The future of Maths, Stats and OR in the HEA – a personal perspective from the Advisory Group chair

Let us begin with some old news: the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Mathematics, Statistics and Operational Research Network ceases to operate at the end of July 2012, with HEA support for teaching and learning developments being arranged in a different way. Thinking to the future, my reaction to this statement calls to mind a cartoon seen in childhood, of a chap in a car asking a local in the countryside how to get to the village. “Arr”, says the local, “if oi were ee, oi shouldn’t start from yur.” We are, though, where we are. The considerable funding cut imposed upon the Academy required a radical response, and was too big to be dealt with by fiddling with the margins.