SPECIAL REPORT: Universities and global warming
While political issues around climate research rage on, the work of climate
scientists continues to show evidence that supports the need for action on global warming. Yet there are concerns that the global recession and other political factors could lead to cuts in climate change research.
The Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, for example, has not had its funding renewed, prompting fears of an exodus of climate spec ialists and cutbacks in vital climate science research projects. But not all climate change experts are pessimistic and many institutions are collaborating in research to reduce carbon emissions. One example is the Low Carbon Energy Alliance between MIT, Cambridge and Tsinghua universities.
As major employers and educators, universities are playing their own part in reducing carbon emissions. An increasing number have sustainable development policies ranging from installing solar panels to encouraging staff and students to use public transport.
In the following series of reports, University World News correspondents describe the many ways academics and their institutions are responding to the challenges of climate change, even to the extent of seeing possible opportunities for their countries.
GLOBAL: Universities plan for sustainable energy
David Jobbins University presidents and vice-chancellors from the G8 and G20 countries agreed at a meeting in Vancouver last week on an action plan ahead of next month's summits in Canada. This, the third in a succession of university conferences held since 2008 in the run-up to the economic summits, focused on sustainability in three areas - energy, health and higher education.
Full report on the University World News site:
CHINA: Potential benefits of Arctic melting
Linda Jakobson*
Chinese research remains primarily focused on how the melting Arctic will affect China's continental and oceanic environment and how, in turn, such changes could affect domestic agricultural and economic development. But a small number of researchers are publicly encouraging the government to prepare for the commercial and strategic opportunities a melting Arctic presents.
Full report on the University World News site:
US: Achieving climate neutrality
Sarah King Head
Can higher education in the US realise its commitment to sustainability and climate neutrality? Senior administrators at American universities and colleges believe it can - and even provide a model which inspires other sectors of society to do so as well.
Full report on the University World News site:
ARCTIC: University may join carbon neutral network
Mandy Garner
The University of the Arctic with its key research interest in sustainability is considering joining a UN body promoting carbon neutrality. Several universities and research organisations are already members as universities across the globe attempt to lower their carbon footprint.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Positive signs for carbon reduction
The world's leaders did not deliver an international agreement in Copenhagen and the US is dragging its feet on a climate bill. But there are some positive signs for the future, says US climate guru Lester Brown who says the key driver for this will be genuine competition in developing new energy technology rather than international treaties.
Full report on the University World News site:
EUROPE: Scientists urge action on ocean acidity
The European Science Foundation has highlighted the need for more effort to monitor and attempt to reduce ocean acidity. Oceans have absorbed almost a third of the carbon dioxide emitted from human use of fossil fuels. But the gas turns into carbonic acid, raising the acidity of seawater.
Full report on the University World News site:
AUSTRALIA: Worrying evidence of rapid changes
Tim Thwaites*
A national forum on climate change, organised by Universities Australia in Parliament House in Canberra, heard unequivocal evidence that climate change was occurring across the country, that it was accelerating and that the impact on Australian society and the national economy was already apparent. Speakers, including academics, scientists, social scientists and public servants from universities, research institutes and government agencies, revealed the extent of the challenges facing the nation.
Full report on the University World News site:
CANADA: Climate groups lose funding
Philip Fine
The Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences has not had its funding renewed, prompting fears of an exodus of climate spec ialists and cutbacks in vital climate science research projects. The move follows investment under the previous federal government of more than C$100 million (US$98 million) over 10 years for multi-year projects that range from extreme weather to marine environmental prediction.
Full report on the University World News site:
DENMARK: Medvedev sees Green Lighthouse
Jan PetterMyklebust
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev visited Copenhagen last month to see the first Danish CO2-neutral building known as the Green Lighthouse. University of Copenhagen Rector Ralf Hemmingsen welcomed Medvedev to see the design of the lighthouse which reduces energy consumption by 75%.
Full report on the University World News site:
UK-CHINA: Climate change collaboration
Fudan University in Shanghai has established a Chinese hub of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in what it describes as "a significant and long-lasting partnership" with the University of East Anglia.
Full report on the University World News site:
SPAIN: The most sustainable home
Paul Rigg
Next month, 20 universities from nine countries will compete in Madrid to construct 'the most sustainable house possible' using solar power. Representatives from universities in China, Brazil, US, Finland, Spain and the UK will each build a solar house in the enormous showrooms next to Madrid's Royal Palace and the River Manzanares.
Full report on the University World News site:
SPECIAL REPORT: Rebuilding Haiti's universities
Almost six months have passed since emergency aid was sent to Haiti
following the 12 January earthquake that killed 230,000 people. Among those involved in rebuilding the devastated country, many are looking to its universities. A conference in Montreal last week unveiled an action plan to create a university system that was not functioning properly even before the quake. Philip Fine attended the conference and his two stories follow while Jane Marshall reports from Paris on the French government's plans to also assist with reconstruction.
HAITI: Plan to rebuild universities
Philip Fine The French-speaking university association, Agence universitaire de la Francophonie or AUF, has unveiled an action plan to rebuild Haiti's universities. It will require raising millions of dollars of capital but its wide-ranging initiatives will depend on goodwill and energy from the university sector.
Full report on the University World News site:
HAITI: Sector was a disaster prior to quake
Philip Fine
Before the devastating earthquake struck Haiti on 12 January, the country had no ministry dedicated to higher education, no funding agency for research, around 90% of its university professors did not possess a doctorate and three quarters of its universities operated without government accreditation.
Full report on the University World News site :
HAITI: French working group to organise aid
Jane Marshall
As the Assises on the reconstruction of Haiti's university system were starting in Montreal last week, French Minister for Higher Education and Research Valérie Pécresse announced in Paris the formation of a working group to organise France's contribution to the aid efforts.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report
THAILAND: Detained professor starts hunger strike
Yojana Sharma
An assistant professor of history at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University is on a hunger strike after being arrested by Thai authorities and detained without charge following last week's government crackdown on the Red Shirt protesters. Dr Suthachai Yimprasert has been held since 24 May when he received a warrant to report for police for questioning.
Full report on the University World News site:
UK: Coalition cuts university spending
Diane Spencer
Britain's new Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition has slashed £200 million (US$289 million) from spending on higher education, on top of the £1 billion in cuts made by the previous government over the past few months. The increase in student numbers promised by the outgoing Labour government will be halved from 20,000 to 10,000.
Full report on the University World News site:
EU: Call for countries to invest in higher education
The European University Association has called on the continent's governments to commit to major investment in higher education and research, and to renew efforts to reach the Barcelona target of 3% of GDP investment in research and the 2% investment in higher education proposed by the European Commission.
Full report on the University World News site:
UKRAINE: Rector warns of intimidation
The rector of the only Catholic University in the former Soviet Union expressed alarm after a visit by a Ukrainian secret service agent. The agent told him to warn students that if they took part in political protests they could be subject to prosecution.
Full report on the University World News site:
AUSTRALIA-NZ: More academic-student contact needed
Hamish Coates and Ian R Dobson*
Universities should increase student interaction with academics because this is critical for students' retention and graduate prospects, a new survey has found. A report of the survey notes that science students have the highest drop-out rate - a disappointing outcome given the shortage of science graduates in the Australasian workforce.
Full report on the University World News site:
PUERTO RICO: Archbishop calls for police restraint
The archbishop of San Juan, Roberto Gonzalez Nieves, has criticised what he believes was an excessive use of force by police in Puerto Rico against students and workers protesting at a political meeting.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Virtual university to boost Islamic science
Wagdy Sawahel
Two institutions and a prize, all aimed at boosting scientific research in the Muslim world, have been announced by the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The 57 member states agreed to establish the Islamic Virtual University, the Islamic Universities Business Network, and a prize for academic research papers.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWS BRIEFS
FINLAND: International staff exchange week
Ian R Dobson*
Academic work and academic staff are quite rightly the focus of journalistic reporting on universities. But this focus sometimes overlooks the important role played by support staff who represent around half of total university employees in most countries. Last week, 17 university administrators from 11 countries came to the University of Helsinki's International Staff Exchange Week to learn how things were done in Finland.
Full report on the University World News site:
ARAB WORLD: Tackling graduate unemployment
Wagdy Sawahel
To develop entrepreneurship and promote technological development in the 22 Arab states as a means of tackling graduate unemployment, the United Arab Emirates organised a science investment forum. The 7th edition of the Investing in Technology Forum was held under the theme Establishing a regional integrated system for innovation last month in Dubai.
Full report on the University World News site:
BUSINESS
EUROPE: Promoting a university-business dialogue
Alyshah Hasham
European universities need to forge stronger ties with the private sector but must retain full control over their finances, governance and curriculum, the European Parliament decided last week.
Full report on the University World News site:
UK: Teaching resources available worldwide
Cayley Dobie
An online resource network 'Jorum' is offering professors and educators worldwide access to a growing database of teaching resources posted by fellow educators working in the United Kingdom.
Full report on the University World News site:
EUROPE: New technology for hybrid vehicles
Cayley Dobie
Researchers at Imperial College, University of London, say their latest research project on a new composite material could improve the efficiency of hybrid and electric vehicles by storing and discharging energy within the structure of a car itself.
Full report on the University World News site:
FEATURE
GLOBAL: Islam and higher education
Wagdy Sawahel
The literature on Islam is dominated by political factors in various parts of the world. But higher education, which prepares future leaders following the religious and cultural values of a nation, is embedded in the social, economic and political contexts of that nation. Fatma Nevra Seggie and Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela have edited a book Islam and Higher Education in Transitional Societies that aims to fill this critical gap.
Full report on the University World News site:
HE Research and Commentary
US: Shaping the higher education cloud
As technologies such as virtualisation and cloud computing assume important places within the information technology landscape, higher education leaders will need to consider which institutional services they wish to leave to consumer choice, which ones they wish to source and administer 'somewhere else', and which services they should operate centrally or locally on campus, write Karla Hignite, Richard N Katz and Ronald Yanosky in an EDUCAUSE white paper titled Shaping the Higher Education Cloud.
More on the University World News site:
UNI-LATERAL: Off-beat university stories
CHINA: Bogus military school closed
Meng Jing, China Daily
A bugle call rings out at Zhonglian Judicial College at 1:30 pm, two weeks after the head of the privately funded school was arrested. It should be a call for students to gather on the training field after the lunch break but none heed it. Anxious students and worried parents insist on staying in the school, located in Fangshan district, after the institute was announced illegal by the Fangshan commission of education on 10 May.
Full report on the University World News site:
CANADA: Teenager leads barefoot campaign
Thirteen-year-old Bilaal Rajan has people of all ages kicking off their shoes and going barefoot in support of his latest campaign. Next Tuesday is International Children's Day and Rajan is participating in an annual event he launched last year called the Barefoot challenge where he lives life without shoes to raise awareness about child poverty in the developing world.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Divorce looms if wife is unhappier
Look out fellas! If your wife is less happy than you separation and divorce are likely, a team of economists has found. Using data from three different countries, the researchers found that the higher the gap in happiness - even during the first year of marriage - the higher the risk of divorce.
Full report on the University World News site:
US: New novel satirises scientists, universities
"Tech Transfer" is the deceptively mild title of a mordant satire about scientists and universities and how they do business, writes Nicholas Wade for The New York Times. The best scene in this hilarious first novel is a meeting of the trustees of Kershaw University, an elite research university only 200 years younger than Harvard.
More on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Higher education sails around the world
Sitting in class while slowly rocking back and forth, Robyn Chazen was amazed when her professor stopped a lecture to let students watch dolphins swimming, writes Ryan Miller for the Daily Bruin. Chazen, a third-year sociology student, was taken aback by this spectacle and knew she had made the right decision to attend the Semester at Sea programme.
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 2,170 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
UK: Exams at risk as lecturers refuse to mark papers
University students are facing disruption to exams and graduations this summer as lecturers refuse to mark papers in protest against funding cuts, redundancies and pay freezes, writes Julie Henry for The Telegraph. Staff at one university have already agreed a complete ban on the marking of essays and exams. Tutors at others across the country are considering similar moves.
More on the University World News site:
WALES: Minister launches stinging attack on universities
Education Minister Leighton Andrews has launched a stinging attack on Welsh universities, which he claims have a "very limited" impact on the nation's economy and reputation, writes Gareth Evans for the Western Mail.
More on the University World News site:
CANADA: Universities pick 19 good men
When the Canadian government created a $200 million pot to attract up to 20 of the world's best researchers in four target areas, university administrators had no trouble finding 36 stars that they wanted to hire. Diversity was another matter, however, writes Kelli Whitlock Burton for Science Insider.
More on the University World News site:
ISRAEL: Students and professors march in Jerusalem
Some 800 Hebrew University students and nearly a dozen professors marched from the Mount Scopus campus to Sheikh Jarrah last Wednesday to protest the evictions of Arab families and what they called the neighborhood's 'Jewish settlement', writes Abe Selig for The Jerusalem Post. While protests in the north-east Jerusalem quarter have ballooned over recent months, and Friday afternoon demonstrations there continue to draw large crowds, Wednesday's march was the first 'academic protest' in Sheikh Jarrah.
More on the University World News site:
VIETNAM: Doctoral training placed under strict scrutiny
After Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training suspended sub-standard doctoral programmes at 35 universities and institutes, many of them are worrying about challenges they must overcome before a 2012 deadline set by the ministry, reports Saigon Giai Phong.
More on the University World News site:
INDIA: One website for all higher education information
All higher education institutions in India and authentic information about them will soon become available on an official single web portal, writes K Sandeep Kumar for Hindustan Times. The proposed site - which will carry information on institutions' courses, infrastructure and resources and links to their websites - will act as a single window for all students, Indian and foreign, interested in studying in institutions that are recognised by competent authorities and bodies.
More on the University World News site:
SRI LANKA: Fresh thinking on universities needed
The debate on private universities in Sri Lanka has begun again, with the same arguments to which we have been listening for nearly three decades, writes Anuruddha Pradeep, a lecturer in political science at Sri Jayawar-denapura University, for The Island. We have become all too familiar with the subject, in fact. At times, people have got so carried away that lives have been lost. With the re-election of the UPFA government, the same battle is being replayed with new generals.
More on the University World News site:
SAUDIA ARABIA: Plans to overhaul education
Saudi Arabia is undertaking massive initiatives to overhaul its education system, following the announcement of its historic 2010 education budget of SR137 billion (US$36.5 billion) earlier this year, reports Trade Arabia.
More on the University World News site:
UAE: Students still stuck on remedial treadmill
Government efforts to end the need for remedial English and maths courses for most students entering federal universities have had a minimal effect so far, according to results for the UAE's university entrance examination released yesterday, writes Kathryn Lewis for The National. They show little change from last year's scores.
More on the University World News site:
US: Amazon.com's Kindle fails first college test
If Amazon hoped for honest feedback when it started testing the Kindle DX on college campuses last autumn, it certainly got its wish, writes Amy Martinez for the Seattle Times. Students pulled no punches telling the Seattle Internet giant what they thought of its $489 e-reader. If Amazon hoped the Kindle DX would become the next iPhone or iPod on campuses, it failed its first test.
More on the University World News site:
US: Credit for teaching
At many colleges and universities, the tenure trinity of teaching, research and service is widely viewed (at least by those coming up for tenure) as a myth, writes Scott Jaschik for Inside Higher Ed. A new book (or articles in the right journals) will trump a great teaching idea every time, say many professors. Classroom innovation doesn't get any credit. Last week the American Sociological Association announced a new effort that, organisers hope, could change that.
More on the University World News site:
US: Hedge fund sees 'Big Short' in education stocks
Steven Eisman, a hedge-fund manager whose bet against the housing market was chronicled in a best- selling book, said he has found the next "big short" - higher education stocks - write Daniel Golden and John Hechinger for Bloomberg Businessweek.
More on the University World News site:
US: Harvard's paper cuts
The thin, tattered book, an 1899 dissertation on Homer, written in French, is tucked into one of the more than 40 shelves devoted to the epic poet in the stacks of Widener Library. Collecting obscure works like this one has helped Harvard amass the world's largest university library, writes Tracy Jan for The Boston Globe.
More on the University World News site:
NIGER: Junta wants presidents with degrees
Niger's military rulers have suggested that only those with a university degree should be allowed to run in presidential elections, reports BBC News. Candidates would also have to be under 70 years old.
More on the University World News site:
ARMENIA: PM omits universities from science speech
In his recent speech at the National Academy of Sciences, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian outlined his and his government's vision for the development of science and the role of the academy. Shockingly, he did not pronounce the word 'university,' even once, in his speech, writes Aryana Petrova on the Armenia Higher Education and Sciences blog.
More on the University World News site:
CHINA: Appeal of Hong Kong universities fades
High-school teenagers and their parents in Beijing are showing less interest in universities in Hong Kong because of the high costs, although the universities will offer some scholarships. "We received 4,000 mainland students applications in 2009 but in the years before, we received more than 10,000 applications," said Laura Lo, Director of Chinese Mainland Affairs at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, write Wang Wen and Wang Wei for China Daily.
More on the University World News site:
UGANDA: District quota admissions delayed
The admission of 896 students to public universities under the district quota system has been delayed because the admissions board is awaiting a decision on whether to consider new districts, writes Francis Kagolo for New Vision.
More on the University World News site:
Sunday 30 May 2010
Sunday 23 May 2010
University World News 0125 - 24th May 2010
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report
GLOBAL: Climate change: the challenge of our times
Mandy Garner
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our times but it is one that is steeped in controversy. The recent 'Climategate' affair, in which emails from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit were leaked and used to allege scientific misconduct, has shown just how politically contentious the issue is. A special report on this crucial topic, with accounts from around the world on how universities are engaged with the issue, will be published in our next edition on 30 May.
Full story on the University World News site:
THAILAND: Students flee after military crackdown
Yojana Sharma
Several Thai student leaders who had come out on the side of Red Shirt anti-government protesters in recent weeks are believed to have fled Bangkok after receiving threats from Yellow Shirt pro-government groups. Despite the three-day curfew imposed on Bangkok and other provinces in the wake of Wednesday's government crackdown, unconfirmed reports said an unknown number of students had gone underground, dispersing to areas outside the capital. According to the Financial Times on Friday, more than 80 people had been killed during the bloody demonstrations over the past 10 days.
Full report on the University World News site:
INDIA: New agency uncouples funding and regulation
Alya Mishra
As part of its ongoing drive to overhaul the higher education sector and increase the quality of its universities, India's education ministry under Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal is planning to create a new inter-university funding agency. But the agency has been stripped of any regulatory powers.
Full report on the University World News site:
UK: Undergraduates should pay more
Diane Spencer
Student fees will have to rise if Britain is to keep its world-class reputation in higher education, the Russell Group of 20 elite universities has warned. In its sumbission to Lord Browne's review of higher education funding, the group predicts its members could be faced with an overall deficit of more than £1.1 billion (US$1.6 billion) by 2012-13. But it does not recommend a big increase in overseas student fees.
Full report on the University World News site:
US: California's online pilot project: brave new world?
Sarah King Head
Embracing the future at the University of California will undoubtedly bring new challenges when it evaluates the results of a recent decision to develop expanded online undergraduate and distance learning course offerings.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEW ZEALAND: Universities disappointed by budget
John Gerritsen
The New Zealand government delivered its annual budget on Thursday but the country's universities received slim pickings.
Full report on the University World News site:
US: Beyond the ivory tower: effecting change
Sarah King Head
What happens when internationally recognised academics join forces to solve problems of global significance? Real world and sustainable results, the things Professors Beyond Borders intends to achieve.
Full report on the University World News site:
KENYA: Universities must clear huge admissions backlog
Gilbert Nganga
Kenya's public universities, long plagued by an admissions crisis, are in for a shock as they move to enrol tens of thousands of extra students to clear a backlog that has for decades forced students to wait for two years after high school to enter public higher education.
Full report on the University World News site:
KENYA: Student unrest, claims of political meddling
Gilbert Nganga
Kenya's premier institution of higher education, the University of Nairobi, was last week shut indefinitely following unrest over disputed student elections. Educationists pointed fingers at the country's politicians for meddling in student affairs.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: Research concentrated in three countries
Wagdy Sawahel
Africa has extremely uneven distribution of research and innovative capacity, according to a recent report. Research is concentrated in Egypt in the north, N igeria in the middle and South Africa in the south. Africa produces only some 27,000 papers a year - about the same volume of published output as The Netherlands - but the continent has relatively high representation, as a share of world publications, in fields related to natural resources.
Full report on the University World News site:
ZIMBABWE: Brain drain graduates must repay state aid
A Special Correspondent
Zimbabwean university students who receive state assistance are now required to surrender a third of their salaries if they choose to work in foreign countries on completing their studies. The cash-strapped government has set up a special cadet scheme whose stringent conditions it hopes will stem a crippling brain drain that has hit most of the country's economic sectors.
Full report on the University World News site:
N IGERIA: New peace institute to help resolve conflicts
Tunde Fatunde
N igerian officials and diplomats have become increasingly concerned that very few people involved in conflict resolution are trained to either prevent or settle disputes. The University of Ibadan recently signed a memorandum of understanding with two government agencies to establish an Institute of Peace that will train people in this crucial field.
Full report on the University World News site:
SENEGAL: From 'brick' to 'click' universities
Jane Marshall
Officials from the World Bank were in Dakar this month to set out their vision for Senegal's higher education sector and to prepare for the launch of a new development strategy. Meanwhile, current problems in the country's education system were aired during their visit, said press reports.
Full report on the University World News site:
SOUTH AFRICA: Higher education summit revisited
Last month the South African government convened a Stakeholder Summit on
Higher Education, to debate the transformation of universities two decades after political reform began and to chart an agenda for the future. University World News produced a Special Report on the summit. Here we report on some of the key issues that emerged from the historic event - the lack of an academic perspective, the differentiation debate, and the investigation into four-year bachelor degrees aimed at tackling high student drop-out rates.
SOUTH AFRICA: Academic perspective lacking
John Higgins* South Africa's recent Stakeholder Summit on Higher Education rightly argued the need for a national conversation on the future development of higher education. With the primary and secondary education sectors largely in disarray, and little prospect of correcting that in the foreseeable future, Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande called for universities to think afresh.
Full report on the University World News site:
SOUTH AFRICA: New university clusters emerge
Karen MacGregor
New clusters of universities have emerged in South Africa in the past decade, with fewer truly research-focused institutions following mergers, according to a study by the Centre for Higher Education Transformation, CHET. Three clusters revealed by an analysis of universities using nine input and output variables look very different to the formal categories used to differentiate the tertiary sector - with potentially major implications for policy.
Full report on the University World News site:
SOUTH AFRICA: Universities ponder four-year degrees
Sharon Dell
The government-led drive to open the doors of South African universities to poor students not only places strain on the national budget, it is also set to put greater pressure on academics and institutions to embrace changing curricula and improve their knowledge about education and alternative approaches to teaching and learning.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWSBRIEFS
GLOBAL: New international university network
Seven research-intensive universities based in seven countries have joined to form a new international network. The group has called itself the Matariki Network of Universities, which it describes as "a select group recognised for their international practice in teaching and learning".
Full report on the University World News site:
JAPAN-NORTH AFRICA: Boost for university cooperation
Wagdy Sawahel
Japan and six North African states - Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia - are to boost cooperation between universities. This was agreed at a summit held on 14 May in Tunis and attended by leaders and representatives from several Japanese and African universities.
Full report on the University World News site:
SENEGAL: Minister's visit ends student strike
Students at Senegal's University of Thiès have resumed their studies after a month-long strike, following a visit from Amadou Tidiane Bâ, Minister for Higher Education, Universities and Regional University Centres. Bâ said he was taking "effective measures" to meet the students' demands, according to press reports.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: India to finance e-network
India is financing a US$50 million project to establish a pan-African online 'e-network' linking the 53 countries of the African Union, reported Le Potentiel of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, where the programme was launched this month.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Internationalising Europe
From the UK International Unit*
European Union involvement in higher education has come a long way since the first Socrates Erasmus student exchanges in 1989. These first attempts to introduce a 'European dimension' to higher education were intensified with the onset of the intergovernmental Bologna Process in 1999. Earlier this month, higher education ministers from 27 EU member states debated internationalisation of higher education and its importance for Europe's universities.
Full report on the University World News site:
ISRAEL: Nanotech institute launched
Wagdy Sawahel
Israel has launched a US$150 million Institute for Nanotechnology to promote the development of a knowledge-based economy. Located at Bar-Ilan University, the Bar Ilan Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials or BINA will have 39 laboratories and 340 researchers, technicians and graduate and doctoral students taking part in 38 multidisciplinary working groups in various fields in the sciences, including physics, chemistry and life sciences.
Full report on the University World News site:
INDIA: Narrowing the education deficit
From the UK International Unit*
Teach For India, a fellowship programme inspired by Teach For America in the US and the UK's Teach First, was launched in 2008. It recruits and trains outstanding university and college graduates and young professionals to teach full time in low-income schools in India for two years.
Full report on the University World News site:
ACADEMIC FREEDOM
ISRAEL: Academic denied entry to West Bank
Jonathan Travis*
Israeli immigration officials prevented US scholar Noam Chomsky from entering the West Bank last week. Professor Chomsky, renowned for his work on linguistics and philosophy, was planning to deliver a lecture at Birzeit University, BBC News reports. Chomsky said he was denied entry because the Israeli government has long objected to his controversial writings and speeches.
More Academic Freedom reports on the University World News site:
SCIENCE SCENE
UK: Fell atio by fruit bats prolongs co pulation
Oral s ex is widely used in human foreplay but rarely documented in other animals. Fell atio has been recorded in bonobos Pan paniscus but even then functions largely as play behaviour among juvenile males, according to research conducted by biologists from the University of Bristol and three Chinese higher education institutions. See our Uni-Lateral story on how an Irish academic was accused of s exual harassment after showing a journal article of this study to a female colleague.
Full report on the University World News site:
US: Ice melts, Greenland rises
Greenland is covered by ice up to two kilometres thick - but now it is melting and as a result the land is rising. What's more, scientists at the University of Miami say the rate of uplift is accelerating.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: TIA and MIT join diseases patent pool
Munyaradzi Makoni
South Africa's Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) this month became the first government body worldwide to join the Open Innovation Patent Pool on Neglected Tropical Diseases. It followed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in signing up to the initiative that promises to stimulate local innovations in the fight against diseases.
Full report on the University World News site:
US: Figuring out the oceans' vital statistics
Scientists in the US are updating estimates of the size and volume of the world's oceans. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are working on the numbers.
Full report on the University World News site:
FEATURES
THAILAND: Student movement emerges from the shadows
Yojana Sharma
Thailand's student movement appeared to be dormant in recent years but has now emerged as a force supporting the anti-government Red Shirts, with the Thai authorities keeping a close watch on student groups.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: From brain drain to brain growth
Diane Spencer
The former education editor of US News &World Report has researched how international competition for the brightest minds is transforming the world of higher education. In his new book, The Great Brain Race: How global universities are reshaping the world, Ben Wildavsky concludes that the revolution should be welcomed, not feared.
Full report on the University World News site:
HE RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
US: Class Warriors
William Ayers
Professor William Ayers, distinguished professor of education and senior university scholar at the University of Illinois in Chicago, was banned last year from speaking at the University of Nebraska. Here he argues in the Canadian journal Academic Matters that the current trend towards 'academic capitalism' gives faculty the moment to speak up - and act up.
Full article on the University World News site:
UNI-LATERAL: Off-beat university stories
IRELAND: Bat behaviour leads to s ex charge
John Walshe
Dr Dylan Evans is now a household name in Ireland and on the blogosphere for showing a female colleague an article about how fruit bats prolong co pulation through fell atio. When the woman lodged a complaint of s exual harassment, the university imposed a two-year period of intensive monitoring and counselling on him.
Full report on the University World News site:
CHINA: Tests on stray cats? We did not!
Huang Yuli, China Daily
Peking University went into damage control mode earlier this month when its health science centre denied allegations that students had conducted experiments on stray cats in laboratory classes.
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 2,160 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
KYRGYZSTAN: Fatal ethnic fighting erupts at university
A deadly ethnic riot broke out on Wednesday at a university in a major southern city in Kyrgyzstan, where the country's interim government has only tenuous control and where the police have largely stopped working rather than take sides in a political conflict, writes Andrew E Kramer for The New York Times.
More on the University World News site:
BALOCHISTAN: Universities close down after clashes
Academic activities were suspended in four public sector universities and two colleges in Balochistan on Tuesday, reports the Express Tribune. This came after 46 students were injured in clashes between Baloch and Pakhtun student organisations in different universities of Balochistan on Monday.
More on the University World News site:
PUERTO RICO: Massive support for university strike
Striking University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus students received their strongest show of support yet when some 8,000 people gathered on Tuesday in front of the institution's main gates in solidarity with their plight, reports the Daily Sun in this and the subsequent stories with links to earlier editions that follow. The students have been protesting against budget cuts and university policies.
More on the University World News site:
IRAN: Student activists receive heavy prison terms
Two detained student activists, Bahareh Hedayat and Milad Asadi, were handed heavy imprisonment terms by the Iranian judiciary last week, reports Radio Zamaneh.
More on the University World News site:
CHINA: Students wounded in university knife rampage
At least five men rampaged across a college campus in China wounding 13 students, including one whose hand they chopped off, writes Jonathan Landreth for The Times. The attack in Haikou, capital of the southern island province of Hainan, came after a recent rash of knife violence at Chinese elementary schools.
More on the University World News site:
ISRAEL: Chomsky barred from West Bank
A fierce debate broke out in Israel last week amid finger pointing and hand wringing over the country's refusal last weekend to permit the linguist Noam Chomsky, an icon of the American left, to enter the occupied West Bank from Jordan, writes Ethan Bronner for The New York Times.
More on the University World News site:
US: Flare-up over 'illegal' immigrant students
A minor traffic violation by Jessica Colotl, a senior at Georgia's Kennesaw State University, is turning out to be anything but a minor incident, writes Scott Jaschik for Inside Higher Ed. Colotl is from Mexico and doesn't have the legal authorisation to live permanently in the United States. While Colotl is, by all reports, an excellent student, her situation (uncovered because of her traffic violation) has set off demands that the state do more to block the enrolment of students who are in the country illegally.
More on the University World News site:
US: College bound, DNA swab in hand
Instead of the usual required summer-reading book, this year's incoming freshmen at the University of California, Berkeley, will get something quite different: a cotton swab on which they can, if they choose, send in a DNA sample, writes Tamar Lewin for The New York Times. The university said it would analyse the samples, from inside students' cheeks, for three genes that help regulate the ability to metabolise alcohol, lactose and folates.
More on the University World News site:
CHINA: Universities use cash to grab top pupils
With the college entrance examination still a month away, some universities have already begun to fight for the best high school graduates by offering generous scholarships, writes Wang Wei for China Daily.
More on the University World News site:
CHINA: Foreign tour for 100 university officials
About 100 university officials will be sent overseas on a 24-day training course to help them build first-class universities in China, writes Wang Xiang for the Shanghai Daily. The Ministry of Education said officials selected from across the country would visit Japan, Britain, Australia and the US to "learn advanced management skills" that could help build "a batch of first-class universities by 2020," Beijing News reported last week.
More on the University World News site:
MALAYSIA: Eight institutions get self-accreditation status
Self-accreditation status has been given to eight higher education institutions for the first time in Malaysia, writes Karen Chapman for The Star. Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the institutions could now accredit their own programmes without going through the Malaysian Qualifications Agency.
More on the University World News site:
INDIA: Higher education enrolment could reach 15%
The increased focus on higher education in India is yielding dividends. The 11th Plan's ambitious aim to increase enrolment in higher education to 15% could be achievable. At the end of 10th Plan in 2006 it was 10.12%, reports The Times of India.
More on the University World News site:
TAIWAN: PhDs more than double, but few job opportunities
Taiwan has an increasing number of doctorate degree holders, yet it's getting harder for them to find full-time professor jobs, local media reported yesterday, reports The China Post-Asia News. Citing data from the Ministry of Education, the reports said PhD holders increased 2.5 times, from 13,000 to 33,000, between 1999 and 2009. However, job openings at colleges and universities did not catch up with the rise.
More on the University World News site:
UK: New institutions challenge the old guard
The position of the UK's 'old' universities is continuing to be threatened by younger upstarts in the table compiled by The Complete University Guide in association with The Independent, writes Lucy Hodges for The Independent. Although Oxford remains at the top of the university pecking order for the third year running, with Cambridge and Imperial College London again in second and third place respectively, there has been movement in the middle ranks.
More on the University World News site:
UK: Skills shortage is getting worse, bosses warn
Employers fear they will be unable recruit students with the skills they need as the economic recovery kicks in, a new survey reveals, writes Anna Bawden for The Guardian. Nearly half of organisations told researchers they were already struggling to find staff with skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem), while even more companies expect to experience shortages of employees with Stem skills in the next three years.
More on the University World News site:
UK: Rich students widen 'gulf' in access to top universities
Bright children from the poorest homes are seven times less likely to go to top universities than their wealthier peers, partly because their schools do not offer the 'right' subjects, according to a government-commissioned review published last week, writes Jessica Shepherd for The Guardian.
More on the University World News site:
US: University of California seeks to save $500 million
The University of California plans to reduce its administrative, purchasing and energy costs by about US$500 million a year by 2015 in an attempt to shield its teaching and research missions from further cuts in state funding, officials said on Wednesday, writes Larry Gordon for the Los Angeles Times.
More on the University World News site:
US: Stanford prepares for bookless libraries
One chapter is closing - and another is opening - as Stanford University moves toward the creation of its first 'bookless library', writes Lisa M Krieger for the Mercury News.
More on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Climate change: the challenge of our times
Mandy Garner
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our times but it is one that is steeped in controversy. The recent 'Climategate' affair, in which emails from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit were leaked and used to allege scientific misconduct, has shown just how politically contentious the issue is. A special report on this crucial topic, with accounts from around the world on how universities are engaged with the issue, will be published in our next edition on 30 May.
Full story on the University World News site:
THAILAND: Students flee after military crackdown
Yojana Sharma
Several Thai student leaders who had come out on the side of Red Shirt anti-government protesters in recent weeks are believed to have fled Bangkok after receiving threats from Yellow Shirt pro-government groups. Despite the three-day curfew imposed on Bangkok and other provinces in the wake of Wednesday's government crackdown, unconfirmed reports said an unknown number of students had gone underground, dispersing to areas outside the capital. According to the Financial Times on Friday, more than 80 people had been killed during the bloody demonstrations over the past 10 days.
Full report on the University World News site:
INDIA: New agency uncouples funding and regulation
Alya Mishra
As part of its ongoing drive to overhaul the higher education sector and increase the quality of its universities, India's education ministry under Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal is planning to create a new inter-university funding agency. But the agency has been stripped of any regulatory powers.
Full report on the University World News site:
UK: Undergraduates should pay more
Diane Spencer
Student fees will have to rise if Britain is to keep its world-class reputation in higher education, the Russell Group of 20 elite universities has warned. In its sumbission to Lord Browne's review of higher education funding, the group predicts its members could be faced with an overall deficit of more than £1.1 billion (US$1.6 billion) by 2012-13. But it does not recommend a big increase in overseas student fees.
Full report on the University World News site:
US: California's online pilot project: brave new world?
Sarah King Head
Embracing the future at the University of California will undoubtedly bring new challenges when it evaluates the results of a recent decision to develop expanded online undergraduate and distance learning course offerings.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEW ZEALAND: Universities disappointed by budget
John Gerritsen
The New Zealand government delivered its annual budget on Thursday but the country's universities received slim pickings.
Full report on the University World News site:
US: Beyond the ivory tower: effecting change
Sarah King Head
What happens when internationally recognised academics join forces to solve problems of global significance? Real world and sustainable results, the things Professors Beyond Borders intends to achieve.
Full report on the University World News site:
KENYA: Universities must clear huge admissions backlog
Gilbert Nganga
Kenya's public universities, long plagued by an admissions crisis, are in for a shock as they move to enrol tens of thousands of extra students to clear a backlog that has for decades forced students to wait for two years after high school to enter public higher education.
Full report on the University World News site:
KENYA: Student unrest, claims of political meddling
Gilbert Nganga
Kenya's premier institution of higher education, the University of Nairobi, was last week shut indefinitely following unrest over disputed student elections. Educationists pointed fingers at the country's politicians for meddling in student affairs.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: Research concentrated in three countries
Wagdy Sawahel
Africa has extremely uneven distribution of research and innovative capacity, according to a recent report. Research is concentrated in Egypt in the north, N igeria in the middle and South Africa in the south. Africa produces only some 27,000 papers a year - about the same volume of published output as The Netherlands - but the continent has relatively high representation, as a share of world publications, in fields related to natural resources.
Full report on the University World News site:
ZIMBABWE: Brain drain graduates must repay state aid
A Special Correspondent
Zimbabwean university students who receive state assistance are now required to surrender a third of their salaries if they choose to work in foreign countries on completing their studies. The cash-strapped government has set up a special cadet scheme whose stringent conditions it hopes will stem a crippling brain drain that has hit most of the country's economic sectors.
Full report on the University World News site:
N IGERIA: New peace institute to help resolve conflicts
Tunde Fatunde
N igerian officials and diplomats have become increasingly concerned that very few people involved in conflict resolution are trained to either prevent or settle disputes. The University of Ibadan recently signed a memorandum of understanding with two government agencies to establish an Institute of Peace that will train people in this crucial field.
Full report on the University World News site:
SENEGAL: From 'brick' to 'click' universities
Jane Marshall
Officials from the World Bank were in Dakar this month to set out their vision for Senegal's higher education sector and to prepare for the launch of a new development strategy. Meanwhile, current problems in the country's education system were aired during their visit, said press reports.
Full report on the University World News site:
SOUTH AFRICA: Higher education summit revisited
Last month the South African government convened a Stakeholder Summit on
Higher Education, to debate the transformation of universities two decades after political reform began and to chart an agenda for the future. University World News produced a Special Report on the summit. Here we report on some of the key issues that emerged from the historic event - the lack of an academic perspective, the differentiation debate, and the investigation into four-year bachelor degrees aimed at tackling high student drop-out rates.
SOUTH AFRICA: Academic perspective lacking
John Higgins* South Africa's recent Stakeholder Summit on Higher Education rightly argued the need for a national conversation on the future development of higher education. With the primary and secondary education sectors largely in disarray, and little prospect of correcting that in the foreseeable future, Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande called for universities to think afresh.
Full report on the University World News site:
SOUTH AFRICA: New university clusters emerge
Karen MacGregor
New clusters of universities have emerged in South Africa in the past decade, with fewer truly research-focused institutions following mergers, according to a study by the Centre for Higher Education Transformation, CHET. Three clusters revealed by an analysis of universities using nine input and output variables look very different to the formal categories used to differentiate the tertiary sector - with potentially major implications for policy.
Full report on the University World News site:
SOUTH AFRICA: Universities ponder four-year degrees
Sharon Dell
The government-led drive to open the doors of South African universities to poor students not only places strain on the national budget, it is also set to put greater pressure on academics and institutions to embrace changing curricula and improve their knowledge about education and alternative approaches to teaching and learning.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWSBRIEFS
GLOBAL: New international university network
Seven research-intensive universities based in seven countries have joined to form a new international network. The group has called itself the Matariki Network of Universities, which it describes as "a select group recognised for their international practice in teaching and learning".
Full report on the University World News site:
JAPAN-NORTH AFRICA: Boost for university cooperation
Wagdy Sawahel
Japan and six North African states - Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia - are to boost cooperation between universities. This was agreed at a summit held on 14 May in Tunis and attended by leaders and representatives from several Japanese and African universities.
Full report on the University World News site:
SENEGAL: Minister's visit ends student strike
Students at Senegal's University of Thiès have resumed their studies after a month-long strike, following a visit from Amadou Tidiane Bâ, Minister for Higher Education, Universities and Regional University Centres. Bâ said he was taking "effective measures" to meet the students' demands, according to press reports.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: India to finance e-network
India is financing a US$50 million project to establish a pan-African online 'e-network' linking the 53 countries of the African Union, reported Le Potentiel of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, where the programme was launched this month.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Internationalising Europe
From the UK International Unit*
European Union involvement in higher education has come a long way since the first Socrates Erasmus student exchanges in 1989. These first attempts to introduce a 'European dimension' to higher education were intensified with the onset of the intergovernmental Bologna Process in 1999. Earlier this month, higher education ministers from 27 EU member states debated internationalisation of higher education and its importance for Europe's universities.
Full report on the University World News site:
ISRAEL: Nanotech institute launched
Wagdy Sawahel
Israel has launched a US$150 million Institute for Nanotechnology to promote the development of a knowledge-based economy. Located at Bar-Ilan University, the Bar Ilan Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials or BINA will have 39 laboratories and 340 researchers, technicians and graduate and doctoral students taking part in 38 multidisciplinary working groups in various fields in the sciences, including physics, chemistry and life sciences.
Full report on the University World News site:
INDIA: Narrowing the education deficit
From the UK International Unit*
Teach For India, a fellowship programme inspired by Teach For America in the US and the UK's Teach First, was launched in 2008. It recruits and trains outstanding university and college graduates and young professionals to teach full time in low-income schools in India for two years.
Full report on the University World News site:
ACADEMIC FREEDOM
ISRAEL: Academic denied entry to West Bank
Jonathan Travis*
Israeli immigration officials prevented US scholar Noam Chomsky from entering the West Bank last week. Professor Chomsky, renowned for his work on linguistics and philosophy, was planning to deliver a lecture at Birzeit University, BBC News reports. Chomsky said he was denied entry because the Israeli government has long objected to his controversial writings and speeches.
More Academic Freedom reports on the University World News site:
SCIENCE SCENE
UK: Fell atio by fruit bats prolongs co pulation
Oral s ex is widely used in human foreplay but rarely documented in other animals. Fell atio has been recorded in bonobos Pan paniscus but even then functions largely as play behaviour among juvenile males, according to research conducted by biologists from the University of Bristol and three Chinese higher education institutions. See our Uni-Lateral story on how an Irish academic was accused of s exual harassment after showing a journal article of this study to a female colleague.
Full report on the University World News site:
US: Ice melts, Greenland rises
Greenland is covered by ice up to two kilometres thick - but now it is melting and as a result the land is rising. What's more, scientists at the University of Miami say the rate of uplift is accelerating.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: TIA and MIT join diseases patent pool
Munyaradzi Makoni
South Africa's Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) this month became the first government body worldwide to join the Open Innovation Patent Pool on Neglected Tropical Diseases. It followed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in signing up to the initiative that promises to stimulate local innovations in the fight against diseases.
Full report on the University World News site:
US: Figuring out the oceans' vital statistics
Scientists in the US are updating estimates of the size and volume of the world's oceans. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are working on the numbers.
Full report on the University World News site:
FEATURES
THAILAND: Student movement emerges from the shadows
Yojana Sharma
Thailand's student movement appeared to be dormant in recent years but has now emerged as a force supporting the anti-government Red Shirts, with the Thai authorities keeping a close watch on student groups.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: From brain drain to brain growth
Diane Spencer
The former education editor of US News &World Report has researched how international competition for the brightest minds is transforming the world of higher education. In his new book, The Great Brain Race: How global universities are reshaping the world, Ben Wildavsky concludes that the revolution should be welcomed, not feared.
Full report on the University World News site:
HE RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
US: Class Warriors
William Ayers
Professor William Ayers, distinguished professor of education and senior university scholar at the University of Illinois in Chicago, was banned last year from speaking at the University of Nebraska. Here he argues in the Canadian journal Academic Matters that the current trend towards 'academic capitalism' gives faculty the moment to speak up - and act up.
Full article on the University World News site:
UNI-LATERAL: Off-beat university stories
IRELAND: Bat behaviour leads to s ex charge
John Walshe
Dr Dylan Evans is now a household name in Ireland and on the blogosphere for showing a female colleague an article about how fruit bats prolong co pulation through fell atio. When the woman lodged a complaint of s exual harassment, the university imposed a two-year period of intensive monitoring and counselling on him.
Full report on the University World News site:
CHINA: Tests on stray cats? We did not!
Huang Yuli, China Daily
Peking University went into damage control mode earlier this month when its health science centre denied allegations that students had conducted experiments on stray cats in laboratory classes.
Full report on the University World News site:
The Facebook group of University World News is the fastest growing in
higher education worldwide. More than 2,160 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
KYRGYZSTAN: Fatal ethnic fighting erupts at university
A deadly ethnic riot broke out on Wednesday at a university in a major southern city in Kyrgyzstan, where the country's interim government has only tenuous control and where the police have largely stopped working rather than take sides in a political conflict, writes Andrew E Kramer for The New York Times.
More on the University World News site:
BALOCHISTAN: Universities close down after clashes
Academic activities were suspended in four public sector universities and two colleges in Balochistan on Tuesday, reports the Express Tribune. This came after 46 students were injured in clashes between Baloch and Pakhtun student organisations in different universities of Balochistan on Monday.
More on the University World News site:
PUERTO RICO: Massive support for university strike
Striking University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus students received their strongest show of support yet when some 8,000 people gathered on Tuesday in front of the institution's main gates in solidarity with their plight, reports the Daily Sun in this and the subsequent stories with links to earlier editions that follow. The students have been protesting against budget cuts and university policies.
More on the University World News site:
IRAN: Student activists receive heavy prison terms
Two detained student activists, Bahareh Hedayat and Milad Asadi, were handed heavy imprisonment terms by the Iranian judiciary last week, reports Radio Zamaneh.
More on the University World News site:
CHINA: Students wounded in university knife rampage
At least five men rampaged across a college campus in China wounding 13 students, including one whose hand they chopped off, writes Jonathan Landreth for The Times. The attack in Haikou, capital of the southern island province of Hainan, came after a recent rash of knife violence at Chinese elementary schools.
More on the University World News site:
ISRAEL: Chomsky barred from West Bank
A fierce debate broke out in Israel last week amid finger pointing and hand wringing over the country's refusal last weekend to permit the linguist Noam Chomsky, an icon of the American left, to enter the occupied West Bank from Jordan, writes Ethan Bronner for The New York Times.
More on the University World News site:
US: Flare-up over 'illegal' immigrant students
A minor traffic violation by Jessica Colotl, a senior at Georgia's Kennesaw State University, is turning out to be anything but a minor incident, writes Scott Jaschik for Inside Higher Ed. Colotl is from Mexico and doesn't have the legal authorisation to live permanently in the United States. While Colotl is, by all reports, an excellent student, her situation (uncovered because of her traffic violation) has set off demands that the state do more to block the enrolment of students who are in the country illegally.
More on the University World News site:
US: College bound, DNA swab in hand
Instead of the usual required summer-reading book, this year's incoming freshmen at the University of California, Berkeley, will get something quite different: a cotton swab on which they can, if they choose, send in a DNA sample, writes Tamar Lewin for The New York Times. The university said it would analyse the samples, from inside students' cheeks, for three genes that help regulate the ability to metabolise alcohol, lactose and folates.
More on the University World News site:
CHINA: Universities use cash to grab top pupils
With the college entrance examination still a month away, some universities have already begun to fight for the best high school graduates by offering generous scholarships, writes Wang Wei for China Daily.
More on the University World News site:
CHINA: Foreign tour for 100 university officials
About 100 university officials will be sent overseas on a 24-day training course to help them build first-class universities in China, writes Wang Xiang for the Shanghai Daily. The Ministry of Education said officials selected from across the country would visit Japan, Britain, Australia and the US to "learn advanced management skills" that could help build "a batch of first-class universities by 2020," Beijing News reported last week.
More on the University World News site:
MALAYSIA: Eight institutions get self-accreditation status
Self-accreditation status has been given to eight higher education institutions for the first time in Malaysia, writes Karen Chapman for The Star. Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the institutions could now accredit their own programmes without going through the Malaysian Qualifications Agency.
More on the University World News site:
INDIA: Higher education enrolment could reach 15%
The increased focus on higher education in India is yielding dividends. The 11th Plan's ambitious aim to increase enrolment in higher education to 15% could be achievable. At the end of 10th Plan in 2006 it was 10.12%, reports The Times of India.
More on the University World News site:
TAIWAN: PhDs more than double, but few job opportunities
Taiwan has an increasing number of doctorate degree holders, yet it's getting harder for them to find full-time professor jobs, local media reported yesterday, reports The China Post-Asia News. Citing data from the Ministry of Education, the reports said PhD holders increased 2.5 times, from 13,000 to 33,000, between 1999 and 2009. However, job openings at colleges and universities did not catch up with the rise.
More on the University World News site:
UK: New institutions challenge the old guard
The position of the UK's 'old' universities is continuing to be threatened by younger upstarts in the table compiled by The Complete University Guide in association with The Independent, writes Lucy Hodges for The Independent. Although Oxford remains at the top of the university pecking order for the third year running, with Cambridge and Imperial College London again in second and third place respectively, there has been movement in the middle ranks.
More on the University World News site:
UK: Skills shortage is getting worse, bosses warn
Employers fear they will be unable recruit students with the skills they need as the economic recovery kicks in, a new survey reveals, writes Anna Bawden for The Guardian. Nearly half of organisations told researchers they were already struggling to find staff with skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem), while even more companies expect to experience shortages of employees with Stem skills in the next three years.
More on the University World News site:
UK: Rich students widen 'gulf' in access to top universities
Bright children from the poorest homes are seven times less likely to go to top universities than their wealthier peers, partly because their schools do not offer the 'right' subjects, according to a government-commissioned review published last week, writes Jessica Shepherd for The Guardian.
More on the University World News site:
US: University of California seeks to save $500 million
The University of California plans to reduce its administrative, purchasing and energy costs by about US$500 million a year by 2015 in an attempt to shield its teaching and research missions from further cuts in state funding, officials said on Wednesday, writes Larry Gordon for the Los Angeles Times.
More on the University World News site:
US: Stanford prepares for bookless libraries
One chapter is closing - and another is opening - as Stanford University moves toward the creation of its first 'bookless library', writes Lisa M Krieger for the Mercury News.
More on the University World News site:
Monday 17 May 2010
University World News 0124- 17th May 2010
SPECIAL REPORT: 2010 Asian University Rankings
The 2010 QS Asian university rankings were published on Thursday. This is the second time the British company has produced its listing of top universities across Asia and the latest list has several surprises. In the following stories, Yojana Sharma describes which universities have made it to the top and why.She also has an exclusive interview with QS Managing Director Nunzio Quacquarelli who tells her that governments should ignore such rankings which are really aimed at students and their parents.
Two critics of university rankings also give their views. Malaysian academic Professor Morshidi Sirat, of the National Higher Education Research Institute at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, fears that for smaller universities in the developing world to blindly pursue global or regional Asia rankings could lead to a misdirection of resources that would be to the detriment of their own communities. His comments are backed by Richard Holmes, a lecturer at the Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia, who writes a blog on university rankings. Holmes says the latest QS rankings will almost certainly produce heated discussion throughout Asia.
ASIA: Hong Kong and Japan top rankings
Yojana Sharma Universities in Hong Kong and Japan dominate the upper echelons of the QS Asian university rankings released last Thursday, with universities in Singapore and South Korea also making a strong showing in the top 20. But mainland China's universities have not performed as well as expected in the regional comparison.
Full report on the University World News site:
ASIA: Development ratings vs status rankings
Yojana Sharma
Securing a high position in international university rankings may be a dream for many universities in Asia but rankings that compare smaller regional universities in Asia with Harvard or Oxford are not particularly helpful or relevant, according to Malaysian academic Professor Morshidi Sirat, of the National Higher Education Research Institute at the Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Full report on the University World News site:
ASIA: Governments should ignore rankings: Quacquarelli
Yojana Sharma
Relaxed in his offices, Nunzio Quacquarelli seems younger than his 46 years. Yet he heads a firm with global reach and more than 100 employees, many of them tucked away unobtrusively in a modern mews building in London's Hampstead, famous for its literati. Quacquarelli is the founding partner and now Managing Director of Quacquarelli Symonds or QS which launched the annual World University Rankings in 2004 with the then Times Higher Education Supplement, at the time a Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper.
Full report on the University World News site:
ASIA: The new university rankings
Richard Holmes
The new Asian University Rankings, produced by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, will provoke heated discussion throughout Asia. There are several surprises: not only are there changes from last year's Asian rankings but they are in some ways quite different from the World University Rankings even though there is an overlap of data.
Full report on the University World News site:
SPECIAL REPORT: Reinventing higher education
Driving snow rather than volcanic ash greeted participants as they arrived
at Segovia in Spain for a Reinventing Higher Education conference organised by the city's IE University. The debate was considerably hotter inside IE's magnificently converted 13th century convent however, where 50 deans, rectors and academics from universities including Zhejiang, Leeds, Stanford and Monterrey met with innovating companies such as Google to try to define the future of higher education. University World News correspondent Paul Rigg was present and filed these reports.
GLOBAL: A shared vision of the future?
Paul Rigg
"I cannot think of any other international forum which draws together leaders in education to discuss these kinds of issues," said Dr David Mills, of Oxford University's department of education. "Perhaps it may lead to a shared vision of the future."
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: The virtues of just listening
It might be expected that any dean of a university with an audience of international academics and press would take the opportunity to bang their own drum. But in his keynote speech at the Reinventing Higher Education conference at IE University, Segovia, Professor Michael Arthur, Vice-chancellor of the University of Leeds and Chairman of the Russell Group of UK Universities, immediately impressed his audience by explaining the importance of listening.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Higher education's changing needs
If a symbol of the rapidity of change in higher education was needed, few could beat the sight of Luca Paderni of Google sitting on the same panel as the heads of the universities of Frankfurt, Guido Carli and Monterrey in Mexico at the conference Reinventing Higher Education held in Segovia, Spain.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Diversity of models in higher education
Professor Eero Kasanen, Rector of the Helsinki School of Economics, kicked off the afternoon session of the Reinventing Higher Education conference at IE University in Segovia by asking: "Why are there not more mergers of universities?"
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report
UK: The new coalition world
Diane Spencer
The first British coalition government for more than half a century has resulted in a Conservative minister for universities, science and skills working under a Liberal Democrat Secretary of State. David Willetts, the former shadow education secretary, will now be responsible for higher education. Lib-Dem Vince Cable has taken over the role of Labour's Peter Mandelson as Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills although he will not be in charge of universities.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Scientists to review UN climate panel
Karen MacGregor
A 12-member panel of top scientists from around the world began reviewing the work of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, last week. The key task of the team selected by the InterAcademy Council, an Amsterdam-based association of national science academies, is to review processes that led to the findings of the UN climate panel. Mistakes in IPCC reports have undermined public confidence in science and created confusion over climate change.
Full report on the University World News site:
INDIA: Private-public fund for higher education
Alya Mishra
India is looking to raise money from the markets through a special education finance corporation to fund a much-needed expansion of higher education. In a radical move, the Education Ministry is finalising plans to issue government bonds through a proposed National Education Finance Corporation that will lend to higher education institutions.
Full report on the University World News site:
RUSSIA: Rising corruption threatens universities
Eugene Vorotnikov
The level of corruption in Russian universities is steadily growing despite the efforts of local authorities to eradicate it. According to necessarily rough estimates, bribes paid for admission to Russian universities in 2009 totalled US$1 billion. This is 40% more than in 2007, with the average bribe rocketing five times higher in just the last two years.
Full report on the University World News site:
BELARUS: The odd-one-out in Europe
Eugene Vorotnikov
The Belarusian higher education system is undergoing a steep decline and reduced educational quality, according to experts. They say that although most Belarusian university graduates have a high level of knowledge, they are unable to predict, analyse and work in non-standard conditions as their European counterparts can.
Full report on the University World News site:
GERMANY: New student support measures announced
Michael Gardner
The German government intends to boost financial support for students. New measures will include regulations on existing schemes as well as the introduction of a national grants system. The plans have already been sharply criticised by the Teachers and Scientists Union, the GEW.
Full report on the University World News site:
LIBYA-UK: A bold new development
Diane Spencer
The Libyan government wants to establish a 'multiversity' as part of the country's plan to become an educational hub for its own students and for those from other parts of Africa. The Libyan National Economic Development Board will host a two-day seminar in Tripoli in late June with the UK's International Unit where academics can develop the concept and discuss roles and responsibilities, finances and partnership agreements.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWSBRIEF
FINLAND: Students protest against fees introduction
Ian R Dobson*
A new Universities Act that came into force at the start of 2010 paved the way for discussions about university fees. Although the Finnish constitution continues to support universities free of tuition fees for domestic students and others under limited conditions, the new Act permits universities to impose fees for students outside the European Union and European Economic Area. Students are opposed to fees and made their views known in a recent protest march and demonstration.
Full report on the University World News site:
BUSINESS
EUROPE: Neo-liberals push university privatisation
Joe Walters
The third European University Business Forum took place in Brussels earlier this month with the aim of furthering transnational discussion on the commercialisation of higher education.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Business school involvement in innovation
Cayley Dobie
Business and management schools worldwide should be playing a larger role when it comes to innovation according to Business Schools on an Innovation Mission, a report by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, or AACSB.
Full report on the University World News site:
QATAR: Recording lectures for students
Cayley Dobie
Students and faculty at Qatar University can now access their courses and seminars outside of traditional classrooms with the aid of recorded lectures provided by US-based company Echo360.
Full report on the University World News site:
HE Research and Commentary
US: Leadership, diversity and succession planning
University administration is the focus of Leadership, Diversity and Succession Planning in Academia, a new paper by Cristina González, a professor of education and Spanish at the University of California, Berkeley, and an affiliated faculty member of the University of California, Berkley.
More on the University World News site:
US: The California 'master plan' for higher education
"In 1960 California developed a Master Plan for its already famed public higher education system. It was and continues to be arguably the single most influential effort to plan the future of a system of higher education in the annals of American higher education," writes John Aubrey Douglass, a senior research fellow and deputy director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley, in a just-published paper. "Despite popular belief, however, the California Master Plan for Higher Education is more important for what it preserved than what it created."
More on the University World News site:
UNI-LATERAL: Off-beat university stories
DENMARK: Updating Hans Christian Andersen
Jan Petter Myklebust
That most famous Dane, the storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, is still in the limelight 135 years after his death. In his lifetime he was loved by the masses and celebrated by royalty and nobility. His books have been translated into 150 languages. Now, nearly 9,000 of his papers have been made available on the internet - a fifth of them never before published.
Full report on the University World News site:
VENEZUELA: Chavez Twitters plan to nationalise university
Leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced last Tuesday night on his Twitter account his plans to nationalise a private university, writes Javier Mines for BNO News.
More on the University World News site:
SWEDEN: Prophet Muhammad cartoonist 'head-butted'
A Swedish artist who created an international furore by depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was assaulted as he delivered a university lecture, reports BBC News. Lars Vilks said he was head-butted by an audience member as he spoke about the limits of artistic freedom.
More on the University World News site:
FACEBOOK
The Facebook group of University World News is the fastest growing in
higher education worldwide. Nearly 2,150 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
UK: Universities claim millions for dropouts
UK universities have wrongfully claimed tens of millions of pounds from the taxpayer for students who have dropped out of courses, according to documents the government tried to keep secret, write Jack Grimston and Melanie Newman for The Times. In the papers, officials accuse universities of "artfully misconstruing" data in a "coordinated approach" to ensure they could claim as much as possible from the taxpayer. They found half the universities they checked were taking the extra money.
More on the University World News site:
CHINA-TAIWAN: Strengthening academic ties
After a year of debate that on several occasions descended into fisticuffs, Taiwanese legislators last week opted for pragmatism over nationalism and put the finishing touches to amendments that will allow about 2,000 mainland Chinese students to enter Taiwan's graduate and undergraduate university programmes every year, writes David Cyranoski for Nature News. The change, to be finalised this month, will open the door to a large and much-needed pool of young minds for Taiwan's universities as early as this autumn.
More on the University World News site:
TAIWAN: Two million Chinese willing to study in Taiwan
Around two million university students in China, accounting for more than 30% of total students there, are willing to seek advanced studies in Taiwan, far exceeding the quota of 2,000 planned by Taiwan's Ministry of Education, according to findings of a survey released yesterday by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, reports The China Post.
More on the University World News site:
MALAYSIA: Ministry targets 120,000 foreign students
In a bid to make Malaysia an education hub for Southeast Asia, the Higher Education Ministry has targeted 120,000 foreign students in local universities by 2015, reports the national news agency Bernama. Deputy Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung said the prospects were good as Malaysia achieved its target of 80,000 international students last year - 58,294 enrolled in private universities and 22,456 in public universities.
More on the University World News site:
AUSTRALIA: Overseas students down 40% last month
Overseas student applications plunged 40% last month following "abrupt and rapid" changes to Australia's visa regime, the country's peak education agent has warned, reports Guy Healy for The Australian. The crackdown on student visas, coupled with uncertainty caused by the continuing delay to the priority skills list, could cost Australia at least AUD600 million (US$540 million) in lost export revenue, IDP chief Tony Pollock told The Australian.
More on the University World News site:
AUSTRALIA: $660 million to build vocational education
Australia's 'education revolution' took on a distinctly blue-collar flavour last week with an AUD660 million (US$593 million) suite of measures aimed at expanding and improving vocational education and training, largely at the expense of extra funding for top-flight research universities, writes Luke Slattery for The Australian.
More on the University World News site:
NEW ZEALAND: Enrolment restrictions to be fast-tracked
Universities are looking to bring forward plans to restrict enrolments in response to tighter government funding and increased demand for tertiary education, reports the New Zealand Herald. Government funding criteria changed in 2008 to cover only an agreed number of students at each tertiary institution, prompting universities to cap student numbers.
More on the University World News site:
CANADA: Giroux, 34, youngest university president
He tweets in both official languages, writes Louise Brown for The Star. He starts his budget blogs with a dash of Ojibwa he's picked up. And the fledgling president of Laurentian University in Canada boasts about using his own Facebook page to recruit students after a mother messaged to ask why her son should choose the Sudbury campus.
More on the University World News site:
US: Colleges as potential tax targets
The US Internal Revenue Service is focusing mostly on issues related to executive compensation and payment (or non-payment) of tax on unrelated business income in more than 30 reviews it is conducting of individual colleges and universities, the agency said as it released the preliminary results of its survey of 400 institutions, writes Doug Lederman for Inside Higher Ed.
More on the University World News site:
INDIA: Cabinet approves National Defence University
The cabinet on Thursday sanctioned Rs295 crore (US$65.5 million) to establish an Indian National Defence University to create synergy between existing institutes of learning in the sector and address strategic security challenges, reports The Economic Times.
More on the University World News site:
INDIA: India gets its own version of TOEFL
India may soon have its own standardised English language test along the lines of TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and IELTS (International English Language Testing System), as the demand for English language skills rises across the country, reports India EduNews.
More on the University World News site:
ASIA: Korea's universities lag behind Hong Kong's
The University of Hong Kong was named the best university in Asia for the second year in a study by the Chosun Ilbo and Quacquarelli Symonds of 448 universities in 11 Asian countries. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology came second and Chinese University of Hong Kong fourth, comments the Chosun Ilbo.
More on the University World News site:
GHANA: Encourage academic mobility in Africa
Ghana's Minister of Education, Alex Tettey-Enyo, has called on African universities to co-operate and consider ways that would encourage academic mobility on the continent to promote flows of talent and expertise and to attract a qualified labour force, reports the Daily Graphic.
More on the University World News site:
SRI LANKA: Government may invite private universities
Sri Lanka's Minister of Higher Education, SB Dissanayake, said the government was making efforts to provide the facilities needed for students to pursue higher education, reports ColomboPage. Overseas universities should be approached to set up private institutions in the country to dissuade students from studying abroad and curb foreign exchange outflows.
More on the University World News site:
MALAYSIA: Academic integrity framework on the way
An academic integrity framework will be introduced by the Malaysia's Higher Education Ministry to strengthen the integrity of academics, particularly lecturers, reports the national news agency Bernama.
More on the University World News site:
SWITZERLAND: Students call for minimum grants
Student unions in Switzerland are calling for the nationwide introduction of minimum grants for undergraduates at the country's 12 universities and 50 higher education colleges, reports SwissInfo.
More on the University World News site:
US: University scrambled to limit Palin fallout
Newly released documents shed light on a California State University's efforts to limit public scrutiny of its decision to book Sarah Palin for a June speaking engagement but do not disclose how much the former vice presidential candidate was to be paid, reports Robin Hindery for The Associated Press.
More on the University World News site:
The 2010 QS Asian university rankings were published on Thursday. This is the second time the British company has produced its listing of top universities across Asia and the latest list has several surprises. In the following stories, Yojana Sharma describes which universities have made it to the top and why.She also has an exclusive interview with QS Managing Director Nunzio Quacquarelli who tells her that governments should ignore such rankings which are really aimed at students and their parents.
Two critics of university rankings also give their views. Malaysian academic Professor Morshidi Sirat, of the National Higher Education Research Institute at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, fears that for smaller universities in the developing world to blindly pursue global or regional Asia rankings could lead to a misdirection of resources that would be to the detriment of their own communities. His comments are backed by Richard Holmes, a lecturer at the Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia, who writes a blog on university rankings. Holmes says the latest QS rankings will almost certainly produce heated discussion throughout Asia.
ASIA: Hong Kong and Japan top rankings
Yojana Sharma Universities in Hong Kong and Japan dominate the upper echelons of the QS Asian university rankings released last Thursday, with universities in Singapore and South Korea also making a strong showing in the top 20. But mainland China's universities have not performed as well as expected in the regional comparison.
Full report on the University World News site:
ASIA: Development ratings vs status rankings
Yojana Sharma
Securing a high position in international university rankings may be a dream for many universities in Asia but rankings that compare smaller regional universities in Asia with Harvard or Oxford are not particularly helpful or relevant, according to Malaysian academic Professor Morshidi Sirat, of the National Higher Education Research Institute at the Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Full report on the University World News site:
ASIA: Governments should ignore rankings: Quacquarelli
Yojana Sharma
Relaxed in his offices, Nunzio Quacquarelli seems younger than his 46 years. Yet he heads a firm with global reach and more than 100 employees, many of them tucked away unobtrusively in a modern mews building in London's Hampstead, famous for its literati. Quacquarelli is the founding partner and now Managing Director of Quacquarelli Symonds or QS which launched the annual World University Rankings in 2004 with the then Times Higher Education Supplement, at the time a Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper.
Full report on the University World News site:
ASIA: The new university rankings
Richard Holmes
The new Asian University Rankings, produced by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, will provoke heated discussion throughout Asia. There are several surprises: not only are there changes from last year's Asian rankings but they are in some ways quite different from the World University Rankings even though there is an overlap of data.
Full report on the University World News site:
SPECIAL REPORT: Reinventing higher education
Driving snow rather than volcanic ash greeted participants as they arrived
at Segovia in Spain for a Reinventing Higher Education conference organised by the city's IE University. The debate was considerably hotter inside IE's magnificently converted 13th century convent however, where 50 deans, rectors and academics from universities including Zhejiang, Leeds, Stanford and Monterrey met with innovating companies such as Google to try to define the future of higher education. University World News correspondent Paul Rigg was present and filed these reports.
GLOBAL: A shared vision of the future?
Paul Rigg
"I cannot think of any other international forum which draws together leaders in education to discuss these kinds of issues," said Dr David Mills, of Oxford University's department of education. "Perhaps it may lead to a shared vision of the future."
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: The virtues of just listening
It might be expected that any dean of a university with an audience of international academics and press would take the opportunity to bang their own drum. But in his keynote speech at the Reinventing Higher Education conference at IE University, Segovia, Professor Michael Arthur, Vice-chancellor of the University of Leeds and Chairman of the Russell Group of UK Universities, immediately impressed his audience by explaining the importance of listening.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Higher education's changing needs
If a symbol of the rapidity of change in higher education was needed, few could beat the sight of Luca Paderni of Google sitting on the same panel as the heads of the universities of Frankfurt, Guido Carli and Monterrey in Mexico at the conference Reinventing Higher Education held in Segovia, Spain.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Diversity of models in higher education
Professor Eero Kasanen, Rector of the Helsinki School of Economics, kicked off the afternoon session of the Reinventing Higher Education conference at IE University in Segovia by asking: "Why are there not more mergers of universities?"
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report
UK: The new coalition world
Diane Spencer
The first British coalition government for more than half a century has resulted in a Conservative minister for universities, science and skills working under a Liberal Democrat Secretary of State. David Willetts, the former shadow education secretary, will now be responsible for higher education. Lib-Dem Vince Cable has taken over the role of Labour's Peter Mandelson as Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills although he will not be in charge of universities.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Scientists to review UN climate panel
Karen MacGregor
A 12-member panel of top scientists from around the world began reviewing the work of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, last week. The key task of the team selected by the InterAcademy Council, an Amsterdam-based association of national science academies, is to review processes that led to the findings of the UN climate panel. Mistakes in IPCC reports have undermined public confidence in science and created confusion over climate change.
Full report on the University World News site:
INDIA: Private-public fund for higher education
Alya Mishra
India is looking to raise money from the markets through a special education finance corporation to fund a much-needed expansion of higher education. In a radical move, the Education Ministry is finalising plans to issue government bonds through a proposed National Education Finance Corporation that will lend to higher education institutions.
Full report on the University World News site:
RUSSIA: Rising corruption threatens universities
Eugene Vorotnikov
The level of corruption in Russian universities is steadily growing despite the efforts of local authorities to eradicate it. According to necessarily rough estimates, bribes paid for admission to Russian universities in 2009 totalled US$1 billion. This is 40% more than in 2007, with the average bribe rocketing five times higher in just the last two years.
Full report on the University World News site:
BELARUS: The odd-one-out in Europe
Eugene Vorotnikov
The Belarusian higher education system is undergoing a steep decline and reduced educational quality, according to experts. They say that although most Belarusian university graduates have a high level of knowledge, they are unable to predict, analyse and work in non-standard conditions as their European counterparts can.
Full report on the University World News site:
GERMANY: New student support measures announced
Michael Gardner
The German government intends to boost financial support for students. New measures will include regulations on existing schemes as well as the introduction of a national grants system. The plans have already been sharply criticised by the Teachers and Scientists Union, the GEW.
Full report on the University World News site:
LIBYA-UK: A bold new development
Diane Spencer
The Libyan government wants to establish a 'multiversity' as part of the country's plan to become an educational hub for its own students and for those from other parts of Africa. The Libyan National Economic Development Board will host a two-day seminar in Tripoli in late June with the UK's International Unit where academics can develop the concept and discuss roles and responsibilities, finances and partnership agreements.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWSBRIEF
FINLAND: Students protest against fees introduction
Ian R Dobson*
A new Universities Act that came into force at the start of 2010 paved the way for discussions about university fees. Although the Finnish constitution continues to support universities free of tuition fees for domestic students and others under limited conditions, the new Act permits universities to impose fees for students outside the European Union and European Economic Area. Students are opposed to fees and made their views known in a recent protest march and demonstration.
Full report on the University World News site:
BUSINESS
EUROPE: Neo-liberals push university privatisation
Joe Walters
The third European University Business Forum took place in Brussels earlier this month with the aim of furthering transnational discussion on the commercialisation of higher education.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Business school involvement in innovation
Cayley Dobie
Business and management schools worldwide should be playing a larger role when it comes to innovation according to Business Schools on an Innovation Mission, a report by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, or AACSB.
Full report on the University World News site:
QATAR: Recording lectures for students
Cayley Dobie
Students and faculty at Qatar University can now access their courses and seminars outside of traditional classrooms with the aid of recorded lectures provided by US-based company Echo360.
Full report on the University World News site:
HE Research and Commentary
US: Leadership, diversity and succession planning
University administration is the focus of Leadership, Diversity and Succession Planning in Academia, a new paper by Cristina González, a professor of education and Spanish at the University of California, Berkeley, and an affiliated faculty member of the University of California, Berkley.
More on the University World News site:
US: The California 'master plan' for higher education
"In 1960 California developed a Master Plan for its already famed public higher education system. It was and continues to be arguably the single most influential effort to plan the future of a system of higher education in the annals of American higher education," writes John Aubrey Douglass, a senior research fellow and deputy director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley, in a just-published paper. "Despite popular belief, however, the California Master Plan for Higher Education is more important for what it preserved than what it created."
More on the University World News site:
UNI-LATERAL: Off-beat university stories
DENMARK: Updating Hans Christian Andersen
Jan Petter Myklebust
That most famous Dane, the storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, is still in the limelight 135 years after his death. In his lifetime he was loved by the masses and celebrated by royalty and nobility. His books have been translated into 150 languages. Now, nearly 9,000 of his papers have been made available on the internet - a fifth of them never before published.
Full report on the University World News site:
VENEZUELA: Chavez Twitters plan to nationalise university
Leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced last Tuesday night on his Twitter account his plans to nationalise a private university, writes Javier Mines for BNO News.
More on the University World News site:
SWEDEN: Prophet Muhammad cartoonist 'head-butted'
A Swedish artist who created an international furore by depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was assaulted as he delivered a university lecture, reports BBC News. Lars Vilks said he was head-butted by an audience member as he spoke about the limits of artistic freedom.
More on the University World News site:
The Facebook group of University World News is the fastest growing in
higher education worldwide. Nearly 2,150 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
UK: Universities claim millions for dropouts
UK universities have wrongfully claimed tens of millions of pounds from the taxpayer for students who have dropped out of courses, according to documents the government tried to keep secret, write Jack Grimston and Melanie Newman for The Times. In the papers, officials accuse universities of "artfully misconstruing" data in a "coordinated approach" to ensure they could claim as much as possible from the taxpayer. They found half the universities they checked were taking the extra money.
More on the University World News site:
CHINA-TAIWAN: Strengthening academic ties
After a year of debate that on several occasions descended into fisticuffs, Taiwanese legislators last week opted for pragmatism over nationalism and put the finishing touches to amendments that will allow about 2,000 mainland Chinese students to enter Taiwan's graduate and undergraduate university programmes every year, writes David Cyranoski for Nature News. The change, to be finalised this month, will open the door to a large and much-needed pool of young minds for Taiwan's universities as early as this autumn.
More on the University World News site:
TAIWAN: Two million Chinese willing to study in Taiwan
Around two million university students in China, accounting for more than 30% of total students there, are willing to seek advanced studies in Taiwan, far exceeding the quota of 2,000 planned by Taiwan's Ministry of Education, according to findings of a survey released yesterday by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, reports The China Post.
More on the University World News site:
MALAYSIA: Ministry targets 120,000 foreign students
In a bid to make Malaysia an education hub for Southeast Asia, the Higher Education Ministry has targeted 120,000 foreign students in local universities by 2015, reports the national news agency Bernama. Deputy Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung said the prospects were good as Malaysia achieved its target of 80,000 international students last year - 58,294 enrolled in private universities and 22,456 in public universities.
More on the University World News site:
AUSTRALIA: Overseas students down 40% last month
Overseas student applications plunged 40% last month following "abrupt and rapid" changes to Australia's visa regime, the country's peak education agent has warned, reports Guy Healy for The Australian. The crackdown on student visas, coupled with uncertainty caused by the continuing delay to the priority skills list, could cost Australia at least AUD600 million (US$540 million) in lost export revenue, IDP chief Tony Pollock told The Australian.
More on the University World News site:
AUSTRALIA: $660 million to build vocational education
Australia's 'education revolution' took on a distinctly blue-collar flavour last week with an AUD660 million (US$593 million) suite of measures aimed at expanding and improving vocational education and training, largely at the expense of extra funding for top-flight research universities, writes Luke Slattery for The Australian.
More on the University World News site:
NEW ZEALAND: Enrolment restrictions to be fast-tracked
Universities are looking to bring forward plans to restrict enrolments in response to tighter government funding and increased demand for tertiary education, reports the New Zealand Herald. Government funding criteria changed in 2008 to cover only an agreed number of students at each tertiary institution, prompting universities to cap student numbers.
More on the University World News site:
CANADA: Giroux, 34, youngest university president
He tweets in both official languages, writes Louise Brown for The Star. He starts his budget blogs with a dash of Ojibwa he's picked up. And the fledgling president of Laurentian University in Canada boasts about using his own Facebook page to recruit students after a mother messaged to ask why her son should choose the Sudbury campus.
More on the University World News site:
US: Colleges as potential tax targets
The US Internal Revenue Service is focusing mostly on issues related to executive compensation and payment (or non-payment) of tax on unrelated business income in more than 30 reviews it is conducting of individual colleges and universities, the agency said as it released the preliminary results of its survey of 400 institutions, writes Doug Lederman for Inside Higher Ed.
More on the University World News site:
INDIA: Cabinet approves National Defence University
The cabinet on Thursday sanctioned Rs295 crore (US$65.5 million) to establish an Indian National Defence University to create synergy between existing institutes of learning in the sector and address strategic security challenges, reports The Economic Times.
More on the University World News site:
INDIA: India gets its own version of TOEFL
India may soon have its own standardised English language test along the lines of TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and IELTS (International English Language Testing System), as the demand for English language skills rises across the country, reports India EduNews.
More on the University World News site:
ASIA: Korea's universities lag behind Hong Kong's
The University of Hong Kong was named the best university in Asia for the second year in a study by the Chosun Ilbo and Quacquarelli Symonds of 448 universities in 11 Asian countries. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology came second and Chinese University of Hong Kong fourth, comments the Chosun Ilbo.
More on the University World News site:
GHANA: Encourage academic mobility in Africa
Ghana's Minister of Education, Alex Tettey-Enyo, has called on African universities to co-operate and consider ways that would encourage academic mobility on the continent to promote flows of talent and expertise and to attract a qualified labour force, reports the Daily Graphic.
More on the University World News site:
SRI LANKA: Government may invite private universities
Sri Lanka's Minister of Higher Education, SB Dissanayake, said the government was making efforts to provide the facilities needed for students to pursue higher education, reports ColomboPage. Overseas universities should be approached to set up private institutions in the country to dissuade students from studying abroad and curb foreign exchange outflows.
More on the University World News site:
MALAYSIA: Academic integrity framework on the way
An academic integrity framework will be introduced by the Malaysia's Higher Education Ministry to strengthen the integrity of academics, particularly lecturers, reports the national news agency Bernama.
More on the University World News site:
SWITZERLAND: Students call for minimum grants
Student unions in Switzerland are calling for the nationwide introduction of minimum grants for undergraduates at the country's 12 universities and 50 higher education colleges, reports SwissInfo.
More on the University World News site:
US: University scrambled to limit Palin fallout
Newly released documents shed light on a California State University's efforts to limit public scrutiny of its decision to book Sarah Palin for a June speaking engagement but do not disclose how much the former vice presidential candidate was to be paid, reports Robin Hindery for The Associated Press.
More on the University World News site:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)