Sunday 30 August 2009

University World News 0090 - 30th August 2009

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

IRAN: 20-year plan for knowledge-based economy
Wagdy Sawahel
To promote a knowledge-based economy, Iran has announced a 20-year "comprehensive plan for science" focusing on science in higher education and industry-university research partnerships.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: California's higher education apocalypse
Sarah King Head
The fiscal crisis in California, the world's eighth largest economy, seems destined to jeopardise the integrity - and future - of higher education in the state. The state's two university networks - the University of California and the California State University - expect to have their budgets cut by 20%, from $3.61 billion to $2.79 billion in 2009-10.
Full report on the University World News site :

AFRICA: Plans for 15 NextEinstein institutes
Wagdy Sawahel
An innovative NextEinstein Initiative, which provides postgraduate training in mathematics and computing skills to super-bright African graduates, is spreading its wings. The first African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in South Africa is to be joined in 2011 by a new AIMS in Senegal, followed by institutes in Ethiopia and Ghana. Within a decade, the AIMS NextEinstein Initiative plans to launch 15 institutes across Africa.
See this and other reports in this week's Africa section:

IRELAND: Free higher education to end
John Walshe
The end is nigh for free higher education in Ireland. Even the timing of its demise is known - September 2010, barring some miraculous political intervention. The only decision that has to be made is the manner of its departure.
Full report on the University World News site:

SWEDEN: Fresh look at innovation
Jan Petter Myklebust*
The Swedish Presidency of the European Union has organised a major conference starting this week and titled The Knowledge Triangle: Shaping the Future of Europe. Ministers from Sweden, Finland and the UK, together with high-ranking EU Commission officers including two commissioners and 350 university presidents, researchers, students and policy-makers and some high level industry leaders will meet in the university town of Gothenburg.
Full report on the University World News site:

GREECE: OECD demands constitutional reforms
Makki Marseilles
Only constitutional reforms such as the payment of fees and the operation of private universities will improve Greek higher education, the OECD insists in its 2009 report on Greece. The report offers proposals for weathering the international crisis, enhancing fiscal stability and improving the performance of the public health care system
Full report on the University World News site:

CANADA: Professor admits to ghost-written paper
Philip Fine
The practice of ghostwriting, where pharmaceuticals companies convince university professors to put their names on articles written by someone else, has been brought further into the light after a Canadian professor admitted she wrote only a portion of a published paper, despite being listed as sole author.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: Foreigners face stringent tests
Geoff Maslen
In a crackdown on visa fraud, the government has imposed stringent tests on foreign students from five large source countries enrolling in onshore education institutions. Those from the target countries will face interviews and have restricted access to visa applications online.
Full report on the University World News site:

INDONESIA: Private universities under threat
David Jardine
Some 700 private universities in Indonesia have been put on notice by the Ministry of National Education that their accreditation will be withdrawn if they do not quickly comply with regulations. The universities are under instructions to re-register with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Admissions decline first in five years
Offers of admission from US graduate schools to prospective international students decreased 3% from 2008 to 2009, the first decline since 2004, according to the Council of Graduate Schools.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWSBRIEFS

UK: Academy fixes the e-gap
The British Academy, the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences, is joining the electronic age by launching a new grants system, e-GAP2. The first schemes to benefit from the new application process will be the International Partnerships Scheme (IPS) and the UK-Latin America and the Caribbean Link Programme (LACP).
Full report on the University World News site :

AUSTRALIA: European fellowships on offer
The research-intensive Group of Eight universities is calling for applications for its 2010 European fellowships. The fellowships are open to early career researchers from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and, for the first time this year, Croatia.
Full report on the University World News site :

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

VENEZUELA: Students and staff injured on campus
Jonathan Travis*
Four people have been injured on the campus of Universidad de Los Andes (ULA) in western Venezuela during an attack by a group of 30 suspected government supporters. The Latin America Herald Tribune has said the intruders, some of whom were carrying firearms, had burst into the canteen on the campus and attacked students, two of whom were injured. Two members of the academic staff were also reportedly injured.
More Academic Freedom reports on the University World News site :

BUSINESS

AUSTRALIA: Good-looking staff alienate customers
Leah Germain
A new study from the University of South Australia has shown that hiring beautiful sales staff may not be the best business model for clothing retailers. Bianca Price, a PhD researcher heading the study, found that women were less likely to make a purchase if they thought the saleswoman was more attractive than them.
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: New medical research priorities for 2010
Emma Jackson
Health graduate students and researchers at universities and research institutes across the EU have a chance to win funding for potentially lucrative research projects in the field of adverse drug reactions, after the European Medicines Agency (Emea) announced its 2010 drug safety research priorities. The money will come from the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme.
Full report on the University World News site :

US: Ivy League university maintains balanced budget
Leah Germain
An Ivy League university has unveiled details of its successful investment and budgetary strategy as it enters a new American fiscal year. The University of Pennsylvania, based in Philadelphia, is reporting minimal losses.
Full report on the University World News site :

FEATURE

FRANCE: Liberté trumps égalité in Sarkozy's revolution
Luke Slattery*
For the first half of 2009, the French university system languished in a state of near-paralysis and the troubles are not over yet. Students and their professors, galvanised by a suite of modernisation reforms unleashed by President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon, downed pencils and chalk. Protests rolled through the rues and higher education leapt to the front page of Le Monde under headlines proclaiming "une crise" of unprecedented proportions.
Full report on the University World News site:

THE UNIVERSITY WORLD NEWS INTERVIEW

GLOBAL: 'Whole-brained' education crucial for creativity*
Breaking down barriers between arts and sciences is essential if Europe is to produce inventive graduates, according to Damini Kumar of the National University of Ireland and Ambassador of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. In this interview, Kumar speaks of her aims.
Full report on the University World News site:

HE RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

EUROPE: The Professional Value of ERASMUS Mobility
The promotion of temporary study abroad in Europe is generally viewed as the most visible "success story" among internationalisation policies of higher education, and the European Union's ERASMUS programme is certainly the flagship in this regard, writes Bernd Wëchter in the preface of a new book, The Professional Value of ERASMUS Mobility: The impact of international experience on former students' and on teachers' careers, by Kerstin Janson, Harald Schomburg and Ulrich Teichler.
Full preface on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: University students can't read?
Chrissie Boughey*
The recent publication in South Africa of the results of pilots of the new National Benchmark Tests - tests which measure the performance of school-leavers in three key areas and aim to predict whether or not they will have difficulty as they enter university - has brought a flurry of outrage from academics and politicians. They are reported as claiming that standards are dropping and students can't read or write. While this sort of knee-jerk reaction to tests conducted at a national level is largely predictable, especially in a country where the school system still experiences huge problems, it is also questionable given research produced in the field of academic development - an area which has long concerned itself with the issue of student 'under-preparedness' at universities.
Full report on the University World News site:

UNI-LATERAL: Off-beat university stories

UK: World-first historical thesaurus
After 45 years painstaking work by the English Language department at the University of Glasgow, the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary is to be published this autumn. The thesaurus will be the first produced for any language in the world, containing almost every word in English from Old English to the present day
Full report on the University World News site :

US: Beer promotions pulled at some colleges
Brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev is dropping its 'Fan Cans' promotions from communities around America where colleges have complained that the effort - which sells cans of Bud Light in school colours - promotes underage drinking and infringes on trademarks, reports Emily Fredrix for The Associated Press.
More on the University World News site:

AFRICA NEWS: Our correspondents report

SOUTH AFRICA: Doctor brain drain continues
Munyaradzi Makoni
The medical brain drain that had stripped South Africa of efficiency in running its public hospitals is continuing. The country is losing on average 17% of its qualifying doctors every year. In four years since 2005, nearly 1,000 new doctors did not register to work in South Africa, according to government figures.
Full report on the University World News site:

ZIMBABWE: Students abroad starve
Zimbabweans studying abroad on government scholarships are starving as the country's authorities struggle to raise funds for their upkeep. Local newspapers have been awash with letters from desperate students who have fallen on hard times. Most are studying in Algeria but there are also students who are suffering in Libya, Cuba, China and Russia.
Full report on the University World News site:

N IGERIA: Disagreements prolong strike
Tunde Fatunde
The strike that has paralysed N igeria's public universities for eight weeks is yet to be resolved. The government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have adopted uncompromising positions, prolonging industrial action that has angered students. The government has put in play the age-old strategy of weakening opponents using a divide and rule "No work, no pay" plan.
Full report on the University World News site:

KENYA: Primary teachers barred from degree study
Dave Buchere
The Teachers Service Commission in Kenya has announced that primary teachers should be barred from direct admission to universities for bachelor of education studies because they do not meet entry requirements - a setback for primary teachers just ahead of a workshop at which education stakeholders called for them to be empowered and recognised alongside other education professionals.
Full report on the University World News site:

GAMBIA: Plans to develop higher education
Wagdy Sawahel
Gambia - resource-poor, under-developed and the smallest country in Africa - has launched a 10-year higher education strategy to build its human resources and strengthen tertiary infrastructure. The aim is to produce the high-level intellectual and technical skills essential to drive socio-economic and technological development.
Full report on the University World News site :

EGYPT: Private universities cash in on enrolment cut
Ashraf Khaled
Ahmed Abdel Hamid scored 94% in Egypt's secondary school certificate examinations and wants to fulfil his lifelong dream of becoming a doctor. But his aspiration could be shattered because a 15% cut in the number of new students accepted this year by the medical schools of state-owned universities has raised the entrance bar to 98% - and private universities have raised their fees. Becoming a doctor, said Abdel Hamid sadly, "will cost me a fortune".
Full report on the University World News site :

BURKINA FASO: Lost year at Koudougou?
The outcome of the 2008-09 academic year remained uncertain last week at the University of Koudougou, as the National Association of Burkina Students (ANEB) continued its strike against conditions of study and against the university management's refusal to lift a collective 'zero' for students who had boycotted coursework .
Full report on the University World News site :

AFRICA BRIEFS

DR CONGO: Minister intervenes in chaotic university
The Minister for University Education, Leonard Mashako Mamba, has intervened to try to restore order at the medical faculty of Unikin, the University of Kinshasa, following operational malfunctions including overlapping academic years, abnormal length of courses, absent teachers and programmes that are not followed.
Full report on the University World News :

MALI: Côte d'Ivoire students face difficulties
More than 350 students from Côte d'Ivoire studying in Mali are living in extreme difficulty with overcrowded living conditions and no grants or state aid. They have set up a self-help association, members of which have spoken to Ousmane Diallo of Nord-Sud Quotedien of Abidjan.
Full report on the University World News:

FACEBOOK

The Facebook group of University World News is the fastest growing in
higher education worldwide. Almost 1,100 readers have joined. Sign up to the University World News Facebook group to meet and communicate directly with academics and researchers informed by the world's first truly global higher education publication. Click on the link below to visit and join the group.
Visit the University World News group on Facebook :

WORLD ROUND-UP

GERMANY: Students paid bribes for PhDs
German prosecutors are investigating over 100 senior academics at a dozen of the country's top universities on suspicion that they awarded doctorates to hundreds of mediocre or unqualified students after taking bribes from a firm of educational consultants, writes Tony Paterson for The Independent.
More on the University World News site:

CANADA: Universities squabble over research funding
Smaller schools across Canada are up in arms over a proposal from five of the country's largest universities to concentrate research and graduate studies in the big institutions, reports CBC News. The leaders of McGill University and the universities of British Columbia, Alberta, Toronto and Montreal have proposed a national strategy for higher education that would see top research dollars go to fewer schools, in an effort to better use resources available.
More on the University World News site :

UK: Rush for university intensifies
More than half of the UK university places on offer through clearing have already been snapped up, according to new figures suggesting there are now 14 students chasing every degree still available, writes Polly Curtis for The Guardian. Four days after A-level results were published, universities were fast running out of spaces after a squeeze triggered by a 10% increase in applications and a cap on student numbers introduced by ministers to cut spending.
More on the University World News site :

US: SAT scores drop, gaps grow
Average SAT scores in the US dropped slightly for those who graduated from high school this year, as many more students and a more diverse group of students than in the past took the exam, writes Scott Jaschik for Inside Higher Ed. While College Board materials stressed those increases in participation, the data released also included news that may concern many educators: gaps in scores - both by race and ethnicity, and by family wealth - grew this year.
More on the University World News site :

GLOBAL: New chair of Commonwealth universities
South Africa's Dr Theuns Eloff, vice-chancellor of North West University, has been appointed chair of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, reports Monako Dibetle for the Mail & Guardian. The association represents about 500 universities in 36 countries.
More on the University World News site :

MALAYSIA: Database of graduates planned
Degree holders might soon be required to register their academic qualifications with Malaysia's Higher Education Ministry, writes Richard Lim for The Star. Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the move was designed to curb the problem of degree mills.
More on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: Professors spark breastfeeding outrage
South African HIV activists are outraged by a recommendation from world-renowned University of KwaZulu-Natal researchers, Hoosen Coovadia and Anna Coutsoudis, that the government should stop providing free formula milk to all HIV-infected mothers, writes Sara Barrett for the Mail & Guardian. This follows an article in the British medical journal, The Lancet, in which the professors argued that "the time has come to confront the obvious dangers of infant malnutrition and mortality associated with formula feeding."
More on the University World News site:

RWANDA: President demands quality higher education
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has called on education institutions to emphasise quality as the only way to produce a skilled and professional workforce, write Edmund Kagire and Paul Ntambara for The New Times. Speaking at the National University of Rwanda, Kagame said the country still had a long way to go to graduate students capable of tackling the country's challenges and able to compete with non-nationals.
More on the University World News site:

GHANA: Draft-dodging graduates face prosecution
The Executive Director of Ghana's National Service Scheme, Vincent Senam Kuagbenu, has warned that from next year, eligible graduates who refuse to serve the nation will be prosecuted, reports the Ghana News Agency. He added that employers of graduates who skipped national service would also face the law, and cautioned them to demand the National Service Certificate as a condition of employment.
More on the University World News site:

VIETNAM: Higher education management lagging
While Vietnam's higher education system is developing rapidly and on a large scale, the Education Ministry's management is failing to keep pace, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan said last week. Since 1987, the number of tertiary institutions in the country has increased from 101 to 376.
More on the University World News site :

UK: University error leaves hundreds without places
Almost 200 high-flying A-level students had their places confirmed at Exeter University, only to discover that they had in fact been rejected and had missed out on places at other universities, it emerged last week. Another equally large group were offered a place at the wrong campus, reports Jessica Shepherd for The Guardian.
More on the University World News site:

TAIWAN: New graduates lower job expectations
The number of new graduates willing to accept jobs that pay less than NT$20,000 (US$608) a month has doubled compared with the same period last year, a recent survey by the Council of Labour Affairs has showed, reports Shelley Huang for Taipei Times.
More on the University World News site :

US: Media multi-tasking makes it harder to focus
You may think e-mailing, texting, talking on the phone and listening to music all at once is making you more efficient, but new research suggests the opposite is true, writes Jennifer Thomas for the US News & World Report. The research shows that students who did the most multi-tasking were less able to focus and concentrate - even when they were trying to do only one task at a time.
More on the University World News site:

Sunday 16 August 2009

University World News 0089 - 16th August 2009

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

CANADA: University accused of blaming rape victim
Philip Fine
A university in Ottawa is being accused of putting undue blame on a woman who was s exually assaulted in one of its laboratories after it argued that the woman should have better protected herself. Carleton University's views were revealed in a statement of defence for a forthcoming civil lawsuit the woman has launched against the institution.
Full report on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: Shocking results from university tests
Karen MacGregor
South African vice-chancellors warned the government last week to expect more students to drop out, as the shocking results of pilot national benchmark tests revealed that only 7% of first-year students are proficient in mathematics, only a quarter are fully quantitatively literate and fewer than half have the academic literacy skills needed to succeed without support.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEW ZEALAND: Finances tight for universities
John Gerritsen*
New Zealand's universities have reported their poorest financial performance in five years and it appears that worse is to come.
Full report on the University World News site:

FINLAND: Students face housing shortage
Ian R Dobson
The start of the new academic year in Finland is imminent with new and returning students soon heading to campus. This brings with it a spike in demand for housing every September, particularly for smaller flats and houses.
Full report on the University World News site:

N IGERIA: Strike paralyses public universities
Tunde Fatunde
Industrial action launched in early July by the three registered trade unions in N igerian universities has paralysed teaching, research and administration. Staff grievances include low salaries, lack of university autonomy and more money for research. There are ongoing negotiations between government and the unions in an effort to end the crippling strike.
Full report on the University World News site:

EGYPT: Lifting curbs on open learning attacked
Ashraf Khaled
A recent decision by the Egyptian higher education authorities to remove curbs on applying for open and distance learning has drawn vociferous criticism and lawsuits. "This move undermines the principle of equal opportunities," said Ahmed Ismail, whose son scored 95% in pre-university examinations. Ismail, a lawyer, has filed a lawsuit against the "unfair" decision.
Full report on the University World News site:

MIDDLE EAST: Plans for space education and research
Wagdy Sawahel
The United Arab Emirates has announced plans to enhance space science in higher education, as well as research and development in the country and the Middle East region.
Full report on the University World News site:

KENYA: Crackdown on bogus tertiary institutions
Dave Buchere
Kenya's Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Dr Sally Kosgei has called on the country's quality assurance body, the Commission for Higher Education, to crack down on bogus training institutions in an effort to improve the university system and make it more competitive.
Full report on the University World News site:

ZIMBABWE: Top student leader arrested
Zimbabwean police arrested 12 students at the country's top higher education institution just two days after it reopened, as the state's attack on academic freedoms continues. Police said four of the students - including the President of the Zimbabwe National Students Union, Clever Bere - would appear in court on public disorder charges.
Full report on the University World News site:

SENEGAL: University project left to sheep, goats and cows
The University of Future Africa, a grand project launched five years ago by Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade at an estimated cost of 24 billion FCFA (currently US$52 million), is a "vast, abandoned building site" occupied by sheep, goats and cattle although African heads of state paid for buildings to be erected in their or their countries' names. The construction company has disappeared, taking all the machinery.
Full report on the University World News site:

DR CONGO: Promoting development, not growth
Research in the human and development sciences has been in crisis for many years in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Now should be the time to promote it, according to Professor Alphonse Mbuyamba Kankolongo of the University of Kinshasa.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWSBRIEFS

MALAWI: Lecturer shortage stops intakes
Malawi's Mzuzu University has frozen student intakes into two programmes, apparently because of a dire lecturer shortage. In a press statement issued by the registrar's office ahead of the university's 31 August opening, Mzuzu said it regretted having to make the decision.
Full report on the University World News site:

KENYA: Entry points lowered to boost access
Dave Buchere
The number of new students who will access Kenya's seven public universities next academic year has been increased to a record 20,000, following a decision by the Joint Admissions Board to lower the entry grade.
Full report on the University World News site:

SENEGAL: Police condemned for invading campus
The University Gaston Berger in Saint-Louis, Sentgal, has condemned an after-midnight incursion into its campus by the national gendarmerie earlier this month which it said flagrantly violated the university's constitutional freedom.
Full report on the University World News site:

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

ZAMBIA: Police assault peace researchers
Two Zambian academics were allegedly nearly beaten to death by police while on a research trip in one of the country's remote districts, forcing them to abandon their project midstream. The academics were researching the role of Zambia in peace brokering in Southern Africa.
More Academic Freedom reports on the University World News site:

HONDURAS: Police and students clash
Jonathan Travis*
Riot police responded harshly on 5 August to growing student rallies outside the National Autonomous University in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa. Tear gas and water cannons were used to disperse 3,000 students rallying in support of the country's ousted President, Manuel Zelaya.
More Academic Freedom reports on the University World News site:

BUSINESS

EUROPE: EU to step up agricultural research
Alan Osborn
EU agriculture ministers and officials will return to Brussels from their August summer break to push ahead with developing a plan from the European Commission to create what amounts to a supranational agricultural research organisation.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: University sells digital titles on Booksurge
Emma Jackson
The University of Michigan library has partnered with Booksurge, a print-on-demand service owned by Internet retailer Amazon, to make thousands of rare and out-of-print books available for one-off printing through digitisation.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Breakthrough in epilepsy treatment
Leah Germain
An international team of scientists has made breakthrough progress in diagnosing and treating epilepsy in mice, an important discovery that promises potential development of a major drug for this common condition. According to the research team, mice share an almost identical version of a gene with humans, which they have linked to epilepsy.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Don't text and drive
Emma Jackson
The development of voice-activated in-car phone systems is likely to be boosted by research at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. The researchers found that texting on a mobile phone while driving significantly increased risk of a crash.
Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURES

GLOBAL: Aspiring to world-class universities achievable
Rahul Choudaha*
The prestige seeking behaviour of universities is ever increasing as the global war for talent intensifies and education's role in the knowledge economy becomes more critical. In this process, the quest for world-class status among universities has become more prominent.
Full report on the University World News site:

BOTSWANA: Review of loan scheme underway
A special correspondent
Nearly 100,000 students have been sponsored through Botswana's controversial grant/loan scheme. But a review has found that fewer than one in 10 studied in areas of critical skills shortages, a high proportion of beneficiaries were unaware of what they owed, and it was not known how much had been loaned but could have been close to US$1 billion. The review suggested alternative models for a new scheme.
Full report on the University World News site:

HE RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

UK: The economic contribution of PhDs
Bernard H Casey*
Examination of the education process suggests ways in which the production of highly qualified people might raise the abilities of all people. The social dimension of learning might well be important. Moreover, university teachers (who are often PhD holders) might contribute to this process. The production of PhDs can be argued to contribute to a pool of knowledge from which all can draw. PhD holders might also be better at drawing from this pool of knowledge and transferring it into the production of goods and services. Last, clusters of highly qualified people, and of high-technology firms, might generate their own spill-overs and members of the cluster might benefit. Evidence is reviewed.
Full article on the University World News site:
Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management :

US: American students must be fully funded
In July, President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers reported that new job growth in the coming decade would be highest in occupations that require a postsecondary education, outpacing those that require just a high school diploma by a two-to-one margin, writes Joseph McGowan, president of Bellarmine University and chairman of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, for Forbes. Yet as the nation's need for highly educated workers grows even more critical, it's becoming even harder to pay for college.
More on the University World News site:

UNI-LATERAL: Off-beat university stories

US: Harvard launches menswear fashion line
Something fishy seems to be going on at Harvard, reports The Cut, New York Magazine's fashion blog. The university is trying to be hip, possibly even chic. How else to explain Harvard's cameo in an episode of "NYC Prep"? And its new men's fashion line, Harvard Yard? And by fashion line, we don't mean maroon sweatshirts with crests on them. The university has inked a 10-year licensing deal with clothing manufacturer Wearwolf Group for a line of contemporary men's apparel.
More on the University World News site:

FACEBOOK

The Facebook group of University World News is the fastest growing in
higher education worldwide. More than 1,050 readers have joined. Sign up to the University World News Facebook group to meet and communicate directly with academics and researchers informed by the world's first truly global higher education publication. Click on the link below to visit and join the group.
Visit the University World News group on Facebook:

WORLD ROUND-UP

SOUTH KOREA: Push for mergers of public universities
South Korea's government is proposing a phased amalgamation of state universities as its efforts to restructure ailing institutions have been faltering in the face of stiff resistance, reports The Korea Herald. Under the plan, three or more universities in the same region will form an alliance with a single decision-making system but maintain separate campuses before fully merging within three years.
More on the University World News site:

INDIA: Concept note on 'innovation universities'
India's 14 proposed 'innovation universities', aiming to achieve world class standards, will set new benchmarks for higher education in the country in terms of academics and autonomy, writes Akshaya Mukul for The Times of India. In a concept note the Human Resources Development Ministry said undergraduate admissions to the universities will be open to students from around the world and will involve screening and selection testing.
More on the University World News site:

IRELAND: More than 20% quit S&T courses
Large numbers of university students are dropping out of science and technology courses after their first year in college, according to new figures obtained by The Irish Times. At Dublin City University, regarded as a leading 'hi-tech' university, 39% of students who began a science and technology degree course failed to progress to second year in their chosen course, report Sean Flynn and Grainne Faller.
More on the University World News site:

TAIWAN: Low enrolments for new academic year
Latest figures show that Taiwan's colleges and universities will suffer their lowest enrolment and highest vacancies in years when the new semester begins in September, reports Taiwan News. Eighteen college and university departments in Taiwan failed to recruit any students for the coming semester, according to official figures.
More on the University World News site:

US: Study shows rise in average student borrowing
Although about a third of American students who earned bachelor degrees in 2007-08 graduated with no debt, nearly the same as four years earlier, the average amount students borrow has increased, according to a policy brief released last week by the College Board, writes Tamar Lewin for The New York Times.
More on the University World News site:

US-CHINA: American graduates flock east
Shanghai and Beijing are becoming new lands of opportunity for recent American college graduates who face unemployment nearing double digits at home, reports Hannah Seligson for The New York Times. Even those with limited or no knowledge of Chinese are heeding the call. They are lured by China's surging economy, the lower cost of living and a chance to bypass some of the dues-paying that is common to first jobs in the United States.
More on the University World News site:

CHINA: Scientists call for fossil regulation revision
Reseachers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Nanjing University and the China University of Geosciences are petitioning for exemption from a draft regulation aimed at curbing fossil smuggling, the official Xinhua news agency reports. While accepting the need to stamp out illegal fossil smuggling, the scientists want more freedom to excavate fossil sites and carry out research cooperation with overseas partners.
More on the University World News site:

UGANDA: Government universities raise fees by 40%
All public universities in Uganda have increased tuition fees by 40%, reports Conan Businge for New Vision. The new fees apply to private students enrolling this academic year. The last time public universities increased fees was in 1991.
More on the University World News site:

UK: Universities face tighter scrutiny
The British government's university funding board is planning to ramp up its checks on the information supplied by institutions, after a report into London Metropolitan University's receipt of more than �30 million in excess investment criticised both the board and the university, writes Lucy Tobin in The Guardian.
More on the University World News site:

UK: 4,500 bright teenagers 'missing out on university'
At least 4,500 bright teenagers from comprehensive schools are missing out on places at top universities after being let down at school, according to a government-backed study, reports Graeme Paton for The Telegraph. They fail to apply for sought-after courses despite gaining a string of good A-levels. Researchers said pupils were deterred by poor career advice and an attitude that leading institutions were "not for the likes of us".
More on the University World News site:

CANADA: Virtual textbooks transforming education
The sound of students flipping through textbook pages may soon be a thing of the past, writes David Wylie for Canwest News Service. Instead, university and college students may be using their index fingers to silently scroll through virtual textbooks they've downloaded to their iPhone or iPod Touch. More than 7,000 post-secondary textbooks from 12 large publishers can now be downloaded though CourseSmart LLC for about half the cost of printed versions.
More on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: Crackdown on student recruitment
The failure of Australia's states to properly regulate the troubled college sector is putting at risk the AUD$15 billion (US$12.7 billion) export education industry and the federal government should consider a takeover, according to former immigration minister Philip Ruddock, report Guy Healy and Andrew Trounson for The Australian.
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VIETNAM: Universities ignore brand building
Vietnamese universities are reluctant to build brands, according to Dr Vu Thi Phuong Anh of the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City's Center for Educational Testing and Quality Assessment, reports Thanh Nien Daily. She believes this resistance could be the kiss of death for institutions in an increasingly globalised and commerc ialised world.
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Sunday 9 August 2009

University World News 0088 - 9th August 2009

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

GLOBAL: 'Soft power' China creates new language centres
Geoff Maslen
The Middle Kingdom's "soft power" approach to international relations continues with the planned establishment of new Chinese national education centres at universities in Australia, Europe and the US. The University of Melbourne announced last week that the first national Chinese Teacher Training Centre would be based at its graduate school of education with others planned for Europe and the US. The university says the centre will develop Australian expertise "in the unique aspects of teaching Chinese and enhance the delivery of the teaching of Chinese in schools".
Full report on the University World News site:

UK: MPs infuriate universities
Diane Spencer
Just as the British Parliament and universities were settling into their long summer break, an all-party select committee report published last Sunday roused MPs and academics from torpor. The committee accused universities of "defensive complacency" and called for a change of culture at the top. The report, Students and Universities, has infuriated the higher education sector.
Full report on the University World News site:

UK: Student dissatisfaction grows
David Jobbins
For the first time in the five-year history of Britain's National Student Survey, the overall satisfaction of English final-year students with their university experience has fallen.
Full report on the University World News site:

FRANCE: New alliance to coordinate energy research
Jane Marshall
A new energy research organisation has been established to coordinate and improve efficiency in the sector nationally and to contribute to European research, announced Valérie Pécresse, Minister for Higher Education and Research, and Jean-Louis Borloo, Minister for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: The real economic return from foreign students
Geoff Maslen
In a special article placed on our webpage last Wednesday, we reported that western countries attracting hundreds of thousands of foreign students each year often claim they contribute billions to their national economies. But a paper published exclusively on our website demonstrates how inaccurate such claims can be unless the calculations take account of a range of factors, including the income students earn while working in the country where they are studying.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: Tackling the India crisis
In an effort to improve ties with India following a spate of widely-reported attacks on Indian students, federal Education Minister Julia Gillard announced on Friday that the government would provide more than $8 million to fund a new Australia India Institute at the University of Melbourne. The announcement came during a visit to Australia by India's Minister for External Affairs, SM Krishna, who was meeting with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Cairns at the Pacific Islands Forum. Krishna is in Australia to hold talks with government ministers and police authorities.
Full report on the University World News site :

NEW ZEALAND: Universities help fund student job scheme
John Gerritsen*
Despite ongoing complaints about inadequate government funding, New Zealand's universities have agreed to find $4 million (US$2.66 million) to provide research-related jobs for students during the Southern Hemisphere summer.
Full report on the University World News site:

ZIMBABWE: Top university reopens, but no new students
The University of Zimbabwe finally reopened last week after an eight-month delay - but Vice-chancellor Professor Levi Nyagura ruled out a fresh intake of students this year. He said students who enrolled last November had not attended lectures due to the university's closure since January, and that it could not afford or cope with two groups of first-year students.
Full report on the University World News site:

AFRICA: Women key to food security, scientists say
African women scientists have urged leaders on the continent and policy-makers in the United States to place women at the heart of efforts to tackle poverty and hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa and achieve food security. Their call was made during a visit to Kenyan research facilities by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week.
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NEWSBRIEFS

GLOBAL: Spain-UN aid small island development
Wagdy Sawahel
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and Spain have launched a joint US$2.8 million initiative to boost access to technology among the world's small islands.
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GERMANY: Kudos for the TREE project
The Berlin-based TREE project, otherwise known as the Transfer Renewable Energy & Efficiency project and run by the Renewables Academy, has won acclaim. This follows the group's recognition as an official Decade Project by a national committee jury of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The jury commended the project's innovative approach combined with its international reach.
Full report on the University World News site:

SCIENCE SCENE

US: Scientists track malaria to its source
The origin of malaria has been unclear for years but now researchers have identified what they believe is the original source of the disease - a parasite found in chimpanzees in equatorial Africa. University of California Irvine biologist Francisco Ayala and colleagues think the deadly parasite was transmitted to humans from chimpanzees as recently as 5,000 years ago - and possibly through a single mosquito, according to genetic analyses.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Fish management starting to work
An international assessment of fish stocks around the world shows attempts to reduce over-fishing are starting to work. A two-year study by scientists examined trends in fish abundance, the proportion of fish taken out of the sea and the means that managers used to limit fishing and rebuild depleted fish stocks.
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: Millions for space research
The European Commission has invited proposals for research into space science, exploration and earth observation in its latest call under the commission's Space Theme.
Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURE

GREECE: Modern Greek at Cambridge in danger
Makki Marseilles
Lack of funds may force the Modern Greek section at Cambridge University to close, despite the fact it has been providing high quality studies in the modern Greek language and literature to undergraduate, masters and PhD students for the past 70 years.
Full report on the University World News site:

HE RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

AUSTRALIA: Research universities and Australia's place in world
Ian Chubb*
We must never be content with outcomes that do not include some that are comparable with the world's great universities. I would also argue that this must mean purposeful differentiation and respect for the differences that evolve. Other countries achieve what they do with structural differences and focused funding.
Full report on the University World News site:

U-SAY

In response to Elayne Clift's commentary on online teaching, the University of Sydney's Mary-Helen Ward says things are not as bad as might appear:

Elayne, I'm sorry your experience was so negative. But some of this could have been avoided. For example, people who teach online are no more obliged to interact with their students 24 hours a day, seven days a week then people who teach face-to-face.
Full letter on the University World News site:

UNI-LATERAL: Off-beat university stories

AUSTRALIA: A cure for modern city ailments
Ben Landau and Brittany Veitch, two industrial design graduates from RMIT University in Melbourne, have launched a series of wearable couture jewellery called Bio-Accessories. The inventions mask the unpleasant sights, sounds and scents of the city in an attempt to bring some of the natural world back into city living. One creation includes a headpiece with a bird perched on a twig and a wooden mask with herbs growing in front.
Full report on the University World News site:

FRANCE: Search for remnants of French culture
A language professor from the University of Western Australia is researching remnants of French culture in ex-colonies throughout the world - in the process, sampling croissants and coffee in unlikely places.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Humourist speaks out on college censorship
Dave Barry, a Pulitzer Prize-winning humour columnist and author of more than 30 books, is no stranger to critics trying to censor his writing. The nationally syndicated humourist has written some of the nation's funniest columns - and with the First Amendment on his side, he's been winning the battle for free speech for over 25 years.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Preventing hazing on National Gordie Day
Thousands of US students will take part in a National Gordie day next month in conjunction with National Hazing Prevention Week which is sponsored by hazingprevention.org . The aim is to spread awareness about the dangers of alcohol and hazing, and commemorate the lives of the 5,000 under-age students who die every year from alcohol related incidents.
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FACEBOOK

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WORLD ROUND-UP

TURKEY: 52 more people charged in coup plot
A Turkish prosecutor on Wednesday indicted 52 more people on charges of plotting a coup in an expansion of a case that has pitted the pro-Islamist government against the secularist establishment, reports Reuters in The Washington Post. The suspects include university rectors and the former head of the Higher Education Council.
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THAILAND: Top seven to become research universities
Seven Thai universities that appeared in the Top 500 of the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings in 2008 have qualified to become national research universities, reports Wannapa Phetdee for The Nation. The scheme to develop Thailand's leading institutions has been approved by cabinet and the Education Ministry will spend Bhat 12 billion - a third of a billion US$ - on it.
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US: Illinois manipulated admissions, panel finds
Top officials at the University of Illinois developed a sophisticated shadow admissions process for applicants who were supported by politicians, donors and other prominent sponsors, a state commission set up to investigate irregularities at the institution concluded on Thursday, writes Susan Saulny for The New York Times.
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US: How much do colleges really teach students?
Until now, students shopping for a college couldn't get answers to some of their most important questions, such as "How much do students learn at this school?" That finally might finally be changing. A growing number of colleges are posting results of tests that gauge how much their students learn as undergraduates, writes Kim Clark for US News & World Report.
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US: New GI Bill becomes law
A much-expanded Post-9/11 GI Bill is newly law in America, writes Elizabeth Redden of Inside Higher Ed. Marking the milestone in a ceremony at George Mason University last week, President Barack Obama said: "This is not simply a debt that we are repaying to the remarkable men and women who have served - it is an investment in our own country."
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INDIA: Government plans 14 innovation universities
India's Human Resource Development Ministry plans to set up 14 "innovation universities" from 2010 to build "disciplinary focuses" and push research and development, reports Business Standard. Minister Kapil Sibal also said last week that India had set a target of at least 30% of school leavers making it to college by 2020.
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AUSTRALIA: Racism and attacks put off Indian students
Australia's elite universities are set to pay a high price for the Indian student crisis as middle-class parents, concerned for their children's safety, opt for degree courses in Britain, New Zealand, the United States and Canada, write Matt Wade and Heath Gilmore in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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PAKISTAN: UK is still top student destination
The UK remains the most sought-after destination for Pakistani students even after nine were held and later deported from Britain on suspicion of terrorism earlier this year, according to student visa consultants, reports AsianImage.
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SOUTH AFRICA: University stays open after H1N1 death
Stellenbosch University will not suspend classes or quarantine residences after one of its students died of H1N1 - South Africa's first swine flu death - reports News24.com. Ruan Muller, 22, who was studying polymer science at the university, died on 28 July.
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SOUTH AFRICA: Training fund for jobless
South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has said the government will create a R2.4 billion (US$301 million) fund to help train workers made unemployed by the country's first recession in 17 years, writes Nasreen Seria for Bloomberg.
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ZIMBABWE: Brain drain strategies being developed
The Zimbabwean government is working on strategies to retain skilled manpower, reports The Herald. Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Stan Mudenge said last week that three committees had been set up to research how to stop the flight of skilled professionals from the country.
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US: New York enrolments highest in 18 years
Summer enrolment in New York's public colleges soared to the highest level in 18 years, officials said, write Joy Resmovits and Carrie Melago for the Daily News. More than 73,000 students are taking courses at City University of New York schools this summer, up almost 3% over last year.
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Sunday 2 August 2009

University World News 0087 - 2nd August 2009

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

GLOBAL: Governments inflate worth of foreign students
Claims that foreign students generate billions of dollars in export income for the western countries that admit them in large numbers, such as the US, Australia and the UK, may be wildly inflated, according to an exclusive report to be published on the University World News website on Wednesday. Readers will find a detailed analysis showing why the figures quoted by governments of the education export income they derive from foreign students are wrong. See the full report on Wednesday.

UK: Top universities reject extra places
David Jobbins
English universities were last week given just 48 hours to accept 10,000 extra university places in priority areas, including science and technology for the coming 2009-10 academic year. But they will receive no additional state funds so 13 universities almost immediately declined the offer. A further 16 universities, most of them smaller research intensive institutions, later also refused to accept further places.
Full report on the University World News site:

TURKEY: Barrier to religious school graduates lifted
Brendan O'Malley
The Board of Higher Education has voted to reform Turkey's university entrance points system to end discrimination against graduates of vocational high schools.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: US still leads world rankings
Despite efforts to reduce the geographical bias of search engines, American universities still take the lead in the latest edition of the Ranking Web of World Univesities. But some institutions in developing countries are reaching higher ranks, especially in Latin America where the University of Sao Paulo, in 38th place, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM, at 44, benefit from increasingly inter-connected Brazilian and Mexican academic web spaces.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: Government acts to prevent collapse
Geoff Maslen
The federal government is taking belated steps to prevent a collapse in Australia's multi-billion dollar education export industry with signs of a possible sharp fall in the lucrative Indian market.
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AUSTRALIA: Top university slashes 220 jobs
Geoff Maslen
The global financial crisis has struck one of Australia's leading universities with Melbourne's shock announcement last week that 220 full-time equivalent academic and administrative staff positions would be cut following a A$30 million decline in investment returns.
Full report on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: Idle minds and hands a social time bomb
Primarashni Gower
Nearly three million of the 6.7 million young South Africans in the 18-to-24-year age group were unemployed or not receiving education and training in 2007 - and they pose a threat of "serious social disruption". These facts have been revealed by research funded by the Ford Foundation and undertaken by the Cape-based Centre for Higher Education Transformation and the University of the Western Cape's Further Education and Training Institute.
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NIGERIA: Supreme court reinstates sacked academics
Tunde Fatunde
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has ruled the dismissal of five lecturers of the Federal University of Ilorin was invalid. The court will decide next month on a similar case affecting a further 44 academics who were also sacked eight years ago for taking part in a national strike organised by the Academic Staff Union. The verdict was hailed by lawyers and civil society organisations as a triumph of the rule of law and due process.
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ALGERIA: Variable progress in Bologna's fifth year
As 135,000 new students enrol for university studies, Algeria is about to begin its fifth academic year since it started introducing the Bologna higher education structure - with varying rates of progress in different institutions, reported La Tribune of Algiers.
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UGANDA: Private universities could close
Kayiira Kizito
Uganda's National Council for Higher Education has adopted stricter regulations for the registration of private institutions, in an effort to ensure standards. It has warned that some private universities might be forced to close.
Full report on the University World News site :

NEWSBRIEFS

GERMANY: Success for export of study programmes
Michael Gardner
The German Academic Exchange Service can boast a record number of grant-holders for 2008. German exports of study programmes appear to be expanding, too. However, the organisation warns that the new bachelors' and masters' courses that have been introduced in Germany leave students only a little leeway to gain experience abroad.
Full report on the University World News site :

AUSTRALIA: E-research to revolutionise humanities
An online tool to be designed by a researcher at the University of Western Australia will enable a scholar in a remote part of the globe, or even an astronaut with some free time, to access the world's rare medieval vellum manuscripts and carry out in-depth investigations with just a few clicks.


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NORTHERN IRELAND: Purifying water in India
A team of scientists at Queen's University in Belfast has been chosen to lead a top research and training programme to prevent groundwater poisoning in India. More than 70 million people in Eastern India and Bangladesh experience involuntary exposure to the poisonous chemical arsenic from consuming water and rice. This includes farmers who have to use contaminated groundwater for minor irrigation schemes.
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AFRICA: Universities urged to play unity role
Professor Abdou Salam Sall, Rector of the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, Senegal, has urged African universities to play a major role in forming policies for a United States of Africa. Sall was speaking in advance of a symposium at the university organised jointly with the Senegal government last week.
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AFRICA: Call for digital library and archive
An African digital library and archives programme must be set up urgently as the continent lacks a comprehensive system for accessing and storing information, an international conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, heard last month. It suggested that the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) champion the initiative as the continent is lagging behind in the global drive to build digital libraries and archives.
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GABON: Higher education loan to enhance skills
The African Development Bank has approved a US$154 million loan to the West African nation of Gabon to finance a higher education and vocational training support project aimed at boosting the country's efforts to enhance technical skills in potential growth sectors. The project will benefit 1,000 higher and 4,000 technical education students a year.
Full report on the University World News site:

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

IRAN: Iranian-American academic detained
Jonathan Travis*
Dr Kian Tajbakhsh, a prominent Iranian-American social scientist, was arrested at his home by Tehran authorities on 9 July. The agents did not provide any legal justification for the arrest and took him to an undisclosed location.
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BUSINESS

GLOBAL: Political runes support 2010 WTO deal
Keith Nuthall
The diplomatic stars are lining up for a World Trade Organization deal at the Doha Development Round next year. The outcome could significantly liberalise access to higher education markets round the globe.
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: Agreement on joint metrology promotion
Alan Osborn
Metrology, the science of measurement, has not figured largely in European research activities but that may change now the EU member states have promised money in support. Singing its praises for a range of business and industrial sectors, the EU Council of Ministers agreed that metrology was a cross-disciplinary scientific field and a vital component of a modern knowledge-based society."
Full report on the University World News site:

JAPAN: Aromatherapy really works
Monica Dobie
Cosmetics and natural oils producers will be able to commercially exploit new Japanese research that has suggested that aromatherapy, the use of fragrant oils to promote health and well being, does have scientific credibility in that certain scents really do decrease stress. levels.
Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURES

COMMONWEALTH: Does it have a future?
David Jobbins
The Commonwealth has its detractors and big questions are again being raised about its future, if any. And not all are from hostile critics.
Full report on the University World News site:

CANADA-AFRICA: Protecting wildlife - and local people
Philip Fine
Setting aside large swaths of land for wildlife and eco-tourism is well-intentioned on the part of African governments. National parks bring in much-needed funds from tourists and help to protect precious ecosystems. But the new money often fails to benefit local indigenous people who have been living off that land for generations - ironically, forcing them to degrade the areas set aside for protection.
Full report on the University World News site :

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Study identifies 20 HE challenges
Karen MacGregor
A study of higher education in 15 countries of the Southern African Development Community, SADC, has identified 20 leadership challenges facing the region, governments and institutions. They range from improved data collection, access, student success, staffing and funding to policy and planning, capacity, infrastructure, private provision and quality. The challenges identified, says a just-published report, show the considerable amount of work needed to build a strong and sustainable higher education system across the region.
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HE RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

GLOBAL: New model for UK-US university collaboration
University leaders in the United Kingdom and United States have argued for a new model for UK-US collaboration to help the two countries retain their primacy in higher education in an increasingly competitive world. Their report Higher Education and Collaboration in Global Context: Building a global civil society - commissioned by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and published last week - suggests developing multilateral partnerships and bringing longstanding trans-Atlantic partnerships between the countries to bear in other nations.
Full report on the University World News site:

THE UWN INTERVIEW

GERMANY: Boosting development cooperation
Kristin Mosch talks to Dirk Messner, Director of the German Development Institute and Professor of Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen, about development research in Germany. Messner is supporting the Excellence for Development competition as a reviewer. Since 2004, he has also been a member of the German Advisory Council on Global Change and has been its Deputy Head since March.
Full report on the University World News site:

U-SAY

From Cameron Nichol
I refer to the article, US: I'll never teach online again , by Elayne Clift and her statement that online teaching is not for her. Expecting a university lecturer, whose experience of teaching and learning is based on a traditional face-to-face lecture/tutorial model, to step in and teach online is like expecting your plumber to wire your house.
Full letter on the University World News site:

UNI-LATERAL: Off-beat university stories

US: Surviving the 'party school' rankings
Summer means rankings season is upon us, writes Ben Eisen for Inside Higher Ed. Last week the Princeton Review unveiled its newest edition of the Best 371 Colleges in the US. Though the book has over 800 pages, one page in particular often sends university press relations staff into damage control mode - the top 20 'party school' rankings, the winner of which this year is Pennsylvania State University.
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FACEBOOK

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WORLD ROUND-UP

UK: Preparing for swine flu worst-case scenario
Universities have started to stockpile disposable rubber gloves and soap powder in case there are multiple outbreaks of swine flu on campuses this September, reports Jessica Shepherd for The Guardian. University managers met last week to plan for the worst-case scenario of hundreds of students and staff off sick with the H1N1 virus at the start of the new term.
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IRELAND: Brain drain fear as more Irish study abroad
A new brain drain could be looming for Ireland after new figures showed a sharp rise in the number of students going to college abroad, write Katherine Donnelly and Paddy Clancy for The Independent. A startling jump in the numbers of Irish undergraduates and postgraduates studying elsewhere in Europe was revealed in a new EU education report.
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INDIA: Growing numbers studying abroad
More students than ever before are leaving India to pursue higher education abroad, reports Rema Nagarajan for The Times of India. The number of these mobile students increased two-and-a-half times between 1975 and 2007 to reach 2.8 million. Two-thirds of the students make a beeline for six countries - the US, UK, France, Australia, Germany and Japan in that order.
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JAPAN: Government fund to aid business innovation
Japan's government set up a new investment fund last week with the aim of boosting the competitiveness of Japanese firms through the sharing of technologies and personnel among businesses and universities, reports The Japan Times. Innovation Network Corp of Japan, in which government holds a nearly 90% stake, will allow the government to provide risk money and revitalise industries amid the credit crunch following global financial turmoil.
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SRI LANKA: Revamping the higher education system
A new policy framework is on the way to allow more private sector participation in higher education in Sri Lanka and to set up a separate body to oversee private and public institutions, reports Dilshani Samaraweera for The Sunday Times.
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AUSTRALIA: Funding system to drive research
Australia's federal government will tie teaching and research performance funding to negotiated compacts to encourage distinctive university missions and focus research funding among the best performers, according to two new discussion papers, writes Andrew Trounson for The Australian. The move to drive differentiation has largely been welcomed by the sector, but there are concerns over application of performance measures and the degree of government intervention.
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CANADA: Staff cuts to boost class size on campus
A wave of staff reductions at cash-strapped universities will mean larger classes and fewer services for students at campuses this September, writes Elizabeth Church for The Globe and Mail. The budget squeeze - the result of falling investment income and rising costs, especially for pensions - has left many universities scrambling to find millions of dollars in savings for the coming academic year.
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US: Cut student services? Think again
The painful art of trimming a college or university budget - often with the goal of protecting core academic programmes while picking and choosing which support services to cut - may just have got a bit more difficult, reports Ben Eisen for Inside Higher Ed. A forthcoming Cornell working paper found that in certain instances, graduation and persistence rates are linked to greater expenditures on student services.
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GLOBAL: Universities join UN climate change network
Six universities from the US, UK, Spain and China have become the first academic institutions to come on board the Climate Neutral Network (CN Net) - an initiative led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to promote global action to de-carbonise economies and societies.
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THAILAND: US system to help raise university quality
An international standards assessment programme is to be trialled in Thailand's leading higher education institutions soon in an effort to improve their quality, reports The Nation.
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SOUTH AFRICA: Boost for local AIDS research
A government initiative to boost local HIV-Aids research was launched in South Africa last week amid concerns about dwindling international funding for health research, reports PlusNews. South Africa has the highest burden of HIV infections in the world, and has become an important centre for AIDS research.
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SOUTH AFRICA: Funds no longer just for poor white girls
A multimillion-rand educational trust bequeathed by the industrialist and politician Sir Charles George Smith - for the benefit of "European girls born of British-South African or Dutch-South African parents" - will now benefit young women of all races, writes Tania Broughton for The Mercury. This is after the University of KwaZulu-Natal, which manages the trust, applied successfully to the High Court to amend Sir Charles' will, saying the bequest was an "embarrassment" and could expose it to Equality Court proceedings.
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ETHIOPIA: 10 new universities to be built soon
Ethiopia's Ministry of Education has announced that construction of 10 new universities will begin in different parts of the country in the near future, reports ENA.
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JAPAN-BRAZIL: Joint distance teacher training course
A long-distance teacher training programme for Brazilian residents in Japan has been launched, reports The Mainichi Daily. Tokai University and Brazil's Federal University of Mato Grosso jointly initiated the course to promote the acquisition of teaching certificates among teachers at the more than 80 Brazilian schools in Japan.
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