Hoods will fall in the common pursuit of high standards

The shopping-mall model will be the death of universities

When I return for the next academic year, there is every chance I will be asked to sign a new code of conduct for students. I don't think it will be as divisive as the Blair-endorsed ban on "antisocial behaviour including... clothing that deliberately obscures the face/head". Just as well, as our student union sells hoodies by the hundred. Assuming that the legal people agree the "code" is fit for purpose and it is acceptable to staff, several pages of rules will be presented to every student.

On the face of it, this is not a bad idea given the perceived rise in disruptive and abusive behaviour. The main thrust is not on herding students into lecture halls and expecting them to shut up and listen, but on giving staff the power and confidence to take punitive action against them when they don't. Whichever way you look at it, this is a minefield of arguments about liberty, ethics and the role of modern universities.

What cannot be escaped is the problem that widening access creates in terms of managing such a diverse community. The fundamental problem with such rules is the conflict of interest for teaching staff: on the one hand, they are under pressure to maintain numbers and, on the other, to find a way of controlling behaviour.

There's more at stake for lecturers than for students. Companies make clear distinctions about acceptable behaviour and performance, and they have rules that lead to the dismissal of staff who don't measure up. But at a university, most people are students - who pay to be there - not staff.

Applying business concepts in a university makes many uncomfortable. But as long as education leaders remain sold on the idea that the business of education must be funded by consumers, they will get dehumanised performance metrics - and it serves them right.

What business chiefs will add is that an expectation of high standards affects outcome. The higher the expectation, the better the market reputation of a business. I don't see why such an approach should not be applied to students. But none of this is helped by government debates about "youths" behaving badly. You can't demonise teenagers and expect them to take it. In this context, using the rule book will, at best, be a palliative measure in coping with "bad behaviour".

What will become much more important to a university's survival is a decision to set out precisely what it wants to excel in, then have the courage to pursue its objectives single-mindedly, dragging the malcontents with it, kicking and biting if need be. But if, instead, universities go the route of becoming more like homogeneous shopping malls governed by accountants and lawyers, they will deserve to be stalked by the hooded - and scythe-carrying - avenger.