Sunday 28 March 2010

University World News 0117 - 29th March 2010

SPECIAL REPORT: Going global

This year's Going Global conference in London last week was the fourth
major international education conference organised by the British Council. The event attracted 1,200 delegates from 75 countries, the largest number yet. Academics, administrators and decision-makers from across further and higher education sectors gathered at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre to listen and respond to 200 speakers in 40 sessions and 60 poster presentations.

In a two-part series this week and next, our correspondents report on some of the most news-worthy aspects and we also publish addresses given by some keynote speakers in our Features section.

GLOBAL: Meeting education's challenges

Diane Spencer The main theme of the Going Global conference had world potential with its aim of "making education meet the challenge". As countries face the worst recession in decades, are they becoming more isolationist? If so, what are the implications for international education?
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Three nations tops in collaboration
Yojana Sharma
Germany, Australia and Britain have topped a new global index on the internationalisation of higher education and the openness of their institutions to foreign collaboration, with China and Malaysia not far behind. India and Brazil still prohibit foreign universities operating on their soil and were lower down on the British Council-sponsored ranking index.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Detecting application fraud
Brendan O'Malley
Some of the world's most sophisticated mechanisms for tackling fraud in admissions applications have been developed by West African countries N igeria and Ghana, the Going Global conference held by the British Council in London last week was told.
Full report on the University World News site:

UK: Foreigners are not "cash cows"
Yojana Sharma
As universities in Britain brace themselves for huge public spending cuts, institutions have been warned against trying to plug the hole in their budgets by treating foreign students as "cash cows". British Council Chief Executive, Martin Davidson, told the council's international conference Going Global in London last Thursday that it would be counterproductive and potentially self-defeating.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Elephants and tins of paint
Diane Spencer
The old adage of 'the elephant in the parlour' was rehearsed again by Dave Burnapp, a senior lecturer in the business school of Northampton University. Burnapp has examined the strategic implications of international collaboration in higher education as part of a research project. He wanted to find more about that "embarrassing thing there that everyone ignores".
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

RUSSIA: Plans to close 30% of universities
Eugene Vorotnikov
Nearly 30% of leading Russian universities could be forced to close and merge with other institutions this year because of a shortage of students and the implementation of a state plan to consolidate the higher education sector.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Student loan reform will improve funding
Sarah King Head
While the passage in the House of Representatives of the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act last week will fundamentally reshape the US healthcare system, it will also improve the way students fund their post-secondary education.
Full report on the University World News site:

EU: Call to maintain 3% research target
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Union commissioner for research, innovation and science, believes the bloc's target of spending 3% of GDP on research and development must be maintained if Europe is to put itself firmly on the road to economic recovery.
Full report on the University World News site:

ISRAEL: Excellence centres to woo back academics
Helena Flusfeder
In an attempt to stop the brain drain of Israel's leading scientists who have left the country to conduct research abroad, the government recently approved the creation of 30 academic excellence centres.
Full report on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: Minister charts new tertiary directions
Munyaradzi Makoni and Karen MacGregor
Following two decades of tumultuous change, universities in South Africa were warned of much more to come when Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blaze Nzimande, delivered his budget vote in parliament on Thursday. Universities will receive R17.5 billion (US$2.4 billion) this year - the lion's share of a R32 billion post-school budget.
Full report on the University World News site:

NZ: University sets big fund-raising goal
John Gerritsen
Massey University has launched a campaign to raise NZ$100 million for an endowment fund, making it the third New Zealand university in as many years to turn to the public for extra funding.
Full report on the University World News site:

KENYA: Academics attack finance plans
Dave Daido
The University Academic Staff Union has lashed out at a proposal to merge 'regular' and 'parallel' degree programmes offered at Kenya's public universities, and accused the World Bank of "sabotage". Unifying separate courses for state-sponsored and self-sponsored students, and charging students uniform fees, were among sweeping changes to university financing recommended in an expert report published last month.
Full report on the University World News site:

BENIN: Five-month strike - now a pay rise
Tunde Fatunde
Teachers in Benin's three state universities have suspended industrial action that lasted for five months. They resolved to return to work this month following a formal commitment made by President Boni Yayi to grant them a 50% pay rise and other financial benefits. If the package is implemented it will have far-reaching positive consequences for teaching and research in state tertiary institutions.
Full report on the University World News site:

UGANDA: Kenyan students shot dead
Dave Daido
A security guard at Makerere University in Uganda's capital Kampala allegedly shot and killed two Kenyan students this month, sparking riots on the campus. The two Kenyans, first-year law student Brian Livasia Amuoga and third-year commerce student Ignatius Nyongesa, were killed at a hostel while campaigning for student elections.
Full report on the University World News site:

CORRECTION: Eurobioref research partnership
A report in our business section in last week's edition EUROPE: Partnership for biomass technologies described the launch by the European Commission of a EuroBioRef research project. Franck Dumeignil, coordinator of the project, has pointed out what he says is "a slight confusion" in the article: Mr Dumeignil says EuroBioRef is one specific project, as BIOCORE and SUPRABIO are. The EuroBioref Subvention is €23 million for a total cost of €38 millions and it comprises 28 partners. A press release from the French CNRS group
describing the project can be read

NEWSBRIEFS

GERMANY: Rectors welcome funding pledge
Michael Gardner
Germany's higher education heads have welcomed a pledge by federal and state education ministers to provide an additional -800 million for new study places. The ministers said the grant was justified because institutions had overshot targets originally set by governments.
Full report on the University World News site:

MAGHREB: New regional and US science partnerships
Wagdy Sawahel
North African countries are planning to boost higher education and scientific capacity by establishing a University of the Maghreb and an Academy of Sciences of the Maghreb as well as forging partnerships with the United States.
Full report on the University World News site:

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

LEBANON: Attacked for working with Israelis
Daniel Sawney and Jonathan Travis*
A professor at the American University of Beirut has been criticised for writing a book in collaboration with two academics from Tel Aviv University, the Los Angeles Times reports. Lebanese law prohibits its nationals from having any contact with Israelis.
More Academic Freedom reports on the University World News site:

SCIENCE SCENE

US: Tests not affected by heavy drinking
A big night on the booze does not damage students' performance in tests the next day, new research shows.
Full report on the University World News site:

UK: Galactic growth spurt observed
A massive galaxy produced suns at the prodigious rate of 250 a year in what scientists are describing as a teenage growth spurt in the early years of the universe.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: Testing wine with radiation
There are recognised steps to identifying fine wine - swirling the drink in a glass, sniffing it and, finally, tasting it. Now Australian scientists have added another - bung it in a mass spectrometer and test it for an uncommon carbon isotope.
Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURES

GLOBAL: Research: A force for globalisation
In a keynote speech to the Going Global conference in London last week, Professor Simon Marginson* said higher education and research were the central drivers of globalisation while research universities were among the most globally connected and driven of all sectors of society. At the same time, global connections, the global flow of ideas, global comparisons and rankings, and global people mobility were the most powerful single drivers of change in higher education.
Full report on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: First step towards free tuition
Sharon Dell
It has been called a "monumental disappointment" by South Africa's official opposition. But student groups have predictably welcomed a review of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, which represents a "first step" towards realising the ruling African National Party's plan to progressively introduce free higher education for poor undergraduates.
Full report on the University World News site:

NZ: Making friends, creating jobs, building a nation
Mike Moore*
Education as a service industry with paying students is now around New Zealand's sixth biggest earner of overseas funds. A great export winner.
Full report on the University World News site:

AFRICA: Science "rises" to meet continental needs
Munyaradzi Makoni
Science and education development can only flourish in Africa through support for home-grown institutions. The Regional Initiative in Science and Education, or RISE, has been striving to achieve this for the past 18 months through university-based networks that train science and engineering academics for African universities.
Full report on the University World News site:

HE RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

SOUTH AFRICA: Free higher education - why not?
Dr Saleem Badat, Vice-chancellor of Rhodes University, writes that he supports the ideal of free higher education and believes it's possible in South Africa. However, it would require fundamental re-thinking of and changes in social goals, priorities and policies - without this, the call for free higher education cannot be supported. For example, unless government made up the massive tuition fee shortfall that universities would experience, they would collapse.
Full report on the University World News site:

CANADA: The scholarship of teaching and learning
Gary Poole
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has established a presence in Canada. Some institutions provide structural and moral support for such scholarship, while other campuses have a long way to go before SoTL can become the positive force it promises to be. An article from the journal Academic Matters examines examples of successful support for SoTL in Canada, and how this support could be more widespread.
Full article on the University World News site:

UNI-LATERAL: Off-beat university stories

RUSSIA: Maths genius may take $1 million prize
Nick Holdsworth
Reports that a reclusive Russian mathematical genius, Grigory Perelman, had refused a $1 million prize for solving the apparently intractable Poincare Theorem may have been premature.
Full report on the University World News site:

CANADA: Pundit attacks VP over cancelled speech
Leah Germain
A controversial American right-wing political pundit, Ann Coulter, said she would file a human rights complaint after a 1,500-strong protest at the University of Ottawa forced her to cancel a lecture scheduled for that evening. Coulter said the university's vice-president François Houle was partly to blame.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Cloudy weather 'increases university appeal'
Students who attend university open days when the weather is cloudy have an increased likelihood of applying there, reports BBC News. The research published by the Royal Economic Society found that an increase in cloud cover could be linked to a 9% rise in enrolment. The author, Uri Simonsohn, said students seemed to associate cloudy days with study and homework.
More on the University World News site:

US: Last Supper helpings have grown, study finds
The Christian faith holds several acts of 'super-sizing' to be miracles accomplished by Jesus Christ - a handful of fish and loaves of bread expanded to feed thousands; a wedding feast running low on wine suddenly awash in the stuff, writes Melissa Healy for the Los Angeles Times. In a bid to uncover the roots of super-sized American fare, a pair of sibling scholars has turned to an unusual source: 52 artists' renderings of the New Testament's Last Supper.
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 2,000 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

CHINA: Google exit could hit academics and students
Businesses and universities could be substantially affected by the departure of Google, writes Lara Farrar for CNN. Most of the country's nearly 400 million internet users might not be affected by the closure, but academics, university students and other researchers rely heavily on Google's search services to access information not available through Chinese engines like Baidu.com, the country's most popular search portal.
More on the University World News site:

INDIA: Plans to put degrees online, ease verification
India's government has appointed a task force to create a national database of academic qualifications to ensure confidentiality, authenticity, online verification and easy retrieval of degrees, write Ravi Krishnan, Pallavi Singh and Sapna Agarwal for LiveMint.com and The Wall Street Journal.
More on the University World News site:

INDIA: Education financial corporation planned
India's Human Resource Development Ministry proposes to set up an education financial corporation to provide soft, long-term loans for developing educational infrastructure, reports The Hindu. The corporation will also help students get loans for pursuing higher education, but this will be through refinance by banks.
More on the University World News site:

US: Student loan bill scorecard
Books will probably be written about the legislation Congress is poised to enact to transform the federal student loan programmes. But while the historians do their work, Doug Lederman of Inside Higher Ed looks at which institutions, people and other players will be helped, hurt and otherwise affected by the measure - and how it positions them for the future.
More on the University World News site:

CANADA: Only native-run university thrown lifeline
Canada's only aboriginal-run university has been thrown a lifeline by the Saskatchewan government just one week before its money was set to run out, writes Elizabeth Church for The Globe and Mail. The province has reached an agreement that will restore $5.2 million (US$5.1 million) in funding for the troubled First Nations University of Canada, and is pledging to pressure the federal government to follow its lead.
More on the University World News site:

UK: 20,000 new university places pledged
UK Chancellor Alistair Darling has pledged to create 20,000 new university places to cope with the surge in demand. The one-off £270 million (US$402 million) funding for 2010-11 will support subjects including science, technology and maths in universities in England from September.
More on the University World News site:

UK: Government to invest £30 million in Semantic Web
The British government will invest £30 million (US$45 million) in a research centre to further develop Tim Berners-Lee's Semantic Web, writes Joab Jackson for IDG News Service. The Institute for Web Science will be run by Berners-Lee, who formulated the basic protocols for the web, along with University of Southampton artificial intelligence professor Nigel Shadbolt.
More on the University World News site:

UK: Huge pay rises for university heads in recession
University bosses were given pay rises of up to 28% last year, writes Lucy Ballinger for the Daily Mail. The hikes came at the peak of the recession, and there have been further increases this year.
More on the University World News site:

US: Bias a persistent hurdle for women in sciences
A report on the underrepresentation of women in science and maths by the American Association of University Women, released last Monday, found that although women have made gains, stereotypes and cultural biases still impede their success, writes Tamar Lewin for The New York Times.
More on the University World News site:

CHINA: Professor sacked for academic plagiarism
A 45-year-old professor at the prestigious Xi'an Jiaotong University in Northwest China's Shaanxi province was sacked last Sunday after six of his colleagues repeatedly posted letters to the university and on the internet exposing his academic scandals, according to China Daily-Asia News Network.
More on the University World News site:

POLAND: Wiki-plagiarism endemic in universities
Polish university students are using Wikipedia and 'crib sheet' websites as the main source for their research, a new survey has revealed, reports Polskie Radio. Last year, 54% of state-run university students and 72% of private school students dug deep into Wikipedia while writing their bachelor or masters degree theses, a survey conducted by Professor Mariusz Jedrzejko of Warsaw University of Life Sciences revealed.
More on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: Running battles close university
South Africa's Minister of Higher Education and Training, Blade Nzimande, will commission an independent investigation into problems at Durban University of Technology following running battles between students and police that have forced the institution to close until next term, writes Latoya Newman for The Mercury.
More on the University World News site:

US: Cornell builds bridge fences to deter suicides
Cornell University last week erected temporary fencing along three university-owned bridges that cross the deep gorges on its campus, where three students have jumped to their deaths in recent weeks, writes Lisa W Foderaro for The New York Times. University officials are also in talks with the City of Ithaca to get permission to put up similar fencing along three other city-owned bridges on campus, said spokesman Simeon F Moss.
More on the University World News site:

CHINA: Universities join in water saving campaign
More than 100 universities in 23 Chinese cities have joined in an annual water saving campaign called "saving a barrel of water", which was kicked off at the Capital Normal University in Beijing last week, the official Xinhua news agency reports.
More on the University World News site:

Sunday 14 March 2010

University World News 0115 - 15th March 2010

SPECIAL REPORT: Bologna's 10th anniversary

Several conferences were held last week in Budapest and Vienna to mark the
10th anniversary of the launch of the Bologna process. In the following special commentaries, University World News correspondents report on the outcomes of the conferences, including the launch of the Trends 2010 report from the European University Association, the Budapest-Vienna declaration from the Ministerial conference, the Eurodoc survey, and the student summits and Vienna protests by student groups from across Europe.

GERMANY: Bologna architecture in place

Michael Gardner Considerable progress has been made in developing the Bologna process, according to a new report released by the European University Association during Bologna's 10th anniversary events in Vienna. The report, Trends 2010, was released to coincide with the launch of the European Higher Education Area. It highlights Bologna's clear achievements regarding such aspects as new degree structures and credit transfer but also calls for greater efforts to enhance mobility and more funding for implementation.
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: A decade of reform
The Trends 2010 report by the European University Association reviews implementation of the Bologna process and its impact over the past 10 years on higher education across 46 countries in Europe, in the context of broader reform processes affecting European higher education.
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: The Eurydice report
Since the beginning of the Bologna process, higher education systems in the European Higher Education Area have grown significantly, says a report prepared for the Vienna conference and published by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, Eurydice, last week.
Full report on the University World News site:

MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE: Recognising the social dimension
Karl-Heinz Kloppisch Jr and Tino Brömme*
An extraordinary Ministerial Anniversary Conference was co-hosted by Hungary and Austria last week in Budapest and Vienna to assess the achievements of the Bologna process and its contribution to enhancing the quality and the diversification of higher education in Europe. Ministers in charge of higher education in Austria and Hungary invited their colleagues participating in the Bologna process from the other 44 countries, and the newly-accepted Kazakhstan, to assess the progress made towards the achievements of this unique partnership.
Full report on the University World News site:

POLICY FORUM: Other side of Bologna
Karl-Heinz Kloppisch Jr*
The second Bologna policy forum took place late on Friday at the venue of the ministerial conference in the patriarchal Hofburg of Vienna. Taking a stand for better global cooperation in higher education, the forum was described as a great success by representatives from the more than 60 nations that attended.
Full report on the University World News site:

EURODOC: Doctoral candidates meet in Vienna
Karl-Heinz Kloppisch Jr*
The young European researchers of today long for an active role in the reform process of the higher education and research area in Europe, now rather than complain afterwards, said Zaza Nadja Lee Hansen, a board member of Eurodoc, the international umbrella organisation of associations of doctoral students and post-docs in Europe. Hansen underlined this while summarising the ambitious programme at the annual EURODOC 2010 conference.
Full report on the University World News site:

BOLOGNA STUDENTS: Urgent need for reform
Joseph Walters*
As Education Ministers celebrated the 10th Anniversary of Bologna in Budapest and Vienna this week, the European Student Union criticised the shortcomings and "superficial implementation" of the process. The union, which represents 11 million members, held a European Student Summit alongside the celebratory Ministerial Conference in Vienna from 7-12 March. Some 130 delegates from 30 European countries took part in workshops while discussing the successes and failures of Bologna.
Full report on the University World News site:

STUDENT PROTESTS: No time for celebration
Joseph Walters*
Limited participation and the social dimension in higher education policy are dominating the agendas of European student unions. Such issues compelled thousands of students to follow their education ministers across the continent last week to campaign against the Bologna anniversary celebrations in Vienna.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

UK: Buffer body should clarify international role
David Jobbins
An independent review of the funding body for universities and other higher education institutions in England has concluded it is a high-performing organisation that has the confidence of the sector and government. While most areas of operations of the Higher Education Funding Council for England were found to be meeting or exceeding requirements, some improvements were needed and its international strategy required clarification.
Full report on the University World News site:

DENMARK: Scientists not "sacked", says vice-dean
On 14 February, University World News published a report titled Denmark: Sackings create confusion and anger. The article stated that more than 80 scientific staff in the departments of geology and biology at Copenhagen University had been sacked in January "with immediate effect". The story was based on reports in a university newspaper Universitetsavisen of 28 January that we subsequently learned has no official status. Professor Katherine Richardson, Vice Dean for Public Outreach, has pointed out that some details in our story were wrong. She says the number of staff immediately affected was 14, none were "sacked with immediate effect" and all have at least six months' salary and the right to work in that period. Her explanation of the circumstances is on our website.
Full report on the University World News site:

POLAND: Universities least popular with Europeans
Eugene Vorotnikov
Poland ranks first in Europe in terms of access to higher education but Polish universitie are among the least popular with foreign students, says a study carried out by analysts with the Lisbon Council for Economic Competitiveness and Social Renewal, a Brussels-based think tank.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: Higher education: world's most effective?
Australia's higher education sector has the potential to be the most diverse and therefore among the most effective in the world, according to leading international expert Professor Frans Van Vught. In an address last week to the LH Martin Institute's executive seminar series at the University of Melbourne, Van Vught praised new policy initiatives being introduced to the sector.
Full report on the University World News site:

CANADA: Multi-million dollar postdoctoral scheme
Philip Fine
In its annual budget this month, the Canadian government announced the creation of 140 well-paid postdoctoral fellowships, offering some acknowledgment to a group in higher education whose salaries are generally low and whose positions in their university are often nebulous.
Full report on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: Free university for the poor proposed
Sharon Dell
Free higher education for poor South African students and the scrapping of race in favour of class as a mechanism to identify those in need of financial assistance could be on the cards if recent media reports based on a leaked version of a ministerial review of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS, are to be believed.
Full report on the University World News site:

EGYPT: More funding to raise quality
Ashraf Khaled
Egypt's higher education budget has been increasing by 10% a year to reach LE11 billion (US$2 billion), Minister of Higher Education Hani Helal told a seminar recently. "But it is still limited compared to the growing numbers attending universities every year," Helal said, adding that shortage of money remained the "key challenge" to improving quality in universities.
Full report on the University World News site:

ZIMBABWE: Pay hike ends lecturer strike
From a special correspondent
Lecturers in Zimbabwe have been awarded salary hikes, prompting them to return to work more than a month after engaging in a wider civil servant strike that is still raging. Top-paid academics will earn US$800 a month - up from $290. Only lecturers have been awarded a pay rise so far, out of a striking civil servant pool that includes health workers and teachers, who continue to take home less than $200 a month.
Full report on the University World News site:

ZAMBIA: New institution to tackle medical brain drain
Zambia's government is planning to open a new higher learning institution for training doctors as part of efforts to fight the brain drain. Deputy Minister of Health Dr Solomon Musonda told parliament that intakes of health professionals - doctors, nurses and others - at four other institutions would also be doubled this year in a country said to have 27,000 health workers instead of a required 56,000.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWSBRIEFS

AUSTRALIA: Mathematics in crisis
It has been described as "the handmaiden of the sciences", but the state of mathematical sciences in Australia has deteriorated to a dangerous level. A report released last week says universities should provide additional mathematics-enabling courses and improve co-operation between education and mathematics faculties.
Full report on the University World News site:

KENYA: University projects stalled, some for 20 years
Dave Daido
A public university in Kenya requires at least 2.1 billion shillings (US$27.4 million) to complete stalled projects - some of them started nearly 20 years ago. The parliamentary investment committee, or PIC, established that Egerton University's projects had ground to a halt due to lack of funds.
Full report on the University World News site:

DR CONGO: Minister's plans to improve higher education
The Democratic Republic of Congo's Minister for Higher Education, Léonard Mashako Mamba, is introducing legislation with the aim of boosting the country's higher education system and enabling universities to meet the challenges of globalisation, reported Le Potentiel of Kinshasa.
Full report on the University World News site:

SWAZILAND: Students regroup after long boycott
Munyaradzi Makoni
Higher education students in Swaziland have resumed classes after weeks of boycotts - but unhappiness with the government's handling of their grievances has prompted the national students' union to call for a mass meeting in April to regroup and decide a course of action.
Full report on the University World News site:

SENEGAL: School risks closure over fee-paying courses
Jane Marshall
Amadou Tidiane Bâ, Minister for Higher Education, Universities, Regional University Centres and Scientific Research, has threatened to close the Ecole Polytechnique de Thiès if lecturers continue to ignore a government order banning them from teaching fee-paying courses during the day, according to press reports.
Full report on the University World News site:

WEST AFRICA: Universities debate keeping campus peace
Jane Marshall
Governments and university communities must take measures to prevent recurrent violent incidents breaking out on campuses, representatives of higher education institutions concluded at an international conference on keeping the peace in West African universities.
Full report on the University World News site:

SCIENCE SCENE

US: Chilean earthquake attracts scientific interest
Last month's massive earthquake in Chile may have been the fifth-largest since instruments were available to measure such events, but it could well become the most important large quake thanks to the information scientists are gaining from it.
Full report on the University World News site:

GERMANY: Mapping the world by smell
Humans have long admired the humble ant for its organisational abilities and strength. Now researchers have found another reason to respect the insect - some of them can smell 'in stereo' and use the ability to find their way home.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Chilling evidence of super ice age
Scientists have found evidence that sea ice reached the equator during a super ice age more than 700 million years ago.
Full report on the University World News site:

NAMIBIA: Rice research blossoms into national venture
Moses Magadza
What began as a small-scale experiment by a University of Namibia associate professor to grow rice in areas where it had not previously been possible, has metamorphosed into a thriving rice-growing venture that has been declared a national project by the government.
Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURES

THE NETHERLANDS: Four km of "hidden" dissertations
Jos Damen
The library at Leiden University has many "hidden" treasures and among the pearls is the collection of an estimated 400,000 uncatalogued dissertations or theses dating from 1580 to 1990 that are kept in the library stacks. They occupy four kilometres of shelf space and include Albert Einstein's 1905 dissertation.
Full report on the University World News site:

FRANCE-AFRICA: Medical e-learning network launched
Fabienne Guimont*
A vast e-learning programme based on the establishment of a North-South network of inter-university diplomas has begun operating, with the first batch of students successfully completing an online course in obstetrics ultrasound in Dakar, Senegal - 6,000 kilometres from Brest in France where the project originated.
Full report on the University World News site:

HE RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

NORTH AMERICA: Univeristies in perpetual funding crisis
David Trick*
Universities, it seems, are in a perpetual state of funding crisis. Costs grow more quickly than ordinary inflation every year. Prospective students and their parents demand that universities expand to meet the growing number of applicants. Governments demand that universities produce more research to drive the transition to a knowledge-based economy. The gap between mission and funding seems ever-larger. Mission and Money: Understanding the university steps back from the question of whether university funding is adequate to ask a different question: How does the task of earning revenue shape universities' behaviour?
Full article on the University World News site:
Article from the journal Academic Matters :

US: An open future for higher education
Patrick McAndrew, Eileen Scanlon and Doug Clow Education, and in particular higher education, has seen rapid change as learning institutions have had to adapt to the opportunities provided by the internet to move more of their teaching online and to become more flexible in how they operate. It might be tempting to think that such a period of change would lead to consolidation and agreement about approaches and models of operation that suit the 21st century. New technologies continue to appear, however, and changes in attitude indicated by the integration of online activities and social approaches within our lives are accelerating. How should institutions react to these changes?
More on the University World News site:
Article from EDUCAUSE Quarterly :

UNI-LATERAL: Off-beat university stories

ICELAND: Bank collapse benefits foreign students
Foreign students and their visiting families no longer need to brace themselves before ordering a pizza. Just about any foreign currency is worth twice as much in the Icelandic krona as it was in August, according to an article in the International Education Magazine for Nordic Students.
Full report on the University World News site:

FACEBOOK

The Facebook group of University World News is the fastest growing in
higher education worldwide. Almost 2,000 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

JAPAN: Three countries develop academic credit system
Japan has decided to draw up a new framework in conjunction with China and South Korea to allow universities in all three countries to integrate methods to evaluate students' academic achievements and certify academic credits, reports The Yomiuri Shimbun. The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry hopes the collaboration will encourage more students to study abroad.
More on the University World News site:

CHINA: Fake papers are rife at universities
Strong demand for ghost-written academic papers in the lead-up to university graduation and revelations that people pay to have scholarly articles published are worrying critics who fear the billion-yuan industry is making it harder than ever to evaluate graduates' abilities, reports China Daily/Asia News Network.
More on the University World News site:

CHINA: Top scientist plans new autonomous university
A Chinese scientist is planning to establish the mainland's first university outside the grip of government bureaucracy, the official Xinhua news agency reports. Zhu Qingshi, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who served as president of the prestigious University of Science and Technology of China for 10 years, believes heavy red tape in higher education is mainly responsible for China's lack of world-renowned scientists.
More on the University World News site:

INDIA: Five higher education bills before cabinet
Education was set to dominate Thursday's meeting of the Indian cabinet, which was due to look at five Bills - four new and one amendment Bill - from the Human Resource Development Ministry, all related to higher education. All the new Bills are part of Minister Kapil Sibal's plan to revamp higher education, writes Akshaya Mukul in The Times of India.
More on the University World News site:

MALAYSIA: Pay and promotions for professors to improve
The Prime Minister's call to raise the salaries and expedite the promotions of top performers in the public sector has been well received by the Higher Education Ministry, with the salary scheme for professors to be revised, Richard Lim reports for The Star. Professors will be able to enjoy promotions up to the highest grade without holding administrative posts at public universities.
More on the University World News site:

VIETNAM: Minister orders greater university transparency
All universities in Vietnam must publish their financial accounts and information about educational standards on their websites by 15 April, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan told a conference in Hanoi this month, reports Saigon Giai Phong. He also said tertiary education would be further decentralised as part of government's action plan to renovate higher education management 2010-12.
More on the University World News site:

UK: Why university standards have fallen
The new 'manifesto'- Talent, Opportunity, Prosperity - published by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) deals with a number of core issues in the current debate about the future shape and direction of higher education in the UK, comments Geoffrey Alderman, professor of politics and contemporary history at the University of Buckingham, in The Guardian.
More on the University World News site:

US: Continental perspectives
College presidents were urged last Tuesday to consider why most Americans think of North America as a geographic entity and not much more, writes Scott Jaschik for Inside Higher Ed. The failure of American academics to embrace a common agenda for cooperation of colleges and universities in Canada, Mexico and the US may be preventing those countries' higher education systems from realising some of the gains European universities are experiencing through the 'Bologna process', said several experts at the annual meeting of the American Council on Education, held in Phoenix.
More on the University World News site:

US: Express lane to a BA
What was a year ago an emerging idea about how to reduce college costs and better serve students has begun to take hold at colleges across the United States, as more institutions introduce three-year bachelor's degrees, writes Jennifer Epstein for Inside Higher Ed.
More on the University World News site:

US: Huge rise in students predicted in California
California's public colleges and universities must prepare to serve 387,000 more undergraduates by 2019 than in 2008 - a 16% increase - and they will need an additional $1.5 billion in enrolment funding for the task, according to a report released last week by the California Postsecondary Education Commission, writes Carla Rivera for The Los Angeles Times.
More on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: Students sing 'kill the (white) farmer'
African National Congress Youth League leader Julius Malema is facing a barrage of complaints to the police and chapter nine institutions over his latest racial outburst, after he led students at the University of Johannesburg in singing 'kill the boer', writes Natasha Marrian for the Mail & Guardian. 'Boer' refers to white farmers. Malema also sang the song the previous week at birthday celebrations held in a province where six farmers had been murdered in the past month.
More on the University World News site:

ISRAEL: Einstein's relativity manuscript goes on display
The original manuscript of Albert Einstein's groundbreaking theory of relativity, which helps explain everything from black holes to the Big Bang, went on display last weekend in its entirety for the first time, writes Karoun Demirjian for Associated Press.
More on the University World News site:

Sunday 7 March 2010

University World News 0114 - 8th March 2010

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

MALAYSIA: Terror-accused students remain in detention
Tunde Fatunde
The Geneva-based World Organisation Against Torture OMCT has protested to the Malaysian government over the arrest in January of 50 people at the International Islamic University near the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. They are believed to include at least two students from N igeria and others from Ghana, Kenya, Syria and the Sudan. Although 38 of those arrested were later released, 12 remain in custody and were accused of having links with Al-Qaeda. Two of the Nigerian students are likely to be deported - another incident involving students and religious extremism that is causing the N igerian authorities concern.
Full report on the University World News site:

CHINA: Lax rules aid academic misconduct
The perception of academic autonomy and freedom in China has been distorted with many cases of misconduct reported, writes Xinglong Cao in our Features section this week. Cao is an assistant associate professor in the school of law at the City College of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. He says misuses of academic powers for illegitimate benefits such as money, honour and even sex have occurred yet only a small fraction has ever been officially verified or action taken.
Full report in Features on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: First shots fired in ranking war
David Jobbins
The parting of the ways between Times Higher Education and QS, its international league table number-cruncher for the past seven years, was bound to cause ripples when it was announced late last year. The two former partners are now vying with each other to capture hearts and minds for their diverging methodologies as they gear up for the 2010 rankings cycle.
Full report on the University World News site:

RANKINGS 2: North America leaves Europe and Asia behind
Rebecca Warden
North American academics are far more willing to share information and publish it online than their European equivalents. This is one of the factors contributing to the continuing dominance of North American universities in the latest edition of the Web Ranking of World Universities published by the Spanish National Research Council's Cybermetrics Lab.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Increase access and affordability: task force
American Vice President Joe Biden released the annual report of the White House Task Force on the Middle Class last month. The report said that among the most effective means of helping American families secure economic stability was increasing access and affordability to higher education.
Full report on the University World News site:

CHINA-US: PhD students stay on
Sarah King Head
More than nine in every 10 students from China who gained a doctorate in the United States in 2002 were still in the country in 2007, the highest percentage from any foreign nation. This compares with 62% of all foreign-born PhD recipients for that year, says a new report.
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: Student protests at Bologna's 10th year
Students in countries across Europe are continuing their protests against implementation of the Bologna process as the programme reaches its 10th anniversary. But students and student representatives across the continent claim they are also trying to make the process work by providing their views on how education can better meet students' needs. A special report on Bologna by our Greece correspondent Makki Marseilles is also published this week in the Features section.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: Universities told to reveal all
Geoff Maslen
Universities across Australia will be required to reveal more details than ever before about the way they operate. For the first time, information about each institution, its courses, student to staff ratios, graduate outcomes, fee levels and quality of teaching will be available on a government 'My University' website. The website will be operational by 2012 when the government will also remove limits on the number of government-funded places universities can offer - a move expected to create a highly competitive market for top students.
Full report on the University World News site: See also AUSTRALIA: Demystifying the university by Professor Marcia Devlin in the Features section:

EUROPE: Give doctorates a wider role
Alan Osborn
It is time doctorates were seen as a qualification for all kinds of jobs in the modern world and not just as a ticket for an academic career, says the League of European Research Universities. A new league paper says the doctorate has evolved into a qualification for people who are "highly creative, critical, autonomous, intellectual risk-takers who push the boundaries of knowledge and innovation whatever their employment destination may be".
Full report on the University World News site:

RUSSIA: Student enrolments plummet
Eugene Vorotnikov*
Russian higher education is experiencing a demographic crisis that could see the number of students fall from the current 7.5 million to four million over the next few years. A report released by Minister of Education Andrei Fursenko says the problem is not only in the quantity but also in the quality of students.
Full report on the University World News site:

FINLAND: Strike one and you're out
Ian R Dobson*
Less than three months after Finland's new Universities Act came into force, impasses between universities and unions are heading towards strike action. Three unions represent all levels of university staff. If it goes ahead, the strike will be the first in the sector since 1986, at which time about half of support staff withdrew their labour.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWSBRIEFS

EUROPE: Call to back e-library
Keith Nuthall
Member states of the European Union have been attacked by their parliamentary representatives for lukewarm support of the 'Europeana' online library, museum
Full report on the University World News site:

GULF STATES-EU: Bi-regional partnerships network
Wagdy Sawahel
The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and the 22 member states of the European Union will establish a science and technology international cooperation network to promote bi-regional partnerships.
Full report on the University World News site:

NORWAY: Basic physics evaluated
Jan Petter Myklebust
An international panel of distinguished physicists has examined 48 research groups involved with basic physics at Norwegian universities and research institutions. Five have been graded as excellent and some are world-leading. The panel believes Norway is now in a financial position to contribute more actively to the global long-term strategic development of basic physics with up to 160 new physicist positions created at a cost of NOK120 million (US$20.3 million).
Full report on the University World News site:

DENMARK: Long-time universities' minister loses job
In a major reshuffle of government ministerial posts last week, former Science Minister Helge Sander lost his job which included responsibility for the country's universities. The University of Copenhagen's University Post reported that Sander had been replaced by Charlotte Sahl-Madsen, a Conservative Party member who chairs the board of a corporate-sponsored innovation fund within industrial company Danfoss.
Full report on the University World News site:

SWEDEN: Lund to employ up to 400 new researchers
Jan Petter Myklebust
Lund University in the south of Sweden will use a huge accumulated surplus to employ up to 400 new researchers and teachers this year. The surplus amounted to SEK451 million (US$63 million) at the end of 2009 and it will be spent on expanding staff, recruiting 1,000 additional students, renovating buildings and investing in research infrastructure.
Full report on the University World News site:

BUSINESS

Australia: Keeping your cool pays off
Leah Germain
New research by the Melbourne Business School will provide members of the global business community with the resources they need to move up the corporate ladder and acquire positions of leadership. Researchers have coined the phrase Psychological Flexibility or PF to describe the ability to "divorce yourself from your emotions" as a key business tactic.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Innovative website helps with study abroad
Leah Germain
An internet-based service informing students how best to live and study abroad has released a '10 Step Guide' of advice, which universities could offer their foreign scholars. The founders of Boston-based Abroad101.com were inspired by the study abroad experience of childhood friends who realised the benefits of travelling and learning abroad while completing their university degree.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: Higher education service goes global
Leah Germain
An Australian service helping students prepare for joining higher education is expanding worldwide. Western Australia-based Navitas says launches in the US this year are the shape of things to come.
Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURES

CHINA: Lax rules aid academic misconduct
Xinglong Cao*
In the 12 months to June last year, allegations of scientific misconduct by a research group at Zhejiang University and led by an "academician" of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, triggered broad discussion in China, a discussion that can still be traced on the internet today, more than a year later.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: De-mystifying the university
Marcia Devlin*
Following on from the positive response of the Australian public to the federal government's My School web site, the My University web site was inevitable. Parents are delighted with the accessibility of the information, the simplicity of the data and the ease with which comparisons can be made through the My School site. A My University site will likewise help de-mystify university for those with little familiarity with the sector and this could contribute to encouraging those who might be put off by 'the unknown' to re-look at university as an option.
Full report on the University World News site:

GREECE: Bologna under attack
Makki Marseilles
Education Ministers from 46 countries in Europe will meet in Vienna this week to mark the 10th anniversary of the Bologna Agreement, which proposed a European Higher Education Area where students and graduates could move freely between countries using prior qualifications in one country as acceptable entry requirements for further study in another.
Full report on the University World News site:

HE RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

AUSTRALIA: Academics and the media
Graeme Orr*
Surprisingly little has been written about academia's relationship with the media in Australia. The exception has been recent interest in defining and naming 'public intellectuals' - people who can move easily between topics, drawing on a variety of philosophical positions or contextual understandings. Public intellectuals are exalted, but rare, birds. But they are just the tip of the iceberg. Academics can move between three models of media engagement.
More on the University World News site:
Paper in the journal Australian Universities' Review :

GLOBAL: Higher education budgets and the recession
John Aubrey Douglass
In the midst of the global recession, how have national governments around the world viewed the role of higher education in their evolving strategies for economic recovery? Demand for higher education generally goes up during economic downturns. Which nations have proactively protected funding for universities and colleges to help maintain access, to help retrain workers and to mitigate unemployment rates? And which nations have simply made large funding cuts for higher education in light of the severe downturn in tax revenues?
More on the University World News site:
Paper from the Center for Studies in Higher Education, Berkeley:

UNI-LATERAL: Off-beat university stories

CANADA: Invasion of the campus bunnies
Cayley Dobie
The problems being caused by Thumper and his friends at the University of Victoria in British Columbia may soon abate if administrators can just cut through some red tape. In trying to deal with up to 1,500 rabbits on campus, they recently suffered a setback in attempts to lower the population. The problem has spawned a plethora of forms related to the ethical treatment of animals.
Full report on the University World News site:

FACEBOOK

The Facebook group of University World News is the fastest growing in
higher education worldwide. More than 1,930 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

CHILE: Six university officials killed in quake crash
Six Chilean university administrators on a disaster surveillance mission were killed last Monday after their twin-engine aircraft crashed in a wooded area north of Concepción, the city near the epicentre of the devastating 27 February earthquake, according to university and news reports, writes Marion Lloyd for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
More on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: North America's postgraduate appeal wanes
Europe is winning the battle to be the most popular region for postgraduate study, writes Michael Prest for The Independent. According to preliminary 2009 statistics compiled by QS, the private provider of higher education information services, North America has continued to slide in the esteem of prospective postgraduates. There has also been a noticeable increase in proportions studying international relations, communications and law, mainly at the expense of finance, accounting, management and economics subjects.
More on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Scientists take steps to defend climate work
For months, climate scientists have taken a vicious beating in the media and on the internet, accused of hiding data, covering up errors and suppressing alternate views, writes John M Broder for The New York Times. Their response until now has been largely to assert the legitimacy of the vast body of climate science and to mock their critics as cranks and know-nothings. But the volume of criticism and the depth of doubt have only grown, and many scientists now realise they are facing a crisis of public confidence and have to fight back.
More on the University World News site:

PALESTINE: Syndicate announces class suspension
The Syndicate of Palestinian Universities Union announced the suspension of classes in West Bank institutions last Monday, because of what it called a lack of response to employees' demands by the Palestinian Council for Higher Education, reports Ma'an news agency. The strike was the third in a week, following two student-led strikes over a Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education decision to convert most of its tuition grants into loans.
More on the University World News site:

US: Students march against funding cuts and fee hikes
In an unprecedented day of national protest across all sectors of education, the epicentre proved to be Berkeley - where the seeds of student activism were sown more than 40 years ago, writes Jack Stripling for Inside Higher Ed. With the smell of burning sage and the occasional hint of weed in the air, an impassioned throng of students from the University of California's Berkeley campus marched to protest budget cuts and tuition hikes they say are crippling one of the nation's premier public institutions.
More on the University World News site:

US: Taxes support for-profit firms acquiring colleges
America's ITT Educational Services Inc paid US$20.8 million for debt-ridden Daniel Webster College last June, writes Daniel Golden for Bloomberg. In return, the company obtained an academic credential that may generate a taxpayer-funded bonanza worth as much as $1 billion.
More on the University World News site:

US: Layoffs without 'financial exigency'
One of the ultimate protections of being a tenured faculty member in the US has been being immune from layoff in all but the most extraordinary circumstances, writes Scott Jaschik for Inside Higher Ed. Under policies issued by the American Association of University Professors and largely accepted by higher education leaders, only institutions that declare 'financial exigency' - a state so dire that it "threatens the survival of the institution as a whole" - can eliminate the jobs of tenured academics.
More on the University World News site:

US: Business the top college major for women
Business is the number one college major for women and men in America, according to a recent analysis by the AAUW (formerly the American Association of University Women) of the Department of Education's Condition of Education 2009 report, writes Ruchika Tulshyan for Forbes. Business degrees now comprise 18% of all degrees awarded to women, nearly twice as high as the second most popular major, health professions and clinical sciences.
More on the University World News site:

CHINA: Anger over college entrance bonus point abuses
An ongoing public survey has shown that almost 80% of Chinese want the abolition of a bonus points policy for some candidates taking the annual National College Entrance Examination, or NCEE, the official Xinhua news agency reports. The controversial policy allows candidates to receive additional points if they are from an ethnic minority or are outstanding students academically or athletically.
More on the University World News site:

KENYA: Thousands to miss places in universities
About 60,000 candidates who have qualified for public universities in Kenya will fail to gain admission, reports The Nation. This is despite the fact that the Joint Admissions Board, or JAB, has increased the number of students joining the universities by nearly half.
More on the University World News site:

WALES: Minister launches review of universities
Education Minister Leighton Andrews last week announced plans to review how Welsh universities are run, writes Gareth Evans for the Western Mail. At a higher education conference in Cardiff, Andrews said governing bodies had a responsibility to deliver value when spending £400 million (US$603 million) a year of public money.
More on the University World News site:

UK: Fund degrees with business tax - lecturer union
Tuition fees should be abolished in the UK and a new business education tax introduced to fund universities, the University and College Union has urged, reports BBC News. It says corporation tax should be raised to the G7 average - 32.87% - with the extra cash ring-fenced to higher education.
More on the University World News site:

N IGERIA: UK calls for investment in higher education
N igeria's government has been called on to invest significantly in higher education to cater for an increasing number of applicants who are denied access annually, reports This Day. Country Director of the British Council, David Higgs, said most N igerians attend foreign universities because they cannot secure a place in a local university.
More on the University World News site:

VIETNAM: Parliament uncovers problems in universities
Numerous problems have been uncovered by a national assembly standing committee during working sessions with 40 universities, reports VietNamNet. The problems were found in procedures to establish schools, open new study branches, decide the number of students to be enrolled and, especially, in network development.
More on the University World News site: