This week's highlights
The just-published QS 2011 Asian University Rankings are investigated by RICHARD HOLMES and YOJANA SHARMA, and in Features ERIN MILLAR reports on the growing role of private institutions in global higher education and GEOFF MASLEN looks at how blogging has spread viral-like across the academic world. In Commentary, JOHN FIELDEN writes that recruiting high-calibre staff for offshore operations is a key element in protecting a university's reputation for quality. DANIEL LEVY argues that efforts to help transform developing countries through their universities have had mixed results, but there have been laudable successes and lessons for the future, and PETER KAHN says imaginative responses are needed to take advantage of the huge gains to be had in bringing people together from different places and cultures for higher education collaboration.
WORLDVIEWS
The 1st international Worldviews Conference on Media and Higher Education,
co-hosted by University World News, kicks off in Toronto on 16 June. There is still time to register and join hundreds of journalists and academics who will for three days debate the kind of media and higher education matters raised by one of the speakers, Shari Graydon, in the article below. Hurry up and register.
CANADA: Making a case for media engagement
Scholars seeking influence should consider the opportunities afforded by the mainstream news media. The voices of academic women are particularly needed, writes SHARI GRAYDON, an award-winning author who has been involved in training academics to write for the media, in the latest edition of the Canadian journal Academic Matters.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report
CHINA: Access to overseas research disrupted
Yojana Sharma
Universities across China have had their access to online overseas research publications and other data blocked after the authorities clamped down on a tool used to access foreign websites.
Full report on the University World News site:
CHINA: Setback for reforms at new university
Linda Yeung
Pioneering reform efforts at China's new Shenzhen-based South University of Science and Technology (SUST) have been thrown into doubt following a recruitment exercise for two deputy presidents by the Shenzhen municipal government. The institution, which opened just three months ago, has been hailed as a testing ground for university reform.
Full report on the University World News site:
IRAN: University to continue despite raids, arrests
Yojana Sharma
Teachers and staff at the Baha'i Institute of Higher Education (BIHE) have vowed to continue to give students deprived of the right to an education in Iran opportunities to obtain degrees, despite raids on its facilities and the arrest of at least 30 of its academics last week.
Full report on the University World News site:
SRI LANKA: Court to rule on student military training
Santhush Fernando
Sri Lanka's highest court is to rule on a bitter controversy between the country's higher education authorities and student, human rights and minority groups over a compulsory three-week Leadership and Positive Attitude Development Programme at military facilities.
Full report on the University World News site:
INDIA: Row over research quality at elite institutes
Alya Mishra
A high-level public row has broken out between two cabinet ministers over the quality of India's premier institutions, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), and particularly their research capability, which is seen as lagging behind other countries.
Full report on the University World News site:
UK: Minister rounds on university reform critics
David Jobbins and Brendan O'Malley
Universities Minister David Willetts insisted last week that Britain's universities will be stronger after higher education reforms and will remain world-class in 10 years time.
Full report on the University World News site:
EAST AFRICA: Higher education harmonisation hitches
Gilbert Nganga
A fresh row has erupted over the planned harmonisation of higher education systems in the East African Community region, after member states differed over the duration of degrees.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: Terrorist threat hampers research in Sahel
Yojana Sharma
Research projects vital for the Sahel region are in jeopardy across Western Africa, particularly in Mali, Mauritania and Niger, as fears about terrorist attacks increase and scientists abandon fieldwork in isolated parts of the region.
Full report on the University World News site:
EGYPT: Ministers approve creation of 'science city'
Wagdy Sawahel
Egypt will create a 'science city' that will include a university and an institute for science and technology as part of its post-revolution efforts to promote higher education and innovation in the country and the Arab and African regions.
Full report on the University World News site:
GERMANY-RUSSIA: Greater collaboration planned
Michael Gardner
Germany and Russia intend to step up collaboration in education and research. The 'German-Russian Year of Science' launched in Moscow is to focus on a 'Partnership of Ideas'. In higher education, the initiative places an emphasis on new blood for research.
Full report on the University World News site:
International university rankings
ASIA: Japan falling, Korea and China rising
The 2011 QS Asian University Rankings are interesting for what they reveal about general trends in Asia, comments RICHARD HOLMES. They show that more Japanese universities are falling than rising while Korean and Chinese schools are generally advancing as are those in Malaysia and Indonesia, although perhaps not so rapidly. But while the rankings are interesting, they should be treated with some caution.
Full report on the University World News site:
ASIA: Hong Kong and Japan lead regional rankings
Yojana Sharma
One of Hong Kong's newer universities, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), has become the top university in Asia in the latest QS Asian rankings released last week. But Japan maintains one of the strongest university systems in Asia, dominating the top ranks.
Full report on the University World News site:
ASIA: Hong Kong's rising university star
Yojana Sharma
When a minor planet was named after Hong Kong's University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in celebration of the institution's 20th anniversary, it seemed a fitting tribute to a rising star. HKUST has been in the spotlight, having just topped the 2011 QS Asian University Rankings, edging out its august older rival Hong Kong University and a host of other older renowned universities in Asia.
Full report on the University World News site:
FRANCE: Rankings spurred university reforms
Jan Petter Myklebust
International rankings contributed significantly to the speeding up of France's university reforms and paved the way for the French excellence initiative starting in 2010, according to university leaders.
Full report on the University World News site:
FEATURES
GLOBAL: Growing global role for private institutions
Erin Millar
The potential role of the private for-profit sector in global higher education was highlighted at a forum in Canada last week, where 120 university and corporate leaders from more than 20 countries met to explore how best to expand higher education across international borders.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Academic bloggers everywhere
Tens of thousands of opinionated academics around the world have become internet bloggers while universities are increasingly establishing blogging sites on their web pages. Blogging has moved from being a nerdish undergraduate pastime to an accepted communication medium within the academic community.
Full report on the University World News site:
COMMENTARY
GLOBAL: Offshore staffing - The issues
Getting staff of the right calibre for offshore operations is a key element in protecting a university's reputation for quality in the country concerned, writes JOHN FIELDEN. The issue is no longer one of exporting staff from the home country, but of tapping global networks and markets for the best people. University managers and human resource spec ialists need to acquire the recruitment skills of multinationals.
Full report on the University World News site:
AMERICAS: Exporting progress to universities
Past attempts to help transform developing countries though their universities have had mixed results. In the Americas, says DANIEL LEVY, it could be argued that they were a failure in terms of improving the general state of higher education. But if we ask where much of the best within Latin American higher education is, and how it got there, the effort to export and import progress appears reasonably and laudably successful and may have some lessons for the future.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Collaboration across divides - A way forward
There are huge gains to be had in bringing people together from different places and cultures for higher education collaboration, and yet the challenges in doing so are also evident. PETER KAHN argues for imaginative responses that take account of the nature of collaborative working and the need for social infrastructure, and seek to engage all partners.
Full report on the University World News site:
STUDENT VIEW
EUROPE: More and better quality internships needed
Young people need more internships during their higher education courses and better quality ones, argues the EUROPEAN YOUTH FORUM. It outlines what needs to be done to improve young people's chances of finding jobs at a challenging time.
Full report on the University World News site:
ACADEMIC FREEDOM
GLOBAL: Academic freedom reports worldwide
Noemi Bouet*
Several hundred ethnic Uzbek students from Kyrgyzstan, who are studying in Rzhev in Russia, have been harassed by the authorities. Colleagues of Iranian student Omid Kokabee, who is studying for a PhD in physics at the University of Texas, are concerned that he might have been jailed while visiting Iran during the Christmas break. In Syria, a student and other detainees have been tortured and beaten by security forces in the coastal town of Banias. UK freedom of information laws have allegedly been misused to harass and intimidate climate scientists. And in Swaziland student leader Maxwell Dlamini has been held by the authorities since 11 April and a campaign has been launched to support his case.
Full report on the University World News site:
UNI-LATERAL
US: Senate report finds waste in science research
Scientific studies in America conducted in the public interest appear to have veered off course, according to a new report that documents government-sponsored research gems such as having shrimp walk on tiny treadmills to measure the impact of sickness on crustaceans, reports Fox News.
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 2,700 readers have joined. Sign up to the University World News Facebook group to meet and communicate directly with academics and researchers informed by the world's first truly global higher education publication. Click on the link below to visit and join the group.
Visit the University World News group on Facebook:
WORLD ROUND-UP
CHINA: University enrolment crisis looms
For decades, attending university has been the Chinese version of the 'American Dream', promising a rise from rags to riches for those who have studied hard and invested heavily in education. But a recent slump in the number of students enrolling to take the college entrance examinations has awakened universities to an inconvenient truth: they will soon have to contend with a decreasing number of students, write Yao Yuan, Guo Jiuhui and Liu Baosen for Xinhuanet.
More on the University World News site:
US: Enrolment growth outpaces faculty growth
Growth in enrolments has outpaced growth in public university and college faculty and staff in recent years, according to a new report issued by the State Higher Education Executive Officers, writes Andrea Fuller for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
More on the University World News site:
US: Chinese agents exploit student influx
Leon Lin was ecstatic when he found out he'd be leaving home in southern China to study at the University of Connecticut. As the Chinese agent whom his parents paid US$5,000 to help him get into the school told him, the university's flagship campus at Storrs was a highly ranked institution, with 25,000 students and ready access to Boston and New York City, writes Daniel Golden for Bloomberg News.
More on the University World News site:
TAIWAN: New plan to boost foreign student numbers
Taiwan's Cabinet approved a four-year NT$5.68 billion (US$196 million) plan on 26 May that will boost education sector competitiveness and promote the country as a hub of advanced learning in East Asia, writes Kwangyin Liu for Taiwan Today.
More on the University World News site:
KOREA: Overseas study loses its lustre
Has the great Korean experiment in early overseas education failed? An increasing number of students who left the country at a young age are returning home to continue their university studies because they find it difficult to get jobs abroad. At the same time, the number of secondary school children going abroad is also declining, reports The Chosunilbo.
More on the University World News site:
UK: Universities step up overseas recruiting
Access to university should be based on ability to learn, not ability to pay, the UK Prime Minister David Cameron insisted earlier this month, writes Harriet Swain for the Guardian. Denying reports that the government would allow universities to recruit above their student number limit so long as the extra students paid higher fees, he was adamant: "There is no question of people being able to buy their way into university," he said.
More on the University World News site:
UK: 'Private sector threat is being ignored'
Ministers have been accused of ignoring a damning report highlighting the threat posed by private universities to the world-class reputation of British higher education, writes Daniel Boffey for The Observer. The coalition government is driving forward reforms to allow commercial companies to set up universities to compete with traditional institutions.
More on the University World News site:
UK: Black students feel left out by 'white cliques'
University coursework should be marked anonymously to deal with concerns that potential bias against a "foreign-sounding name" can cost students marks, a report by the National Union of Students recommends. The report also urges universities to minimise "eurocentric bias" when drawing up curricula, reports Jeevan Vasagar for the Guardian.
More on the University World News site:
SCOTLAND: University chief in new tribunal case
A Scottish university principal suspended from his post in controversial circumstances has launched a second tribunal case against his employers. Professor Bernard King, Principal of Abertay University in Dundee, believes he was discriminated against because he acted as a 'whistleblower' on behalf of other staff, writes Andrew Denholm for Herald Scotland.
More on the University World News site:
INDONESIA: Universities asked to teach anti-graft
Indonesia's national anti-graft agency last week called for more universities across the country to offer anti-corruption classes to students. Abdullah Hehamahua, a senior adviser at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), said that because graft was categorised as an extraordinary crime, there needed to be serious efforts to introduce prevention policies into university curricula, reports the Jakarta Globe.
More on the University World News site:
AUSTRALIA: Aptitude tests may better reflect ability
The Australian Council for Educational Research has issued a report suggesting that an emphasis on tertiary admissions scores is stopping hundreds of capable students from accessing university, writes Breanna Tucker for the Canberra Times.
More on the University World News site:
CHINA: Mongol students protest shepherd's death
Ethnic Mongolians in northern China have held a rare protest in front of a government building over the death of a shepherd, reports the BBC. Crowds of students last week marched to the building in Xilinhot, a city in Inner Mongolia, rights groups said.
More on the University World News site:
US: Many called, few chosen by top universities
Nicole Ederer was delighted when Columbia and Duke universities wooed her with e-mails and letters after she scored 214 out of 240 on the preliminary college entrance exam she took in her junior year. The 18-year-old high school senior said she spent about US$780 on 12 applications after mailings from top schools such as Duke. In the end she was rejected by Duke, Columbia and Cornell, and plans to attend the University of Maryland, writes Janet Lorin for Bloomberg News.
More on the University World News site:
US: For-profits spend less on students - Report
For-profit colleges spend less than a third of the money on educating students than public universities do, even though for-profit schools cost nearly twice as much as public institutions, writes Chris Kirkham for the Huffington Post.
More on the University World News site:
SOUTH AFRICA: Broadband for universities by year-end
By the end of December, every major campus of every university in South Africa will have top-class broadband connectivity to the South African National Research Network (Sanren), writes Farzana Rasool for IT Web.
More on the University World News site:
KENYA: Student housing needs spur development
The Kenyan government policy of de-linking admission from bed capacity in universities and technical institutions is spurring rapid growth of property development in the country, writes Ngondi Mburu for Business Daily.
More on the University World News site:
INDIA: Government mulls university bonds
The Ministry of Human Resource Development is considering allowing educational institutions to float bond issues for fund-generation, writes Kalpana Pathak for the Business Standard.
More on the University World News site:
IRELAND: Scheme aims to re-skill jobless
The University of Limerick, University College Dublin, Dublin City University and University College Cork have all signed up to offer courses under a new programme offering higher education opportunities for those out of work, writes Jamie Smyth for the Irish Times.
More on the University World News site:
Tuesday 31 May 2011
Sunday 22 May 2011
University World News 0172 - 23rd May 2011
This week's highlights
In Features, GEOFF MASLEN looks at pledges in Australia to remove career barriers to women researchers. ARD JONGSMA reports on a workshop in Johannesburg that explored internationalisation lessons Europe and Africa might learn from each other, and WAGDY SAWAHEL and KAREN MACGREGOR unpack recent reports from international organisations of importance to higher education in Africa. In Commentary, exiled Thai lecturer GILES JI UNGPAKORN writes that increasing prosecutions of academics and activists on lèse majesté charges prove that academic freedom is non-existent in Thailand. ELIZABETH DAVIS-RUSSELL describes universities in Liberia post-civil war and her efforts to reconstruct a destroyed university, and JOHN DOUGLASS, RICHARD EDELSTEIN and CECILE HOAREAU propose a new model for California as an international higher education hub. Finally, in Student View, DAVINA LEVY describes life on campuses in Egypt before and after the popular revolution.
Global forum on rankings and accountability
GLOBAL: UNESCO debates uses and misuses of rankings
Jane Marshall
International rankings of higher education institutions are here to stay, but classifications should evolve to give information that is more relevant to the needs of users such as universities, students and policy-makers, fits local situations and contributes to the growth of world-class higher education systems rather than a few world-class universities.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report
PAKISTAN: Taliban on campuses, say arrested students
Ameen Amjad Khan
Four alleged Taliban militants have been arrested by police, with one of them - a student - admitting that terrorists have a presence in universities, causing alarm at the possible extent of the Taliban influence on campuses. Militants also revealed plans to blow up a university.
Full report on the University World News site:
SRI LANKA: No dons return after mass resignation
Santhush Fernando
More than a fortnight after Sri Lanka's university system came to a virtual standstill, when dons resigned en masse from all administrative positions, not a single academic has returned to administrative duties. Lecturers are calling for a major salary increase to stem the brain drain and shore up pay in advance of private and foreign universities being allowed to set up in the country.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEW ZEALAND: Lean budget for universities
John Gerritsen
The government budget announced on Thursday left New Zealand universities treading water in their efforts to remain internationally competitive, with a 2% increase to government subsidies for degree and postgraduate enrolments.
Full report on the University World News site:
NORWAY: One in five scientists fails to publish
Jan Petter Myklebust
One in five of Norway's university scientists have not produced a single publication over the past five years, while 20% wrote more than half of all publications, an expert committee has found after a year-long investigation into how research can be improved. The experts said it was time to end the right of all scientists to devote half their working time to research, and to reward more productive academics.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: US, UK universities top new subject rankings
David Jobbins
A small number of élite universities in the US and the UK dominate the six latest global subject rankings released on Thursday by QS, the UK-based education network. Just 13 universities appear in the top 10 rankings for chemistry, earth and marine sciences, environmental sciences, mathematics, metallurgy and materials, and physics and astronomy.
Full article on the University World News site:
BELARUS: EHU student and lecturer spared jail
Brendan O'Malley
Anastasiya Palazhanka, 20, a second-year student in political science and European studies at the European Humanities University in Lithuania and recent winner of the International Women of Courage Award, has been given an 18-month suspended prison sentence in Minsk. An EHU lecturer, Aliaksandr Feduta, was given a two-year suspended sentence.
Full article on the University World News site:
US: Cuba research ban could reach highest court
Alison Moodie
A hotly contested Florida law that bans public universities from using state or private money for research and travel to Cuba and other "state sponsors of terrorism" may soon head to the United States Supreme Court.
Full report on the University World News site:
GERMANY: Minister promises more masters places
Michael Gardner
Germany is to earmark funds to accommodate more students enrolling for a masters, having completed their first degree. The money will come from what is already being provided to cope with a general increase in student numbers, Federal Education Minister Annette Schavan told state government, higher education, student and industry representatives in Berlin.
Full report on the University World News site:
SAUDI ARABIA: King opens women's university
Wagdy Sawahel
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has officially opened the US$5.3 billion Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh, which will eventually cater for 50,000 female students to become the largest women's university in the world.
Full report on the University World News site:
EU: Stem cell funding in doubt
Geoff Maslen
Stem cell research deemed 'immoral' in the EU will still be funded by Brussels but possibly patented overseas and re-imported for sale, say policy-makers and experts following an opinion by an advocate-general of the European Court of Justice
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: Funding fears for Pan-African University
Gilbert Nganga
The setting up of the Pan-African University, which is due to go live in September, is facing a fresh threat, with the African Union yet to announce funding for the facility meant to help supply the continent's high-level skills.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWSBRIEFS
GLOBAL: Spain, Brazil lead in Iberoamerica research
María Elena Hurtado
Universities in Spain and Brazil produce two-thirds of the scientific research that emanates from the 42 countries that make up Iberoamerica, giving the two countries the first and second spots respectively in the 2011 ranking of scientific output in the countries of Spain, Portugal and Latin America.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Huge Bosch investment in universities
The German industrial company Bosch is to spend EUR50 million (US$70 million) on universities and research projects, with more than half the money being spent in India.
Full report on the University World News site:
ALGERIA: Police beat up protesting medical students
Police surrounded and beat with truncheons medical students in Algeria who were demonstrating in solidarity with striking doctors, reported La Tribune.
Full report on the University World News site:
FEATURES
AUSTRALIA: Removing barriers to women researchers
Geoff Maslen
Australia's largest research employer has committed its executives to remove obstacles to the promotion of highly skilled women and to increase incentives to encourage women to return to the scientific workforce after family-related career interruptions. But the barriers limiting the role of women in the world of science and research will not easily be taken down, if history is any guide.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: Looking at Europe for QA and qualifications
Ard Jongsma
As the African continent is reviving efforts to push ahead with an amended version of the decades-old Arusha declaration on the recognition of qualifications, some of its countries are looking to Europe for inspiration from the rapid comparable developments under the Bologna and Copenhagen processes, which cover the convergence of European higher and vocational education respectively.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: Serious mismatch between skills and needs
Wagdy Sawahel
African countries are experiencing low production of tertiary educated human capital, as well as low quality and relevance of small-sized tertiary institutions that are skewed towards social science education and research that is not based on local needs. As a result, African graduates suffer unemployment and universities are not able to lead development.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: More fees, private tertiary education: UNESCO
Karen MacGregor
Enrolment in tertiary education in Sub-Saharan Africa grew by 82% from the turn of the century to 2008, to more than 4.5 million students. But with demand soaring at all levels of education, resources scarce and tertiary costs high, many countries need to seriously consider raising the household contribution to and the role of the private sector in post-school education, says a new report from UNESCO.
Full report on the University World News site:
COMMENTARY
THAILAND: Academic freedom and lèse majesté
The lèse majesté charges against Thai historian Dr Somsak Jeamteerasakul is just one of scores of cases against those who question or criticise Thailand's monarchy, and it is proof that academic freedom is non-existent in the country. So argues GILES JI UNGPAKORN, a Thai politics lecturer who was charged with lèse majesté in 2009 for writing a book critical of the 2006 military coup. He now lives in exile in Britain.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: The role of a university after civil war
How do you address the problems facing higher education in a country like Liberia, which is emerging from years of civil war? After going on a fact-finding mission, ELIZABETH DAVIS-RUSSELL was asked to give advice on how to rebuild the country's higher education infrastructure, and she agreed to become the president of a Liberian university that had been destroyed. Here she describes some of the issues facing Liberia.
Full report on the University World News site:
US: A higher education hub for California
Countries around the world have developed versions of the higher education hub idea by seeking to attract foreign universities to help build enrollment and programme capacity at home, funded mainly by significant government subsidies. JOHN DOUGLASS, RICHARD EDELSTEIN and CECILE HOAREAU propose a new model for California, focused on attracting the world's talent and generating additional income to existing public and private universities and colleges in the region.
Full report on the University World News site:
STUDENT VIEW
EGYPT: The Tahrir Square spirit lingers on campus
Davina Levy
I have been living in Cairo, arriving a few months prior to the revolution that began in September last year, and saw then how oppression permeated every aspect of life. Most people are familiar with the features of an unjust and dictatorial regime: police brutality, vote-rigging, media censorship and rampant corruption. However, the reality is much more sinister.
Full report on the University World News site:
SCIENCE SCENE
GLOBAL: Solving the vanishing bee mystery
Scientists continue to be baffled by the recent decline in bee populations around the world. The rate of honeybee colony failure has increased significantly since 2006 and a report released by the UN Environment Programme last month concluded that the disastrous decline was unlikely to stop without a better understanding of the reasons behind it.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: The answer to why people blog
Geoff Maslen
An estimated 150 million people around the world write blogs on the internet. Whatever the actual number, and it rises every day, the majority of bloggers use the internet to reveal details of their personal lives. But little is known about bloggers or why so many expose themselves on the web for all to see - that is, until now.
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 2,650 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
PALESTINE: Fleeing students struggle with paperwork
International students returning to Palestine from universities in Libya and Yemen were appealing to the Ministry of Education last week for exemptions from records transfer requirements, saying that they could not obtain proper documents as uprisings hit their host nations, reports Ma'an News Agency.
More on the University World News site:
BAHRAIN: University reopens amid tight security
Bahrain University welcomed back its first group of returning students last week, two months after the facility was ransacked amid violent clashes during the height of the country's unrest, writes Alicia de Haldevang for Gulf Daily News.
More on the University World News site:
US-CANADA: Dismay at professorship for Larry Thompson
Civil rights groups on both sides of the Canada-US border are expressing their disgust after the man who played a key role in sending Maher Arar to a year of torture in Syria was made a law professor at the University of Georgia, writes Diana Mehta for The Canadian Press.
More on the University World News site:
GERMANY: Student overcrowding 'untenable'
German public universities, already overcrowded, are bracing for even more students, writes Christopher F Scheutze for The New York Times. Florian Muhs, part of a student working group on overcrowding at the University of Frankfurt, says many come to him to complain. "There are not enough professors, and the rooms are not big enough," he said.
More on the University World News site:
US: Faculty groups form campaign for higher education
Decrying what they said is an "assault" on higher education, college faculty groups from California and other US states launched a national campaign last Tuesday for a larger voice in education funding and policy decisions, writes Carla Rivera for the Los Angeles Times.
More on the University World News site:
US: Most university heads prefer no tenure
The deteriorating number of tenured positions in higher education is a common source of concern for faculty, but few college presidents seem perturbed by the trend, writes Jack Stripling for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
More on the University World News site:
US: University heads at odds with public - survey
The general public and university presidents disagree about the purpose of college, who ought to pay for it and whether today's students are getting their money's worth. But university presidents and the average American agree that the cost of higher education now exceeds the reach of most people, writes Kevin Helliker for The Wall Street Journal.
More on the University World News site:
IRAQ: Kurdish region offers educational oasis
For Iraq's brightest and best, the century-old University of Baghdad has traditionally been the place to aim for. But not, perhaps, when the students themselves feel like targets, writes Brook Anderson for The Wall Street Journal.
More on the University World News site:
IRAN: Universities under siege
Last Saturday, Iranian university campuses were filled with police and security forces as student groups called for a day of protests. Despite the heavy security presence, classes were cancelled in university campuses across Tehran, Mashhad and Mazandaran, writes Arash Bahmani for Rooz Online.
More on the University World News site:
TRINIDAD-TOBAGO: 'Universities meet world standards'
Approximately 30,000 students or 44% of the local tertiary education population in Trinidad and Tobago can now boast of being trained by fully-accredited and internationally-recognised higher education institutions, reports Brent Zephyrine for the The Trinidad Guardian.
More on the University World News site:
UGANDA: Loan scheme takes shape, slowly
Poor but bright students will have to wait a little longer to access loans to pursue higher education after Uganda's government announced that it will take it nearly two years to introduce an education loan scheme, writes Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa for the Daily Monitor.
More on the University World News site:
SCOTLAND: Part-time fees a barrier to education
One-quarter of Scots would like to study part-time at university but are put off by tuition fees, reports Herald Scotland. According to a poll last week, the figure rose among unemployed people polled, with 73% of those saying the cost of studying part-time stopped them applying for courses that would help them back into work.
More on the University World News site:
UK: School swallows merger medicine
The only higher education institution in the UK that is devoted to the study of pharmacy is to become part of University College London after merger proposals that have opened deep rifts between academics were approved by governors, writes Simon Baker for Times Higher Education.
More on the University World News site:
SRI LANKA: New students to get leadership training
The Ministry of Higher Education has made arrangements to provide three weeks of training in 'leadership and positive attitude development' to all the 2,200 students who have qualified to enter universities this year, writes AAM Nizam for the Asian Tribune.
More on the University World News site:
VIETNAM: Ho Chi Minh City to relocate universities
Two thirds of universities and colleges will be relocated from the centre of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to its suburbs following a decision made last week by the HCM City People's Committee and the Ministry of Education and Training, reports Vietnam News.
More on the University World News site:
US: Trump's for-profit university under scrutiny
The New York attorney general is investigating Donald Trump's online business school where he charges would-be moguls up to $35,000 to "learn from the master", writes Douglas Feiden for the Daily News.
More on the University World News site:
In Features, GEOFF MASLEN looks at pledges in Australia to remove career barriers to women researchers. ARD JONGSMA reports on a workshop in Johannesburg that explored internationalisation lessons Europe and Africa might learn from each other, and WAGDY SAWAHEL and KAREN MACGREGOR unpack recent reports from international organisations of importance to higher education in Africa. In Commentary, exiled Thai lecturer GILES JI UNGPAKORN writes that increasing prosecutions of academics and activists on lèse majesté charges prove that academic freedom is non-existent in Thailand. ELIZABETH DAVIS-RUSSELL describes universities in Liberia post-civil war and her efforts to reconstruct a destroyed university, and JOHN DOUGLASS, RICHARD EDELSTEIN and CECILE HOAREAU propose a new model for California as an international higher education hub. Finally, in Student View, DAVINA LEVY describes life on campuses in Egypt before and after the popular revolution.
Global forum on rankings and accountability
GLOBAL: UNESCO debates uses and misuses of rankings
Jane Marshall
International rankings of higher education institutions are here to stay, but classifications should evolve to give information that is more relevant to the needs of users such as universities, students and policy-makers, fits local situations and contributes to the growth of world-class higher education systems rather than a few world-class universities.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report
PAKISTAN: Taliban on campuses, say arrested students
Ameen Amjad Khan
Four alleged Taliban militants have been arrested by police, with one of them - a student - admitting that terrorists have a presence in universities, causing alarm at the possible extent of the Taliban influence on campuses. Militants also revealed plans to blow up a university.
Full report on the University World News site:
SRI LANKA: No dons return after mass resignation
Santhush Fernando
More than a fortnight after Sri Lanka's university system came to a virtual standstill, when dons resigned en masse from all administrative positions, not a single academic has returned to administrative duties. Lecturers are calling for a major salary increase to stem the brain drain and shore up pay in advance of private and foreign universities being allowed to set up in the country.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEW ZEALAND: Lean budget for universities
John Gerritsen
The government budget announced on Thursday left New Zealand universities treading water in their efforts to remain internationally competitive, with a 2% increase to government subsidies for degree and postgraduate enrolments.
Full report on the University World News site:
NORWAY: One in five scientists fails to publish
Jan Petter Myklebust
One in five of Norway's university scientists have not produced a single publication over the past five years, while 20% wrote more than half of all publications, an expert committee has found after a year-long investigation into how research can be improved. The experts said it was time to end the right of all scientists to devote half their working time to research, and to reward more productive academics.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: US, UK universities top new subject rankings
David Jobbins
A small number of élite universities in the US and the UK dominate the six latest global subject rankings released on Thursday by QS, the UK-based education network. Just 13 universities appear in the top 10 rankings for chemistry, earth and marine sciences, environmental sciences, mathematics, metallurgy and materials, and physics and astronomy.
Full article on the University World News site:
BELARUS: EHU student and lecturer spared jail
Brendan O'Malley
Anastasiya Palazhanka, 20, a second-year student in political science and European studies at the European Humanities University in Lithuania and recent winner of the International Women of Courage Award, has been given an 18-month suspended prison sentence in Minsk. An EHU lecturer, Aliaksandr Feduta, was given a two-year suspended sentence.
Full article on the University World News site:
US: Cuba research ban could reach highest court
Alison Moodie
A hotly contested Florida law that bans public universities from using state or private money for research and travel to Cuba and other "state sponsors of terrorism" may soon head to the United States Supreme Court.
Full report on the University World News site:
GERMANY: Minister promises more masters places
Michael Gardner
Germany is to earmark funds to accommodate more students enrolling for a masters, having completed their first degree. The money will come from what is already being provided to cope with a general increase in student numbers, Federal Education Minister Annette Schavan told state government, higher education, student and industry representatives in Berlin.
Full report on the University World News site:
SAUDI ARABIA: King opens women's university
Wagdy Sawahel
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has officially opened the US$5.3 billion Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh, which will eventually cater for 50,000 female students to become the largest women's university in the world.
Full report on the University World News site:
EU: Stem cell funding in doubt
Geoff Maslen
Stem cell research deemed 'immoral' in the EU will still be funded by Brussels but possibly patented overseas and re-imported for sale, say policy-makers and experts following an opinion by an advocate-general of the European Court of Justice
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: Funding fears for Pan-African University
Gilbert Nganga
The setting up of the Pan-African University, which is due to go live in September, is facing a fresh threat, with the African Union yet to announce funding for the facility meant to help supply the continent's high-level skills.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWSBRIEFS
GLOBAL: Spain, Brazil lead in Iberoamerica research
María Elena Hurtado
Universities in Spain and Brazil produce two-thirds of the scientific research that emanates from the 42 countries that make up Iberoamerica, giving the two countries the first and second spots respectively in the 2011 ranking of scientific output in the countries of Spain, Portugal and Latin America.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Huge Bosch investment in universities
The German industrial company Bosch is to spend EUR50 million (US$70 million) on universities and research projects, with more than half the money being spent in India.
Full report on the University World News site:
ALGERIA: Police beat up protesting medical students
Police surrounded and beat with truncheons medical students in Algeria who were demonstrating in solidarity with striking doctors, reported La Tribune.
Full report on the University World News site:
FEATURES
AUSTRALIA: Removing barriers to women researchers
Geoff Maslen
Australia's largest research employer has committed its executives to remove obstacles to the promotion of highly skilled women and to increase incentives to encourage women to return to the scientific workforce after family-related career interruptions. But the barriers limiting the role of women in the world of science and research will not easily be taken down, if history is any guide.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: Looking at Europe for QA and qualifications
Ard Jongsma
As the African continent is reviving efforts to push ahead with an amended version of the decades-old Arusha declaration on the recognition of qualifications, some of its countries are looking to Europe for inspiration from the rapid comparable developments under the Bologna and Copenhagen processes, which cover the convergence of European higher and vocational education respectively.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: Serious mismatch between skills and needs
Wagdy Sawahel
African countries are experiencing low production of tertiary educated human capital, as well as low quality and relevance of small-sized tertiary institutions that are skewed towards social science education and research that is not based on local needs. As a result, African graduates suffer unemployment and universities are not able to lead development.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: More fees, private tertiary education: UNESCO
Karen MacGregor
Enrolment in tertiary education in Sub-Saharan Africa grew by 82% from the turn of the century to 2008, to more than 4.5 million students. But with demand soaring at all levels of education, resources scarce and tertiary costs high, many countries need to seriously consider raising the household contribution to and the role of the private sector in post-school education, says a new report from UNESCO.
Full report on the University World News site:
COMMENTARY
THAILAND: Academic freedom and lèse majesté
The lèse majesté charges against Thai historian Dr Somsak Jeamteerasakul is just one of scores of cases against those who question or criticise Thailand's monarchy, and it is proof that academic freedom is non-existent in the country. So argues GILES JI UNGPAKORN, a Thai politics lecturer who was charged with lèse majesté in 2009 for writing a book critical of the 2006 military coup. He now lives in exile in Britain.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: The role of a university after civil war
How do you address the problems facing higher education in a country like Liberia, which is emerging from years of civil war? After going on a fact-finding mission, ELIZABETH DAVIS-RUSSELL was asked to give advice on how to rebuild the country's higher education infrastructure, and she agreed to become the president of a Liberian university that had been destroyed. Here she describes some of the issues facing Liberia.
Full report on the University World News site:
US: A higher education hub for California
Countries around the world have developed versions of the higher education hub idea by seeking to attract foreign universities to help build enrollment and programme capacity at home, funded mainly by significant government subsidies. JOHN DOUGLASS, RICHARD EDELSTEIN and CECILE HOAREAU propose a new model for California, focused on attracting the world's talent and generating additional income to existing public and private universities and colleges in the region.
Full report on the University World News site:
STUDENT VIEW
EGYPT: The Tahrir Square spirit lingers on campus
Davina Levy
I have been living in Cairo, arriving a few months prior to the revolution that began in September last year, and saw then how oppression permeated every aspect of life. Most people are familiar with the features of an unjust and dictatorial regime: police brutality, vote-rigging, media censorship and rampant corruption. However, the reality is much more sinister.
Full report on the University World News site:
SCIENCE SCENE
GLOBAL: Solving the vanishing bee mystery
Scientists continue to be baffled by the recent decline in bee populations around the world. The rate of honeybee colony failure has increased significantly since 2006 and a report released by the UN Environment Programme last month concluded that the disastrous decline was unlikely to stop without a better understanding of the reasons behind it.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: The answer to why people blog
Geoff Maslen
An estimated 150 million people around the world write blogs on the internet. Whatever the actual number, and it rises every day, the majority of bloggers use the internet to reveal details of their personal lives. But little is known about bloggers or why so many expose themselves on the web for all to see - that is, until now.
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 2,650 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
PALESTINE: Fleeing students struggle with paperwork
International students returning to Palestine from universities in Libya and Yemen were appealing to the Ministry of Education last week for exemptions from records transfer requirements, saying that they could not obtain proper documents as uprisings hit their host nations, reports Ma'an News Agency.
More on the University World News site:
BAHRAIN: University reopens amid tight security
Bahrain University welcomed back its first group of returning students last week, two months after the facility was ransacked amid violent clashes during the height of the country's unrest, writes Alicia de Haldevang for Gulf Daily News.
More on the University World News site:
US-CANADA: Dismay at professorship for Larry Thompson
Civil rights groups on both sides of the Canada-US border are expressing their disgust after the man who played a key role in sending Maher Arar to a year of torture in Syria was made a law professor at the University of Georgia, writes Diana Mehta for The Canadian Press.
More on the University World News site:
GERMANY: Student overcrowding 'untenable'
German public universities, already overcrowded, are bracing for even more students, writes Christopher F Scheutze for The New York Times. Florian Muhs, part of a student working group on overcrowding at the University of Frankfurt, says many come to him to complain. "There are not enough professors, and the rooms are not big enough," he said.
More on the University World News site:
US: Faculty groups form campaign for higher education
Decrying what they said is an "assault" on higher education, college faculty groups from California and other US states launched a national campaign last Tuesday for a larger voice in education funding and policy decisions, writes Carla Rivera for the Los Angeles Times.
More on the University World News site:
US: Most university heads prefer no tenure
The deteriorating number of tenured positions in higher education is a common source of concern for faculty, but few college presidents seem perturbed by the trend, writes Jack Stripling for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
More on the University World News site:
US: University heads at odds with public - survey
The general public and university presidents disagree about the purpose of college, who ought to pay for it and whether today's students are getting their money's worth. But university presidents and the average American agree that the cost of higher education now exceeds the reach of most people, writes Kevin Helliker for The Wall Street Journal.
More on the University World News site:
IRAQ: Kurdish region offers educational oasis
For Iraq's brightest and best, the century-old University of Baghdad has traditionally been the place to aim for. But not, perhaps, when the students themselves feel like targets, writes Brook Anderson for The Wall Street Journal.
More on the University World News site:
IRAN: Universities under siege
Last Saturday, Iranian university campuses were filled with police and security forces as student groups called for a day of protests. Despite the heavy security presence, classes were cancelled in university campuses across Tehran, Mashhad and Mazandaran, writes Arash Bahmani for Rooz Online.
More on the University World News site:
TRINIDAD-TOBAGO: 'Universities meet world standards'
Approximately 30,000 students or 44% of the local tertiary education population in Trinidad and Tobago can now boast of being trained by fully-accredited and internationally-recognised higher education institutions, reports Brent Zephyrine for the The Trinidad Guardian.
More on the University World News site:
UGANDA: Loan scheme takes shape, slowly
Poor but bright students will have to wait a little longer to access loans to pursue higher education after Uganda's government announced that it will take it nearly two years to introduce an education loan scheme, writes Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa for the Daily Monitor.
More on the University World News site:
SCOTLAND: Part-time fees a barrier to education
One-quarter of Scots would like to study part-time at university but are put off by tuition fees, reports Herald Scotland. According to a poll last week, the figure rose among unemployed people polled, with 73% of those saying the cost of studying part-time stopped them applying for courses that would help them back into work.
More on the University World News site:
UK: School swallows merger medicine
The only higher education institution in the UK that is devoted to the study of pharmacy is to become part of University College London after merger proposals that have opened deep rifts between academics were approved by governors, writes Simon Baker for Times Higher Education.
More on the University World News site:
SRI LANKA: New students to get leadership training
The Ministry of Higher Education has made arrangements to provide three weeks of training in 'leadership and positive attitude development' to all the 2,200 students who have qualified to enter universities this year, writes AAM Nizam for the Asian Tribune.
More on the University World News site:
VIETNAM: Ho Chi Minh City to relocate universities
Two thirds of universities and colleges will be relocated from the centre of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to its suburbs following a decision made last week by the HCM City People's Committee and the Ministry of Education and Training, reports Vietnam News.
More on the University World News site:
US: Trump's for-profit university under scrutiny
The New York attorney general is investigating Donald Trump's online business school where he charges would-be moguls up to $35,000 to "learn from the master", writes Douglas Feiden for the Daily News.
More on the University World News site:
Sunday 15 May 2011
University World News 0171 - 15th May 2011
This week's highlights
This week's edition kicks off with a special report on the internationalisation of medical education. In Features, YOJANA SHARMA traces developments in the high-profile case of Somsak Jeamteerasakul, a history professor in Thailand who turned himself in to the police last week to face charges of criticising the monarchy. In Commentary, CAROLINE MACREADY and CLIVE TUCKER write that universities wishing to attract international students will in future need to understand better what they want and demonstrate how the institution can provide it. MARY LANDON DARDEN writes that financial pressures are forcing UK universities to seek out global opportunities, such as the University of Warwick's bid for a New York campus, and CARL E JAMES argues that universities in Canada need to ensure that their diversity policies are built on hard data and achieve results.
SPECIAL: The internationalisation of medical education
Medical education is undergoing unprecedented change and expansion in many
countries, not just to tackle modern, cross-border health problems but also to increase training and research on global health. In a special report edited by YOJANA SHARMA, our correspondents look at the internationalisation of medical education, including through cross-border tie-ups and partnerships, and point to other changes taking place.
In an opening comment MADALENA PATRICIO says internationalisation is an important opportunity to revamp medical education. Reports from South East Asia and India show that rapid health care expansion and a need for more high quality doctors have led to international collaborations. In the Middle East there has been a proliferation of 'medical cities' but they are struggling to recruit international researchers, and in the Caribbean 'offshore' medical schools that provide doctors to the US are coming under pressure. South Africa sends medical students to Cuba to alleviate doctor shortages in rural areas, and in Australia four in 10 doctors are foreign but many struggle to obtain registration. Finally, in France medical studies are transforming, following their integration into the Bologna process and radical new reforms.
GLOBAL: Internationalisation and medical education
Madalena Patricio* Internationalisation has become an important force in higher education. It is also a powerful challenge and opportunity for medical schools as they emphasise an international approach, which implies mobility of teachers and students and a curriculum that builds on exchanges between two or more countries.
Full report on the University World News site:
ASIA: World-class medicine pursuit drives collaboration
Yojana Sharma
A need to train more doctors and modernise medical education in South East Asian countries to world standards has led to tie-ups with top medical schools in the West. Governments in the richer Asian countries also want to upgrade research on the region's diseases to better cater for their people's health while Western institutions want to build international biomedical research networks.
Full report on the University World News site:
MIDDLE EAST: Medical cities seek foreign academics
Wagdy Sawahel
Medical cities are mushrooming in the Gulf, with Saudi Arabia and other states planning major expansion of medical education to upgrade treatment, improve clinical training of doctors and maximise the region's share of the booming medical tourism market. But with a shortage of faculty and researchers, countries may have to work together to develop quality medical professionals.
Full report on the University World News site:
INDIA: Medical education gets international flavour
Alya Mishra
India's medical education is acquiring an international flavor, even before the country prepares to open the sector to foreign medical institutions wanting to set up to train more doctors. India's own medical institutions are not only tying up with foreign universities, they are also exploring opportunities to set up campuses abroad and increase their international presence.
Full report on the University World News site:
CARIBBEAN: Medical schools battle to retain US access
Alecia D McKenzie
The Caribbean islands are home to around 50 private medical schools, often catering to Americans who cannot get a place in a US school. But the future of the Caribbean schools is being imperiled by new restrictions on foreign medical students entering clinical training in the US and a new regulation that only graduates from accredited schools will gain a medical licence.
Full report on the University World News site:
SOUTH AFRICA: Cuba helps to train rural doctors
Sharon Dell
South Africa's high-profile programme involving the training of medical students in Cuba is part of an urgent national drive to increase the number of doctors being produced by the skills-short country. The government is also pushing universities to boost the number of home-grown medical graduates.
Full report on the University World News site:
AUSTRALIA: Overseas doctors fill large gaps
Geoff Maslen
A political decision in the 1990s not to open more medical schools has forced Australia to recruit its doctors from other nations and today, more than four in every 10 were trained overseas. But most doctors were educated in non-English speaking countries with different cultures and many face problems obtaining medical registration. A parliamentary committee is investigating how registration can be improved.
Full report on the University World News site:
FRANCE: Medical reform aims to fight 'human wastage'
Jane Marshall
French medical studies are undergoing radical changes, not only because of their integration into the Bologna process but also as a result of a reform which is introducing a common first year for trainee doctors, dental surgeons, pharmacists and midwives under the renamed 'health studies'. Full report on the University World News site:
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report
JAPAN: Funds allocated for university reconstruction
Suvendrini Kakuchi
Japan's Ministry of Education has released a list of 229 universities affected by the earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeast areas of the country on 11 March, badly damaging buildings and research and classroom facilities. Many of these will be rebuilt after the government last week passed a budget for reconstructing facilities.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Need to balance Europe-Asia student flows
Yojana Sharma
Education ministers from more than 40 European and Asian countries met in Copenhagen last week to discuss how to balance the flow of students between the two continents - a movement heavily biased towards Asian students studying in Europe.
Full report on the University World News site:
FRANCE: Ministers unveil foreign student strategy
Jane Marshall
The French government is seeking to attract more foreign students, especially those from developing countries with "high potential", and to increase the proportion of postgraduates from abroad.
Full report on the University World News site:
AUSTRALIA: Sigh of relief at budget outcome
Geoff Maslen
Facing a multi-billion dollar black hole in its budget strategy and the prospect of oblivion at the next election, Australia's minority Labor government nevertheless brought some joy to the nation's vice-chancellors and their academics when it handed down its annual budget on Tuesday.
Full report on the University World News site:
UK: PM vetoes cash for university places plan
Brendan O'Malley
UK Universities Minister David Willetts has backtracked on a proposal to allow wealthy students to buy places at over-subscribed universities in England by paying higher fees up-front. The opposition claimed it was the fastest policy U-turn in history.
Full article on the University World News site:
EGYPT: Insecurity haunts universities ahead of exams
Ashraf Khaled
As Egyptian authorities try hard to re-establish stability in the country more than three months after former president Hosni Mubarak was swept out of office in a popular revolt, universities are concerned that lack of security will threaten examinations. Students at state and private universities are due to sit year-end exams later this month.
Full report on the University World News site:
EUROPE: Six shortlisted for EUR2 billion ICT research
Jan Petter Myklebust and Brendan O'Malley
Six 'grand challenge' flagship research projects have been shortlisted in the European Commission's EUR2 billion Future and Emerging Technologies Programme, announced by Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for the European Digital Agenda and Vice-President for the commission, in Budapest last week.
Full report on the University World News site:
INDIA: New efforts to attract global academic talent
Alya Mishra
As part of its strategy to entice talent into higher education and research, the Indian government is targeting top-level people of Indian origin working in the West and making it easier for them find out about job opportunities in the country.
Full report on the University World News site:
EUROPE: New student leader for continent
Brendan O'Malley
Members of the European Students' Union, the umbrella organisation representing 45 national unions of students from 39 European countries, have elected Allan Päll, 25, from Estonia as their new Chair.
Full report on the University World News site:
KENYA: University funding could go down, research up
Gilbert Nganga
Kenya could cut subsidies to public universities for the coming financial year, which begins in July, potentially putting at risk several projects meant to boost access to higher education. But spending on research and innovation is to more than double.
Full report on the University World News site:
FEATURES
THAILAND: Academic charged in political case
Yojana Sharma
Somsak Jeamteerasakul, a professor of history at Bangkok's Thammasat University, turned himself in to the police on Wednesday to hear official charges of lèse majéste after weeks of threats that the charges would be laid. Critics said the case could mark a watershed in using the law against critics of the regime, as it is being seen as clearly politically motivated.
Full report on the University World News site:
COMMENTARY
GLOBAL: Who goes where and why for education?
In the past, universities wishing to attract international students have focused on deciding their unique selling point and promoting it, say CAROLINE MACREADY and CLIVE TUCKER. Their research shows that student mobility is in good health, although mobility patterns are changing, and suggests that in the future it will be more important to understand what international students want and to demonstrate that the institution can provide it.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: University entrepreneurism emerging in UK
The University of Warwick's bid for a New York campus is the latest in a series of changes in globalised education. Financial pressures in the UK are forcing universities to seek more entrepreneurial ways of playing to their strengths, including branching out and capitalising on potential global opportunities as their American counterparts have done, argues MARY LANDON DARDEN.
Full report on the University World News site:
CANADA: Paradoxes of 'visible minorities' in job ads
Canadian universities seem to welcome a diverse faculty, but in grouping all 'visible minorities' together they are ignoring the fact that different minorities face different issues. As universities become more globalised, racial diversity among faculty will become more important. Universities will need to ensure that their diversity policy is built on hard data and achieves results, argues CARL E JAMES.
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 2,650 readers have joined. Sign up to the University World News Facebook group to meet and communicate directly with academics and researchers informed by the world's first truly global higher education publication. Click on the link below to visit and join the group.
Visit the University World News group on Facebook:
WORLD ROUND-UP
GERMANY: Plagiarism report slams Guttenberg
The chances of former defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg returning quickly to German politics seemed effectively buried last Wednesday after his alma mater said his thesis was full of other people's work that he had deliberately copied, reports The Local.
More on the University World News site:
CONGO: Rebels attack university minister
The Democratic Republic of Congo's Minister of University and Higher Education has survived an attack by Rwandan rebels that left two people dead, writes Michael J Kavanag for Bloomberg.
More on the University World News site:
US: Texas set to allow handguns in universities
The holders of concealed handgun licences are set to be allowed to carry weapons into public college buildings and classrooms in Texas, after Republicans in the state senate approved the measure as part of a universities spending bill, reports the Guardian.
More on the University World News site:
US: Texas universities pressured by think-tank
The influence of a conservative movement that would apply a greater business orientation to Texas higher education came into stark relief last week, when the chancellor of one of the state's university systems unexpectedly resigned and the other seemed to push back against regents who have embraced what some call a heavy-handed ideological agenda, writes Jack Stripling for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
More on the University World News site:
US: Kushner's honour restored by board vote
The trustees board of City University of New York brought to an end an embarrassing row over freedom of expression by voting unanimously to award an honorary degree to the award-winning playwright Tony Kushner, write Ed Pilkington and Ewen MacAskill for the Guardian.
More on the University World News site:
SPAIN: Corruption 'widespread in universities'
A Spanish university has denied that disciplinary proceedings against one of its professors are a response to a book he wrote alleging corruption at the institution. José Penalva, professor of education at the University of Murcia, has been accused of absenteeism and could face dismissal, writes Paul Jump for Times Higher Education.
More on the University World News site:
SCOTLAND: Probe into university visa scam
Scotland's Immigration Minister Damian Green admitted last week that there might be widespread abuses of a visa scheme that provides foreign students with the chance to enrol at UK institutions, after irregularities were found at a university, writes Kate Devlin for The Herald.
More on the University World News site:
UK: LSE 'may reject maximum tuition fees'
The London School of Economics could become the first elite university in England to set tuition fees below the maximum level. In a boost to the coalition government, it emerged that the institution is considering charging £8,000 (US$13,000) a year for a degree - £1,000 lower than all other top universities, writes Graeme Paton for The Telegraph.
More on the University World News site:
UK: Student loans firm faces record complaints
The number of students and graduates complaining about the handling of their loans has soared in recent years, amid growing concern that the cost of higher education is fuelling discontent in universities across the country, writes Brian Brady for The Independent on Sunday.
More on the University World News site:
INDIA: Fee increase proposed for central universities
The era of exceptionally low fees at central universities in India could soon be over, if the government accepts the alternative funding system suggested by the Human Resource Development Ministry-appointed Madhava Menon Committee, writes Urmi A Goswami for The Economic Times.
More on the University World News site:
CHINA: Ministry issues list excluding new college
While many of China's universities are advertising to attract attention from college candidates ahead of the annual college entrance examination in June, one university is noticeably absent from a list of colleges approved to recruit students, reports English.Eastday.com.
More on the University World News site:
SAUDI ARABIA: University education gets 25-year plan
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has approved a 25-year plan for the development of university education in Saudi Arabia, Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari announced last week. He said the plan, which has taken into consideration Shariah teachings, the country's future vision and national development plans, was prepared in line with global best practices in higher education, reports PK Abdul Ghafour for Arab News.
More on the University World News site:
IRAN: Curricula aligned with 'Islamic principles'
Iran's Ministry of Science says the course content of 36 university programmes has been altered for the academic year that starts this autumn, reports Radio Zamaneh. The ministry says it has a committee in charge of reviewing university curricula, according to a report by the Islamic Republic News Agency, and its work will continue beyond the 36 fields affected in this round.
More on the University World News site:
BULGARIA: Students flock to foreign universities
Some 80,000 Bulgarian students currently study abroad, primarily in the European Union, according to data presented at an education forum in Sofia last Monday, reports Novinite.
More on the University World News site:
US: Canada's rejection of Ignatieff shocks Harvard
Boston's chattering classes are struggling with the stunning political defeat of one of Harvard's most popular academics at the hands of Canadian voters, painting Michael Ignatieff's historic loss as Liberal leader as a new low in Canadian politics, writes Tamsin McMahon for the National Post.
More on the University World News site:
CANADA: University graduates turn to colleges
As the bachelor degree loses its lustre, the college system in Canada has been prepping for its close-up. One of its biggest boosters: university graduates who are treating colleges and polytechnics as de facto finishing schools, writes Tralee Pearce for the Globe and Mail.
More on the University World News site:
UGANDA: Universities raise admission points
Makerere University and the other four public universities have raised the admission points for government-sponsored students for the coming academic year, write Francis Kagolo and Cecilia Okoth for New Vision.
More on the University World News site:
This week's edition kicks off with a special report on the internationalisation of medical education. In Features, YOJANA SHARMA traces developments in the high-profile case of Somsak Jeamteerasakul, a history professor in Thailand who turned himself in to the police last week to face charges of criticising the monarchy. In Commentary, CAROLINE MACREADY and CLIVE TUCKER write that universities wishing to attract international students will in future need to understand better what they want and demonstrate how the institution can provide it. MARY LANDON DARDEN writes that financial pressures are forcing UK universities to seek out global opportunities, such as the University of Warwick's bid for a New York campus, and CARL E JAMES argues that universities in Canada need to ensure that their diversity policies are built on hard data and achieve results.
SPECIAL: The internationalisation of medical education
Medical education is undergoing unprecedented change and expansion in many
countries, not just to tackle modern, cross-border health problems but also to increase training and research on global health. In a special report edited by YOJANA SHARMA, our correspondents look at the internationalisation of medical education, including through cross-border tie-ups and partnerships, and point to other changes taking place.
In an opening comment MADALENA PATRICIO says internationalisation is an important opportunity to revamp medical education. Reports from South East Asia and India show that rapid health care expansion and a need for more high quality doctors have led to international collaborations. In the Middle East there has been a proliferation of 'medical cities' but they are struggling to recruit international researchers, and in the Caribbean 'offshore' medical schools that provide doctors to the US are coming under pressure. South Africa sends medical students to Cuba to alleviate doctor shortages in rural areas, and in Australia four in 10 doctors are foreign but many struggle to obtain registration. Finally, in France medical studies are transforming, following their integration into the Bologna process and radical new reforms.
GLOBAL: Internationalisation and medical education
Madalena Patricio* Internationalisation has become an important force in higher education. It is also a powerful challenge and opportunity for medical schools as they emphasise an international approach, which implies mobility of teachers and students and a curriculum that builds on exchanges between two or more countries.
Full report on the University World News site:
ASIA: World-class medicine pursuit drives collaboration
Yojana Sharma
A need to train more doctors and modernise medical education in South East Asian countries to world standards has led to tie-ups with top medical schools in the West. Governments in the richer Asian countries also want to upgrade research on the region's diseases to better cater for their people's health while Western institutions want to build international biomedical research networks.
Full report on the University World News site:
MIDDLE EAST: Medical cities seek foreign academics
Wagdy Sawahel
Medical cities are mushrooming in the Gulf, with Saudi Arabia and other states planning major expansion of medical education to upgrade treatment, improve clinical training of doctors and maximise the region's share of the booming medical tourism market. But with a shortage of faculty and researchers, countries may have to work together to develop quality medical professionals.
Full report on the University World News site:
INDIA: Medical education gets international flavour
Alya Mishra
India's medical education is acquiring an international flavor, even before the country prepares to open the sector to foreign medical institutions wanting to set up to train more doctors. India's own medical institutions are not only tying up with foreign universities, they are also exploring opportunities to set up campuses abroad and increase their international presence.
Full report on the University World News site:
CARIBBEAN: Medical schools battle to retain US access
Alecia D McKenzie
The Caribbean islands are home to around 50 private medical schools, often catering to Americans who cannot get a place in a US school. But the future of the Caribbean schools is being imperiled by new restrictions on foreign medical students entering clinical training in the US and a new regulation that only graduates from accredited schools will gain a medical licence.
Full report on the University World News site:
SOUTH AFRICA: Cuba helps to train rural doctors
Sharon Dell
South Africa's high-profile programme involving the training of medical students in Cuba is part of an urgent national drive to increase the number of doctors being produced by the skills-short country. The government is also pushing universities to boost the number of home-grown medical graduates.
Full report on the University World News site:
AUSTRALIA: Overseas doctors fill large gaps
Geoff Maslen
A political decision in the 1990s not to open more medical schools has forced Australia to recruit its doctors from other nations and today, more than four in every 10 were trained overseas. But most doctors were educated in non-English speaking countries with different cultures and many face problems obtaining medical registration. A parliamentary committee is investigating how registration can be improved.
Full report on the University World News site:
FRANCE: Medical reform aims to fight 'human wastage'
Jane Marshall
French medical studies are undergoing radical changes, not only because of their integration into the Bologna process but also as a result of a reform which is introducing a common first year for trainee doctors, dental surgeons, pharmacists and midwives under the renamed 'health studies'. Full report on the University World News site:
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report
JAPAN: Funds allocated for university reconstruction
Suvendrini Kakuchi
Japan's Ministry of Education has released a list of 229 universities affected by the earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeast areas of the country on 11 March, badly damaging buildings and research and classroom facilities. Many of these will be rebuilt after the government last week passed a budget for reconstructing facilities.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: Need to balance Europe-Asia student flows
Yojana Sharma
Education ministers from more than 40 European and Asian countries met in Copenhagen last week to discuss how to balance the flow of students between the two continents - a movement heavily biased towards Asian students studying in Europe.
Full report on the University World News site:
FRANCE: Ministers unveil foreign student strategy
Jane Marshall
The French government is seeking to attract more foreign students, especially those from developing countries with "high potential", and to increase the proportion of postgraduates from abroad.
Full report on the University World News site:
AUSTRALIA: Sigh of relief at budget outcome
Geoff Maslen
Facing a multi-billion dollar black hole in its budget strategy and the prospect of oblivion at the next election, Australia's minority Labor government nevertheless brought some joy to the nation's vice-chancellors and their academics when it handed down its annual budget on Tuesday.
Full report on the University World News site:
UK: PM vetoes cash for university places plan
Brendan O'Malley
UK Universities Minister David Willetts has backtracked on a proposal to allow wealthy students to buy places at over-subscribed universities in England by paying higher fees up-front. The opposition claimed it was the fastest policy U-turn in history.
Full article on the University World News site:
EGYPT: Insecurity haunts universities ahead of exams
Ashraf Khaled
As Egyptian authorities try hard to re-establish stability in the country more than three months after former president Hosni Mubarak was swept out of office in a popular revolt, universities are concerned that lack of security will threaten examinations. Students at state and private universities are due to sit year-end exams later this month.
Full report on the University World News site:
EUROPE: Six shortlisted for EUR2 billion ICT research
Jan Petter Myklebust and Brendan O'Malley
Six 'grand challenge' flagship research projects have been shortlisted in the European Commission's EUR2 billion Future and Emerging Technologies Programme, announced by Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for the European Digital Agenda and Vice-President for the commission, in Budapest last week.
Full report on the University World News site:
INDIA: New efforts to attract global academic talent
Alya Mishra
As part of its strategy to entice talent into higher education and research, the Indian government is targeting top-level people of Indian origin working in the West and making it easier for them find out about job opportunities in the country.
Full report on the University World News site:
EUROPE: New student leader for continent
Brendan O'Malley
Members of the European Students' Union, the umbrella organisation representing 45 national unions of students from 39 European countries, have elected Allan Päll, 25, from Estonia as their new Chair.
Full report on the University World News site:
KENYA: University funding could go down, research up
Gilbert Nganga
Kenya could cut subsidies to public universities for the coming financial year, which begins in July, potentially putting at risk several projects meant to boost access to higher education. But spending on research and innovation is to more than double.
Full report on the University World News site:
FEATURES
THAILAND: Academic charged in political case
Yojana Sharma
Somsak Jeamteerasakul, a professor of history at Bangkok's Thammasat University, turned himself in to the police on Wednesday to hear official charges of lèse majéste after weeks of threats that the charges would be laid. Critics said the case could mark a watershed in using the law against critics of the regime, as it is being seen as clearly politically motivated.
Full report on the University World News site:
COMMENTARY
GLOBAL: Who goes where and why for education?
In the past, universities wishing to attract international students have focused on deciding their unique selling point and promoting it, say CAROLINE MACREADY and CLIVE TUCKER. Their research shows that student mobility is in good health, although mobility patterns are changing, and suggests that in the future it will be more important to understand what international students want and to demonstrate that the institution can provide it.
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: University entrepreneurism emerging in UK
The University of Warwick's bid for a New York campus is the latest in a series of changes in globalised education. Financial pressures in the UK are forcing universities to seek more entrepreneurial ways of playing to their strengths, including branching out and capitalising on potential global opportunities as their American counterparts have done, argues MARY LANDON DARDEN.
Full report on the University World News site:
CANADA: Paradoxes of 'visible minorities' in job ads
Canadian universities seem to welcome a diverse faculty, but in grouping all 'visible minorities' together they are ignoring the fact that different minorities face different issues. As universities become more globalised, racial diversity among faculty will become more important. Universities will need to ensure that their diversity policy is built on hard data and achieves results, argues CARL E JAMES.
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 2,650 readers have joined. Sign up to the University World News Facebook group to meet and communicate directly with academics and researchers informed by the world's first truly global higher education publication. Click on the link below to visit and join the group.
Visit the University World News group on Facebook:
WORLD ROUND-UP
GERMANY: Plagiarism report slams Guttenberg
The chances of former defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg returning quickly to German politics seemed effectively buried last Wednesday after his alma mater said his thesis was full of other people's work that he had deliberately copied, reports The Local.
More on the University World News site:
CONGO: Rebels attack university minister
The Democratic Republic of Congo's Minister of University and Higher Education has survived an attack by Rwandan rebels that left two people dead, writes Michael J Kavanag for Bloomberg.
More on the University World News site:
US: Texas set to allow handguns in universities
The holders of concealed handgun licences are set to be allowed to carry weapons into public college buildings and classrooms in Texas, after Republicans in the state senate approved the measure as part of a universities spending bill, reports the Guardian.
More on the University World News site:
US: Texas universities pressured by think-tank
The influence of a conservative movement that would apply a greater business orientation to Texas higher education came into stark relief last week, when the chancellor of one of the state's university systems unexpectedly resigned and the other seemed to push back against regents who have embraced what some call a heavy-handed ideological agenda, writes Jack Stripling for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
More on the University World News site:
US: Kushner's honour restored by board vote
The trustees board of City University of New York brought to an end an embarrassing row over freedom of expression by voting unanimously to award an honorary degree to the award-winning playwright Tony Kushner, write Ed Pilkington and Ewen MacAskill for the Guardian.
More on the University World News site:
SPAIN: Corruption 'widespread in universities'
A Spanish university has denied that disciplinary proceedings against one of its professors are a response to a book he wrote alleging corruption at the institution. José Penalva, professor of education at the University of Murcia, has been accused of absenteeism and could face dismissal, writes Paul Jump for Times Higher Education.
More on the University World News site:
SCOTLAND: Probe into university visa scam
Scotland's Immigration Minister Damian Green admitted last week that there might be widespread abuses of a visa scheme that provides foreign students with the chance to enrol at UK institutions, after irregularities were found at a university, writes Kate Devlin for The Herald.
More on the University World News site:
UK: LSE 'may reject maximum tuition fees'
The London School of Economics could become the first elite university in England to set tuition fees below the maximum level. In a boost to the coalition government, it emerged that the institution is considering charging £8,000 (US$13,000) a year for a degree - £1,000 lower than all other top universities, writes Graeme Paton for The Telegraph.
More on the University World News site:
UK: Student loans firm faces record complaints
The number of students and graduates complaining about the handling of their loans has soared in recent years, amid growing concern that the cost of higher education is fuelling discontent in universities across the country, writes Brian Brady for The Independent on Sunday.
More on the University World News site:
INDIA: Fee increase proposed for central universities
The era of exceptionally low fees at central universities in India could soon be over, if the government accepts the alternative funding system suggested by the Human Resource Development Ministry-appointed Madhava Menon Committee, writes Urmi A Goswami for The Economic Times.
More on the University World News site:
CHINA: Ministry issues list excluding new college
While many of China's universities are advertising to attract attention from college candidates ahead of the annual college entrance examination in June, one university is noticeably absent from a list of colleges approved to recruit students, reports English.Eastday.com.
More on the University World News site:
SAUDI ARABIA: University education gets 25-year plan
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has approved a 25-year plan for the development of university education in Saudi Arabia, Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari announced last week. He said the plan, which has taken into consideration Shariah teachings, the country's future vision and national development plans, was prepared in line with global best practices in higher education, reports PK Abdul Ghafour for Arab News.
More on the University World News site:
IRAN: Curricula aligned with 'Islamic principles'
Iran's Ministry of Science says the course content of 36 university programmes has been altered for the academic year that starts this autumn, reports Radio Zamaneh. The ministry says it has a committee in charge of reviewing university curricula, according to a report by the Islamic Republic News Agency, and its work will continue beyond the 36 fields affected in this round.
More on the University World News site:
BULGARIA: Students flock to foreign universities
Some 80,000 Bulgarian students currently study abroad, primarily in the European Union, according to data presented at an education forum in Sofia last Monday, reports Novinite.
More on the University World News site:
US: Canada's rejection of Ignatieff shocks Harvard
Boston's chattering classes are struggling with the stunning political defeat of one of Harvard's most popular academics at the hands of Canadian voters, painting Michael Ignatieff's historic loss as Liberal leader as a new low in Canadian politics, writes Tamsin McMahon for the National Post.
More on the University World News site:
CANADA: University graduates turn to colleges
As the bachelor degree loses its lustre, the college system in Canada has been prepping for its close-up. One of its biggest boosters: university graduates who are treating colleges and polytechnics as de facto finishing schools, writes Tralee Pearce for the Globe and Mail.
More on the University World News site:
UGANDA: Universities raise admission points
Makerere University and the other four public universities have raised the admission points for government-sponsored students for the coming academic year, write Francis Kagolo and Cecilia Okoth for New Vision.
More on the University World News site:
Sunday 8 May 2011
University World News 0170 - 8th May 2011
This week's highlights
This week University World News reports on the 1st QS-MAPLE (Middle East and Africa Professional Leaders in Education) conference held last week in Dubai Knowledge Village, and on the first QS global life sciences subject rankings. In Features, YOJANA SHARMA writes that branch campuses being set up in China could flounder because students are unwilling to pay overseas fee levels for degrees obtained in their own country, and AMEEN AMJAD KHAN reports on growing concern in Pakistan that the dismantling of the Higher Education Commission will place international research collaborations in jeopardy. In Commentary, WILLIAM PATRICK LEONARD suggests that marketing universities as vacation resorts could be a reason behind falling academics standards in America, and CHRISTIAN HELMERS argues that it is not enough to create science parks near universities and throw money at them - to succeed, they need to be actively managed.
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report
INDIA: Science and research spending to double
Alya Mishra
The Indian government has said it will double its spending on science and technology research and development over the next five years, in a bid to keep up with other major developing countries such as China and Brazil.
Full report on the University World News site:
PAKISTAN: Local students fear Bin Laden backlash
Ameen Amjad Khan
A 45-minute operation by US Special Forces on a mansion in Abbottabad, which resulted in the death of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, has triggered fear and alarm among those who take pride in sending their children to the city for quality education.
Full report on the University World News site:
COTE D'IVOIRE: Campuses cleared of militia
Tunde Fatunde
With ousted Ivoirian president Laurent Gbagbo arrested by forces loyal to Dramane Allasane Ouattara, who was on Friday sworn in as the country's president, the new democratically elected government has ordered the military to clear universities of militia. But with campuses long embroiled in the political conflict, this task is far from simple.
Full report on the University World News site:
GERMANY: Top Euro politician accused of plagiarism
Michael Gardner
German politician and European Parliament Vice-president Silvana Koch-Mehrin is alleged to have used plagiarisms in at least a quarter of her doctoral thesis.
Full report on the University World News site:
UK: Private higher education needs legal framework
David Jobbins
Growth of private higher education in the UK will not necessarily be at the expense of the public sector, a report published by a leading think tank says. The report, from the Higher Education Policy Institute, calls for new legislation to regulate the growth.
Full report on University World News site:
CANADA: New government could commerc ialise HE
Sarah King Head
During the week after Stephen Harper's Conservative Party won its third consecutive election and was set to form it first majority government, questions remained over whether pledges to higher education articulated in the March budget that prompted a return to the polls - or those articulated on the electoral trail - would be honoured.
Full report on the University World News site:
MALAYSIA: Foreign students could counter brain drain
Honey Singh Virdee
Allowing in more international students could counter Malaysia's intensifying brain drain, which may become "a major stumbling block" to the country's aspiration to become a high-income nation, a just-released World Bank report has said.
Full report on the University World News site:
EGYPT: Minister calls for fees at public universities
Ashraf Khaled
A recent call by Egypt's Minister of Education Gamal Eddin Moussa to charge fees at public universities has triggered sharp criticism from academics. The minister said continued free education at governmental universities violated social justice.
Full report on the University World News site:
ZIMBABWE: Students under financial, political pressure
Kudzai Mashininga
Forty percent of Zimbabwe's students have been expelled from examination rooms for failing to pay their fees, and some have resorted to crime to raise funds. The crisis comes amid reports that President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF foot soldiers are moving around some campuses forcing students to sign an anti-sanctions petition.
Full report on the University World News site:
DR CONGO: Inquiries into violence after fees hikes
Jane Marshall
Violence between students and police in the Democratic Republic of Congo last month resulted in two deaths and several injuries, and has led to parliamentary inquiries. The angry students were principally demonstrating over sharp increases in university charges.
Full report on the University World News site:
SENEGAL: Second postgraduate maths institute to open
Munyaradzi Makoni
The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences based in South Africa is on course to create a coordinated pan-African network training postgraduate students and promoting research in mathematical sciences within five years. A second AIMS centre is to start operating in Senegal in September.
Full report on the University World News site :
First QS MAPLE conference
The 1st QS-MAPLE (Middle East and Africa Professional Leaders in Education)
conference was held from 1-2 May in Dubai Knowledge Village, followed by a rankings and evaluation workshop. The event brought together international educators from across the world to discuss the development of higher education in the Middle East and Africa, to stimulate international partnership and to support evaluation and upgrading processes that could lead to greater worldwide recognition of universities in the regions. University World News reports.
GLOBAL: America, UK dominate life sciences rankings
David Jobbins British and North American universities lead a new global ranking of life sciences, with a sprinkling of universities from continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East barely breaking their near-monopoly. No university in South Asia, Africa or South America features in the top 50 for any of three disciplines covered in the first QS World University Rankings for Life Sciences in Medicine, Biological Sciences and Psychology.
Full report on the University World News site:
MIDDLE EAST: Branch campuses face leadership issues
Yojana Sharma
Branch campuses set up by Western institutions in the Middle East face leadership problems, with political and cultural issues posing the biggest challenges when the head of the university comes from the home institution, the QS-MAPLE (Middle East and Africa Professional Leaders in Education) conference in Dubai heard last week.
Full report on the University World News site:
MIDDLE EAST: Online education is vital for the region
Raj Kapoor
With economic imperatives rising and the demand for a more skilled workforce, now is the time for expansion of online higher education courses in the Middle East. However, there are still some challenges and perceptions to overcome.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: Higher education internationalising - slowly
Karen MacGregor
Higher education in Africa has been internationalising, driven by student mobility, the growth of English and an array of initiatives including the creation of regional bodies and networks and improved internet connectivity. But outside of South Africa, lack of strategies and the many challenges facing higher education are hampering its growth.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWSBRIEFS
CHILE: Universities to strike over reforms
María Elena Hurtado
Chilean universities are going on strike on 12 May to press their demands regarding a major reform of higher education announced by the government. The strike follows an 8,000-strong march in downtown Santiago last week.
Full report on the University World News site:
VIETNAM: New state-of-the-art S&T university
Analena Batista-Mercado
Vietnam is to invest some US$315 million in a new state-of-the-art university of science and technology to be established in Hanoi with the help of a US$190 million loan from the Asian Development Bank, it was announced at the bank's headquarters in Manila last week.
Full report on the University World News site:
FEATURES
CHINA: Students against US prices for 'branch' degrees
Yojana Sharma
New overseas branch campuses being set up by US, British and other Western universities in China could flounder or rack up huge additional costs to the parent university because Chinese students are not willing to pay overseas levels of tuition fees for degrees obtained in their own country.
Full report on the University World News site:
PAKISTAN: Devolution jeopardises university research
Ameen Amjad Khan
The future of international research collaborations and other research initiatives are in doubt as a result of the Pakistan government's attempts to dismantle the federal-level Higher Education Commission and devolve responsibility to provinces that lack the capacity and financial resources to run these major projects, academics say.
Full report on the University World News site:
HERANA - Universities and development in Africa
AFRICA: Developing students as democratic citizens
African countries should initiate dialogue between government, student leaders, and university managers and professionals on student development as a pathway to democratic citizenship-building on the continent, new research has proposed.
Full report on the University World News site:
COMMENTARY
US: Selling universities as resorts affects quality
Why are academic standards falling in US universities? Could a reason be the fact that they are increasingly marketed on the basis of amenities - as four-year vacation resorts - rather than for their academic qualities and rigour? asks WILLIAM PATRICK LEONARD. Are universities and colleges unconsciously telling prospective students that academics and the requisite study time are at best secondary?
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: What makes science parks successful?
There has been a lot of focus on science parks being drivers of innovation in applied research, but what is their recipe for success? CHRISTIAN HELMERS argues that it is not enough to create parks near universities and throw money at them. They need to be actively managed to ensure firms residing in them have the right profile and are from the same industry.
Full report on the University World News site:
SCIENCE SCENE
US-SWITZERLAND: A healing polymer
A team of researchers in the United States and Switzerland have developed a polymer-based material that can heal itself with the help of a widely used type of lighting. The discovery could solve the problem of overcoming scratches on cars and other precious objects without repainting.
Full report on the University World News site:
UK: Plants use grandfather clock to flower
Scientists at Royal Holloway, University of London, have found that plants use a mechanism similar to a grandfather clock to activate a gene that regulates when they flower. The discovery has implications for crop productivity.
Full report on the University World News site:
SWITZERLAND: Saving lives by SMS
A new study by Professor Donald A Marchand of the Swiss business school IMD explains how an 'SMS for Life' project used text message technology to save lives by dramatically improving the supply chain for anti-malaria drugs in Tanzania.
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 2,650 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
MALAYSIA: Industry hails education deal with China
Veteran industry players have applauded the signing of an agreement between the Malaysian government and China to facilitate mutual recognition of higher education qualifications, which is expected to accelerate industrial growth, writes Lee Kian Seong for The Star.
More on the University World News site:
US: Prestigious universities group ousts Nebraska
For the first time in its 111-year history, an organisation made up of the nation's leading research universities has voted to oust one of its members, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. The ouster by the prestigious and prominent group, the Association of American Universities, was particularly painful to Nebraska since the university was one of its earliest members, admitted in 1909, writes Tamar Lewin for The New York Times.
More on the University World News site:
CANADA: Wikileaks alleges anti-US university bias
A US Embassy official studying at the University of Ottawa apparently experienced first-hand what American officials describe as the 'anti-American biases' of Canada's universities and academics, writes Keith Bonnell for Postmedia News.
More on the University World News site:
US: Head of shuttered Tri-Valley University arrested
The president of Tri-Valley University, which has been called a 'sham' by federal prosecutors, was arrested last week after being indicted on 33 counts for what authorities call a student visa fraud scheme, writes Sophia Kazmi for Contra Costa Times.
More on the University World News site:
UK: St Andrews dismisses Syria centre criticism
St Andrews University has dismissed claims that it received funding negotiated through people connected to the current Syrian regime, reports BBC News. The Fife university launched a review into its Centre for Syrian Studies following the uprising in Syria.
More on the University World News site:
US-AFRICA: Gbabgo offered position at Boston
Dressed in a sagging white tank top and wearing a forlorn gaze, Cote d'Ivoire's deposed leader Laurent Gbagbo was dragged from his bunker after four months of refusing to step down from the presidency. But he had been offered another, less painful, end to his 11-year rule by US President Barack Obama - a teaching position at Boston University, writes Elizabeth Haggarty for the Toronto Star.
More on the University World News site:
MALAYSIA: Freeze placed on new medical courses
Malaysia's Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said last week that a temporary freeze had been imposed on higher education institutions from offering new medical courses, effective from this month. The freeze would be for five years, reports the official agency Bernama.
More on the University World News site:
US: Discord in Harvard's education school
The recent denial of tenure to a prominent Harvard scholar whose work focuses on grassroots organising has sparked student protests over the direction of one of the nation's most influential education schools, writes Tracy Jan for the Boston Globe.
More on the University World News site:
US: School blocks Kushner honour over Israel
For the second time in just six months, the City University of New York has become embroiled in scandal over the politics of the Israel-Palestine conflict. This week, the CUNY board of trustees blocked an attempt by one of its member colleges to award an honorary degree to the celebrated playwright Tony Kushner, who is also a prominent Jewish critic of Israel's treatment of Palestinians, writes Justin Elliot for Salon.com.
More on the University World News site:
UK: Applicants in the dark over at-risk universities
Students are being left in the dark over seven at-risk universities that face closure. Those applying for courses have no way of knowing if their chosen destinations are on the Higher Education Funding Council for England's secret list of imperilled institutions, writes Kate Loveys for The Mail.
More on the University World News site:
WALES: Calls for universities to unite on plagiarism
There have been calls for Welsh universities to be more consistent in dealing with students who plagiarise, writes Polly March for BBC News, as new figures show that between 2008 and 2011, 927 students from six Welsh universities copied work.
More on the University World News site:
AUSTRALIA: Record numbers of students enroll
A record number of students have enrolled in Australian universities this year, 50,000 more than in 2009. Minister for Tertiary Education Chris Evans said that in 2011, more than 480,000 undergraduate places were being funded, an increase of 10% since 2009, reports PS News.
More on the University World News site:
SINGAPORE: Four universities get private funding boost
Singapore's four public universities have each received at least S$1 million (US$810,000) in aid from Prima Limited, the republic's first flour miller. Nanyang Technological University, the National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University were each handed a cheque for S$1 million on the occasion of the Prima group's 50th anniversary, writes Lois Calderon for Channel News Asia.
More on the University World News site:
INDIA: Business schools face faculty crisis
While academics of Indian origin such as Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria, and Chicago Booth dean Sunil Kumar, are scaling the professional ladder in the West, business schools within India are struggling to find the same calibre of talent to fill faculty positions, reports Cool Avenues.com.
More on the University World News site:
US: Stanford creates stem cell PhD programme
Stanford University's faculty senate has approved the creation of what officials believe is the first stem cell science PhD programme in the nation and, perhaps, the world. The new doctoral programme in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine is also the first interdisciplinary doctoral programme created by the school of medicine in recent years, reports News Medical.
More on the University World News site:
This week University World News reports on the 1st QS-MAPLE (Middle East and Africa Professional Leaders in Education) conference held last week in Dubai Knowledge Village, and on the first QS global life sciences subject rankings. In Features, YOJANA SHARMA writes that branch campuses being set up in China could flounder because students are unwilling to pay overseas fee levels for degrees obtained in their own country, and AMEEN AMJAD KHAN reports on growing concern in Pakistan that the dismantling of the Higher Education Commission will place international research collaborations in jeopardy. In Commentary, WILLIAM PATRICK LEONARD suggests that marketing universities as vacation resorts could be a reason behind falling academics standards in America, and CHRISTIAN HELMERS argues that it is not enough to create science parks near universities and throw money at them - to succeed, they need to be actively managed.
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report
INDIA: Science and research spending to double
Alya Mishra
The Indian government has said it will double its spending on science and technology research and development over the next five years, in a bid to keep up with other major developing countries such as China and Brazil.
Full report on the University World News site:
PAKISTAN: Local students fear Bin Laden backlash
Ameen Amjad Khan
A 45-minute operation by US Special Forces on a mansion in Abbottabad, which resulted in the death of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, has triggered fear and alarm among those who take pride in sending their children to the city for quality education.
Full report on the University World News site:
COTE D'IVOIRE: Campuses cleared of militia
Tunde Fatunde
With ousted Ivoirian president Laurent Gbagbo arrested by forces loyal to Dramane Allasane Ouattara, who was on Friday sworn in as the country's president, the new democratically elected government has ordered the military to clear universities of militia. But with campuses long embroiled in the political conflict, this task is far from simple.
Full report on the University World News site:
GERMANY: Top Euro politician accused of plagiarism
Michael Gardner
German politician and European Parliament Vice-president Silvana Koch-Mehrin is alleged to have used plagiarisms in at least a quarter of her doctoral thesis.
Full report on the University World News site:
UK: Private higher education needs legal framework
David Jobbins
Growth of private higher education in the UK will not necessarily be at the expense of the public sector, a report published by a leading think tank says. The report, from the Higher Education Policy Institute, calls for new legislation to regulate the growth.
Full report on University World News site:
CANADA: New government could commerc ialise HE
Sarah King Head
During the week after Stephen Harper's Conservative Party won its third consecutive election and was set to form it first majority government, questions remained over whether pledges to higher education articulated in the March budget that prompted a return to the polls - or those articulated on the electoral trail - would be honoured.
Full report on the University World News site:
MALAYSIA: Foreign students could counter brain drain
Honey Singh Virdee
Allowing in more international students could counter Malaysia's intensifying brain drain, which may become "a major stumbling block" to the country's aspiration to become a high-income nation, a just-released World Bank report has said.
Full report on the University World News site:
EGYPT: Minister calls for fees at public universities
Ashraf Khaled
A recent call by Egypt's Minister of Education Gamal Eddin Moussa to charge fees at public universities has triggered sharp criticism from academics. The minister said continued free education at governmental universities violated social justice.
Full report on the University World News site:
ZIMBABWE: Students under financial, political pressure
Kudzai Mashininga
Forty percent of Zimbabwe's students have been expelled from examination rooms for failing to pay their fees, and some have resorted to crime to raise funds. The crisis comes amid reports that President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF foot soldiers are moving around some campuses forcing students to sign an anti-sanctions petition.
Full report on the University World News site:
DR CONGO: Inquiries into violence after fees hikes
Jane Marshall
Violence between students and police in the Democratic Republic of Congo last month resulted in two deaths and several injuries, and has led to parliamentary inquiries. The angry students were principally demonstrating over sharp increases in university charges.
Full report on the University World News site:
SENEGAL: Second postgraduate maths institute to open
Munyaradzi Makoni
The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences based in South Africa is on course to create a coordinated pan-African network training postgraduate students and promoting research in mathematical sciences within five years. A second AIMS centre is to start operating in Senegal in September.
Full report on the University World News site :
First QS MAPLE conference
The 1st QS-MAPLE (Middle East and Africa Professional Leaders in Education)
conference was held from 1-2 May in Dubai Knowledge Village, followed by a rankings and evaluation workshop. The event brought together international educators from across the world to discuss the development of higher education in the Middle East and Africa, to stimulate international partnership and to support evaluation and upgrading processes that could lead to greater worldwide recognition of universities in the regions. University World News reports.
GLOBAL: America, UK dominate life sciences rankings
David Jobbins British and North American universities lead a new global ranking of life sciences, with a sprinkling of universities from continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East barely breaking their near-monopoly. No university in South Asia, Africa or South America features in the top 50 for any of three disciplines covered in the first QS World University Rankings for Life Sciences in Medicine, Biological Sciences and Psychology.
Full report on the University World News site:
MIDDLE EAST: Branch campuses face leadership issues
Yojana Sharma
Branch campuses set up by Western institutions in the Middle East face leadership problems, with political and cultural issues posing the biggest challenges when the head of the university comes from the home institution, the QS-MAPLE (Middle East and Africa Professional Leaders in Education) conference in Dubai heard last week.
Full report on the University World News site:
MIDDLE EAST: Online education is vital for the region
Raj Kapoor
With economic imperatives rising and the demand for a more skilled workforce, now is the time for expansion of online higher education courses in the Middle East. However, there are still some challenges and perceptions to overcome.
Full report on the University World News site:
AFRICA: Higher education internationalising - slowly
Karen MacGregor
Higher education in Africa has been internationalising, driven by student mobility, the growth of English and an array of initiatives including the creation of regional bodies and networks and improved internet connectivity. But outside of South Africa, lack of strategies and the many challenges facing higher education are hampering its growth.
Full report on the University World News site:
NEWSBRIEFS
CHILE: Universities to strike over reforms
María Elena Hurtado
Chilean universities are going on strike on 12 May to press their demands regarding a major reform of higher education announced by the government. The strike follows an 8,000-strong march in downtown Santiago last week.
Full report on the University World News site:
VIETNAM: New state-of-the-art S&T university
Analena Batista-Mercado
Vietnam is to invest some US$315 million in a new state-of-the-art university of science and technology to be established in Hanoi with the help of a US$190 million loan from the Asian Development Bank, it was announced at the bank's headquarters in Manila last week.
Full report on the University World News site:
FEATURES
CHINA: Students against US prices for 'branch' degrees
Yojana Sharma
New overseas branch campuses being set up by US, British and other Western universities in China could flounder or rack up huge additional costs to the parent university because Chinese students are not willing to pay overseas levels of tuition fees for degrees obtained in their own country.
Full report on the University World News site:
PAKISTAN: Devolution jeopardises university research
Ameen Amjad Khan
The future of international research collaborations and other research initiatives are in doubt as a result of the Pakistan government's attempts to dismantle the federal-level Higher Education Commission and devolve responsibility to provinces that lack the capacity and financial resources to run these major projects, academics say.
Full report on the University World News site:
HERANA - Universities and development in Africa
AFRICA: Developing students as democratic citizens
African countries should initiate dialogue between government, student leaders, and university managers and professionals on student development as a pathway to democratic citizenship-building on the continent, new research has proposed.
Full report on the University World News site:
COMMENTARY
US: Selling universities as resorts affects quality
Why are academic standards falling in US universities? Could a reason be the fact that they are increasingly marketed on the basis of amenities - as four-year vacation resorts - rather than for their academic qualities and rigour? asks WILLIAM PATRICK LEONARD. Are universities and colleges unconsciously telling prospective students that academics and the requisite study time are at best secondary?
Full report on the University World News site:
GLOBAL: What makes science parks successful?
There has been a lot of focus on science parks being drivers of innovation in applied research, but what is their recipe for success? CHRISTIAN HELMERS argues that it is not enough to create parks near universities and throw money at them. They need to be actively managed to ensure firms residing in them have the right profile and are from the same industry.
Full report on the University World News site:
SCIENCE SCENE
US-SWITZERLAND: A healing polymer
A team of researchers in the United States and Switzerland have developed a polymer-based material that can heal itself with the help of a widely used type of lighting. The discovery could solve the problem of overcoming scratches on cars and other precious objects without repainting.
Full report on the University World News site:
UK: Plants use grandfather clock to flower
Scientists at Royal Holloway, University of London, have found that plants use a mechanism similar to a grandfather clock to activate a gene that regulates when they flower. The discovery has implications for crop productivity.
Full report on the University World News site:
SWITZERLAND: Saving lives by SMS
A new study by Professor Donald A Marchand of the Swiss business school IMD explains how an 'SMS for Life' project used text message technology to save lives by dramatically improving the supply chain for anti-malaria drugs in Tanzania.
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 2,650 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
MALAYSIA: Industry hails education deal with China
Veteran industry players have applauded the signing of an agreement between the Malaysian government and China to facilitate mutual recognition of higher education qualifications, which is expected to accelerate industrial growth, writes Lee Kian Seong for The Star.
More on the University World News site:
US: Prestigious universities group ousts Nebraska
For the first time in its 111-year history, an organisation made up of the nation's leading research universities has voted to oust one of its members, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. The ouster by the prestigious and prominent group, the Association of American Universities, was particularly painful to Nebraska since the university was one of its earliest members, admitted in 1909, writes Tamar Lewin for The New York Times.
More on the University World News site:
CANADA: Wikileaks alleges anti-US university bias
A US Embassy official studying at the University of Ottawa apparently experienced first-hand what American officials describe as the 'anti-American biases' of Canada's universities and academics, writes Keith Bonnell for Postmedia News.
More on the University World News site:
US: Head of shuttered Tri-Valley University arrested
The president of Tri-Valley University, which has been called a 'sham' by federal prosecutors, was arrested last week after being indicted on 33 counts for what authorities call a student visa fraud scheme, writes Sophia Kazmi for Contra Costa Times.
More on the University World News site:
UK: St Andrews dismisses Syria centre criticism
St Andrews University has dismissed claims that it received funding negotiated through people connected to the current Syrian regime, reports BBC News. The Fife university launched a review into its Centre for Syrian Studies following the uprising in Syria.
More on the University World News site:
US-AFRICA: Gbabgo offered position at Boston
Dressed in a sagging white tank top and wearing a forlorn gaze, Cote d'Ivoire's deposed leader Laurent Gbagbo was dragged from his bunker after four months of refusing to step down from the presidency. But he had been offered another, less painful, end to his 11-year rule by US President Barack Obama - a teaching position at Boston University, writes Elizabeth Haggarty for the Toronto Star.
More on the University World News site:
MALAYSIA: Freeze placed on new medical courses
Malaysia's Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said last week that a temporary freeze had been imposed on higher education institutions from offering new medical courses, effective from this month. The freeze would be for five years, reports the official agency Bernama.
More on the University World News site:
US: Discord in Harvard's education school
The recent denial of tenure to a prominent Harvard scholar whose work focuses on grassroots organising has sparked student protests over the direction of one of the nation's most influential education schools, writes Tracy Jan for the Boston Globe.
More on the University World News site:
US: School blocks Kushner honour over Israel
For the second time in just six months, the City University of New York has become embroiled in scandal over the politics of the Israel-Palestine conflict. This week, the CUNY board of trustees blocked an attempt by one of its member colleges to award an honorary degree to the celebrated playwright Tony Kushner, who is also a prominent Jewish critic of Israel's treatment of Palestinians, writes Justin Elliot for Salon.com.
More on the University World News site:
UK: Applicants in the dark over at-risk universities
Students are being left in the dark over seven at-risk universities that face closure. Those applying for courses have no way of knowing if their chosen destinations are on the Higher Education Funding Council for England's secret list of imperilled institutions, writes Kate Loveys for The Mail.
More on the University World News site:
WALES: Calls for universities to unite on plagiarism
There have been calls for Welsh universities to be more consistent in dealing with students who plagiarise, writes Polly March for BBC News, as new figures show that between 2008 and 2011, 927 students from six Welsh universities copied work.
More on the University World News site:
AUSTRALIA: Record numbers of students enroll
A record number of students have enrolled in Australian universities this year, 50,000 more than in 2009. Minister for Tertiary Education Chris Evans said that in 2011, more than 480,000 undergraduate places were being funded, an increase of 10% since 2009, reports PS News.
More on the University World News site:
SINGAPORE: Four universities get private funding boost
Singapore's four public universities have each received at least S$1 million (US$810,000) in aid from Prima Limited, the republic's first flour miller. Nanyang Technological University, the National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University were each handed a cheque for S$1 million on the occasion of the Prima group's 50th anniversary, writes Lois Calderon for Channel News Asia.
More on the University World News site:
INDIA: Business schools face faculty crisis
While academics of Indian origin such as Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria, and Chicago Booth dean Sunil Kumar, are scaling the professional ladder in the West, business schools within India are struggling to find the same calibre of talent to fill faculty positions, reports Cool Avenues.com.
More on the University World News site:
US: Stanford creates stem cell PhD programme
Stanford University's faculty senate has approved the creation of what officials believe is the first stem cell science PhD programme in the nation and, perhaps, the world. The new doctoral programme in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine is also the first interdisciplinary doctoral programme created by the school of medicine in recent years, reports News Medical.
More on the University World News site:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)