Head of Department. Periodic staff reviews assess problems and strengths with individuals'
teaching, and scope for improvements. We supplement this through peer observation of
teaching, whereby each staff member's teaching is annually reviewed by another staff member.
To maximise the learning opportunity information is confidential to the two staff members

involved.
Above the department, Faculty Teaching Committee and Faculty Board review departmental
programmes and procedures and disseminate good practice information. College Academic
Committee disseminates good practice through the web-based Academic Manual.

Approaches to Teaching, Learning and Assessment

a) What distinct principles underpin the departments approach to teaching, learning and
assessment?
This question invites drafters to define the fundamental characteristics of their departments approach to
teaching, both in the context of their discipline and as part of UCL more broadly. Drafters may wish to consider:
*
*

Aspects of their provision which are specific either to their discipline or unique to their approach to it
The factors that influence course content (e.g. staff expertise; innovation; demands of professional
bodies; future graduate employability)
*
The factors that inform the departments approach to assessment (the purposes for which it is used; the
needs and expectations of the student cohort; curriculum content
*
The extent to which the department seeks to innovate in teaching and learning methodology
*
How the synergies between teaching and research support student learning
*
The extent to which the department offers an internationalised curriculum (see 2b, above)
*
The role of generic skills development and employability skills in programme and module development
*
The relationship between academic challenge and pastoral support;
*
The extent to which the departments teaching equips students to take on leadership roles
*
How far the department is engaging with the potential of new technologies for teaching, learning and
assessment
*
Other factors as relevant

Teaching
Lectures explain key ideas and methods, govern the sequence and pace of work, and provide
an induction into relevant reading. Substantial independent reading is expected of students. A
single textbook is rarely used and students are encouraged to realise that different sources have
different strengths, and that different theoretical and empirical viewpoints are possible (and
supportable) in economics. Students are encouraged to read widely, and gain experience in
tackling journal articles and books for themselves and in assembling economic arguments in
the form of essays or for verbal presentation in class.
Regular (weekly or fortnightly) tutorial classes encourage students to work systematically
through the course material through coursework problem sets or through preparation of essays.
Problem sets are conceived as a learning exercise in which students try out their understanding
(often cooperatively), and they are challenging even for the most able students. Encouraging
students to learn by doing (rather than by copying or passively reading) is paramount.
Students have access to significant resources online made available by teaching staff through
UCL's Moodle system. All courses are required to have a Moodle presence and material
offered via Moodle ranges from problem sets, hints for solutions, old and mock exams and
online quizzes. Increasing numbers of lecturers use the lecturecast system to record lectures
where facilities allow and the availability of recordings over Moodle has been enthusiastically
welcomed by students who value the opportunity to revisit lecture material, the consequent
reduced pressure to take extensive notes at the time and the greater concentration on content
which this allows.
Assessment
A wide variety of different types of question is used in the examinations in order to test

different kinds of competences and to identify the level at which each student is performing.
Different methods of designing exam questions and exam papers have been widely discussed
in Departmental meetings. The form of examination is tailored to the nature of the course. In
core principles papers students are given the opportunity to display both knowledge and
understanding through a mixture of short questions and longer problems and/or open-ended
essay-type questions. The short questions are directed at testing the student's understanding of
the core textbook/lecture material providing those students who have assimilated the material
at the appropriate level with an opportunity to accumulate the marks necessary to reflect their
understanding. Longer problems contain sections either extending knowledge or calling for
some evaluation so students are required to not just perform calculations but to comment in
some way on the appropriateness or applicability of the model or techniques. More open-ended
essay-type questions typically require the student to reflect on which model or models are
appropriate to use and how best to deploy their knowledge to address an issue or problem that
has not been addressed directly in the lectures or problem sets. Through responses to questions
of this type, more talented students are able to distinguish themselves and earn higher grades.
In options courses there is a range of examination style. The more technical or analytical
options will have a format close to that of principles papers, whereas certain types of more
applied courses may be predominantly essay based.
The Department has formal grade descriptors, and these are made available to students through
the undergraduate handbook and the department's website. The importance of calibrating
marking to to the content of the grade descriptors as a way to ensure consistency and accuracy
of grading across papers is stressed to examiners. Students are provided with sample exam
papers for each course.
Affiliate students sit the same examinations as other students if present in summer at the time
when such exams are taken. Single term affiliate students leaving in December are set separate
examinations of a similar standard and format, administered within the department during the
final week of the autumn term.
Papers are marked according to the system of comprehensive moderation approved by the
college. All scripts are assessed individually by a member of academic staff acting as marker
for the course. Failing scripts, marginal scripts and a sample of scripts drawn from different
classes are then reviewed by a moderator who either approves the marking for accuracy and
consistency or asks for scripts to be regraded if dissatisfied. A sample of scripts is then sent to
an external examiner for similar scrutiny and approval. A comprehensive electronic trail is
kept of all stages in the marking process.
Importance of library resources
In all library resource issues there is a close relationship between the subject area specialist in
the library Kieron Jones and our staff library representative, currently Professor V Bhaskar.
This has been a close and productive arrangement resulting in one of the strongest economics
teaching library resources in the UK. The library aims to stock all materials present on
students reading lists and, where necessary, to purchase multiple copies of core texts.

The Economics collection contains approximately 11,000 monograph volumes on open access,
with a further 4000 volumes in closed access storage. The library has a strong commitment to
maintain journal collections and to provide immediate resources to facilitate the development
of new teaching areas in the department and the teaching interests of new members of staff.
This is evidenced by the extensive collections in quantitative methods, game theory, growth
theory and many others.
The library holds an extensive range of journals, shelved in broad subject groupings.
Approximately 220 titles in Economics are currently taken. Electronic access to journals is
obtained wherever possible to complement the print archive and to enhance availability, and
the library maintains web pages of links to electronic journals. The archive of back-runs of
journals held in JSTOR and Science Direct is available to members of UCL both from
workstations within UCL and offsite, by logging on to the library website. Improving
electronic access, for faculty and for students, has been a major concern in the recent past.
The library subscribes to a number of online indexing and abstracting services. These include
Econlit and Geobase, which are networked on a site licence for UCL; and it also makes
available the major databases which are nationally networked, including the International
Bibliography of the Social Sciences, and the Social Sciences Citation Index on the Web of
Science.
The library provides training classes in the use of databases, usually during the Autumn term
for postgraduates. The library offers induction tours to all new students. These are given by the
Subject Librarian. Induction training usually lasts around three quarters of an hour and
typically includes a tour of the relevant shelving locations, a demonstration of use of the
library catalogue, and information about borrowing rights, interlending rights, opening hours
and the availability of online databases.
Other collections at UCL relevant to aspects of economics teaching include Economic History,
Law, Planning, and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library (for transition
economies). Students are also able to use Senate House (10 minutes' walk from Drayton
House), and graduate students can make use of the British Library of Political and Economic
Science (BLPES) at LSE (about 20 minutes' walk away. The British Library is also located
within walking distance.
Demand for library services by undergraduates is high, and seating is congested at peak times.
The lack of social/study space in the department makes the library an attractive location in
which to study. Arrangements to hold photocopies of key articles and books for very short
term borrowing work well, and help to alleviate the pressure on space and on items in strong
demand. The Economics reading room has been refurbished recently and, with multiple power
sockets and Wi-Fi throughout, is a very popular place to study. The ground floor of the
Science Library, which we have dubbed the Learning Laboratory, provides bookable group
study pods where students can work on assignments together. Student representatives have
expressed the continuing high importance to them of library facilities but have indicated
dissatisfaction with restricted opening hours, particularly when compared to comparable access

arrangements at principal competing institutions.

Increasing use of online resources is a highly positive development and the universal use of
Moodle creates opportunities for significant improvement in delivery of teaching, it also
renders access to computers increasingly important to students and the sometimes limited
availability of cluster room facilities for undergraduates is a source of discontent among
students.

b) What are the departments strengths and weaknesses in teaching, learning and assessment?
How might these be capitalised upon or addressed over the next four years?
Frank responses to this question are encouraged. Drafters should use this question as an opportunity to reflect
on what the department does particularly well in its teaching, and where improvement might be necessary.
Drafters may wish to consider the following prompts when identifying strengths and weaknesses:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Course content
Reputation of programme
Student successes
Innovative methodologies for teaching and assessment
Assessment and feedback
Use of new technologies
Internationalised curriculum
Personal tutor system
Employability (including relationships with professional bodies)
Relationship between undergraduate and graduate teaching
Recruitment
Student cohort profile
Relationship between research and teaching
Staff workload
Relationship to developments across UCL
Leadership on issues relating to teaching and learning
Structures which support teaching and learning
Peer observation of teaching

Drafters are also encouraged to outline any steps that will be taken to address areas of deficiency, or to build
upon strengths.

The main strengths of the department are the following:

Research-led courses backed up by one of the strongest departments in Europe in terms of
the quality of the faculty.
Very structured teaching programmes which give students clear pathways.
Strong emphasis on policy relevance of the courses given students an edge over students
from most other academic institutions.
The ability to attract some of the most talented students.
The strong international mix of the student and faculty body making it extremely dynamic.
A great record in terms of job market performance of the alumni at all levels.
A very dynamic student body.

The main challenges are the following:

We are not competitive in terms of the facilities we can offer students. They have no access
to a space where they can socialise. Competitors offer such facilities.
Lack of high quality lecture theatres.
Lack of scholarships and bursaries at all levels. This makes it hard to hire the best PhD
students, and it will increasingly become a problem in terms of hiring the most talented
undergraduate students.
The workload for the faculty due to the large increase in the student/faculty ratio over the
last 10-15 years. This makes the personal tutor system particularly difficult to operate
which is something we will have to address.
A particular problem relates to grading and the short deadlines imposed by college
restrictions which are difficult to deal with given the large number of students in the
department.
How to increase the size of the MSc programmes given lack of lecture theatres and given
the workload induced by dissertation requirements?
Given our intentions to recruit at the highest level in an internationally competitive market,
we struggle to compete in terms of salaries that are required to attract the top academics.
c) How does the department structure and resource teaching and learning? Will this change over
the next four years, and if so, how and why?
This question is intended to encourage drafters to reflect on the way in which the department currently
manages the staff and other resources which support teaching. The response should provide both a statement
of the current position, and a consideration of the ways in which these resources might need to be deployed
differently in response to some of the pressures, challenges and trends identified in earlier questions.
Drafters may wish to refer to the following in their response:
*
*
*
*
*
*

Staff workload allocation (of teaching, and of enabling roles relating to teaching, e.g. Departmental Tutor)
Use of hourly-paid staff
Use of post-graduate teaching assistants, demonstrators etc.
Peer observation of teaching
Committees in support of teaching within the department
Use of central UCL resources (e.g. use of internal consultants on teaching methodology and learning
technologies; Museums and Collections)
*
Use of central UCL pump-priming funds (e.g. teaching grants; away-days funding)
*
Income generation strategies
*
Collaborations and exchange agreements with universities overseas
*
Any challenges which are unique to the department, or which require additional central support to be
addressed

The department has recently hired 2 full time teaching fellows and is currently in the process of
filling another such position. The idea is that the teaching fellows will be competent teachers
who will teach some of the less research-led courses freeing up more resources for research-led
courses taught by the regular faculty. The teaching fellows will also be involved in developing
new methods for teaching.
The department relies heavily on postgraduate teaching assistants for tutorial teaching and they
are also involved, as explained below, in assisting examination markers. All teaching assistants

have written contracts specifying teaching and marking obligations. Teaching Assistants are
required to attend the Economics Network One-Day Workshop for Economics Postgraduate
Teaching Assistants. Academic staff are expected to provide teaching assistants for their
courses with detailed marking schemes and guidance on expectations for essay writing. Results
of student evaluations are discussed in individual meetings between teaching assistants and the
Departmental Tutor. A session is held at the beginning of the summer term which new teaching
assistants are expected to attend at which detailed guidance on departmental marking
procedures is offered by the Chair of the Board of Examiners in the department.
The department sees it as valuable to involve postgraduate teaching assistants in the marking
process both because, having taught tutorials, they have particularly close knowledge of the
course material and because we see it as an important part of their training to have experience
of the examination process. The comprehensive moderation scheme is restrictive however in
the scope which it allows for their involvement; in particular, we do not feel it is appropriate to
ask them to act either as first markers or as moderators. It is not allowed for them to act as first
markers under college rules. We also see it as inappropriate to ask them to act as moderators
since the responsibility of being prepared, if necessary, to ask the first markers (who may be
senior staff) to regrade scripts would be a heavy one to be put on someone so junior. For some
courses, particularly those with very high marking loads, we therefore ask postgraduate
teaching assistants to look at scripts in advance of the first marker, noting errors in answers and
issues requiring particular attention and suggesting grades. These suggested grades are made to
assist the first marker who retains full responsibility for reading and deciding the mark for each
script. Teaching assistants involved in this way are appointed as assistant examiners but, since
they have no responsibility for deciding marks do not typically attend the board of examiners.
Increasing student numbers have led to an inexorable increase in staff marking loads that is
becoming increasingly difficult to manage. In the summer of 2007/8 the number of scripts
needing to be marked was the equivalent of about 5000 two-hour scripts; by 2009/10 that had
risen to about 6500. With no relaxation of time available for marking the demand to observe
marking deadlines becomes increasingly troublesome to meet.
Staff participates in peer review of lecturing whereby they are paired with another member of
staff, each observes the other's lecturing and provides confidential feedback and advice. It is
intended to explore extending this scheme to cover postgraduate teaching assistants.
d) What mechanisms are in place for monitoring the effectiveness of the way in which the
department is teaching and assessing? Do these need to be revised or reviewed in light of
projected trends for the next four years?
This question invites drafters not only to identify current mechanisms and briefly explain their function, but also
to consider what monitoring might be necessary in order to support the department to achieve its strategic aims
over the next four years.
Responses may include reference to:
*
*
*

Internal curriculum review processes

Staff-student consultative committees
Other sources of student feedback

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Use of external examiners and other peer review mechanisms

Student assessment outcomes
Evaluation against departments nationally / internationally in the same discipline
Evaluation against departments nationally / internationally in other disciplines
Staff performance appraisals
Staff promotion procedures
Financial monitoring
Programme approvals procedures
Mechanisms in place for monitoring the effectiveness of supervisions for doctoral students

The undergraduate curriculum is founded on communicating a solid core of knowledge in the

first two years and offering a broad choice of options for deeper study in the final year. The
curriculum is nonetheless kept under constant review. The first year programme has been a
focus of recent attention with new courses created and still being developed to address a
perceived lack of depth in first year options offered within economics.
Most recently the department has established a Curriculum Review Committee, under former
Head of Department, Professor Richard Blundell, to review the entirety of the curriculum with
a view to ensuring coherence and relevance. This committee aims to take an overview of what
an economics programme at a top-ranked economics department ought to offer at the current
time and will report to the Departmental Teaching Committee before the end of the year. A
decision has also been taken to establish a further committee to look into tutorial practices.
Other issues have been covered above.
e) How does the department innovate in teaching, learning and assessment? How will the
department seek to develop its teaching over the next four years?
Drafters are invited to outline the extent to which the department seeks to challenge orthodoxies in teaching
and learning, and the extent to which its innovations have been successful. Responses should also consider
how the departments context influences the kinds of innovation that are appropriate.
Responses to this question may cover some or all of the following:
*
The synergies between teaching and research and the ways in which these are exploited;
*
New modes of delivery, assessment that have been trialled or introduced
*
New approaches to content
*
Interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning
*
The use of new technologies to underpin teaching, learning and assessment;
*
The extent to which the department offers an internationalised curriculum, including in collaboration with
overseas partners
*
The role of the student in shaping teaching, learning and assessment strategies
*
Any constraints on innovation e.g. from accreditation by professional bodies; financial constraints
Responses should also consider whether innovations in graduate teaching differ from that for undergraduates.

The curriculum is reviewed annually by the BSc Programme Director and the DTC. The
faculty of the department is extremely international and there is a constant inflow of ideas
gained from learning experiences at other universities. The department allows lecturers to
make minor changes in course content and in teaching methods without the approval of the

DTC. More radical changes are subject to approval by the DTC. This in combination with the
appointment of teaching fellows who will innovate on teaching leads to a balanced system
where changes are likely to be suggested rather frequently but subject to scrutiny from the
DTC.
For the first time, the department has introduced this year the use of a computer-marked incourse test constituting 50% of the grade on one of its larger first year courses, the full-year
core unit, Econ1001. While increasing the burden in examination setting, this will help to
relive marking pressure during the intense summer examination period. If this proves
successful this may be extended to other large courses.
Other issues have been covered already a few times above.
f) What is the student profile of the department? Will this change over the next four years? How
will the department respond to the various needs of disparate student groups?
Drafters should use this question to give a statement of the current recruitment position, and to outline recent
trends. Responses should also consider how the department might respond to the challenges and opportunities
these trends represent:
Areas that responses might cover include:
*
*
*
*

Balance between home students and EU / international students

Previous educational experience of home students (e.g. WP cohort)
Balance between undergraduate and graduate students
Influence of external / short course / CPD students on teaching and learning activity

The concept of student needs covers a range of areas, including:

*
The need for additional catch-up tuition
*
The need for additional support with unfamiliar methodologies and modes of assessment
*
The ways in which the taught undergraduate curriculum and the taught postgraduate curriculum
interrelate
*
The teaching of doctoral students
*
The need to respond to student expectations about e.g. assessment and feedback; the use of new
technologies; the level of challenge in particular courses

The Department of Economics had 903 students in academic year 2010/11, studying on four
principal degree programmes
the undergraduate BSc(Econ) degree in Economics
the taught postgraduate MSc in Economics and MSc in Economic Policy
the MRes/PhD programme in Economics
or present in the department as affiliate students, typically taking courses for credit on
undergraduate degree programmes at US universities. There is also a recently introduced but
still small degree programme in Economics with a Year Abroad.
This is a substantial increase from 738 at the time of last Internal Quality Review in 2004/5.
Almost three quarters, 73.8%, of the students are undergraduates on the BSc Economics

programme and the increase in numbers is largely a consequence of increased undergraduate

numbers on this programme, up from 528 in 2004/5 to the current 666. Numbers of affiliate
undergraduates have been fairly constant - currently 50 as opposed to 47 earlier. Taught
postgraduate numbers have also been stable, rising slightly from 101 to 108. Numbers of
postgraduate research student, though a small fraction of overall numbers, have undergone the
largest proportional increase, rising from 55 to 86 (or from 7.5% of students to 9.5%).
This increase is a continuation of rising numbers noted at the last IQR, constituting an increase
of 45% from 621 in the decade since 2000/1.
The department has been not far from a 50:50 split by gender in undergraduate intake in recent
years, though with a slight underrepresentation of female students in the most recent year
2010/11.
The majority of the department's undergraduate intake is from outside the UK, though those
from within the UK are drawn strongly from domiciles in Greater London or the South East.
The department is a very substantial outlier within the faculty in its ethnic composition.
Analysis of data for 2009/10 shows that only 21% of undergraduate students in the department
were classified as white. That compares to an average across other departments in the SHS
faculty of 80% and in Arts of 78% (and of 42% across UCL as a whole). In fact there seem to
be more ethnic minority students in Economics than in the rest of the SHS faculty combined.
Very few students are black; the high representation of ethnic minority students is a
consequence particularly of large numbers of South Asian and Chinese origin students.
The proportion of the UK-domiciled intake from lower socio-economic classes is around the
college average (21% compared to 19%). Nonetheless the proportion of state school students
within the UK intake is significantly lower than the college average (35% when the college
average is 65\%). Moreover this proportion has been declining precipitously, having been as
high as 67% as recently as 2006, in line with the then college average.
The department has looked into comparisons of performance across sociodemographic groups
in some detail for the year 2009/10 and over a longer period with regard specifically to
differences by ethnicity. There is no clear evidence from that year that either gender does
worse than the other in exam performance though male students are perhaps slightly more
represented at both extremes (23% of males achieved firsts and 8% thirds as against 17% and
3% respectively among females). There is no obvious difference in performance by school
type. This is not typical - across UCL as a whole, state school students outperform independent
school students suggesting that weaker independent school students may find entry easier. That
possibly suggests that the department is more successful in setting the bar for admission at the
same sort of academic standard across school types.
White students do better than minority ethnic groups in exam results in the particular year
2009/10 but this may be a small sample result as there were only 24 white students classified in
that year. The evidence there suggests that the best performing students were actually South
Asian students, with white students slightly behind and Chinese origin students doing
significantly worse. Further probing of the evidence suggests, though with diminishing

statistical reliability, that the problem might be more acute amongst Chinese origin students
from overseas, whose cultural expectations of teaching practices may require greatest
adaptation to UCL experience. This was considered at the Departmental Teaching Committee
and it was resolved to keep the issue under review.
The department is aware of issues of equality in the learning experience and monitors
performance of different sociodemographic groups within the student body. It has particularly
high numbers of overseas students and appreciates that they may come with cultural
expectations of teaching which differ from the conventions which operate in the UK. Analysis
of performance data shows no evidence of indirect discrimination according to gender,
socioeconomic grouping or school type. The department has a particularly high proportion of
ethnic minority students and has looked in most detail at differential achievements by
ethnicity; the picture here is mixed with one minority group (South Asian origin) appearing to
do particularly well while another (Chinese origin) do comparatively badly.
It is likely that the composition of the UK BSc student intake will change due to the new
funding environment but it is still too early to say exactly how this will pan out.
g) How does the department support staff to develop their teaching? How will the department
ensure that staff can give due priority to teaching activity within their overall teaching load? How
will the department recognise staff for excellence in teaching?
Drafters are invited to outline the support currently offered to staff with teaching responsibilities, and to consider
how this support might be enhanced or extended over the coming years to better support the department and
UCL in realising its aspirations for teaching and learning.
Support may include:
*
Work with CALT, via consultancy or attendance at relevant training courses
*
High profile for completion of the PG Certificate in Learning and Teaching in HE for all new lecturers
*
Regular peer observation of teaching
*
Nominations for Provosts Teaching Awards
*
Release to attend national conferences on pedagogical issues or to publish on pedagogical issue
*
Staff rotation around key teaching enabling roles (e.g. Chair of Departmental Teaching Committee,
Undergraduate Tutor)
*
Acknowledgement of the importance of teaching as an academic activity
*
Expectation that staff will seek to innovate and keep their teaching expertise current
*
Staff away-days
*
Whole-staff involvement in strategic planning for the development of teaching activity
*
International collaborations on teaching and learning with overseas partners

All new lecturers are given a mentor. The mentor meets periodically with the lecturer to
provide advice and help. Initially this involves helping the new lecturer become familiar with
College and Department teaching, research and administrative procedures. Later the mentor
may help in formulating research strategies and direction and in related activities such as fund
raising. In the past the Department Tenure and Promotions Committee has asked mentors for
an opinion on their charges' progress. The mentor remains with a junior appointment for a
number of years, usually until promotion has been achieved.

The operation of the peer observation scheme within the department has been explained above.
Pairings are typically made between more and less junior staff allowing junior staff to receive
confidential and supportive feedback on teaching from senior colleagues.
All staff are expected to serve on departmental committees, as requested, to familiarise
themselves with department and faculty teaching procedures and to provide an opportunity for
input into departmental decision making, and to take on key enabling roles from time to time in
return for adjusted teaching loads.

Business Planning

a) How will the department fund its teaching activity over the period 2011-15?
Drafters should briefly outline the sources of income which support the departments teaching programme, and
comment on the sustainability of this position over the period covered by the strategy.
Drafters may respond directly to the following prompts:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Does teaching activity in the department generate a surplus or a deficit? If the latter, what steps is the
department taking to remedy this situation?
Where does the department derive the income it uses to support teaching, and will this change over the
next four years? If so, how will the department respond to this change?
What strategies has the department adopted to maximise teaching income (including undergraduate /
postgraduate and Home and EU / overseas student ratios)?
Does the department benefit financially from contributions from collaborations with other departments /
institutions - e.g. in terms of shared equipment, staff etc.)?
How does income from short-course delivery support teaching and learning?
What will the impact of a reduction in funding be for the departments teaching activities?
How might the impact of any shortfall be mitigated?

Within Social and Historical Studies, all significant resource allocation decisions are taken at
the Faculty level and by the Deans, working with the School Finance Director, the Faculty
Manager and other staff both within the Faculties and from elsewhere within UCL as required.
In order to make their decisions these Faculty teams use student, staff and financial data
obtained from a number of sources.
We will need more support from the college in the future in order to raise funding from the
alumni. We think this is a very important point in general for the college and that it deserves
attention from the top management. UCL has a very large alumni body that is willing to
interaract with the college and, we believe, also willing to make donations to UCL. This should
be much better exploited.
b) How does teaching relate to the rest of the departments income generating activity?
Drafters should outline the relationship between teaching as an income generating activity and the
departments other activities, considering the following:
*
How does research income relate to the department's capacity to deliver its teaching and learning
objectives?
*
Have, or will, Full Economic Costs for research affected the viability of the departments teaching
provision?
*
Does the department exploit opportunities for cross-subsidy (e.g. between teaching and research
activity)?
*
Are there any significant conflicts between academic demand and the economic constraints under which
the department operates?
*
Does the department undertake any additional activity in support of its teaching and learning
programme in order to make it economically viable?
Responses should also consider whether this relationship would be subject to change over the period covered
by the strategy

The department raises very significant funding for research. This makes it possible to hire top
quality faculty which in turn enhances the reputation of the department and improves our

ability to supply top quality training to the students.

The quality of the students in turn makes it easier to hire top faculty. This is especially true as
regards PhD students. Without good PhD students, we cannot hire top faculty. Thus, research
and teaching are in a symbiosis.

c) Are there any additional financial / resource implications associated with the departments
strategic aims for 2011-15? How might the department address these?
Drafters may wish to consider the following prompts:
*
*
*

What steps is the Department taking to ensure that its teaching programmes and modules are delivered
efficiently and effectively and are justified by student demand?
Can the departments strategic ambitions be funded at current levels of income? If not, what steps can
the department take to remedy this situation?
Will the departments strategic ambitions result in higher levels of income? If so, how might these
additional funds be deployed?

The main challenges we face in terms of financial implications are:

It is expensive to hire top quality faculty. We need to have the college on board to be
competitive.
Retention is difficult and requires having the ability to react to outside offers.
Space is a big constraint and impacts directly on the taught programmes the lack of
social space and adequate teaching facilities will become an ever increasing problem.
We need more funding to take the department to the equivalent of a top 10 US
department that the college wants us to aim at.

d) What central support or resources (if any) are necessary to support the department in
achieving its objectives in each of these areas?

Space concerns require a very large investment. To get to the quality of the space provided
for example by the LSE (or other close competitors), a large investment in a new central
london building with appropriate lecture and social space for the students and office space
for academic staff will have to be made very soon. Otherwise the future of this high revenue
generating department with one of the most prestigious BSc Economics programmes in
Europe, one of the top MSc programmes, possibly the best PhD programme, and most
research accomplished department will be under serious threat.

Likewise, hiring and retention requires a significant amount of resources. The college
requirements in terms of personal tutors for BSc students, the global feature of the market
for economists, makes it pertinent that the college is willing to spend on the department in
terms of academic staffing.