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18 June 2004

Wind-down and transfer of activities of the e-Universities to be completed

Following the HEFCE Board meeting on 17 June, discussions are being held with the e-Universities about the completion of the wind-down and transfer of the company's activities.

The Board noted progress on the restructuring of the company's activities since previous Board meetings on 22 April and 25 February. The Board has offered a final and limited sum to the company to assist with the wind-down.

Funding on the project, including the limited and final sum agreed by the Board to enable the restructuring of the e-Universities' activities to be completed, total about £50 million. HEFCE plans to use the balance of the £62 million originally provided by the Government, alongside other funds, to support the development of e-learning in universities and colleges.

Commenting on the decision Dr Liz Beaty, Director of Learning and Teaching at HEFCE, said:

"We hope that our final funding contribution to the company will help universities offering these courses to ensure that students using the e-learning platform [note 1] face minimum disruption and that course materials currently available via the platform are preserved wherever possible.

"The Council is committed to taking forward e-learning which has a vital role to play in meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse range of students."

In terms of the transfer of existing activities and other developments, the Board noted that:

  • project management arrangements for the e-China programme have been transferred to the University of Cambridge [note 2]
  • the e-Learning Research Centre will continue as a partnership between the Universities of Manchester and Southampton and the Higher Education Academy [note 2]
  • e-Universities confirmed that no bids for the platform, acceptable to the company, had been received by the deadline [note 3].

Notes

  1. There are currently 145 students using the e-learning platform which was developed by the e-Universities and Sun Microsystems. Arrangements have already been made with the universities for students on courses which do not use the platform to continue their studies.
  2. Funding for the e-China programme and the e-Learning Research Centre is included in the £50 million mentioned in the third paragraph.
  3. The e-Universities advertised for expressions of interest in the company's assets, including the e-learning platform, in April. The closing date for bids was Friday 11 June.
  4. A further statement will be made when the final closure arrangements have been completed.