Thursday 31 March 2011

University World News 0164 - 27th March 2011

This week's highlights

In Features, YOJANA SHARMA examines the growing influence of the fblogosphere in China, GEOFF MASLEN reports on the first findings of a global ocean expedition, JANE MARSHALL looks at new projects undertaken by the global French-speaking University Agency in its 50th anniversary year, and SHARON DELL writes that research networks are vital for Southern African countries trying to compete in the knowledge society. In Business and Innovation, MANDY GARNER describes a new alliance between two French and British business schools aimed at forging a global presence. In Commentary, THOMAS ESTERMANN argues that funders need to resort less to co-funding of projects if European universities are to be financially sustainable, SU-MEI THOMPSON and LISA MOORE unpack reasons behind the lack of women university leaders, and KAI JIANG and XUENI MA describe the changing landscape and policies of international education in China.

WORLDVIEWS

GLOBAL: Media fellowships for Worldviews conference
The Worldviews international conference on media and higher education, to be held in Toronto in June, is offering five media fellowships for journalists to attend. Journalists who cover higher education issues in mainstream or niche media are invited to apply.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

COTE D'IVOIRE: Campuses closed by conflict, sanctions
Tunde Fatunde
Students have been dragged into the violent power struggle between Cote d'Ivoire's rival leaders. Fierce ongoing fighting has escalated and sparked a mass exodus of up to a million people from the commercial capital Abidjan. Academic activities have been severely disrupted at all tertiary institutions, and they have closed.
Full report on the University World News site:

EGYPT: Continuing student protests rock universities
Ashraf Khaled
From Cairo to Aswan, higher education institutions in Egypt have been hit by a series of sit-ins staged by students protesting against the presence of university leaders and administrators associated with the fallen government of Hosni Mubarak.
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: Evaluation reveals main beneficiaries of FP7
Jan Petter Myklebust
The European Commission has published an interim evaluation of the Seventh Framework Programme, FP7. It lists the 50 top-performing research organisations, including universities, which together received a whopping EUR3.1 billion (US$4.4 billion) - a quarter of all the funding awarded to more than 14,000 research groups.
Full report on the University World News site:

JAPAN: Drawing on research to counter radiation panic
Suvendrini Kakuchi
The Japanese government is reaching out to academics to combat growing public agitation over the detection of higher levels of radioactive contamination from damaged nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant after the massive 11 March earthquake and tsunami.
Full report on the University World News site:

UK: Government eases crackdown on student visas
David Jobbins
British Home Secretary Theresa May is striving to present new visa rules for students from outside the European Economic Area as a tough stand on immigration without sending a message that UK universities are "closed for business" in the competitive international student market. Her Tuesday announcement of tougher restrictions was balanced with support for universities seeking to recruit the best international talent.
Full story on University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: University severs ties with Ben-Gurion
Munyaradzi Makoni
Academics at the University of Johannesburg voted on Wednesday to end ties with Ben-Gurion University, after a six-month period granted to the Israeli institution to meet conditions for continued research collaboration, including the inclusion of Palestinian partners. The university stressed that it did not subscribe to an academic boycott of Israel.
Full report on the University World News site:

INDIA: Reforms to attract more international students
Alya Mishra
India is planning reforms to make the experience of studying at the country's institutions more enjoyable, as it aims to increase the number of international students.
Full report on the University World News site:

CANADA: Positive budget for higher education defeated
Sarah King Head
Although welcomed as positive for Canadian higher education, the budget bill delivered by Stephen Harper's minority Conservative government on Tuesday did not survive long. Instead, its rejection promises to become the centrepiece of a federal election platform.
Full report on the University World News site:

UK: Donations to universities defy economic downturn
Ard Jongsma
Philanthropic donations to UK universities have increased significantly since the start of a matched funding scheme in 2008, a study published last week has found. An expert believes this indicates a "culture shift" in favour of higher education philanthropy.
Full report on the University World News site:

GERMANY: Industry complains of skills shortage
Michael Gardner
German industry has warned of the need to tackle a shortage of staff in mathematics, informatics, natural sciences and engineering, to stop economic momentum from stalling. Industry federations have put the swelling skills shortfall at 117,000 people in the four fields, abbreviated in German as MINT.
Full report on the University World News site:

US-AFGHANISTAN: Joining forces for university reform
Wagdy Sawahel
In an effort to help Afghanistan implement its higher education strategic plan, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has signed a one-year agreement with the University of Massachusetts Center for International Education to reform Afghani universities.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWSBRIEFS

WEST AFRICA: ADB pays for Bologna harmonisation
The African Development Bank has released 24 billion FCFA (US$52 million) towards harmonisation of higher education reforms based on the Bologna structure in the eight countries belonging to the West African Economic and Monetary Union, reported the Agence de Presse Sénégalaise of Dakar.
Full report on the University World News site:

MADAGASCAR: Union threatens strike if terms not met
University presidents have fixed mid-April for the beginning of the 2010-11 academic year, which has been delayed by a strike by the lecturers' and researchers' union SECES, that ended in January. But with the resignation of Madagascar's government, the wary union has let it be known that if its demands are not met, there will be no return to work, reported L'Express de Madagascar.
Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURES

CHINA: Rural students comment highlights role of blogs
Yojana Sharma
When Wang Ping, a delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said rural children should not be encouraged to go to university, her remarks were picked up by China's growing blogosphere, attracting a large amount of comment that would never have appeared in the country's tightly controlled newspapers.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: First findings of unique ocean expedition
Geoff Maslen
The first findings of a multinational global ocean expedition have been released following the arrival of a research vessel in Fremantle. Researchers on board a Spanish Navy research vessel, the Hespérides, announced after docking at the Western Australian port that the Indian Ocean had the ability to absorb three times as much atmospheric nitrogen as the Atlantic Ocean and, as a result, could play a crucial climate role as a huge carbon sink.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: AUF launches digital projects in 50th year
Jane Marshall
While celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, the French-speaking University Agency, continues to launch new projects and partnerships. The latest include an international online journal spec ialising in ICTs that provides an outlet for young scientists to publish their research; a link to a vast digital library for students in developing countries; and an application for an interactive encyclopaedia focused on Africa.
Full report on the University World News site:

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Regional research networks vital
Sharon Dell
Effective regional research networks are vital if Southern African Development Community countries are to stand any chance of competing in a globalised world in which the currency is knowledge, argued Southern African Regional Universities' Association CEO Piyushi Kotecha at a recent workshop. While only a few nations have functional networks or reasonable bandwidth for research, there have been exciting improvements in connectivity.
Full report on the University World News site:

BUSINESS and INNOVATION

EUROPE: An international business school alliance
Burgundy School of Business and Oxford Brookes University Business School last week officially launched an alliance that they hope will be a model of international cooperation and lead eventually to the creation of a European business school to rival their global counterparts, writes MANDY GARNER.
Full report on the University World News site:

HERANA - Universities and development in Africa

AFRICA: Exploring the 'academic core' of universities
Lack of research funding and low knowledge production - both in PhD graduates and peer-reviewed publication - are the most serious challenges facing African universities as they work to strengthen their 'academic core' and make a sustainable contribution to development, a major study of higher education in eight African countries has revealed.
Full report on the University World News site:

COMMENTARY

EUROPE: The challenge of financial sustainability
To be financially sustainable European universities face a number of challenges. They need to diversify their funding, but the current emphasis on co-funding makes it difficult for them to cover the full costs of programmes. Funders need to resort less to co-funding requirements and replace them wherever possible by funding on a full cost basis, argues THOMAS ESTERMANN.
Full report on the University World News site:

ASIA: Why there are not more women university leaders
The lack of women at high levels in universities is due to a number of factors, write SU-MEI THOMPSON and LISA MOORE. They include the fact that women tend to head more into teaching than research and the need to factor in family-friendly ways of achieving full tenure. These and other factors need to be addressed by both institutions and individuals as they affect everyone working in academia.
Full report on the University World News site:

CHINA: Overseas education - Changes and policies
China has become the world's biggest exporter of students, and it is also working on programmes and measures to attract more foreign students to study in its universities. In an article that first appeared in International Higher Education, KAI JIANG and XUENI MA outline recent international education initiatives and argue that universities will need to work more closely with government in the future.
Full report on the University World News site:

SCIENCE SCENE

AUSTRALIA: Vaccines need shot in the arm
Pricilla Crighton*
In 1998, the respected British medical journal The Lancet published a study linking the measles mumps rubella vaccine, known as MMR, to regressive autism in children. The Wakefield report has now been denounced as fraudulent after investigations by British journalist Brian Deer revealed that the data used in the study was falsified and neither the research records nor parental recollection matched the published Lancet study.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Hormone boosts sperm activity
Teams of researchers in the US and Germany have separately discovered why human male sperm approaching a female egg switch from a smooth swimming motion to a frantic flicking to push through the thick jelly-like coating around the egg. For the past decade, scientists suspected the female hormone progesterone released by the egg prompted the tail to change its movement but exactly how this occurred had remained a mystery - until now.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: A plant's eye view of shade avoidance
The world of a plant can be a stressful place. Many plants constantly compete with their neighbours for light by elongating to try and get out of their shade and in crops this elongation can dramatically reduce the yield so is a major limiting factor in how densely a farmer can plant a crop.
Full report on the University World News site:

FACEBOOK

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higher education worldwide. More than 2,600 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.
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WORLD ROUND-UP

UK: Lecturers strike over pay and pensions
Tens of thousands of university lecturers are staging a mass walkout over their pay and pensions, writes Jessica Shepherd for the Guardian. The strike by staff at up to 500 universities and colleges comes after a wave of action over the past two weeks.
More on the University World News site:

VENEZUELA: Students threaten to resume hunger strike
Venezuelan students last week threatened to resume their hunger strike if President Hugo Chavez did not take visible steps to support public universities within 24 hours, reports United Press International.
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DENMARK: Top university faces increased supervision
Denmark's science minister wants to increase supervision of the University of Copenhagen after the first report into the university's role in the alleged misconduct of a neuroscientist, reports the Copenhagen Post.
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US: Incentives to raise college graduation rates
In what amounts to a 'race to the top' for higher education, the Barack Obama administration is offering competitive grants and a new 'tool kit' to help states increase their college completion rates, writes Tamar Lewin for the New York Times.
More on the University World News site:

US: State bill to protect campus critics of evolution
An Arlington lawmaker has filed a bill aimed at protecting Texas college professors and students from discrimination because they question evolution, writes Aman Batheja for the Star-Telegram.
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CANADA: Research head orders focus on market drivers
There's radical change at the National Research Council, Canada's biggest science institute, as the new president orders all staff to direct research toward boosting economic development and technology, with less time for pure science, writes Tom Spears for the Ottawa Citizen.
More on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: New website gives access to academics
Australians will have direct access to the thoughts of some of the country's brightest minds through a new independent news and information website, The Conversation, reports The Herald Sun.
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INDIA: Women shy away from management test
In most management colleges in India, the number of boys nearly always overshadows the number of girls. This is also the case in the global entrance exam GMAT, which sees a small percentage of Indian women trying their luck, writes Hemali Chhapia for The Times of India.
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INDIA: Higher education survey to launch soon
Faced with inadequate information, India's Human Resource Development Ministry will, for the first time in more than 60 years, launch a massive survey on the state of higher education in the country, writes Akshaya Mukul for The Times of India. The collection of data is to begin shortly.
More on the University World News site:

WALES: Report proposes new universities body
Universities in Wales have shown an "unwillingness to embrace change" and a more radical solution is needed, according to the McCormick Review into higher education governance. The report said there was limited evidence that the sector had shared in the Welsh assembly government's sense of urgency, writes Gareth Evans for the Western Mail.
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UK: Oxford moves to defy government over admissions
The government is on a collision course with some of Oxford University's most prominent dons over demands that they "dramatically increase" the intake of disadvantaged pupils from the state sector, writes Daniel Boffey for The Observer.
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UK: First university announces less-than-maximum fees
Bishop Grosseteste University College has become the first university in England to announce planned tuition fees for 2012 below the £9,000 (US$14,511) maximum, reports the BBC. The Lincoln institution said it would charge £7,500 for most courses, subject to approval by the fair access office.
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UK: The rise of dual profession lecturers
The number of lecturers choosing to combine part-time teaching with a second job in a related field is on the up, writes Debbie Andalo for The Guardian.
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KENYA: Southern Sudan seeks help for higher education
Southern Sudan has asked Kenya to help develop its higher education sector. The world's youngest nation is facing a serious shortage of professors and other professionals, writes Oliver Musembi for The Nation.
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NEPAL: Government prepares to set up open university
With the Open University Nepal Initiative's new offices on the premises of the Ministry of Education, the government is gearing up to establish the much-awaited open university, writes Rudra Pangeni for the Himalayan Times.
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University World News 0163 - 20th March 2011

This week's highlights
In Features, ALYA MISHRA writes that India's planned private Vedanta University has sparked a bitter confrontation between a state government and locals - and the people are winning. JANE MARSHALL reports on findings presented in New York at the International Summit on the Teaching Profession. In Commentary, HANS DE WIT argues that universities need to look more broadly at curriculum change and assessment methodologies as the world becomes more interconnected and students and academics become more mobile, and OMAR RODRIGUEZ-ORTIZ contends that divisions over tactics and violence by some have lost protesting students in Puerto Rico public sympathy. QS' DANNY BYRNE questions the recently released THE ranking based on academic reputation, and DIANE HARLEY and SOPHIA KRZYS ACORD of Berkeley write that the current system of peer review and scholarly communication is undermining scholarship.

HONG KONG: The Going Global conference

ASIA: Countries vying to become education hubs
Yojana Sharma
A number of Asian countries have declared that they want to become higher education hubs in order to develop as knowledge economies. They are setting up facilities and initiating policies to attract foreign students, researchers and faculty as well as branch campuses of foreign institutions, in what amounts to a major change in attitude towards higher education from purely local to regional and international.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: What international students want to study
Yojana Sharma
Predicting where future international students will come from and what subjects they go abroad to study has become a mini-industry in receiving countries such as Britain and Australia, where some courses are highly dependent on overseas student fees.
Full report on the University World News site:


NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

CHINA: Innovation and research to boost economy
Yojana Sharma
Innovation and research must be at the forefront of China's national economic plan for the next five years if the country's desire to move away from pursuing rapid economic growth at all costs to a more broad-based economy is to succeed, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said last week.
Full report on the University World News site:

JAPAN: Research cannot predict the worst - expert
Suvendrini Kakuchi
World-leading disaster research at Japanese universities and scientific institutes proved to be inadequate in the face of the massive earthquake that shook the northern Tohoku region on 11 March. It was followed by tsunamis that pounded its cities, towns and villages and swept through swathes of coastline that also hosts the Fukushima nuclear power reactors now threatening deadly meltdowns.
Full report on the University World News site:

BRAZIL: Oil giant investing millions in universities
Tom Hennigan
Brazil's new oil riches have proven to be a boon for the country's universities. Petrobas, the state-controlled company developing new reserves, has poured US$700 million into university science and technology programmes in the last three years.
Full report on the University World News site:

IRELAND: Tuition fees off new government's agenda
John Walshe
The two political parties making up the newly-elected government in Ireland - Fine Gael and Labour - have avoided a major row between them by agreeing to yet another review of the controversial issue of student funding. Irish university students will continue to study without having to pay for their tuition for the foreseeable future.
Full report on the University World News site:

ICELAND: Education reforms to tackle drop-out rate
Nick Holdsworth
Iceland is planning to tackle high levels of post-secondary school drop-outs by shifting emphasis away from a narrow focus on preparing students for university entrance. Katrin Jakobsdottir, the North Atlantic island's education minister, hopes that implementation will begin soon of reforms introduced three years ago but delayed by the financial crisis that triggered the collapse of all three of its commercial banks.
Full report on the University World News site:

NORWAY: Research policy review nears completion
Jan Petter Myklebust
Norway is reviewing its research system in preparation of possible reforms. A committee led by Oslo University professor Jan Fagerberg is writing up the conclusions, partly based on comparative data from Canada, Denmark, Finland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Norway.
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: EU to launch 'industrial' PhD
Jan Petter Myklebust
The European Commission is to launch a European Industrial Doctorate, or EID, based on a scheme that has operated in Denmark for some 40 years.
Full report on the University World News site:

PUERTO RICO: Stop campus abuses - US liberties union
Alison Moodie
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has urged the US government to put a stop to police brutality against and censorship of student protesters at Puerto Rico's most prestigious university. See also the Commentary section
Full report on the University World News site:

TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

AUSTRALIA: Day of the iPad arrives
Geoff Maslen
A South Australian university became the first in the world last month to give an Apple iPad to all its first-year science students as part of a curriculum shake-up. The University of Adelaide says the iPad will revolutionise the way science is taught. Meantime, other universities are also changing their teaching through the use of new technology.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: Technology transforms the lecture
Geoff Maslen
Dr Birgit Loch is helping to reshape the age-old formal lecture with its talking head and passive students. Using new technology to boost student learning, improve their marks and even keep drop-out rates down, Loch has incorporated tablet PCs with touch-sensitive screens, clickers and screencasts.
Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURES

INDIA: Private university halted over land scandal
Alya Mishra
Vedanta University, financed by a British-based mining magnate, has sparked a confrontation between a state government in India and local people - and highlighted a wider controversy over allotting land to private higher education institutions at a time when legislation to allow in foreign institutions is making its way through parliament.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Train teachers as education researchers: OECD
Jane Marshall
The most successful countries educationally make teaching an attractive, high status profession, and provide training for teachers to become educational innovators and researchers who have responsibility for reform. These were among findings presented last week in New York at the International Summit on the Teaching Profession, the first of its kind, held to identify best practices for recruiting, training and supporting teachers.
Full report on the University World News site:

HERANA - Universities and development in Africa

AFRICA: Research into higher education busts myths
Karen MacGregor
Major research into African universities has been "myth-busting", says Professor Peter Maassen of the University of Oslo, co-author of a new report on higher education and development on the continent. The study revealed that flagship universities in eight African countries are more similar to institutions elsewhere than is generally perceived, with well-qualified staff, positive student-to-staff ratios, and rising enrolments including in science, engineering and technology.
Full report on the University World News site:

COMMENTARY

GLOBAL: Trends and drivers in internationalisation
Internationalisation of higher education has become more mainstream in the past 30 years. But, argues HANS DE WIT, universities will need to look more broadly at curriculum change and assessment methodologies as the world becomes more interconnected and students and academics become more mobile.
Full report on the University World News site:

PUERTO RICO: Student division damages fees stand
Students in Puerto Rico have been campaigning against the imposition of fees since late last year, and police violence against them during protests sparked public outrage. But, writes OMAR RODRIGUEZ-ORTIZ, division over student tactics and violence by some members mean they have lost public sympathy.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: THE reputational rankings - a helpful tool?
Times Higher Education has said that its world rankings are the gold standard. But DANNY BYRNE from QS, which provides alternative rankings, says they are not transparent and questions why, after stating previously that they wished to focus on 'objective' data, THE has now published a survey based on academic reputation.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Academic publishing must promote good scholarship
The current system of peer review and scholarly communication relies too heavily on unrealistic publication requirements, to the detriment of good scholarship, argue DIANE HARLEY and SOPHIA KRZYS ACORD of the University of California, Berkeley.
Full report on the University World News site:

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

GLOBAL: Academic freedom reports from around the world
Noemi Bouet*
After weeks of violence in Burkina Faso, in which at least six students died, the government has shut down all universities until further notice. The Yemini army has injured 98 students while attempting to halt protests on campuses. In Sudan, 100 students and youths have been arrested since January and many have reported severe mistreatment and torture. An Iranian history lecturer has been dismissed after publishing critical articles, and the Iranian Ministry of Education has announced new restrictions on students abroad. In Malawi, lecturers striking against interference in academic freedom have defied a presidential order to go back to work
Full report on the University World News site:

FACEBOOK

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higher education worldwide. More than 2,600 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.
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WORLD ROUND-UP

AUSTRALIA: Foreign students 'allowed to underperform'
Gigi Foster knows her disturbing research findings on international students won't make her many friends. In a university sector grown dependent on international fee revenue, it might not do much to progress her academic career either, writes Andrew Trounson for The Australian.
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UK: British universities ditch Libyan deals
A string of universities said they had pulled out of a deal with Tripoli to train hundreds of health workers, writes Michael Howie for The Telegraph. The disclosure came as official statistics showed virtually every university in Britain is being paid by the Libyan government to educate students.
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INDIA-US: 12 Tri-Valley students freed of radio tag
Twelve of 18 Indian students of the closed Tri-Valley University in California in the United States are now free of radio collars, the Ministry of External Affairs has told the National Human Right Commission, writes Vineeta Pandey for Daily News & Analysis.
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INDIA: Deemed universities face fee, admission curbs
Private 'deemed' universities (institutions with considerable autonomy) will no longer be free to decide their fees or admission policies. The Human Resource Development Ministry has decided to let the University Grants Commission enforce its first-ever regulations on tuition fees and admission at deemed universities, writes Basant Kumar Mohanty for the Telegraph India.
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GERMANY: University funding fears as states scrap fees
The German university fee system is on the brink of collapse after another state confirmed it would abolish charges for students following a change in local government, writes Alexandra Topping for the Guardian.
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IRELAND: New higher education rules 'a debacle'
New rules governing appointments in the higher education sector are a "debacle", a senior civil servant has claimed. In a scathing confidential assessment sent to senior education figures, Martin Shanagher, assistant secretary at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, says the moves will "penalise'' research activity, and were made without considering the full implications, reports Sean Flynn for the Irish Times.
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CANADA: First Nations, universities sign unique pact
A historic agreement has been struck between the leaders of First Nations and universities in Atlantic Canada to enhance educational opportunities for aboriginal people, reports CBC News.
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CANADA: McGill fined $2 million for raising MBA fees
Quebec's government has fined McGill University $2-million for the school's unilateral decision to raise its tuition fees for an MBA from $1,700 to $29,500, writes James Bradshaw for the Globe and Mail.
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UK: Universities may face fines for high fees
The UK's coalition government is considering a Soviet-style central intervention policy to effectively fine individual universities in England if they impose unreasonable tuition fees next year, write Patrick Wintour and Allegra Stratton for the Guardian.
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JORDAN: Ministry to rate universities and courses
The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific research is currently drafting a system to rate public and private universities and courses, writes Khetam Malkawi for Zawya. Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Wajih Owais said the measure was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of universities and courses.
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PALESTINE: Hamas police raid Gaza campus
The Al-Azhar University in Gaza City last week accused Hamas police of storming the office of its president and abusing him verbally, reports Khaled Abu Toameh for the Jerusalem Post. The university said that Hamas policemen in civilian clothes raided the office during a meeting between the president and board of trustees.
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US: Probe into anti-semitism on California campus
The US Department of Education is investigating a faculty member's complaint that a series of pro-Palestinian events at a California university crossed the line into anti-semitism and created a hostile environment for Jewish students, reports the Washington Post.
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SOUTH AFRICA: University mulls ties with Ben-Gurion
The University of Johannesburg held a seminar last Wednesday to begin deliberating the future of its academic ties with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, writes Ben Hartman for the Jerusalem Post.
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UK: Oxford set for record state school intake
Oxford University is on course to have the highest ever proportion of state school pupils in its undergraduate intake this autumn. Figures recently published by the institution show that just 41.5% of offers were made to private school candidates, writes Jeevan Vasagar for the Guardian.
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UK: Underperforming vice-chancellors may lose pay
The UK's main lecturers' union has welcomed proposals for vice-chancellors to have a portion of their pay withheld if they fail to perform well in their job, writes Hannah Fearn for Times Higher Education. Individual heads could lose up to 10% of their pay under the plans set out this week by Will Hutton in his final report on fair pay in the public sector.
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MALAYSIA: Universities rapped for politicking
The Malaysian prime minister has called for a reduction in politicking on university campuses, especially in the appointment of vice-chancellors, reports The Star. Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that at times the politicking surrounding the appointment of university leaders was so intense that it surpassed that of a political party.
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UGANDA: 70,000 to miss out on university
Over 70,000 students may this year miss admission to university, both private and public, because they did not get the required two principal passes or because the institutions do not have enough vacancies, writes Conan Businge for Sunday Vision.
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Sunday 13 March 2011

University World News 0162 - 13th March 2011

This week's highlights

GEOFF MASLEN reports on the fourth annual Australian Higher Education
Congress held in Sydney last week. In Commentary, JOHN WOODS argues that if Texas allows guns on campuses, other states will follow and US universities will suffer loss of the free and honest debate that is critical to developing critical thinking skills. BRUCE MACFARLANE writes that the London School of Economics' funding links with Libya is not an isolated case and is a symptom of the fact that universities today have many different stakeholders, and KAY CHENG SOH suggests changing the long-used grade point average system, which is causing problems for many students applying to universities abroad.

HONG KONG: The Going Global conference

CHINA: Ambitious plans to attract foreign students
Yojana Sharma
China's ambitious plans to turn itself into an innovation economy include a big increase in the number of foreign students, turning the country into an education 'hub', a top Chinese education ministry official told an international conference in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, new official figures revealed that there are now 31 million higher education students in China - a 35% increase in five years.
Full report on the University World News site:

UK: LSE debacle exposes lack of ethical guidelines
Yojana Sharma
The resignation earlier this month of Howard Davies, Director of the London School of Economics, over the institution's acceptance of donations from Libya has exposed inadequate guidelines for universities on ethical fundraising from foreign regimes.
Full report on the University World News site:
See also the article by Bruce Macfarlane in Commentary

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

INDIA: Budget hikes spending on higher education
Alya Mishra
Aiming to provide greater tertiary opportunities for its young population, India has increased its higher education budget by 34% to US$2.9 billion for 2011-12. But most of the allocation is for projects already in the pipeline rather than for ambitious plans to expand the number of higher education institutions in the coming years.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Six dominate reputation rankings
Brendan O'Malley
Six American and United Kingdom universities are in a super league of their own when it comes to reputation, according to an invitation-only survey of more than 13,000 academics in 131 countries.
Full report on the University World News site:

EGYPT: Protesting students want administrators out
Ashraf Khaled
Just a few days after they returned to class for the second semester, students at Egypt's public universities staged massive protests against the administrators of their institutions, demanding that they be sacked for being part of the regime led by ousted president Hosni Mubarak.
Full report on the University World News site:

CHINA: Unrest fears prompt alert at universities
Yojana Sharma
Universities in China have come under government surveillance in the wake of unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, as nervous authorities fear the 'contagion' could spread to China.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Libyan students may become refugees
Geoff Maslen
Thousands of Libyan students are studying in other countries and many may decide to seek asylum should the Gaddafi regime maintain control of the strife-torn nation.
Full report on the University World News site:

NORTH AFRICA: Social anger prompts universities reform
Wagdy Sawahel
Following the uprisings that toppled autocratic regimes in Tunisia and Egypt and led to conflict in Libya, two North Africa countries - Algeria and Morocco - are attempting to deal with protestor demands by launching plans to invest in innovation and higher education as well as graduate employment programmes.
Full report on the University World News site:

BELARUS: Fears for student rights campaigners
Brendan O'Malley
The European Humanities University has voiced concern over the plight of two of its students in Belarus. One has been sentenced to four years in prison. Another, who could face a sentence of up to 15 years, last week received the 2011 International Women of Courage Award from US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
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GERMANY: PhD row ex-minister faces charges
Michael Gardner
Karl-Theodor Freiherr zu Guttenberg, who recently stepped down as Germany's Minister of Defence following allegations of plagiarism in his doctoral thesis, has also resigned his seat in parliament, meaning he is no longer immune from prosecution. With more than 100 accusations of plagiarism being probed by prosecutors, zu Guttenberg is now facing preliminary court proceedings.
Full report on University World News site:

KENYA: Higher education reforms on the cards
Gilbert Nganga
Kenya has hatched a series of new strategies to reform its higher education sector, which call for new university campuses to be created in rural areas and funding to be upped to enable more students to be enrolled in the coming years.
Full report on the University World News site:

ISRAEL: Bar-Ilan University denies persecution claim
Helena Flusfeder
Bar-Ilan University has denied claims by two of its lecturers that their promotion to the rank of professor was rejected because of alleged political persecution stemming from their political opinions and activities. But the allegations have been endorsed in a signed letter by 70 lecturers from all over Israel.
Full report on the University World News site:

CANADA: McGill likely to be fined for MBA fee hike
Sarah King Head
The province of Quebec and McGill University recently intensified an ongoing standoff over the university's decision to set tuition rates for its business school that far exceed the province's low fees. The ministry of education said it would soon impose a financial penalty on the university.
Full report on the University World News site:

Australian Higher Education Congress

The fourth annual Australian Higher Education Congress was held in Sydney
last Monday and Tuesday and attracted 250 key decision-makers from universities, government and business to discuss the most pressing issues facing vice-chancellors and their administrators. GEOFF MASLEN reports.

GLOBAL: IT could split higher education

Information technology is a multi-faceted and potentially disruptive phenomenon and we should not assume business as usual, the President of the Commonwealth of Learning, Sir John Daniel, told the congress. Delivering the first international keynote address, Daniel said that if used properly, education technology could achieve wider access, higher quality and lower cost all at the same time. This was a revolution - but public universities had failed to achieve these advantages and could lose out to private providers.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Universities and the future of work
The United States was facing a massive shortfall of workers with the educational background to support further economic growth, Dr Tracey Wilen-Daugenti told the congress. She said America would have to produce "64 million degrees" by 2025 to remain competitive in the global economy but, at current degree-completion rates, the nation faced a shortage of 16 million qualified workers.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Caution with offshore campuses
Establishing a campus in another country requires a vast amount of work, absorbs a huge quantity of the time of senior academics and managers, takes even longer to get the campus up and running - and should only be tried if it meets the university's long-term strategic plans, Monash University Vice-chancellor Professor Ed Byrne told the congress.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWSBRIEFS

MAURITIUS: New universities to be created
The government has approved construction of four new universitiy campuses and will soon give approval to the creation of a veterinary school, according to L'Express of Port Louis.
Full report on the University World News site:

GAMBIA: New medical university for West Africa
Munyaradzi Makoni
Gambia's first private university opened last month. The American International University West Africa spec ialises in the health sciences and will use curriculum and teaching methodology based on the American system, to help students meet the licensing requirements of any country.
Full report on the University World News site:

HERANA - Universities and development in Africa

AFRICA: Lack of agreement over role of universities
There is a surprising lack of clarity and agreement in Africa about a development model and the role of higher education in development, at both the national and university levels, research into eight countries has revealed. Only in Mauritius is there evidence of a 'pact' between stakeholders over higher education's role, says a recently published report.
Full report on the University World News site:

COMMENTARY

US: Guns should be banned from campus
Texas is considering allowing guns on university campuses in response to recent shooting incidents. But, JOHN WOODS argues, proponents of the legislation appear not to understand how universities work nor to listen to those who do. He fears that if the law is passed in Texas, other states will follow and US universities will surrender something much larger than their rights to self-regulate: the free and honest debate so important to the development of critical thinking skills.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: A question of ethics
The resignation of the head of the London School of Economics due to its links with Libya is not an isolated case, argues BRUCE MACFARLANE. It is a symptom of the fact that universities today have many different 'stakeholders'. They cannot be all things to all people and need to develop broader ethics policies so they know where to draw the line.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Grade point average: A need for change?
Grade point average (GPA) has been around for more than two centuries. However, it has created a lot of confusion, frustration and anxiety to GPA-producers and users alike, especially when used across-nation for different purposes. KAY CHENG SOH looks into the reasons for such a state of affairs from the perspective of educational measurement and suggests replacing the current multiple-regression approach with a multiple cut-off approach, which promises to simplify the job and yet do it better.
Full report on the University World News site:

SCIENCE SCENE

GLOBAL: Birth of a solar system?
An international team of astronomers has announced a major step forward in the quest to find planets in orbit around distant stars: the first image of a solar system caught in the act of formation. This first planetary "babysnap", published by the team in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, caught a tiny fleck of light betraying the presence of a massive body such as a planet or possibly a brown dwarf, orbiting exactly on queue within the vacant gap in the disk surrounding the star T Chamaeleontis.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRIA: Atomic antenna sends quantum data
An Austrian research group led by physicist Rainer Blatt has proposed a fundamentally novel architecture for quantum computation. They have experimentally demonstrated quantum antennae which enable the exchange of quantum information between two separate memory cells located on a computer chip. This offers new opportunities to build practical quantum computers.
Full report on the University World News site:

PORTGUAL: Lavender oil for fungal skin infection
Wagdy Sawahel
Scientists have found that lavender oil could be used as a cheap and effective treatment, with minimal side effects, to combat the increasing incidence of serious human antifungal-resistant infections in skin, hair and nails. The oil could also act against infections responsible for conditions such as athletes' foot and ringworm.
Full report on the University World News site:

FACEBOOK

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higher education worldwide. More than 2,600 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.
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WORLD ROUND-UP

INDIA: Reality check on foreign university bill
Only 21% of Indian students in the US who participated in the most comprehensive study yet of their future plans said they would have stayed in India for higher education even with access to American teachers. The finding is significant because it comes as parliament is set to debate the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill aimed at allowing top foreign universities into India, writes Charu Sudan Kasturi for Hindustan Times.
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AFGANISTAN: No-fee colleges struggle for funds
Already coping with war, poverty and corruption, Afghan colleges are struggling under a government policy that forbids them from charging tuition fees, writes Josh Boak for the Washington Post.
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US: University presses urged to work together
Operating in this digitally powered era of 'information hyperabundance', university presses still get most of their sales revenue from print sales. But they're also putting more and more energy into trying electronic, open-access and non-traditional publishing - and are likely to be experimenting for a very long time. So says a new report made public last week by the Association of American University Presses, writes Jennifer Howard for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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US: Tuition shock hits business majors
Differential tuition, where schools charge different prices to individual students based on their major or field of study, is becoming an increasingly popular funding mechanism at resource-stretched public research universities in the US, reports Bloomberg Business Week.
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US: For-profits: A 'disturbing' educational model
For investors, it was an impressive story: Bridgepoint Education used seed money from Warburg Pincus in 2005 to buy a struggling religious college with 300 students in Clinton, Iowa, and turned it into an online behemoth with 78,000 students and $216 million in profits last year, writes Tamar Lewin for The New York Times.
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UK: Despots and academia: More scandals 'likely'
The London School of Economics, which is trying to repair the damage done to its reputation by its links with the Gaddafi regime in Libya, is not the only UK university that has accepted money from repressive governments, writes Andy McSmith for The Independent. Saudi Arabia has been a much more lavish investor in British higher education than Libya.
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UK: The age of the self-starter
A million young Britons are out of work and prospects for many others are grim. But across the UK a growing number of twenty-somethings, fired up with a new spirit of entrepreneurship, are using their laptops to start their own businesses, writes Elizabeth Day for The Guardian.
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UK: Cheating epidemic at Britain's universities
A survey of more than 80 universities has revealed that academic misconduct is soaring at institutions across the country, writes David Barrett for The Telegraph. More than 17,000 incidents of cheating were recorded by universities in the 2009-10 academic year - up at least 50% in four years.
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JAPAN: Cheating suspect 'didn't want mom to stress'
A test-preparation school student arrested over the posting of university entrance exam questions on an internet bulletin board has told police he cheated as he did not want to bother his mother with his expenses, reports The China Post.
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MALAYSIA: Government woos Australian students
The government is seeking ways to allow credit transfer for Australian students to study in Malaysian universities for at least one semester, reports The Star. "This credit transfer is an important step as it will involve all universities in Malaysia," said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
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AUSTRALIA: Government 'blackmailed' university
The Baillieu government has been trying to blackmail the University of Melbourne into overseeing its controversial alpine grazing trial by threatening to withdraw millions of dollars in research funding, writes Melissa Fyfe for The Age.
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SCOTLAND: University chiefs may face elections
University principals could face direct elections to their posts in future, after the prospect was backed by education secretary Michael Russell, writes Scott Macnab for The Scotsman. They could even be removed from office between elections, the minister said.
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ISRAEL: Future of Judaism studies at risk - report
A new report presented to the Council of Higher Education warns of a grim future in the field of Jewish philosophy studies, following a drastic decline in research funds and the number of faculty members in the field, writes Tomer Velmer for YNet News.
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CANADA: University ordered to pay reinstated staff
The University of Prince Edward Island will have to pay out almost $700,000 (US$719,200) after a judge ruled in favour of three employees who were forced into retirement, writes Ryan Ross for The Guardian.
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EU: Philosopher sparks clash in European Parliament
The centre-right Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán is "criminalising 20 years of democratic transition in the country", a prominent Hungarian philosopher told the European Parliament this month. MEPs close to the Orbán government denounced her as "a liar".
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Monday 7 March 2011

University World News 0161 - 6th March 2011

This week's highlights

In News Analysis, YOJANA SHARMA unpacks a new survey showing that the Middle East, Iran and Turkey have increased their share of world scientific output, and JAN PETTER MYKLEBUST reports on a science fraud case that has rocked Denmark. ALISON MOODIE covers the annual conference of the Association of International Education Administrators in San Francisco. In Commentary, WILLIAM C ANDRESS contends that with depression among students rising, courses in ther apeutic laughter are growing in popularity. CARMEL McNAUGHT writes that to benefit from e-learning universities need to actively teach the skills required, reward them and ensure they are taken into account in career development, and ANNE QUALTER argues that the international professional doctorate provides a much-needed route to enhancing the professional practice and scholarly activity of middle and prospective senior higher education leaders.

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

EGYPT: Authorities moves swiftly on university reform
Ashraf Khaled
Less than a month after long-standing president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising, Egypt's higher education authorities have taken steps towards long-sought-after independence for public universities. State police are leaving campuses, and new student union elections will be held within months.
Full report on the University World News site:

YEMEN: Fee waiver fails to impress students
Ahmed Mohamoud Elmi
In a bid to quell student protests, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced a month ago that public universities would waive fees for 'parallel' students who enter higher education despite failing to meet normal entry standards. But the concession had little impact as students are opposed to fees being charged at all - and their demand, now joined by hundreds of thousands of Yemeni, is for Saleh's departure and transparent democracy.
Full article on University World News web site:

UK-LIBYA: LSE director resigns over Gaddafi donation
Yojana Sharma
As Howard Davies, the embattled Director of London School of Economics, resigned on Thursday night over the institution's acceptance of money from Libya, questions were being asked about how universities in Britain seek out overseas funding from unsavoury regimes.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEW ZEALAND: Quake-hit universities to reopen
John Gerritsen
The University of Canterbury is trying to hang on to its students while it prepares to reopen after the earthquake that devastated parts of Christchurch on 22 February. Some students do not want to return, some are enrolling in other institutions, and some international students have returned home.
Full report on the University World News site:

PAKISTAN: Parliament opposes loan to higher education
Ameen Amjad Khan
Pakistan's parliament has strongly opposed a US$300 million World Bank loan for higher education reforms. The concessional loan facility to the education ministry was originally sought for the implementation of the government's still-to-be-launched Higher Education Development Programme for 2011-15.
Full report on the University World News site:

JAPAN: Cheating sparks soul search over 'lazy' youth
Suvendrini Kakuchi
A cheating scandal discovered among students vying for entrance to some of Japan's top universities has rocked the nation and set off a national soul search over young people and how dishonesty should be dealt with. The cheaters used a web bulletin board to ask questions while university entrance tests were underway. A student was arrested on Thursday.
Full report on University World News site:

GLOBAL: Ranking focuses on business high flyers
Jane Marshall
Harvard in the US, Tokyo and Keio Universities of Japan, and France's HEC business school are the top institutions in the fifth Professional Ranking of World Universities compiled by the French grande école Mines ParisTech. But the classification is controversial because it is based on only one criterion - how many graduates hold the top post in leading international companies.
Full report on the University World News site:

RUSSIA: Degree recognition for top world universities
Eugene Vorotnikov
Russia is to recognise the degrees of the world's leading universities, in a move aimed at attracting highly-qualified professionals, President Dmitry Medvedev has announced.
Full report on University World News site:

GERMANY: Another state joins dash to scrap fees
Michael Gardner
Tuition fees will be scrapped in North-Rhine Westphalia from the coming winter semester. By then, higher education institutions in just four of Germany's 16 Federal states will still be charging fees.
Full article on the University World News site:

AUSTRIA: New plan set to bring back tuition fees
Michael Gardner
All the experts appointed to formulate recommendations for a new Austrian Higher Education Plan by Beatrice Karl, the Minister of Higher Education and Research, favour the reintroduction of tuition fees. The plan will cover the ramping up of research infrastructure and a rethink on funding.
Full article on University World News web site:

SWEDEN: PhDs 'wrongly focused', business warns
Jan Petter Myklebust
A survey of PhD graduates in Sweden has revealed that fewer than half of those responding believed their PhD was a factor in getting a job and that just one in six were contributing directly to the development of products and services stemming from research.
Full report on the University World News site:

VENEZUELA: Student hunger strike ends
Pacifica Goddard
Venezuelan student protestors agreed last week to end a hunger strike that they had been taking part in for the previous 23 days. Organised by an opposition youth group, the strike began on 31 January with only nine students but quickly grew until more than 80 people were participating.
Full report on the University World News site:

BRAZIL: Olympic and World Cup boost for universities
Eileen Travers
With an array of government ministries working closely together to channel millions of dollars into polishing up the dozen Brazilian cities poised to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup and to raise an Olympic village in Rio de Janeiro by 2016, the higher education sector has been one of the surprising beneficiaries.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWS ANALYSIS

MIDDLE EAST: Research lagging - but expanding fast
Yojana Sharma
Arab countries together with Iran and Turkey have slightly increased their share of world scientific output in the last decade, according to a survey of published papers from the region. It found these countries were "taking a growing fraction of an expanding pool" of research.
Full report on the University World News site:

DENMARK: Brain scientist accused of scientific fraud
Jan Petter Myklebust
Denmark has been rocked by a science fraud case involving Milena Penkowa, a high-profile professor of medicine spec ialising in brain research. The case has also embroiled the rector of Copenhagen University, the previous minister of science and a number of co-authors, and has undermined the public view of science.
Full report on the University World News site:

AIEA - Global transformation of higher education

The 2011 annual conference of the Association of International Education
Administrators was held in San Francisco in late February, around the theme "Competition and Collaboration in the Global Transformation of Higher Education". ALISON MOODIE was there for University World News.

GLOBAL: The 'embassy' model for internationalisation

An alternative to the internationalisation model of building bricks-and-mortar campuses around the world is establishing overseas offices or 'embassies'. This approach was described by two universities, one American and the other German, at the Association for International Education Administrators conference in San Francisco.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Universities respond to social media
Facebook has 500 million users and counting, Twitter generates 65 million tweets a day and the latest version of the free blog publishing platform Wordpress has been downloaded more than 32.5 million times. Students are more than ready for social media, said Rahul Choudaha, an international education spec ialist at World Education Services. "If we're doubting it, then it will be a mistake."
Full report on the University World News site:

US-AFRICA: University partnerships for development
Alison Moodie
A number of ambitious US-led initiatives are helping to reinvigorate African higher education, said delegates at the annual Association of International Education Administrators conference in San Francisco. Funded in large part by the US government, they seek to strengthen and develop African universities through partnerships with US institutions.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: International higher education turns 25
This year Australia celebrates a quarter century of international higher education. From humble beginnings, today Australia is one of the world's top study destinations, international education is worth AUS$19 billion (US$19.3 billion) annually and it is the country's third largest industry after coal and iron ore, placing it far ahead of others such as tourism.
Full report on the University World News site:

HERANA - Universities and development in Africa

AFRICA: Lessons in linking universities to development
South African economist Pundy Pillay conducted studies of three systems that successfully link higher education to development, in an effort to distill lessons for Africa. Among the key findings from the surveys of Finland, South Korea and North Carolina in the US were the needs to build higher education on a solid foundation of high-quality, equitable schooling, for higher participation rates with institutional differentiation, and for strong state steering.
Full report on the University World News site:

COMMENTARY

GLOBAL: Ther apeutic laughter in higher education
With depression among students rising, WILLIAM C ANDRESS argues that courses in ther apeutic laughter are growing in popularity and could prove beneficial for student learning.
Full report on the University World News site:

ASIA: Tensions in student preferences for e-learning
If universities are to benefit from e-learning they need to actively teach the skills required, reward them and ensure they are taken into account in academics' career development, argues CARMEL McNAUGHT.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Building capacity for higher education growth
As universities across the world rise to the challenge of growth and globalisation, ANNE QUALTER argues that the international professional doctorate provides an additional and much-needed route to enhancing the professional practice and scholarly activity of middle and prospective senior higher education leaders.
Full report on the University World News site:

VENEZUELA: Debate on higher education reforms
A recent article on higher education in Venezuela by Dr Orlando Albornoz of Universidad Central de Venezuela has sparked an interesting debate in University World News. Albornoz says recent moves, including proposed legislation, are signs of an increasingly authoritarian approach that will result in the government dictating what universities do and will reduce academic quality. Meanwhile Dr Peter McLaren of the University of California and Dr Mike Cole of the UK's Bishop Grosseteste University College argue that higher education is being democratised and participation widened, lifting the overall level of education in the country.
Debate on the University World News site:

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

GLOBAL: Academic freedom reports from around the world
Roisin Joyce and Noemi Bouet*
Senior Chinese researcher Jin Xide has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for allegedly leaking information to foreign intelligence agencies about the health of North Korea's leader. In Turkmenistan, the government has slapped restrictions on university students, giving no explanation. Malaysian academic Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid and two other men have been acquitted of possessing prohibited religious books, and in Saudi Arabia 119 academics and activists have called for far-reaching reforms. In Belarus a lecturer and a student remain in jail for participating in mass protests following December's disputed presidential election.
Full report on the University World News site:

FACEBOOK

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higher education worldwide. More than 2,600 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.
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WORLD ROUND-UP

US: Public universities seek more autonomy
With states providing a dwindling share of money for higher education, many states and public universities are rethinking their ties, writes Tamar Lewin for The New York Times. Public universities say that with less money from state coffers, they cannot afford the complicated web of state regulations governing areas like procurement and building, and that they need more flexibility to compete with private institutions.
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US-INDIA: 700 Tri-Valley students to be relocated
US authorities have indicated that the cases of about 700 of 1,550 Indian students affected by the closure of California's dubious Tri-Valley University are being processed for transfer to other universities, writes S Rajagopalan for Express Buzz.
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JORDAN: Polytechnics to ease university pressures
Jordan's Ministry of Higher Education said last weekend that it will push for the establishment of polytechnic schools across the country in order to ease the growing pressure on universities, writes Khetam Malkawi for Zawya.
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INDONESIA: Plan to share lecturers earns top marks
Education experts have lauded a proposed plan by the government that would allow for the transfer of lecturers between universities in a bid to boost the institutions' standings and hence enrollment rates, writes Dessy Sagita for the Jakarta Globe.
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CANADA: Rising enrolment strains university budgets
Canadian universities are bursting at the seams as enrolment continues to rise, and some university insiders worry that they will not be able to handle the strain, reports CTV. National enrolment numbers have reached a record high and experts predict they will keep rising over the next five years.
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AUSTRALIA: Journal rankings a 'sword over academia'
Journal rankings are "a spectre haunting universities everywhere" according to a British business academic who also attacked a new University of Queensland internal index that measures research performance, writes Jill Rowbotham for The Australian.
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UK: Top author hands over archives to Oxford
Dumpy, drab and described by his unfaithful wife as "breathtakingly ordinary", the British master spy George Smiley still managed to become one of modern fiction's most unforgettable characters, writes Jennifer Howard for The Chronicle of Higher Education. Now he has come back home with the donation by his creator, John Le Carré's, of the author's literary archive to Oxford University's Bodleian Library.
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UK: Universities brace for heavier research burden
Since the introduction of the research assessment exercise, an evaluation carried out on behalf of the four UK funding councils every five years, academics have had to do a lot more form-filling to secure funding for future research. Its replacement, the research excellence framework, due to be rolled out in 2013, could make that burden even heavier, putting them under pressure to source hard-to-find data, writes Anthea Lipsett for The Guardian.
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UK: Humanities tuition fees 'should be lower'
Universities in England have been told to limit tuition fees to £6,000 (US$9,744) for students taking arts and humanities degrees, writes Graeme Paton for The Telegraph. David Willetts, the Universities Minister, said institutions should be able to impose much lower charges for these courses because they are cheaper to run than others such as medicine and science.
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UK: Gap years in decline as university fees rise
Gap-year companies are experiencing a drop in the number of school-leavers applying for places, as increased tuition fees next year makes it more prudent for them to go to university, writes Richard Garner for The Independent.
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INDIA: Delhi slum children to get Australian degrees
Delhi's slum children will now be able to study in Australia under an exchange programme between the University of Melbourne and the voluntary organisation Asha, reports Sify.
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SAUDI ARABIA: Finnish deal boosts higher education
Saudi Arabia and Finland have signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of higher education that will boost partnerships between Saudi and Finnish institutions, writes Ghazanfar Ali Khan for Arab News.
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N IGERIA: Universities to get nano-medicine centre
The National Universities Commission has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute for Lasers, Photonics, and Biophotonics in the US for the development of an international research centre for nanomedicine in some N igerian universities, writes Ayo Okulaja for Next.
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