Palatinate Officially the UK’s Best Student Publication, 2018
Thursday 24th January 2019 | No. 813
New year, new you? Comment looks at how useful New Year’s resolutions really are
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ShouldweallbedoingVeganuary? Food and Drink tell us why we should give it a chance
University denies grade inflation Melissa Tutesigensi and Alex Leggatt News Editors
▲ Outside the Bill Bryson library, ‘Cry for Justice - The Scream’ by North-East sculptor Fenwick Lawson (Maddie Flisher)
Durham’s£2millionunauditedartbillrevealed Over £1.5 million was purchased through the University’s Keeper of Fine Art’s own private business before the position was scrapped in 2013
Julia Atherley, Jack Taylor and Alex Leggatt Over £2 million of University money was invested in works of art between 2008 and 2015 without being audited properly, a freedom of information request has revealed The same request revealed that between 2008-2013 the University allowed over £1.5 million worth of artwork to be purchased through Henry Dyson Fine Art Ltd, the private business owned by the University’s own Keeper of the Fine Art, Henry Dyson. The Keeper of Fine Art was a paid position from 2008 until it was scrapped in 2013 as “professional standards and ethics were reviewed
and changes were implemented”, according to the University. Durham University came under fire at the time for its spending on art during the £50 million development programme which included the construction of the Palatine centre. Speaking to Palatinate in 2013, the University defended the decision by labelling themselves as a “custodian of many fine treasures”. Palatinate also found that the post of Keeper of Fine Art was not filled through an open competition application process. The Keeper of Fine Art incurred expenses totalling £81,958 between 2008/09 and 2012/13. The post holder also benefited from free or subsidised accom-
modation prior to January 2014. In response to the findings, Henry Dyson Fine Art Ltd told Palatinate: “Henry Dyson Fine Art Ltd was an approved supplier to the University and was engaged under a consultancy contract agreed with the University Treasurer (the post now called Chief Financial Officer). “Henry Dyson Fine Art Ltd purchased works of art on behalf of the University according to a program agreed with the ViceChancellor. “Henry Dyson Fine Art Ltd acted as an agent of the University and not as a principal. All purchases were approved by the Treasurer and the Vice-Chancellor.” The University now claims that the Western art collection is used for “research, teaching and engage-
ment”. The collection includes works by Sandra Blow, Victor Vaserely, Alexander Calder, Terry Frost, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. There are 85 works of University art in Hollingside House, a building inhabited by previous Vice-Chancellors and now used for business, hospitality and accommodation. The freedom of information request found that over the past 10 years, the University’s spending on fine art has totalled £2,459,724. This high level of spending is partly due to the £591,200 spent in 2011/12 and £701,750 in 2012/13 with the Keeper ... Continued on page 3
Durham University has denied accusations of apparent grade inflation, instead arguing that all grades reflect the true abilities of students. According to an investigation by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Durham University has seen the highest increase in first-class honours than any other Russell Group University, jumping from 17.8% in 2011 to 30.2% in 2016. As shown in an investigation by The Sunday Times, Durham University is part of a larger trend of apparent grade inflation, which some argue is in response to the tripling of tuition fees five years ago. The government aims to crack down on University grade inflation in response to a near 10% increase in first-class and upper-second class degrees from 2010-11 to 2016-17 according to the government watchdog Office for Students (OfS). The OfS believes that “spiralling grade inflation” risked undermining public confidence. Universities that are deemed excessive in their awarding of first-class and upper secondclass degrees will be downgraded within the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF). Damian Hinds, Secretary of State for Education, hoped that these figures would act as a “wake-up call”: “the scale of this increase in firsts and 2:1s cannot be proportionate to improving standards.” Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, argued that n increase in work ethic can explain the proportional increase in first class degrees being awarded: “As you wander round universities, the student union bars are empty […] and working environments are full”. Continued on page 5