The value of university armed service units

这项研究将调查大学武装部队(USU)的价值，重点是它们对没有继续在武装部队服役的USU毕业生的价值，以及对英国军队机构的价值。USU由大学皇家海军部队(URNUs)、大学军官训练团(UOTC)和大学空军中队(UAS)组成，分别有皇家海军、英国陆军和皇家空军作为其上级军种。Usus在英国大学向英国和英联邦学生开放。Usus让学生们在三年的参与中体验军事生活和训练。学生没有义务在毕业后继续从事军事职业。USU由国防预算提供资金，隶属于一所大学或一个地区性财团。有证据和我们的初步研究表明，USU对许多不同的选民都有价值。然而，对于这一价值到底意味着什么，以及它是如何表现出来的，人们几乎没有达成共识。这就是本研究的重点。这项研究将探讨USU的价值问题：*USU的毕业生可能(或可能没有)从他们过去的USU经历中看到价值，就他们参与USU的过程可能灌输的个人属性和可转移的研究生水平技能而言。*USU毕业生的雇主可能(或可能不)看到USU经历的价值，就是从雇员发展并由求职者带到劳动力市场的技能和属性。*可能(或可能不)认为接待USU有价值的大学，这既是因为单位为学生提供了发展毕业生就业能力的机会，以及主办USU可能带来的形象和营销好处。*USU的学生参与者可能(也可能不会)从他们在USU的经历中看到价值，通过发展他们的可转移技能，提高他们的简历和他们的参与可能带来的就业前景。*三军和国防部可能(也可能不)看到资助USU的价值，用于招募目的，以及USU提供的机会，让更广泛的公众了解英国武装部队的角色和精神。这项研究将实现两个核心目标。其中第一个很简单，就是确定Usus对上面确定的五个选区的价值。因此，这项研究具有应用价值。与国防和高等教育部门的主要研究用户合作，我们希望对这一价值问题提供独立和严格的评估。值得注意的是，我们是在用非货币的术语来衡量“价值”。我们没有进行成本效益分析，而是非常明确地将重点放在价值上，认为价值不一定需要量化，而是可以定性地判断为对个人和社会组织的好处。反过来，我们将与我们的研究用户(与我们一起开发这一应用程序的用户)一起，将我们的结论反馈到未来高等教育和国防的政策和决策层面。第二个目标是学术目标。该研究团队在军民关系、军国主义和军事化方面的概念工作享有盛誉，这些工作塑造了社会学、人文地理学和政治学的研究议程。这项研究将通过探索和概念化这种不太明显的军事存在和影响的表现来继续这项工作。通过以最高的学术标准对乌苏斯进行独立的、批判性的评估，这项研究承诺对未来关于乌苏斯未来的高等教育和国防政策辩论，以及对军事组织和更广泛的民间社会之间关系性质的学术辩论做出独特而有价值的贡献。

This research will investigate the value of the university armed service units (USUs), focusing on their value to USU graduates who do NOT go on to serve in the Armed Forces, and to the UK military establishment. The USUs comprise the University Royal Naval Units (URNUs), the University Officer Training Corps (UOTC) and the University Air Squadrons (UAS), which have, respectively, the Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force as their parent services. The USUs are open to British and Commonwealth students at UK universities. USUs provide students with a taste of military life and training over their three years of participation. Students are not obliged to proceed to military careers following graduation. USUs are funded through the defence budget, and affiliated to either a single university or a regional consortium.Anecdotal evidence and our pilot research suggests that the USUs have value to a number of different constituencies. However, there is little consensus as to what, exactly, this value means and how it is manifest. That is the point of this research. The research will address the question of USU value for:* Graduates of USUs who may (or may not) see value in their past USU experience, in terms of the personal attributes and transferable graduate-level skills which their USU participation may have inculcated.* Employers of USU graduates who may (or may not) see value in the USU experience, in terms of the skills and attributes developed in employees and brought to the labour market by job applicants.* Universities which may (or may not) see value in hosting USUs, both for the opportunities units provide to students in developing graduate employability, and for the profile and marketing benefit which hosting a USU might bring.*Student participants in USUs who may (or may not) see value in their USU experience, through development of their transferable skills and the enhancement of their CV and their employment prospects that participation might bring.* The three Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence which may (or may not) see value in funding the USUs, for recruitment purposes and for the opportunities the USUs present for informing a wider public of the roles and ethos of the British Armed Forces.The research will achieve two core objectives. The first of these is, quite simply, to establish the value of the USUs to the five constituencies identified above. The research therefore has an applied element. Working with key research users from the defence and higher education sectors, we are looking to provide an independent and rigorous evaluation of this question of value. Significantly, we are looking at 'value' in non-monetary terms. Instead of a cost-benefit analysis, we are focusing quite explicitly on value as something that need not necessarily be quantified, but instead can be judged in qualitative terms as benefit drawn to individuals and social organisations. In turn, and in conjunction with our research users (with whom we have worked in developing this application), we will be feeding our conclusions into future policy and decision-making levels in higher education and defence. The second objective is an academic one. The research team have an established academic reputation for their conceptual work on civil-military relations and on militarism and militarisation, which has shaped research agendas in sociology, human geography and political science. The research will continue this work by exploring and conceptualising this less-visible manifestation of military presence and influence.By providing an independent, critical evaluation of the USUs, to the highest academic standards, the research promises to make a distinct and valuable contribution both to future higher education and defence policy debates on the future of USUs, and also to academic debates on the nature of relations between military organisations and wider civil society.