Universities are facing a funding squeeze unprecedented in recent times.
The decline of the value of the unit of resource from home students, a turbulent recruitment market, increasing bills, growing service expectations, inflation, cost of living, and a myriad other factors are pushing universities into uncomfortable saving territory.
One of the major financial challenges for universities is making immediate savings while not shutting off opportunities for further income. In social sciences this type of behaviour is known as path dependency, where a decision made today locks in future decisions. For example, as I’ve chosen to have a child I’ve locked myself out of restful sleep (I love having a baby it’s just sleep is on my mind right now).
Universities have generally been averse to locking in path dependencies as the higher education financial model generally does not reward them.
