tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56099552774857920442023-11-15T10:58:58.065-08:00University World NewsUniversity World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.comBlogger198125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-64325191773681806652012-09-13T02:15:00.000-07:002012-09-13T02:15:17.442-07:00University World News - Issue No 0238<h2>
This week:</h2>
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NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report</h2>
<b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120907144349439">EUA reviews strategies for mobility</a></b></div>
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<b>Ard Jongsma</b><br />A European University Association review that set out to examine mobility strategies at European universities stumbled across the persistent problem of gathering reliable and comparable data on mobility, designed a set of tools to alleviate it and in the process compiled a most interesting snapshot of the current state of affairs in Europe.<br /><br /><b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120907132825451">Poor quality, few seats push 600,00 students abroad</a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br />Inadequate higher education infrastructure and poor quality courses are pushing 600,000 Indian students to top universities overseas – and are costing the country around Rs950 billion (US$17 billion) in foreign exchange annually – a study has found.<br /><br /><b>UNITED KINGDOM<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012090409583637">Legal challenge to international student ban</a></b></div>
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<b>David Jobbins</b><br />The British university barred from teaching students from outside the European Union prepared to challenge the decision in court last week, as politicians continued to attack government policy on international students.<br /><br /><b>DENMARK<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120906194757167">OECD ‘calls for reform’, Denmark takes it easy</a></b></div>
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<b>Ard Jongsma</b><br />On 4 September, the OECD published a review with a press release titled “OECD calls for reform of post-secondary vocational education and training in Denmark”. On the same day, the Danish authorities sent out the same report with a press release concluding: “Danish VET system praised by OECD.” Both are right, but the Danish interpretation better captures the gist of the review than the OECD’s own. <br /><br /><b>SRI LANKA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120906145250352">Government suddenly orders all universities to reopen</a></b></div>
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<b>Dinesh De Alwis</b><br />The Sri Lankan government unexpectedly decided to reopen all state universities last week, despite an ongoing lecturer strike. It is thought the move was a response to political and student union pressures, and to enable institutions to prepare for the new academic year.<br /><br /><b>SRI LANKA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120907141944310">Exam fiasco – Court orders admission of extra students</a></b></div>
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<b>Dinesh De Alwis</b><br />The shattered hopes of thousands of Sri Lankan students whose university entrance marks were miscalculated could be restored after the Supreme Court last week ordered public institutions to admit extra students in the new academic year.<br /><br /><b>EGYPT<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120906145612173">President promises freedoms to university students</a></b></div>
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<b>Ashraf Khaled</b><br />Egypt’s first elected civilian President Mohammed Mursi has promised to remove decades-old restrictions on student activities in the country’s universities.<br /><br /><b>TUNISIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120906150602854">New regime changes direction of higher education</a></b></div>
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<b>Jane Marshall</b><br />Tunisia is preparing for a change of direction for universities away from the policies of the old regime of former president Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali. There are plans to set up a national consultation on higher education to improve quality rather than increase the quantity of institutions.<br /><br /><b>MIDDLE EAST<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120907133102383">Cairo Declaration calls for higher education quality</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />Experts representing Arab countries recently concluded the fourth annual conference of the Arab Organization for Quality Assurance in Education by announcing the Cairo Declaration, in terms of which Arab standards for quality education similar to those achieved internationally are to be formulated.<br /><br /><b>KENYA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120905143546991">Private universities, students call for admissions reform</a></b></div>
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<b>Gilbert Nganga</b><br />Kenya’s private university investors are lobbying the government to change the law to allow them to attract high-performing school-leavers – currently the preserve of their public rivals – and they have the overwhelming support of students.<br /><br /><b>CÔTE D’IVOIRE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120906150916270">Universities finally reopen after two closed years</a></b></div>
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<b>Jane Marshall</b><br />Universities in Côte d’Ivoire reopened last week after two years of closure, and have been rehabilitated after the ravages of the post-electoral crisis. <br /><h2>
FEATURES</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120906201258968">What do transnational education students really want?</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br /><br />Students involved in transnational education – learning in a different country from where the degree-awarding institution is based – are less concerned about the awarding institution’s reputation and more about a flexible learning environment and a close fit in terms of subjects available for study.<br /><br /><b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120904100946519">China has become top destination for medical students</a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br /><br />Six years ago, when he was preparing to sit for multiple medical entrance examinations, Dr Vishal Swaroop had not heard of Liaoning province in China, five hours east of Beijing. Today he has a medical degree from Liaoning Medical University in the coastal city of Jinzhou.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120905142850169">First international journal of children’s play</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br /><br />A team of academics from around the world have published the first International Journal of Play, a peer reviewed 114-page publication on the many activities of children at play. “Our intention is to produce a journal that reflects, challenges and advances an understanding of play across the alphabet of scholarly disciplines,” say the editors.<br /></div>
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2012 IEASA conference in Cape Town</h2>
The International Education Association of South Africa, or IEASA, held its annual conference in Cape Town from 29 August to 1 September. University World News was there, along with more than 250 academics and practitioners of international higher education from around the world. This is the first of a two-part Special Report on the conference.<br /><br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120907122804742">Bring internationalisation back into academia – De Wit</a></b></div>
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<b>Karen MacGregor</b><br /><br />The internationalisation of higher education must be taken out of international offices and “brought back to where it belongs – in academia”, according to Hans de Wit. It is a mistake to see research and internationalisation as administrative issues residing in a research or an international office.<br /><br /><b>SOUTH AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120908113523552">Government to draft an internationalisation policy</a></b></div>
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<b>Karen MacGregor</b><br /><br />Eighteen years after South Africa’s new democracy ushered in tens of thousands of foreign students, the government is drafting policy frameworks and an international relations strategy for international higher education.<br /><h2>
WORLD BLOG</h2>
<b>UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120904142726585">Football 10, academic quality 0</a></b></div>
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<b>William Patrick Leonard</b><br /><br />American universities that invest heavily in football and basketball programmes may be scoring an own goal since most require heavy subsidies. They could instead invest the money in boosting academic quality, which would attract more international students and boost their global standing.<br /><h2>
COMMENTARY</h2>
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<br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012090414311572">Rankings and benchmarking reach similar results</a></b></div>
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<b>Benoît Millot</b><br /><br />International university rankings and tertiary system benchmarking results come to similar conclusions about the top universities and countries. They also suggest that well-resourced systems perform better and that decisions made by universities and national policy-makers make a difference.<br /><br /><b>UNITED KINGDOM<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012090710523086">A big mess: When universities meet the border agency… </a></b></div>
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<b>Susan L Robertson</b><br /><br />The decision by the UK Border Agency to withdraw London Metropolitan University's licence to teach non-EU students has created huge debate. The university must accept some of the blame, but the UKBA has produced an over-complex system and appears not to understand the effect its decision could have on the UK's standing in international higher education.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012090414372781">Relax – Higher education won't be killed by MOOCs</a></b></div>
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<b>Stephen H Foerster</b><br /><br />It has been claimed that MOOCs will spell the death of higher education as we know it. But many people will continue to prefer traditional learning and elite university credentials will still count for more. MOOCs are a great new tool for educationists, but overstating their importance could create false expectations that end in disappointment.<br /><br /><b>AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120907100207652">Harmonisation and tuning: Integrating higher education</a></b></div>
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<b>Karola Hahn and Damtew Teferra</b><br /><br />The harmonisation of higher education in Africa is a multidimensional process that promotes the integration of tertiary systems in the region. The objective is to achieve collaboration across borders – in curriculum development, standards and quality assurance, and joint structural convergence and consistency of systems as well as compatibility, recognition and transferability of degrees to facilitate mobility.</div>
University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-39793716856296320872012-08-15T01:47:00.003-07:002012-08-15T01:47:44.528-07:00University World News - Issue No 0234<h2>
MOOCs shake up world’s universities ‘like a tectonic shock’ – Marginson</h2>
<br />In World Blog, Jo Ritzen argues that universities could help Europe out of its current economic crisis, but there needs to be more Pan-European higher education cooperation and institutions need to become more engaged in broader societal issues.<br />In Commentary, Simon Marginson explains why Massive Open Online Courses – MOOCs – will be the game changer in higher education worldwide. Lynnel Hoare writes that transnational education may need to overcome ethnocentricity but can bring significant benefits to mature students, and Francesca Onley describes a project involving mobile teaching support in Tanzania that could provide a model for improving learning around the world.<br /> Geoff Maslen interviews Melbourne sociologist Ramon Spaaij, author of a new book on ‘lone wolf’ terrorists – the first in-depth analysis of the phenomenon. Also in Features, Alya Mishra reports on gaps in America’s visa regulations highlighted by the latest raid on a dubious university, which has left hundreds more foreign students stranded. And she looks at a study of India’s culture of creative improvisation, which has led to ‘frugal innovations’ that are attracting interest worldwide.<br />Finally, Gilbert Nganga writes that rapidly rising student numbers and increased competition have led universities in Kenya to embark on an extraordinary ‘race for space’ in commercial buildings in cities and towns, driving a property boom.<br /><b><i>Karen MacGregor – Global Editor </i></b> <br /><h2>
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report</h2>
<b>IRAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120807121505269">Huge rise in discrimination against women students</a></b><div>
<b>Yojana Sharma and Shafigeh Shirazi</b><br />More than 600 degree programmes in 60 universities in Iran are now segregated by gender, in what is being seen as a major expansion of the government’s efforts to separate male and female students. Discrimination against women students is also on the rise.<br /><br /><b>CHINA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120807160325397">New academic misconduct laws may not be adequate</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />New laws to clamp down on academic cheating at China’s universities could come into effect later this year as the rampant problems of plagiarism, falsification, lying about credentials and research papers and other misconduct continue unabated in higher education.<br /><br /><b>ITALY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120809192005319">Students to protest over fee hikes for late finishers</a></b></div>
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<b>Lee Adendorff</b><br />Student groups are threatening protest action after the Italian parliament backed a law on 7 August that gives universities the power to raise the fees of students who are taking too long to complete their studies.<br /><br /><b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120809193637432">Bologna reforms now implemented and widely accepted</a></b></div>
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<b>Michael Gardner</b><br />Ten years after the formal introduction of bachelor and masters degrees at German higher education institutions in the wake of the Bologna reforms, most courses have been adapted to the new system. Statistics suggest that the new degrees have found acceptance among students and industry.<br /><br /><b>EGYPT<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120809105521363">Islamist professor becomes higher education minister</a></b></div>
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<b>Ashraf Khaled</b><br />One month after Egypt got its first-ever elected Islamist president, the higher education portfolio went to another Islamist – engineering professor Mustafa Musad.<br /><br /><b>EGYPT<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120810165240180">New regional higher education initiatives under way</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />Egypt has launched several higher education initiatives including a plan to set up branches of Alexandria University in Lebanon and Malaysia, establishing an Arab higher education area and joining the Arab and European Leadership Network for Higher Education.<br /><br /><b>SOUTH AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120810151820153">Study finds link between research and economic growth</a></b></div>
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<b>Sharon Dell</b><br />Recent research in South Africa confirms what has almost become a truism, particularly in the developing world: knowledge production and the pursuit of higher education is good for a country’s economic growth, and governments would do well to bear such evidence in mind in their development of research-related policies.<br /><br /><b>CÔTE D’IVOIRE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120809110300956"> Fees hike as universities prepare to reopen</a></b></div>
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<b>Jane Marshall</b></div>
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Côte d’Ivoire’s universities, disrupted or closed for the past two or three years, are due to reopen on 3 September – but critics are protesting against increases in fees of up to 5,000%.<br /><br /><b>MALAWI<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120809160938759">Students sue for losses during lecturer protests</a></b>University of Malawi students have sued the institution’s council for losses they incurred during an eight-month academic freedom protest by lecturers, who have in turn passed a vote of no confidence in the institution’s authorities.<br /><br /><b>KENYA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120807171600796">UN launches human rights initiative in universities</a></b></div>
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<b>Maina Waruru</b><br />Kenyan universities will start teaching human rights to arts students, in an initiative spearheaded by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Five universities will be selected later this year to pilot the project, in which arts students will take a unit on the subject.<br /><h2>
FEATURES</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120809135628759">New book on lone wolf terrorists who cause mayhem</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />In the long roll call of ‘lone wolf’ terrorist attacks, few countries have been spared. Melbourne sociologist Dr Ramon Spaaij has been researching terrorism for 10 years and for the past five has focused on solitary gunmen who open fire on the innocent in pursuit of specific goals. His new book, Understanding Lone Wolf Terrorism, is the first in-depth analysis of such terrorism worldwide.<br /> <br /><b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120810172214855">US visa fraud institutions highlight regulatory gaps</a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br />Herguan University in Sunnyvale, California, is the third institution in less than two years to have been raided by US officials and accused of visa fraud by the federal authorities, leaving hundreds of foreign student – most of them from India – stranded. <br /><br /><b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120802142717309">‘Frugal innovation’ path for cash-strapped research</a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br />Although countries like China have raced ahead of India in research spending and investment in science and innovation, India’s culture of creative improvisation has led to inexpensive, low-key innovative solutions, sometimes known as ‘frugal innovation’. <br /><br /><b>KENYA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120810142147420">Universities’ scramble for space fuels property boom</a></b></div>
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<b>Gilbert Nganga</b><br />In the basement of Church House in downtown Nairobi, Kenya, worshippers gather at one end of a room for evening prayers. At the other end of the dimly lit space, students of the Presbyterian University of East Africa finish assignments for a 17h00 class. The noise from the enthusiastic worshippers fills the room, but the students are at ease. They are used to it.<br /><h2>
WORLD BLOG</h2>
<b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120807141433279">Can universities lead Europe out of crisis?</a></b></div>
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<b>Jo Ritzen</b><br />Universities can help lift Europe out of the economic crisis. But there needs to be more Pan-European higher education and research cooperation, Europe needs to recognise that one size does not fit all, and universities need to overcome the crisis of trust between academia and society.<br /><h2>
COMMENTARY</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012080915084470">Yes, MOOC is the higher education game changer</a></b></div>
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<b>Simon Marginson</b><br />Free Massive Open Online Courseware – MOOC – is less than a year old but it is already clear this will be the game changer in higher education worldwide. Right now it is reverberating through the world’s universities like a tectonic shock.<br /><br /><b>SINGAPORE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120807181440127">Transnational education: A good-news story</a></b></div>
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<b>Lynnel Hoare</b><br />Transnational education has been seen as everything from altruistic to neocolonialist, but in much research the voices of students involved are ignored. A study of mature students on a transnational education programme in Singapore shows they can reap considerable benefits, but it raises questions about ethnocentricity in the way courses are taught.<br /><br /><b>TANZANIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120801143838153">Mobile teaching technology provides a model for future</a></b></div>
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<b>Sister Francesca Onley</b><br />A joint project in Tanzania between an NGO founded by Stanford's chief technology officer and Holy Family University could provide a model for future teaching. It involves the use of mobile teaching technology that enhances student learning and encourages creative and innovative approaches to their education.</div>
University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-73179361041916610472012-08-06T03:05:00.002-07:002012-08-06T03:05:23.864-07:00University World News - Issue No 0233<div>
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MOOCs and problems with export model call branch campuses into question</h2>
<br />In World Blog, Rahul Choudaha ponders whether Massive Open Online Courses make starting up new branch campuses seem outdated. In Commentary, Christian Leder writes that new institutions have emerged in Switzerland that are tied closely to industry, enabling a flow of ideas between the two sectors.<br />Research by Peter Bodycott and Ada Lai reveals that Chinese parents play a major role in decisions about whether and where their children study abroad – though teenagers are beginning to have their voices heard – and Julius Kravjar describes a nationwide anti-plagiarism programme that is helping Slovakia to beat academic cheats.<br />Alya Mishra interviews Indian theoretical physicist Ashoke Sen, one of nine winners of the new Yuri Milner Fundamental Physics Prize, and in Features, Dinesh De Alwis reports on the entrance exam fiasco in Sri Lanka that has denied thousands of students university places.<br />Also in Features, Geoff Maslen describes a new report that finds some universities considering transforming the branch campus model into fully-fledged multinational institutions, and looks at a speech by David Finegold presenting contrasting descriptions of how China and India are expanding higher education.<br />In Myanmar, Naw Say Phaw Waa writes that moves to restore Yangon University to its former glory have captured the public imagination, and Tunde Fatunde covers the 13th World Congress of the International Federation of French Teachers in Durban, where participants found that the future of the language could lie in Africa.<br /><i>Karen MacGregor – Global Editor</i> <br /> <br /><h2>
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report</h2>
<b>RUSSIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120801172612441">One in five universities to close or merge – Minister</a></b></div>
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<b>Eugene Vorotnikov</b><br /><br />Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a reorganisation of state universities that will lead to some closures. One in five universities could be shut down or forced to merge over the next two or three years.<br /><br /><b>GREECE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120730091116998">New minister may tone down higher education reforms</a></b></div>
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<b>Makki Marseilles</b><br />Greece’s Education Minister Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos has indicated that the new coalition government is willing to negotiate a compromise on controversial higher education reforms inherited from the two previous administrations.<br /><br /><b>LATIN AMERICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120803110214468">Brazil tops 2012 Latin America rankings</a> </b></div>
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<b>María Elena Hurtado</b><br /><br />Sixty-five out of the 250 universities in the 2012 QS ranking on Latin America published late last month are Brazilian, with the University of São Paulo taking the top spot. Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Argentina make up 80% of the universities from the 19-country ranking.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120727120853266">China and Australia to support African universities</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br /><br />Two countries recently pledged further support for African universities and students. The China-Africa strategic partnership has strengthened its focus on higher education, and the Australia-Africa Universities Network seeks to build collaboration with African institutions.<br /><br /><b>HONG KONG<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120731090834703">Academics, students protest against ‘patriotic’ studies</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br /><br />Professors and students joined a major Hong Kong rally last Sunday against the imposition of ‘national education’ about China in secondary schools, saying it could have a detrimental impact on the entire education system including universities, if allowed to take hold.<br /><br /><b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120802173708925">Foreign students and staff get more work opportunities</a></b></div>
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<b>Michael Gardner</b><br />A new law giving foreign academics and students more job-seeking opportunities has come into effect in Germany, as the share of foreign students enrolled at German higher education institutions rose again last year.<br /><br /><b>ZAMBIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120804144201396">Government scraps student bursaries in favour of loans</a></b><br />Zambia’s government has decided to scrap its national bursary scheme and replace it with student loans, following controversies including allegations of corruption that have dogged the bursary initiative for years.<br /><br /><b>AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120803164439319">Association of African Universities loses new leader</a></b></div>
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<b>Maina Waruru</b><br />The struggling Association of African Universities, the umbrella body for higher education institutions across the continent, has lost another secretary general prematurely.<br /><h2>
FEATURES</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120802130423710">The rise of the multinational university</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />More than 200 degree-granting international branch campuses of universities are now located in foreign countries. But a new report says some universities are considering transforming the branch campus model into fully fledged multinational universities “by slicing up the global value chain in ways akin to multinational corporations”.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120805081907482">How will ‘whirlwind’ forces affect higher education?</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />Technology experts believe market factors will push universities to expand online courses, create hybrid learning spaces, and move towards lifelong learning models and different credential structures by 2020, according to a new report. “But they disagree about how these whirlwind forces will influence education, for the better or the worse.”<br /><br /><b>SRI LANKA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120804095542919">Exam fiasco denies thousands university places</a></b></div>
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<b>Dinesh De Alwis</b>They had a dream. They had a target. They had a future. But their dreams have been shattered and the future is uncertain for thousands of Sri Lankan students who have failed to gain admission to state universities because of a mess-up in the calculation of the results of entrance exams held last year.<br /><br /><b>MYANMAR<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012080315340411">Restoring Yangon University to its former glory</a></b></div>
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<b>Naw Say Phaw Waa</b><br />The campus of Yangon University, formerly Rangoon University, in the centre of the city, is semi-abandoned. Tall grass surrounds the old convocation hall still used by a number of universities for delivering degrees. But other structures, particularly the old student buildings, are in a dilapidated state.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120802130704632">China and India’s rapidly expanding higher education</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />China and India together represent more than 35% of the global workforce and both are seeking a transition from a low-skill equilibrium to high-skill ecosystems – although India will continue to have large numbers of lower-skilled jobs – according to David Finegold of Rutgers University. He described the implications of their growth and rapidly expanding higher education systems for America, Europe and Australia.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120801162231952">The expansion of the French language lies in Africa</a></b></div>
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<b>Tunde Fatunde</b><br /><br /> More than 800 delegates from educational institutions including universities in 150 countries attended the 13th World Congress of the International Federation of French Teachers held in South Africa recently. The major concern was how to protect French from contending languages in a fierce global world – and the future could lie in Africa.<br /><h2>
PEOPLE</h2>
<b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120803125254779">Indian scientist scoops US$3 million physics award</a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br /><br />Theoretical physicist Ashoke Sen, a string theorist at India’s Harish-Chandra Research Institute, is one of nine winners of the first Yuri Milner Fundamental Physics Prize. At US$3 million, the award is worth nearly three times more than a Nobel and is the most lucrative academic prize in the world.<br /><h2>
WORLD BLOG</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120731104930428">Could MOOCs lead to the decline of branch campuses?</a></b></div>
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<b>Rahul Choudaha</b><br /><br />Massive Open Online Courses – MOOCs – offer a low risk, low cost way of reaching international students. Will they replace branch campuses? Established branch campuses are unlikely to die out any time soon, but newer versions may need to take developments in internationalisation into account.<br /><h2>
COMMENTARY</h2>
<b>SWITZERLAND<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120725123538996">Who determines what should be taught?</a></b></div>
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<b>Christian Leder</b><br /><br />New higher education institutions in Switzerland are closer to industry than traditional universities, and a new development in which external actors are brought onto the boards of institutions could bring them more benefits, boosting professional development, shaping better educational opportunities for students and furthering research on current issues.<br /><br /><b>CHINA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120731122209685">The role of Chinese parents in study-abroad decisions</a></b></div>
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<b>Peter Bodycott and Ada Lai</b><br /><br />Universities that host Chinese students studying abroad need to pay more attention to the factors that influence their choices to study overseas – primarily their families. Little is known about how contemporary families in China make such decisions.<br /><br /><b>SLOVAKIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120731160418676">A national system to prevent plagiarism is working</a></b></div>
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<b>Julius Kravjar</b><br /><br />A national system for countering plagiarism has been initiated in Slovakia, and findings after two years show it has reduced copying and increased the quality of dissertations and theses.<br /><h2>
SCIENCE SCENE</h2>
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<br /><b>GLOBAL</b><br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012080110282687">Human behaviour emerged earlier than believed</a><br />Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed that pigment use, beads, engravings and sophisticated stone and bone tools were already present in Southern Africa 75,000 years ago. But many of these artefacts had disappeared by 60,000 years ago, suggesting that modern behaviour appeared in the past and was lost before becoming firmly established. <br /><br /><b>CHINA </b><br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120801103126666">Whale shark survival threatened by over-fishing</a><br />Researchers at Shandong University in Weihai and Murdoch University in Western Australia have found distressing trends in the catching and trading of threatened whale sharks around the Chinese coast. Results indicate that whale sharks are increasingly being targeted because of high demand for large shark fins and a rising appetite for shark meat in general.<br /> <br /><b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012080110333999">Call for big investment in marine research</a></b><br />Seas and oceans cover more than 70% of the Earth’s surface, host the majority of its biomass and contribute significantly to all global cycles of matter and energy. All life on Earth most likely originated from microbes in the sea, says a report by the European Science Foundation’s Marine Board.<br /> <br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120801103536847">UV radiation causing rising deaths in marine life</a></b><br />Ultraviolet radiation has caused a steep increase in deaths among marine animals and plants, according to an international team of marine scientists. The team found the marine life most affected by ultraviolet B radiation were protists such as algae, corals, crustaceans, and fish larvae and eggs, thereby affecting marine ecosystems from the bottom to the top of the food web. <br /></div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-67732541198910852422012-07-15T02:39:00.000-07:002012-07-15T02:39:19.000-07:00University World News - Issue No 0230<h2>
Action, not words, needed to tackle biases against women’s academic careers</h2>
<br />In World Blog, Curt Rice argues that waiting for the increased number of women graduates to convert into more women in top posts will not work, and in Features David Jobbins reports on a pledge by Europe’s leading research universities to overcome the discrimination that prevents female academics from playing a full role in European research. <br /> Helena Flusfeder describes a move by Israel’s Council for <br />Higher Education to sidestep a political controversy over granting a West Bank centre university status, and in Nigeria Tunde Fatunde writes that recent attacks on churches on and near universities in northern Nigeria could drive an exodus southwards of students and academics.<br />In a Commentary section focused on the Americas, John Aubrey Douglass finds that for-profit universities and colleges in the United States have done well out of the Great Recession because they plug gaps other institutions cannot fill.<br /> Ernesto Schiefelbein suggests that offering public school students remedial classes could reduce the possibility of student protests in Chile, and Angel Calderon reports that proposed reforms aimed at improving teaching standards in Guatemala are being opposed by students.<br />Karen MacGregor – Global Editor <br /> <br /><h2>
NEWS</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120711190958308">Four out of 10 graduates from China and India by 2020</a></b><div>
<b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120711190958308"></a>David Jobbins </b><br />Four out of every 10 university graduates will come from just two countries – China and India – by 2020, according to a report from the OECD. China alone will account for 29% of graduates aged 25-34, with the United States and Europe stagnating at just over a quarter. <br /><br /><b>SINGAPORE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120711162248126">Diversify expansion to avoid ‘carbon copy’ graduates </a></b></div>
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<b>Adele Yung </b><br />Singapore’s university sector no longer needs to catch up with the rest of the world and should not slavishly follow Western models, simply expanding to produce more “carbon copy” graduates, according to a high-level international panel advising the government on its strategic higher education policies. <br /><br /><b> INDONESIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012071409502639">Controversial higher education bill clears parliament </a></b></div>
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<b>Ria Nurdiani </b><br />Indonesia’s House of Representatives finally endorsed a controversial higher education bill on Friday, amid criticism of the way important issues such as foreign universities and student access have been handled in the legislation. <br /><br /><b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012071310164734">Policy paper urges better deal for disabled students </a></b></div>
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<b>MJ Deschamps </b><br />A European Commission policy paper has encouraged European Union member states to work harder at helping disabled students to gain university places and good degrees, with data showing that their life chances improve considerably with higher education. <br /><br /><b>UNITED KINGDOM<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120713204303981">Student applications fall by 10% following fee hikes</a></b></div>
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<b>Brendan O’Malley </b><br />Demand for places at higher education institutions in England has fallen by 10%, according to UCAS, the body that manages applications to courses. The new figures offer insight into the impact on applications of the decision to allow universities to triple tuition fees from 2012-13.<br /><br /><b>ISLAMIC STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120713170242894">Higher education exchange programme launched </a></b></div>
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<b>Ameen Amjad Khan </b><br />The Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has announced a higher education exchange programme that will facilitate scholarships, faculty exchanges, collaboration on distance learning methods and research projects among its 57 member countries. <br /><br /><b>CANADA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120712105214396">Publishers say new bill will hamper textbook supply </a></b></div>
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<b>MJ Deschamps </b><br />Canadian publishers say recently passed copyright reform is stripping away some of their financial incentive to provide books to the country’s universities and colleges. <br /><br /><b>MIDDLE EAST<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120713115304870">First doctoral training centre to be set up in UAE </a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel </b><br />The University of Wollongong in Dubai has joined with the National Research Foundation in the United Arab Emirates to set up the country’s first doctoral training centre. <br /><br /><b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120711133941387">Study by undergraduates identifies crocodile genes </a></b>How many undergraduate students does it take to publish original research in an academic journal? Exactly 100 in the case of faculty of veterinary science students at the University of Sydney, whose study on saltwater crocodile genetics was published in the Australian Journal of Zoology last week. <br /><br /><b>KENYA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120713193021928">Terrorist attacks in Kenya impeding scientific research </a></b></div>
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<b>Linda Bach </b><br />Terrorist attacks and kidnapping of foreigners could cause a serious blow to Kenyan marine research, forcing scientists to cancel projects in fear for their lives, according to participants at the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium held in Cairns, Australia, from 9-13 July. <br /><br /><b>GHANA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120712151201869">Top university bans open-air rallies ahead of poll </a></b></div>
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<b>Francis Kokutse </b><br />In a move to control unruly student participation in politics, the authorities at the University of Ghana have banned all open-air political rallies, congresses and conventions ahead of a December general election. Student leadership is closely aligned to political parties in Ghana. <br /><h2>
FEATURES</h2>
<b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120711104648901">Universities pledge to take action on gender equality </a></b></div>
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<b>David Jobbins </b><br />Top universities have committed to leading a drive to secure greater equality for female academics and researchers across Europe. A League of European Research Universities report sets out actions that it says will overcome discrimination against women that prevents them from playing a full part in Europe’s research effort. <br /><br /><b>ISRAEL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120713102000524">New moves in West Bank centre’s university status bid </a></b></div>
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<b>Helena Flusfeder </b><br />The Israeli Council for Higher Education’s planning and budgeting committee has proposed a new category of funding in addition to the existing ones of colleges and universities – that of a ‘university centre’ – in an apparent attempt to sidestep a political storm over granting a West Bank centre university status. <br /><br /><b>NIGERIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120712130214683">Academics and students live in fear of terror attacks </a></b></div>
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<b>Tunde Fatunde </b><br />Repeated attacks on churches on and off university campuses in northern Nigeria, by the Islamic fundamentalist sect Boko Haram, have sparked fear among students and lecturers, especially those who are Christians.<br /><h2>
WORLD BLOG</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120710132712882">A slow thaw for women in leadership </a></b></div>
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<b>Curt Rice </b><br />Many people think that increased numbers of female graduates will translate eventually into more women at the top of their professions, but analysis suggests any increase will be very slow. It’s not enough just to wait.<br /><h2>
COMMENTARY</h2>
<b>UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120710160228719">The rise of the for-profit tertiary sector </a></b></div>
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<b>John Aubrey Douglass </b><br />For-profit institutions have grown in the Great Recession, to some extent because of cuts in the public sector that have meant it is unable to fulfil demand. For-profits need greater regulation to ensure quality, but demand for them is likely to continue to rise. <br /><br /><b>CHILE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120704184946472">Closing the education inequality gap to stop unrest </a></b></div>
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<b>Ernesto Schiefelbein </b><br />Closing the gap between those with and without access to a good school education, through offering remedial classes at university, could reduce social inequality and high student drop-out rates in Chile and prevent the kind of demonstrations seen in the country in 2011. <br /><br /><b>GUATEMALA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120710152617813">Stormy times ahead for teacher education reforms </a></b></div>
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<b>Angel Calderon </b><br />Guatemala's education reforms aim to raise teaching standards, but students fear they will make it more financially difficult to study and could put some off the profession. However, if Guatemala is to improve its standing in the region and develop sustainably, it needs to improve the quality of teaching.</div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-9257906781429416712012-07-08T05:35:00.003-07:002012-07-08T05:35:46.626-07:00Unversity World News - Issue No. 0229<h2>
All of Europe’s education support efforts to merge into one holistic bundle</h2>
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In Features, Ard Jongsma interviews Jordi Curell, head of higher education in the European Commission’s education and training directorate, and reports that proposals to bundle all European education and training support efforts into one interconnected programme are entering a decisive stage.<br />
Alya Mishra writes that new anti-discrimination regulations for universities in India may not be enough, given the covert nature of discrimination and the hierarchical structure of society, and journalists across all continents report on the growing switch to teaching in English among many universities in non-English countries.<br />
In Commentary, Way Kuo contends that Hong Kong higher education needs to embrace other cultures and make the most of its geographical position if it is to attract more international students. Devi D Tewari looks at whether the American or European model of PhD examination best suits developing countries, and Philip G Altbach writes that Slovenian higher education has the potential to be world class – though there are challenges.<br />
Finally, in World Blog, Serhiy Kvit argues that Ukraine's integration into the European Higher Education Area would raise standards and improve its university system.<br />
<i>Karen MacGregor – Global Editor </i><br />
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NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report</h2>
<b>EUROPE-MEDITERRANEAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120705125101143">EC launches dialogue with southern neighbours</a></b><br />
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<b>Ard Jongsma</b><br />
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The European Commission has launched a platform for higher education policy dialogue with countries in the south Mediterranean area, convening 80 high-level officials including ministers, the commissioner and director-generals in Brussels to discuss developments in higher education in North Africa and the near Middle East – and the European response to it.<br />
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<b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120705145202836">New regulation to focus on students’ academic rights</a> </b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br />
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Aiming to improve the quality of education across all colleges and universities, India will soon come up with a regulation that will inform students about their academic rights and entitlements – including on programmes operated by foreign universities. The academic community has welcomed the announcement.<br />
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<b>UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120705152309489">Greater access, more equal higher education are key</a></b></div>
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<b>Alison Moodie</b><br />
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The United States is at risk of losing its competitive advantage in the global marketplace unless it ensures greater and more equal access to higher education, according to a survey released by the OECD.<br />
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<b>SOUTH KOREA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120704085627667">Election pledge – ‘Abolish top university’</a></b></div>
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<b>Han-Suk Kim</b><br />
In an astonishing attack on higher education elitism, South Korea’s main opposition party has said it could dismantle the country’s most prestigious university – Seoul National University – if it comes to power in upcoming presidential elections.<br />
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<b>GULF STATES <br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120704111415121">More university places, better quality needed – Report</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />
The six Gulf Cooperation Council states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates must urgently develop and implement higher education policies aimed at expanding student enrolments and strengthening quality, a new report says.<br />
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<b>AFGHANISTAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012070318064742">Pakistan and India offer scholarship olive branch</a></b></div>
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<b>Ameen Amjad Khan</b><br />
Pakistan and India are increasingly using higher education as a foreign policy instrument, in particular to improve relations with post-Taliban Afghanistan. Pakistan announced a package of 600 fully funded scholarships for students from Afghanistan – on the same day that an Afghan minister visiting Delhi pledged to increase education links with India.<br />
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<b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120704113735925">Experiment identifies possible long-sought Higgs boson</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />
Physicists around the world excitedly greeted the news on Wednesday that a new particle has been detected consistent with the elusive Higgs boson, the long sought-after particle believed responsible for all forces in the universe.<br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120705122510540">Blow to anti-counterfeiting trade agreement</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />
Rejection by the European parliament on Wednesday night of an international treaty that attempted to strengthen the enforcement of intellectual property rights could impact on the debate in other countries, according to Professor Christoph Antons, a chief investigator with the Australian Research Council.<br />
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<b>EGYPT<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120705183102331">New president delivers inaugural speech at alma mater</a></b></div>
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<b>Ashraf Khaled</b><br />
Shortly after being sworn in as Egypt’s first freely-elected civilian president, Mohamed Mursi was driven by motorcade to Cairo University, the country’s oldest secular higher education institution. Minutes later, the engineering professor showed up in the auditorium where US President Barack Obama delivered his landmark address in 2009.<br />
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<b>ZAMBIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120705151113111">Lecturer strike closes top university indefinitely</a></b>The University of Zambia has been closed indefinitely by a lecturer strike for better pay and working conditions. The academics have resolved to withhold examination results from students pending a favourable outcome for their demands.<br />
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<b>GHANA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120708074849561">University administrators join nationwide strike</a></b></div>
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<b>Francis Kokutse</b><br />
University administrators in Ghana have joined the latest wave of nationwide strike action that has swept the country over the past few months. Students have reacted with anger, saying that admission to universities and academic work is being affected.<br />
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<b>MAURITIUS <br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120708085730873">Local v-c appointed – after foreigner declines</a></b></div>
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<b>Guillaume Gorges</b><br />
The University of Mauritius has finally appointed a local academic, Professor Ramesh Rughooputh, as vice-chancellor – following the abrupt resignation of his foreign predecessor, and after another foreign academic declined the post.<br />
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FEATURES</h2>
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<b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120705140012153">Higher education chief lauds bundling of programmes</a></b></div>
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<b>Ard Jongsma</b><br />
Proposals to bundle all European education and training support programmes into one huge, interconnected programme for 2014-20 are entering a decisive stage, as European ministers have accepted the majority of the European Commission’s outline and the European parliament is set to discuss further details.<br />
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<b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120704103904430">Are anti-discrimination laws for universities enough?</a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br />
Despite affirmative action laws, cases of discrimination against disadvantaged groups at India’s elite institutions continue to surface, leading to new anti-discrimination regulations for universities. But this may not be enough, given the covert nature of discrimination and the hierarchical structure of Indian society.<br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120621131543827">English use in teaching spreads in universities worldwide</a></b></div>
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<b>Andrew Green, Wang Fangqing, Paul Cochrane, Jonathan Dyson and Carmen Paun</b><br />
The Politecnico di Milano, one of Italy's most prestigious universities, will teach and assess most of its degree and all of its postgraduate courses entirely in English from 2014. While the move proved controversial in Italy, it is far from unusual – universities worldwide have been switching wholly or partly to teaching in English for a number of reasons.<br />
<h2>
WORLD BLOG</h2>
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<b>UKRAINE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120705122144461">Country would benefit from further European integration</a></b></div>
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<b>Serhiy Kvit</b><br />
Ukraine's higher education system needs reform and its integration into the European Higher Education Area would aid this, boost standards and the quality of what universities offer, and counter corruption.<br />
<h2>
COMMENTARY</h2>
<b>HONG KONG<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120706121309161">The challenge of internationalisation in Hong Kong</a></b></div>
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<b>Way Kuo</b><br />
Hong Kong and its universities need to internationalise more. But to do so they have to consider what they can offer the rest of the world. International students will not study in Hong Kong just because universities operate in English.<br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120705085036324">PhDs – What model works for developing countries?</a></b></div>
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<b>Devi D Tewari</b><br />
The United States PhD model is the gold standard, but the European model is less expensive and could be a more realistic initial goal for developing countries wishing to raise standards.<br />
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<b>SLOVENIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120704181210356">The challenge of reaching for world-class status</a></b></div>
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<b>Philip G Altbach</b><br />
Slovenia has the potential for academic excellence, but it faces challenges, including selecting fields and disciplines its universities can excel in and negotiating the line between serving national and international interests. If successful, however, it could serve as a model for small countries and for universities with a European style of governance and administration.<br />
<h2>
SCIENCE SCENE</h2>
<b>SOUTH AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120703141314280">Plaque found on two million-year-old teeth</a></b>A deadly mistake made two million years ago by two of humankind’s earliest ancestors has provided the first evidence of what food they ate – from an analysis of the plaque on their teeth. The find is unprecedented in the human record outside of fossils just a few thousand years old.<br />
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<b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120703141707741">Using the cane toad’s poison against itself</a></b> An effective new weapon in the fight against the spread of cane toads has been developed by researchers at the University of Sydney and the University of Queensland. Cane toads now number more than 200 million and are spreading across the continent by an average of 40 kilometres a year, with devastating impacts on native species. <br />
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<b>UNITED KINGDOM<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120703142048628">Helping Asian students understand regional accents</a></b>Researchers at the University of Nottingham have developed a computer program that helps Asian students improve their understanding of accented English speech in noisy environments.<br />
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<b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120703142444718">Student use of stimulants for cognitive enhancement</a></b>Pharmacological cognitive enhancement is a topic of increasing public awareness, according to German researchers. In the scientific literature on student use of drugs or caffeine as a study aid, there are high prevalence rates with caffeinated substances but remarkably lower rates for illicit or prescription stimulants such as amphetamines or methylphenidate. </div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-55240084594674147682012-07-03T05:29:00.005-07:002012-07-03T05:29:57.108-07:00University World News - Issue No 0228<h2>
NEWSLETTER</h2>
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Power of global rankings must be challenged with audits, critique, contest <br /><br />In this week’s World Blog, Richard Holmes asks whether international rankings have been given too much power and suggests that it is time they were audited. In Commentary, Elisabeth Gareis writes that universities need to do more to foster better relationships between home and overseas students.<br />In a new book on the future of South Africa’s youth, Helene Perold argues that efforts to provide education and training opportunities should be viewed from a youth perspective, and in Canada Aaron H Doering describes the concept of ‘adventure learning’, a form of hybrid education that is changing the online teaching and learning experience.<br />In Features, Yojana Sharma investigates the debate over reforms to university entrance exams in several Asian countries, including China’s high-stakes entrance test, the gaokao. Erin Millar reports on the continuing dispute in Quebec over tuition fee hikes as an August back-to-study deadline looms, bringing the threat of renewed student protests.<br />Sharon Dell looks at the planned expansion into four new African countries of South Africa’s private post-school education giant, Educor, and Mamadou Mika Lom warns of a looming staff crisis at Senegal’s top university as more than half of its academics retire in the next three years. <br /><br /><i>Karen MacGregor – Global Editor </i><br /> <br /><h2>
NEWS</h2>
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<br /><b>EGYPT<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120627121512582">Professor first in Arab world to become president</a> </b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />Mohamed Morsi has become the fifth president of Egypt after winning 51.7% of votes in a run-off election, making him the first university professor to rule a country in the Arab world. His election is of considerable significance to higher education. <br /><br /><b>PAKISTAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120627165834118">Universities observe ‘black day’ following funding cut</a> </b></div>
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<b>Ameen Amjad Khan</b><br />Monday 25 June was observed as a ‘black day’ by universities across Pakistan, to register protest against low funding for the higher education sector. University budgets have been slashed since the country’s democratic government came to power in 2008. <br /><br /><b>CHILE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120628184239389">Higher education institutions face tighter controls</a> </b></div>
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<b>María Elena Hurtado</b><br />Chile’s higher education sector is facing stiffer regulations after financial irregularities were discovered at Universidad del Mar, one of the country’s largest private universities. The problems – which led students to take over the university’s 15 buildings, go on hunger strikes and stage mass demonstrations – have also brought Chile’s accreditation system under scrutiny. <br /><br /><b>BURMA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120625191013424">International moves to help upgrade university sector</a> </b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />The United Kingdom has said it will help Burma improve its higher education sector, according to an announcement on Monday pledging support to education in Burma at both the school and post-school levels. Other countries have also offered assistance. <br /><br /><b>AFGHANISTAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120627080637110">Bold study-abroad and teaching in English initiatives</a> </b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />In an effort to train a highly skilled scientific workforce needed for economic development, war-torn Afghanistan has doubled its budget for overseas scholarships and will teach science courses in English instead of the two branches of Persian – Iranian Farsi and Afghan Dari – used in many universities. <br /><br /><b>VIETNAM<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120629150705242">University entrance exam system costly, needs reform</a> </b></div>
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<b>Hiep Pham</b><br />Vietnamese school-leavers will sit national university entrance examinations that start on 4 July and last for almost a week, as they compete for places at some 58 universities and colleges, amid ongoing discussion that the exam system needs reform. <br />* See also Yojana Sharma’s article in Features. <br /><br /><b>SRI LANKA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120630084451885">Groups unite to demand private medical college closure</a> </b></div>
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<b>Dinesh de Alwis</b><br />Doctors, lecturers, students, trade unions and other groups in Sri Lanka have called on the government to close down the country’s first private medical university and to stop the establishment of other private medical institutions – a move that could have implications for international providers planning to set up branch campuses. <br /><br /><b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120629143320352">Translation tool could help foreign students</a> </b></div>
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<b>Michael Gardner </b></div>
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A new computer system that automatically transcribes lectures and translates them into English is being tested in Germany. It could benefit foreign students who have difficulty following lectures and other students who have struggled to take notes, as the scripts are stored in ‘clouds’ and can be called up when needed. <br /><br /><b>MAGHREB<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120628164510981">Francophone university agency opens bureau in Morocco</a></b></div>
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<b>Jane Marshall</b></div>
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The Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie last week inaugurated its new Maghreb regional bureau in Rabat. As well as serving Morocco, the bureau will represent the French-language university agency in Algeria and Tunisia, serving nearly 100 higher education and research institutions. <br /><br /><b>AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120628120048404">Pan-African University starts recruiting students</a> </b></div>
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<b>Gilbert Nganga</b></div>
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The Pan African-University has started recruiting its first batch of postgraduate students, who are expected to start class in July – the strongest signal yet that the international institution is taking off after years of planning and sometimes fraught negotiations. <br /><br /><b>KENYA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120628161253725">College students to receive loans as state ups spending</a> </b></div>
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<b>Gilbert Nganga</b></div>
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Kenya has set aside at least 100 million shillings (US$2 million) in the coming year for loans to students in middle-level colleges as the country seeks to absorb more students into the post-secondary school system. Universities have also received a funding boost. <br /><br /><b>DENMARK<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120628162508696">Professor will not appeal sentence for ‘spying’</a> </b></div>
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust</b></div>
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Timo Kivimäki, the Finnish professor of international politics at the University of Copenhagen who in May received a five-month prison sentence for espionage, will not appeal against the sentence due to the high costs involved, according to the university’s newsletter.<br /><h2>
FEATURES</h2>
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<b>ASIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120628142535305">Reforms to high-stakes university entrance exams</a> </b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b></div>
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For millions of young people in China it has been a make-or-break month. Results of the national college entrance exam, the gaokao, are now being released and the scramble for the best university places has begun – and in many cases, for any place at all. <br /><br /><b>CANADA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120627104334751">Deadline looms as Quebec student boycott continues</a> </b></div>
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<b>Erin Millar</b></div>
<div>
The months-long dispute in Quebec that began over tuition fee hikes shows no sign of abating as a 15 August back-to-study deadline legislated by the provincial government looms, ensuring a late summertime showdown between students and government. “If a solution isn’t reached over the summer, there will be more strike activity and confrontation,” one student group warned. <br /><br /><b>AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120630074953824">South African private education giant expands into Africa</a> </b></div>
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<b>Sharon Dell</b></div>
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Private education giant Educor is set to become the first South African institution to set up branch campuses outside the country as it expands its operations into four new African countries under its well-known Intec and Damelin brands. <br /><br /><b>SENEGAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120630122709196">Problem of ageing academics threatens top university</a> </b></div>
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<b>Mamadou Mika Lom</b></div>
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A new salary deal has slightly slowed the brain drain from Senegal’s premier Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar. But it confronts a new threat in the form of ageing academics. With 80,000 students, it faces losing up to 70% of academics by 2015 as a result of large-scale retirements. <br /><h2>
WORLD BLOG</h2>
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<br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120630083447805">Power and responsibility – The influence of rankings</a> </b></div>
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<b>Richard Holmes</b></div>
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International rankings are being used to determine international higher education partnerships and even immigration policy. There is a danger that particular rankings are becoming too powerful. There needs to be both an auditing of the rankings and a willingness to consider a broader range of rankings.<br /><h2>
COMMENTARY</h2>
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<br /><b>UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120627153554474">Fostering international and host student friendships</a> </b></div>
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<b>Elisabeth Gareis</b></div>
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<b><br /></b>Universities and students need to do more to build better relationships between home and overseas students, including creating the right infrastructure for such relationships to flourish. But more research is needed into what works best. <br /><br /><b>SOUTH AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120630085737398">Viewing post-school education from a youth perspective</a> </b></div>
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<b>Helene Perold</b></div>
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<b><br /></b>In January 2012 South Africa was shocked to hear of the death of a mother at the gates of the University of Johannesburg. Gloria Sekwena had returned from her job in the United Kingdom to make sure that her school-leaving son, Kgotsisile, would find a place at the university. <br /><br /><b>CANADA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120627151042328">Adventure learning – Changing the education experience</a> </b></div>
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<b>Aaron H Doering</b></div>
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<b><br /></b>Adventure learning could help change the face of online learning. It not only takes into consideration content, content delivery and learning outcomes, but also learner experience. It aims to truly engage learners in content and facilitate transformative, deep learning through a thoughtful combination of pedagogy, technology and real-world interaction. </div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-39489737702651064472012-06-25T02:45:00.000-07:002012-06-25T02:45:24.342-07:00University World News Issue 0227<h2>
Is ‘foreign education outpost’ a better concept than branch campuses?</h2>
<br />This week Carmen Paun interviews Elizabeth Thompson, executive coordinator of Rio+20, on the role of universities in the Earth Summit and the implications for higher education of its outcomes. In World Blog, Rahul Choudaha forecasts that by 2015 trends in international student mobility may reverse, with more Chinese students staying home while more Indian students travel abroad.<br />In Commentary, Kevin Kinser and Jason E Lane argue that research into universities operating in more than one country has tended to focus on international branch campuses, ignoring other, more prevalent types of cross-border collaboration.<br />Tara Cookson contends that tuition fee hikes and civil disobedience in Quebec and elsewhere raise questions about equitable human development in developed countries. And Phil Baty writes that global university rankings are important, but are a crude measure of excellence and need to be handled with care.<br />In Features, Jan Petter Myklebust investigates the flood of maths, physics and technology students into the finance industry, including top candidates for academia, and Wagdy Sawahel reports on a United Nations plan to improve access to higher education for refugees.<br />Karen MacGregor – Global Editor <br /> <br /><h2>
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report</h2>
AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120620121140234">More than half of teaching done by casuals</a> <div>
Geoff Maslen<br /><br />The National Tertiary Education Union will use a forthcoming higher education enterprise bargaining round to call for the creation of 2,000 new ongoing jobs for casual academics, or 20% of their total numbers. The union says more than half of all academic teaching in Australian universities is undertaken “by people paid by the hour”.<br /><br /><b>VIETNAM<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120619111558817">New higher education law passed, but sparks criticism</a></b></div>
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<b>Hiep Pham</b><br /><br />Vietnam’s national assembly has voted to adopt a wide-ranging Law on Higher Education, which was approved by almost 85% of the assembly this week – the first time the country has promulgated a law dedicated specifically to the higher education sector.<br /><br /><b>ISLAMIC WORLD<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120621183856617">Vice-chancellors vow to undertake governance reforms</a></b></div>
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<b>Ameen Amjad Khan</b><br /><br />Some 200 heads of universities from 39 member countries of the Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation agreed to bring about governance reforms in higher education and increase the number of women university leaders, during a meeting in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad this month.<br /> <br /><b>UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120621105728729">Universities aim to clear up tuition fee confusion</a></b></div>
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<b>Alison Moodie</b><br />Parents will be finding some relief from the confusing assemblage of notices, bills and receipts involved in paying for college. Nearly 100 private and public colleges and universities, including the New York and Texas tertiary state systems, will provide parents and students with a one-page ‘shopping sheet’ detailing what they can expect to pay for a year of studies.<br /> <br /><b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120619132028682">Five more universities win elite status</a></b></div>
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<b>Michael Gardner</b><br />Five additional German institutions can now call themselves 'elite universities', among them Humboldt University in Berlin and the University of Dresden, both in what used to be East Germany. But the University of Karlsruhe was among the institutions that failed to retain elite status in the second round of the Excellence Initiative.<br /><br /><b>EGYPT<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012062213030386">Academics feel the pinch of parliament’s dissolution</a></b></div>
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<b>Ashraf Khaled</b><br />A recent court ruling invalidating Egypt’s Islamist-dominated parliament has dashed hopes among academics that their status will be improved any time soon.<br /><br /><b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120621232911143">Research elite warns against ‘bean-counting’ culture</a></b></div>
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<b>David Haworth</b><br />The growth of research assessment driven by obsessive measurement and monitoring fosters a global “bean-counting culture” in tertiary education that can detract from the real quality of university research, experts have warned.<br /><br /><b>UK<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120620102512583">London university students face worst crime risk</a></b></div>
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<b>Brendan O’Malley</b><br /><br />Universities in the Greater London area are exposed to the highest rates of crimes that are most relevant to students, with London Metropolitan University faring worst and Kingston best, according to the latest ranking of institutions in England and Wales.<br /><br /><b>SRI LANKA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120621124450406">Fears that government wants to ban student federation</a></b></div>
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<b>Dinesh De Alwis</b><br /><br />Student groups in Sri Lanka are in uproar over fears that the government wants to ban their main union, the Inter University Students’ Federation. Students said this would be a step towards destroying the education system and would pave the way for private universities.<br /><h2>
SPECIAL REPORT: Rio+20</h2>
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Rio+20 was held last week. University World News reports on ways in which universities are involved in sustainable development and environment debates and research, and their role after the summit.<br /><br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120623120520443">Higher education sustainability in Rio+20 declaration</a> </b></div>
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<b>Carmen Paun</b><br /><br />In an exclusive interview the executive coordinator of the Rio+20 conference on global sustainability, Elizabeth Thompson, told University World News why higher education is key to the international strategy she hopes will flow from agreements made at the event.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120624074146891">Earth’s future in hands of business, education, society</a></b></div>
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<b>Stephen Eisenhammer</b><br /><br />The Rio+20 conference on sustainability ended on Friday in widespread disappointment and the sense that an important opportunity had been missed. The outcome document was agreed before leaders even arrived, giving the event the feel of a photo moment rather than a real attempt to push forward the sustainability agenda. <br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120624084211876">Sustainable energy budgets must increase, says report</a></b></div>
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<b>Smriti Mallapaty</b><br /><br />Global investments in sustainable energy must increase by US$500 million a year to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to a report launched in Rio last week – the culmination of six years of research by 500 contributors.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120624081608714">Science academies call for action on sustainability</a></b><br />The world’s 105 science academies last week called on world leaders to take decisive action on global challenges of population and consumption. And the Global Young Academy said that Earth’s problem was not science. “It is leadership”.<br /><br /><b>INDONESIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120623130132263">University-led sustainable projects face obstacles</a></b></div>
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<b>Ria Nurdiani</b><br /><br />The final document of the UN conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro underscores the importance of universities in carrying out research and innovation for sustainable development. But many universities in developing countries say it is not easy to get the necessary support.<br /><h2>
OBITUARY</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120623131823395">IAUP president J Michael Adams dies</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br /><br />J Michael Adams, president of the International Association of University Presidents, has died in the United States after being diagnosed last year with a rare blood disease and cancer. He was 64.<br /><h2>
FEATURES</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120619095022592">Robot traders ‘are raiding our maths talent’</a></b></div>
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust</b><br /><br />Norwegian universities are fighting an uphill battle to hold onto talented mathematics, physics and technology students due to demand from the finance industry, academics have warned.<br /> <br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120620181240197">Improving access to higher education for refugees</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br /><br />In commemoration of World Refugee Day, universities and governments have been urged not to lose sight of the higher education needs of the world’s 43.7 million forcibly displaced migrants, by improving their access to higher education as a tool for the economic development of both home and host countries.<br /><h2>
WORLD BLOG</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120619094240279">Looming shift in student mobility from China and India?</a></b></div>
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<b>Rahul Choudaha</b><br /><br />A variety of factors, including changing demographics and investment in quality higher education, could see more Chinese students staying at home by 2015, while more Indian students travel abroad. Universities need to prepare now.<br /><h2>
COMMENTARY</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120622085255832">Seeing the forest beyond the branch (campus)</a></b></div>
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<b>Kevin Kinser and Jason E Lane</b><br /><br />Cross-border higher education research has tended to focus too much on international branch campuses. But many collaborations don't fit this model. In fact, branch campuses represent a minority of cross-border higher education activity happening today, and ‘foreign education outposts’ might be a better concept.<br /><br /><b>CANADA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120620141004696">Higher education's role in equitable development</a></b></div>
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<b>Tara Cookson</b><br />Protesters against university fee hikes in Quebec, Canada, and against cutbacks in other countries raise questions about equitable development for developed countries. Privatising higher education shows that our priorities as countries are skewed against future development.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120621162206248">Rankings don't tell the whole story</a></b></div>
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<b>Phil Baty</b><br /><br />University rankings are being used to determine international partnerships, but we need to be honest about their weaknesses as well as their strengths. No university ranking can ever be exhaustive or objective. <br /><h2>
SCIENCE SCENE</h2>
<b>SCOTLAND<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120620192639750">Granite helped give rise to multi-celled organisms</a></b><br />It is one of the world’s toughest rocks, used to create buildings and monuments across the globe and famously linked with one of Scotland’s main cities. Now scientists have discovered that granite played an important role in a major episode more than 1.5 billion years ago – an episode that eventually led to human life on Earth.<br /><br /><b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120620192857538">GPS technology improves weather forecasting</a></b><br />The satellite-based Global Positioning System technology that guides modern in-car navigation systems is now being used to improve weather forecasts. Researchers at RMIT University’s SPACE Research Centre in Melbourne and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology are using GPS and low Earth-orbiting satellites to provide an additional type of temperature profile observation for use in weather forecasting computer models.<br /><br /><b>UNITED KINGDOM<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120620193057306">Domestic dogs respond to human distress</a></b><br />Researchers from Goldsmiths College at the University of London have found that domestic dogs express empathic behaviour when confronted with humans in distress. Dr Deborah Custance and Jennifer Mayer developed an innovative procedure to examine if domestic dogs could identify and respond to emotional states in humans.</div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-4547756130445740112012-06-18T01:55:00.000-07:002012-06-18T01:55:06.010-07:00University World News Issue 0226<h2>
Higher education and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development</h2>
<br />This week we publish a Special Report on universities and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development – Rio+20 – including an article by world-leading sustainability scientist Walter Leal Filho, who argues that the time for talking about action plans on sustainable development has passed. Now is the time to ensure they are enforced.<br />In World Blog, William Patrick Leonard writes that higher education institutions in America should better prepare for inevitable swings in the economic cycle. In Commentary Dlawer Ala'Aldeen, a former higher education minister in the Kurdistan regional government in Iraq, writes that Kurdistan has made huge leaps in reforming its higher education system and improving quality. <br /> John Akec argues that private universities in South Sudan should not be closed, as this will not improve quality but will deny access to many people seeking a second chance at education. And Grace Karram reveals a paradox in the OECD’s just-published Economic Survey of Canada, which finds post-secondary education strong but innovation weak. <br />In Features, Mimi Leung and Yojana Sharma write that China will allow changes in residency rules for the ferociously competitive university entrance examination, the gaokao. And Geoff Maslen reports on the growing numbers of students enrolling for online learning and the doubling of student numbers at Open Universities Australia in the past four years.<br />Karen MacGregor – Global Editor <br /> <br /><h2>
News</h2>
<b>UNITED KINGDOM<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120613202524839">International student growth rate to decline, report warns </a></b><div>
<b>Brendan O’Malley </b><br />The UK is expected to increase its intake of overseas students by 30,000 in the next decade, outpacing the United States, its greatest competitor. But a significant slowdown in the rate of growth means UK universities and policy-makers should rethink their strategies, a new report warns. <br /><br /><b>ISRAEL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120616154040637">Decision looms on West Bank university status</a></b></div>
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<b>Helena Flusfeder</b><br /><br />The University Centre of Samaria in Ariel took a step closer to gaining full status as an Israeli university – the first in the occupied West Bank – by approving the appointment of a future president last week. <br /><br /><b>CHINA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120614085944133">Asian languages for students challenges English dominance </a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma </b><br /><br />While universities in China have been rushing headlong into teaching in English, Yunnan province in the south-west has announced an ambitious initiative to train students to become proficient in regional languages, in preparation for the Association of South East Asian Nations economic community to be set up by 2015. <br /><br /><b>MIDDLE EAST<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120614191224845">Benchmarking tool helps university reform </a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel </b><br /><br />A screening card for measuring how effectively universities are governed has been endorsed by the World Bank as a means of encouraging institutional reform in the Middle East and North Africa after trials at 41 universities in four countries. <br /><br /><b>CZECH REPUBLIC<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120613171132699">New minister shelves tuition fees and reforms plan </a></b></div>
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust </b><br /><br />University reforms in the Czech Republic, including proposals to introduce tuition fees and reduce student influence over decision-making, have been shelved. Instead, new Education Minister, Petr Fiala, says he will negotiate with university representatives over alternatives. <br /><br /><b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120613110244265">Research delegation strengthens links with Malaysia </a></b><br />A delegation of research leaders from an Australian network known as the Innovative Research Universities began a week-long visit to Malaysia on Monday aimed at forging new research collaborations and strengthening existing links.<br /><h2>
SPECIAL REPORT: Rio+20</h2>
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20, kicks off in Rio de Janeiro next week. University World News takes a look at ways in which universities around the world are involved in sustainable development and environmental debates, research and projects, and their role in Rio+20.<br /><br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120613184239690">Future challenges for sustainable development </a></b></div>
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<b>Walter Leal Filho </b><br /><br />Universities have been integral to debates about sustainable development and many action plans have been created at the international level. But implementation has been a problem, so a certain amount of scepticism has set in. This needs to be tackled, and attempts made to take action on a local and regional basis. <br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120615172245127">New universities partnership on environment launched </a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b> <br /><br />A new Global Universities Partnership on Environment and Sustainability was officially launched by the United Nations Environment Programme and participating universities this month, in advance of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development – Rio+20 – in Rio de Janeiro on 20 June. <br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120614165915927">Social scientists push for new UN structure at Rio+20 </a></b></div>
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust </b><br /><br />The Rio+20 conference will be presented with a demand by leading social scientists from around the world for a new organisation aimed at better integrating sustainable development into United Nations structures, in a move as radical as the international governance reforms that followed World War II. <br /><br /><b>BRAZIL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012061416254823">Universities key to Rio+20 despite strike </a></b></div>
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<b>Stephen Eisenhammer </b><br /><br />Universities are playing a key role in every part of the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20. But with widespread strikes at a number of public universities across the country, some feel an important opportunity is being missed. <br /><br /><b>ASIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120615054825548">University networks tackle sustainable development </a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma </b><br />Universities in Asia-Pacific nations have been linking together to collaborate on sustainable development research and projects, and are considered to be more networked than in other world regions in tackling climate change and other environmental issues. <br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120616135403462">Sustainability at the heart of management education</a></b></div>
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<b>Wanda Hennig</b><br /><br />The demands of the 21st century global economy have spurred the integration of new ideas into the education process at management schools. To this end, and against a backdrop of the Occupy Wall Street movement, a rapidly rising number of universities are walking the talk, adding responsible management to the core curriculum and offering degrees in sustainability and sustainability management. <br /><br /><b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120615171437704">Sustainable development becoming a university buzzword </a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra </b><br /><br />Sustainable development is becoming a buzzword in higher education in India, with institutions offering degree programmes and opting for green campuses. But the movement is limited to a handful of enthusiasts and experts say capacity building is needed, along with a deeper understanding of the concept, if higher education is to make a difference. <br /><br /><b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120616140414606">New approach to science and science funding needed</a></b></div>
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<b>Michael Gardner</b><br /><br />Germany has played a pioneering role in promoting renewable energy and campaigning for green policies internationally. But scientists at a conference in Lower Saxony earlier this year called for a much wider approach given the obvious lack of progress regarding sustainability since the 1992 Rio summit.<br /><br /><b>SOUTHERN AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120614124222461">New regional research centre to tackle climate change </a></b></div>
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<b>Moses Magadza </b><br /><br />The recently established Namibia-based Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Use is working with higher education institutions across the region to develop new postgraduate courses on climate change.<br /><h2>
Features</h2>
<b>CHINA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120614090457239">University entrance examination rules to be relaxed </a></b></div>
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<b>Mimi Leung and Yojana Sharma </b><br /><br />China’s Ministry of Education has said it is willing to allow changes in residency rules for the country’s ferociously competitive university entrance examination known as the gaokao. But it has not outlined a timetable for change. <br /><br /><b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120615074939161">Virtual world expands as universities go online </a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen </b><br /><br />A vast and ever-increasing number of the world’s students are studying for degrees without ever setting foot on a campus. Open Universities Australia, the 20-year-old antipodean pioneer of online learning, is a prime example – it has experienced an unprecedented doubling in enrolments over the past four years. <br /><h2>
World Blog</h2>
<b>UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120613140857177">Institutional leaders must prepare for the worst </a></b></div>
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<b>William Patrick Leonard </b><br /><br />Higher education institutions in the United States have had to make swingeing cuts due to the economic crisis. But financial crises are inevitable so why are institutions not better prepared, since they have contingency plans for other, more unlikely emergencies?<br /><h2>
Commentary</h2>
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<b>IRAQ<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120615064310850">A determined push for progress in Kurdistan </a></b></div>
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<b>Dlawer Ala'Aldeen </b><br /><br />Kurdistan in Iraq has implemented a series of reforms aimed at improving the quality of higher education in the region. Despite some opposition from political groupings and vested interests, the determination of reformers has resulted in significant progress.<br /><br /><b>SOUTH SUDAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120613162321947">Closing private universities will not work </a></b></div>
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<b>John Akec </b><br />Private universities give many South Sudanese a second chance. Closing them will not improve the quality of education, but will restrict access. The government needs to learn from the mistakes other countries have made and focus on quantity as well as quality. <br /><br /><b>CANADA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120616145632769">Post-secondary education strong, innovation weak – OECD</a></b></div>
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<b>Grace Karram</b><br />The OECD’s Economic Survey of Canada 2012 was released on 13 June, assessing the nation’s macro-economic trends and making recommendations for the future. The paradox revealed by the report lies in the striking difference between the country’s (weak) innovation and (strong) post-secondary education sectors.</div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-58846411631886095062012-06-10T07:00:00.000-07:002012-06-10T07:00:24.317-07:00University World News - Issue 0225<h2>
Demand for postgraduate training of international higher education leaders</h2>
<br />In World Blog, Hans de Wit says the changing nature of international higher education requires new types of leadership, and training is needed for the next generation of managers. Simon Marginson writes in Commentary that Latin American universities face particular challenges in moving up the global rankings, and suggests alternatives for the region. <br />Responding to criticism of the Canadian Association of University Teachers’ censure warning against Balsillie School of International Affairs, CAUT Executive Director James L Turk argues that universities should not surrender independence over academic matters in order to secure funding. Piyushi Kotecha suggests strategies to revitalise higher education across Southern Africa, and in the United Kingdom Paulo Charles Pimentel Bótas contends that many academics need to revise their jaundiced view of international students as second class and only there as cash cows. <br />In Features, Alya Mishra reports on growing concern in India over the lack of research and innovation in universities. Sarah King Head looks at the new Global Research Council, which will foster collaboration between research funding agencies worldwide and establish principles to guide multinational research projects, and Jan Petter Myklebust uncovers a challenge by two Swedish students against fees charged under an Erasmus Mundus programme that has sparked international interest.<br />Karen MacGregor – Global Editor <br /> <br /><h2>
News</h2>
<b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120607122629843">New regulation allows foreign university collaboration</a></b><div>
<b>Alya Mishra</b><br /><br />India’s higher education regulatory body has announced new rules that will allow only the top 500 globally ranked institutions to partner with leading Indian universities, as legislation to allow foreign institutions to set up branch campuses in India remains stalled in parliament.<br /><br /><b>FRANCE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120607101520303">Minister plans more ‘collegiate’ universities</a></b></div>
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<b>Jane Marshall</b><br /><br />France’s parliament will debate a new framework law for higher education in early 2013. While universities will retain autonomy, their governance will be radically reformed. An action plan aimed at cutting the high student first-degree failure rate will also be given priority.<br /><br /><b>SOUTHERN AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120608152512822">New committee to drive higher education development</a></b></div>
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<b>Adeagbo Oluwafemi</b><br /><br />Southern African higher education ministers resolved to establish a technical committee to drive the implementation of policies aimed at developing higher education across the region, at an extraordinary ministerial meeting held in Johannesburg last week.<br /><br /><b>DENMARK<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120608150428337">Espionage professor’s jail sentence sparks fears</a></b></div>
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust</b><br /><br />A professor of international politics at Copenhagen University has been jailed for five months after being convicted of espionage for passing documents to Russian diplomats. The sentence imposed on Timo Kivimäki has raised fears over its implications for the conducting of research.<br /><br /><b>IRAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120606151143146">International call to stop assaults on academic freedom</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br /><br />Seventeen human rights organisations and education groups have called on Iran to uphold the right to education and to immediately address the alarming state of academic freedom in the country.<br /><br /><b>MAURITIUS<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120607182444314">Indian institutes of technology to open branch campus</a></b></div>
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<b>Guillaume Gouges</b><br /><br />Indian institutes of technology have announced the opening next year of a branch campus in Mauritius. The Indian Ocean island had sought the help of the prestigious institutes to set up a research-oriented academy of international standard.<br /><br /><b>RUSSIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120524183820676">Bank loans to drive development</a></b></div>
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<b>Eugene Vorotnikov</b><br /><br />Leading Russian universities, facing a lack of capital investment and plans to reduce state funding of higher education, are considering additional sources of finance for their activities, including bank borrowing.<br /><br /><b>VIETNAM<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120607185911644">Continued crackdown on foreign-linked institutions</a></b></div>
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<b>Francis Yu</b><br /><br />The Vietnamese government has continued a crackdown on unauthorised foreign-linked institutions operating in the country by blacklisting another seven colleges. The move follows the closure and fining of a number of foreign-affiliated institutions in the past six months.<br /><br /><b>SWEDEN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120607123524347">Bid to improve foreign PhD students' rights rejected</a></b></div>
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust</b><br /><br />An attempt to ease restrictions on foreign doctoral students from outside Europe remaining in Sweden after graduation, and to allow students the right to work during their PhD studies, was rejected by parliament last week. <br /><br /><b>CHILE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120607165047711">New teaching graduates fail competency exam</a></b></div>
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<b>María Elena Hurtado</b><br /><br />A high failure rate in recently released test scores of primary school teachers has compounded the concern Chileans already feel about the state of public school education. <br /><h2>
Features</h2>
<b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120608090351576">Soul searching as university-led research lags</a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br /><br />Environment Minister Jayaram Ramesh, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay, sparked controversy last year when he said the elite government-funded institutes of technology and of management were excellent only because of the quality of students, not the quality of research or faculty. <br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120607152157601">Funding agencies establish Global Research Council</a></b></div>
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<b>Sarah King Head</b><br /><br />Last month 47 leaders of research funding agencies from 44 countries met at the headquarters of the National Science Foundation in Arlington, US, for a two-day summit of the newly minted Global Research Council. <br /><br /><b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120607122024326">Students challenge fees for Erasmus Mundus masters</a></b></div>
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust</b><br /><br />Two Swedish students are challenging Uppsala University’s decision to charge domestic students tuition fees for a masters offered with seven European universities under the Erasmus Mundus programme. The issue has sparked international interest because a number of countries have introduced or raised fees either for international or for all students.<br /><h2>
World Blog</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120605143929407">Changing role of leadership in international education</a></b></div>
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<b>Hans de Wit</b><br /><br />Leadership and management in international higher education has received little attention. There is a new generation coming up that wants the experience necessary to do the job properly, but it will take time for them to move up the pipeline. In the meantime training courses are needed to plug the gap.<br /><h2>
Commentary</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120606174803978">Improving Latin American universities' global ranking</a></b></div>
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<b>Simon Marginson</b><br /><br />Latin American universities are hampered from climbing up the global rankings by several factors, including the bias towards publication in English. A greater emphasis on regionalism could help, as could a regional ranking system similar to Europe’s U-Multirank. <br /><br /><b>CANADA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120606132150303">Academic integrity depends on independence</a></b></div>
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<b>James L Turk</b><br /><br />Universities that badly need money to maintain their programmes cannot allow outside interests to shape what they do and whom they hire without losing the very integrity that makes them unique and valuable public institutions. The Balsillie School of International Affairs is a case in point. <br /><br /><b>SOUTHERN AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120609110849181">Higher education trends, challenges and recommendations</a></b></div>
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<b>Piyushi Kotecha</b><br /><br />Southern African countries must urgently develop and implement higher education policies aimed at expanding student enrolments, strengthening quality and the qualifications of academics, at least doubling the production of postgraduates, developing research capability and changing how universities work including improving governance and planning.<br /><br /><b>UNITED KINGDOM<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120607162551226">Attitudes towards international students must change</a></b></div>
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<b>Paulo Charles Pimentel Bótas</b><br /><br />A major challenge for universities is how to address the behaviour and attitudes of academics towards international students in order to make them feel accepted and supported in the teaching and learning process. In a world where international students are becoming more discerning, universities that still only see them as cash cows will lose out.<br /><h2>
Science Scene</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120606113543497">Threatened seagrasses store as much carbon as forests</a></b><br />The first global analysis of carbon stored in seagrass meadows in the world’s oceans shows they can hold as much carbon as the world’s temperate and tropical forests. Researchers also estimate that, although seagrass meadows occupy less than 0.2% of the world’s oceans, they are responsible for more than 10% of all ‘blue carbon’ stores buried annually in the ocean. <br /><br /><b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=201206061138170">Genetic safety in numbers for the duck-billed platypus</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br /><br />Another of Australia’s animal icons, the platypus, has joined the koala and the Tasmanian devil in facing the risk of being wiped out by disease. But the danger for the platypus, at least for the moment, is confined to the animals on two small islands around the south-east coast of Australia although it remains under threat from habitat destruction elsewhere. <br /><br /><b>AUSTRIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120606114109757">Efficient interface developed for quantum networks</a></b><br />Quantum computers may someday revolutionise the information world but at distant locations they must communicate with one another and so have to be linked together in a network. Physicists at the University of Innsbruck have constructed an efficient and tunable interface for quantum networks. <br /><br /><b>FINLAND<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120606114312842">Fewer suicides among schizophrenics on anti-depressives</a></b><br />Anti-depressive drugs reduce the mortality rate of schizophrenic patients while treatment with bensodiazepines greatly increases it, especially as regards suicide. Giving several anti-psychotics simultaneously seems to have no effect at all on mortality, according to a new study examining drug combinations administered to patients with schizophrenia.</div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-81767036088197558212012-06-09T08:25:00.002-07:002012-06-09T08:25:55.139-07:00University World News Issue 0224<h2>
Can universities be both global leaders and socially inclusive? asks Peter Scott </h2>
<br />In World Blog, Curt Rice suggests that open access publishing and social media could help journal editors deal with ethical dilemmas around articles based on unethical research. In Commentary, Sir Peter Scott argues that universities have a responsibility to embrace the apparently conflicting principles of internationalisation and inclusion, and can act as mediators between global and local concerns. <br />Vangelis Tsiligiris writes that Greece urgently needs public sector reform, but delayed higher education legislation could be abandoned following this month’s election, and Chukwumerije Okereke proposes that Western universities set up campuses in Africa and develop problem-focused curricula to encourage top students to say home and contribute to development.<br />In Features, Chrissie Long probes what a recent ruling by Brazil’s top court, upholding affirmative action for black students in universities, means for a country where the standard definition of ‘black’ and ‘white’ does not exist. Mike Ives looks at the suspension of some private colleges in Vietnam, which left many students stranded, and we report on the 2012 NAFSA international educators’ conference held in Houston last week.<br />Karen MacGregor – Global Editor <br /> <br /><b>NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report<br />GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120530191356278">Rankings rivals slug it out over new universities</a></b><div>
<b>David Jobbins</b><br />The main rivals in the international higher education rankings business went head to head last week to launch league tables of the world’s top newer universities. Hours before Times Higher Education magazine was due to publish its Top 100 ranking of universities under 50 years old with data supplied by Thomson Reuters, QS leapt in with its own Top 50.<br /><br /><b>FRANCE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120531230959965">Restrictions on foreign students eased</a></b></div>
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<b>Jane Marshall</b><br />A controversial circular that restricted residence and employment rights for non-European students and graduates and led to many highly qualified foreigners being forced to leave France has been repealed by the new soc ialist interior minister, Manuel Valls, a year to the day after it was introduced by his predecessor.<br /><br /><b>MEXICO<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120530142927343">Latin Americans challenge international rankings</a></b></div>
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<b>María Elena Hurtado</b><br />Latin American countries have declared that university rankings do not take into account their reality. Critics say the rankings depend too heavily on work published in English-language journals and would prefer to see criteria that include factors such as numbers of professors with postgraduate studies and projects that improve economic competitiveness.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120601154418491">Global declaration to boost open educational resources</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />In a move aimed at boosting international efforts to facilitate educational access and enhance knowledge transfer, UNESCO is to ask governments and education organisations worldwide to sign a declaration strengthening their commitment to developing, promoting and making available open educational resources.<br /><br /><b>MIDDLE EAST<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120530195818997">Call for increased ‘Arabisation’ of higher education</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />Arab universities are coming under increasing pressure to use Arabic as a medium of instruction and expression in higher education.<br /> <br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120601123343777">First major survey of mobility patterns of scientists</a></b></div>
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust</b><br />Switzerland has the highest proportion of immigrant scientists – 56.7% – of 16 ‘core’ countries surveyed in the first comprehensive international study of the mobility patterns of scientists, according to a paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research in the US.<br /> <br /><b>RUSSIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120530193216326">Foreign degrees to be recognised, to attract talent</a></b></div>
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<b>Nick Holdsworth</b><br /><br />Degrees from 210 of the world’s top universities in 25 countries are to be recognised in Russia without requiring additional state evaluation, in a move designed to attract highly skilled professionals and the “world’s best minds” to the country.<br /><br /><b>THE NETHERLANDS<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120531175258648">Legal challenge to penalty for late graduation</a></b></div>
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<b>Robert Visscher</b><br />Three student organisations are suing the Dutch government for introducing a fine of €3,063 (US$3,800) for students who take more than one extra year to graduate.<br /><br /><b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120531172707445">Law to promote state and federal cooperation</a></b></div>
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<b>Michael Gardner</b><br />The German government has proposed new legislation to enable better cooperation between the federal and the state level in higher education. Under current laws, joint initiatives have been restricted to a small number of projects running for a limited period.<br /><br /><b>KENYA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120601160603747">Employees go to court to oust Kenyatta vice-chancellor</a></b></div>
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<b>Gilbert Nganga</b><br />Kenyatta University, Kenya’s second biggest higher education institution, could be rocked by a management crisis after several employees went to court seeking to oust Vice-chancellor Olive Mugenda.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120531143115736">Guidelines on research partnerships updated</a></b></div>
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<b>Jan Piotrowski</b><br />More than 10 years after the first edition was published, a revised version of influential guidelines for encouraging greater effectiveness in international research partnerships was released late last month.<br /></div>
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<b>NAFSA 2012</b></h2>
The 64th NAFSA – Association of International Educators – conference was held from 29 May to 1 June in Houston, Texas. The world’s largest international higher education gathering attracted more than 8,000 participants from 100 countries this year. University World News reports.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120602082117310">US not linking international students with immigration</a></b></div>
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<b>Barbara Burgower Hordern</b><br />Despite a growing desire to attract and retain the best students internationally, the United States is losing the ability to keep graduates in the country, a senior researcher in international education told the NAFSA conference. Meanwhile, other countries competing for international students appear to be making things less difficult for them.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=201206021517074">Policies ‘massively’ influence student destination choices</a></b></div>
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<b>Karen MacGregor</b><br />National policies in areas such as immigration can “massively impact” on the opinions and expectations of international students, a British Council global survey of 153,000 students has found. Students are also concerned about quality and, increasingly, safety.<br /><br /><b>UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120531081659355">South America a red-hot study abroad market</a></b></div>
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<b>Barbara Burgower Hordern</b><br /><br /> Already-high numbers of South Americans studying abroad will continue to shoot up over the coming year, said a panel at the NAFSA conference held in Houston, Texas, last week. The biggest markets for international education are Brazil, Colombia and Chile, with Argentina, Ecuador and Venezuela also sending increasing numbers of students abroad.</div>
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FEATURES</h2>
<b>BRAZIL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=201205301556466">Black and white student ruling in a land of rainbows</a></b></div>
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<b>Chrissie Long</b><br /><br />The standard definition of ‘black’ and ‘white’ never existed in Brazil like it has in North America or Europe. So what will a recent ruling by the country’s top court that upholds affirmative action for blacks in universities do for a country where racial distinctions blur into the 134 different colour designations Brazilians use to describe themselves?<br /><br /><b>VIETNAM<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120531125815847">Crackdown on foreign-linked colleges has many baffled</a></b></div>
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<b>Mike Ives</b><br /><br />When Chi, a 22-year-old marketing student at Raffles Vietnam, heard that the government had ordered the college to suspend “advertising, admission and training activities” earlier this year, she wondered what would become of her education.<br /><h2>
WORLD BLOG</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120530095707667">Is it ethical to publish unethical research?</a></b></div>
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<b>Curt Rice</b><br />How should journal editors deal with articles based on unethical research? Open access and social media could provide some solutions, allowing pre- or post-publication discussion of ethical issues raised by articles.<br /><h2>
COMMENTARY</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120529092722475">Internationalisation and inclusion – Principles in conflict?</a></b></div>
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<b>Sir Peter Scott</b><br />Can universities be both global leaders and socially inclusive, or will the push towards internationalisation create wider gaps between the haves and the have-nots? Universities have a responsibility to embrace both roles and can act as mediators between global and local concerns.<br /><br /><b>GREECE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120530125539702">Grexit – Another lost opportunity for universities?</a></b></div>
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<b>Vangelis Tsiligiris</b><br />Greece urgently needs public sector reform. But one of the first actions of far-left leader Alexis Tsipras, who could win this month’s election, signalled his plans to cancel legislation that could have modernised the higher education system, with its vested interests and corruption.<br /><br /><b>AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120529151744768">Universities must be mended and brain drain stemmed</a></b></div>
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<b>Chukwumerije Okereke</b><br />Partnerships with African universities need to give something back. If Western universities set up campuses in Africa and developed curricula that focused on real-world problems, they could encourage the best African students to stay home and contribute to development.</div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-30943065209209710792012-05-29T03:16:00.003-07:002012-05-29T03:16:55.137-07:00University World News Issue 0223<h2>
Academic freedom spat in Canada, student unrest in Pakistan, inequity in Iraq</h2>
<br />In World Blog, Serhiy Kvit describes the funding of state universities in Ukraine as illogical and unfair, and says his university – which lost funding following a spat with government – lodged an unprecedented appeal against the system.<br />In Commentary, David A Welch argues that the Canadian Association of University Teachers has gone too far in accusing the governance structure of the Balsillie School of International Affairs of undermining academic freedom. Stephen Carson and Jan Philipp Schmidt probe the growing phenomenon of ‘massive open online courses’, which are opening up higher education to vast numbers of people, and Keith Herrmann looks at Uganda’s success in attracting international students.<br />In Features, Ameen Amjad Khan describes the rise of lawlessness on campuses in Pakistan, fuelled by the politicisation of student organisations, and Wagdy Sawahel reports on allegations of sectarian discrimination against Sunni academics and students in Iraq. Suvendrini Kakuchi writes that a growing number of Japanese students are volunteering in developing countries, especially in Asia and Africa, seeking experience and opportunities to make the world a better place.<br />Karen MacGregor – Global Editor <br /> <br /><h2>
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120522133642815">Rise of the Asian giants in research and developmen</a></b><div>
<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br /><br />The growing role of knowledge-intensive innovation and production in the economy and the importance placed on research in university rankings were powering the worldwide growth of scientific output, a conference in Melbourne heard on Tuesday. Simon Marginson said 48 countries were publishing more than 1,000 journal papers in science in 2009, compared to 38 nations in 1995 – a 26% increase.<br /> <br /><b>ASIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120524122035983">Growth in foreign degrees – But are they worth it?</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br /><br />Overseas universities queuing to set up affiliated degree programmes, joint degrees and foreign branch campuses in Asia need to do their sums carefully and understand the job market in those countries, or they will fail.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120525093416419">Global UN higher education sustainability initiative</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br /><br />Academic leaders and institutions around the world have been called on by United Nations agencies to commit to developing sustainable practices in higher education and to help build more sustainable societies, by signing a declaration ahead of the global Rio+20 conference.<br /><br /><b>SWEDEN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120524092635589">Residency rights vote for international PhD students</a></b></div>
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust</b><br />The Swedish parliament is to vote imminently on a plan that will make it easier for doctoral students from outside Europe to settle in Sweden after graduation, by offering permanent residence permits.<br /><br /><b>UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012052417043391">Student work-abroad programme rife with abuse</a> </b></div>
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<b>Alison Moodie</b><br />Allegations have emerged of abusive practices by employers connected to a summer work travel programme that attracts more than 100,000 foreign students to the United States each year, leading the State Department to announce major reforms.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120526140436604">South Africa, Australia to share huge radio telescope</a></b></div>
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<b>Karen MacGregor</b><br />There were mixed feelings in South Africa at the news that the country would share with Australia the world’s largest radio telescope, the US$2 billion Square Kilometre Array. There was delight at the boost that SKA would give to African science, tinged with disappointment because South Africa had been the front-runner to win the bid.<br /><br /><b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120524180206519">Opinions differ on research and innovation future</a> </b></div>
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<b>Michael Gardner</b><br />The results of the latest federal research report suggest that research and innovation in Germany are expanding. But industry is less optimistic and has again warned of a serious shortage of skilled and spec ialist labour in mathematics, informatics, natural sciences and technology.<br /><br /><b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120523125757485">New bill on innovation universities goes to parliament</a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br />The Indian government has introduced a bill into parliament to establish universities focused on innovation and research. The aim is to attract foreign and local private investment to boost the country’s research capacity.<br /><br /><b>IRAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120525150949585">New call to end ‘education apartheid’</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />An Iranian group active in defending the rights of students to attend higher education institutions has said Iran is pursuing a second cultural revolution by practising ‘educational apartheid’, as instances of students being barred from universities and other discriminatory measures have increased.<br /><br /><b>PERU<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120523163209861">Demand from industry leads to big S&T investment</a></b></div>
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<b>Jonathan Dyson</b><br />Responding to increasing demand from industry and perpetually low rankings among Latin American countries, Peru is investing more than US$136 million in science and technology. Prime Minister Oscar Valdéz also recently announced that 1,000 new S&T postgraduate fellowships would be made available by 2016, as well as 1,500 scholarships for Peruvian students at foreign universities.<br /><br /><b>SENEGAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120525155841573">Hopeful outlook for research under new government</a></b></div>
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<b>Mamadou Mika Lom</b><br />Research has always been the poor relation in Senegalese universities, public and private alike, but faces better prospects under a new government following the presidential election of 25 March.<br /><br /><b>TUNISIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120525165815355">Science deal with India opens developing country links</a></b></div>
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<b>Nébil Zaghdoud</b><br />Tunisia is taking its first steps towards boosting scientific links with other developing countries following the 2011 revolution that overthrew a government perceived to be more concerned with politics than science. <br /><h2>
FEATURES</h2>
<b>PAKISTAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120525163210652">Universities reel under rising student lawlessness</a></b></div>
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<b>Ameen Amjad Khan</b><br />There was a day of lawlessness on 16 May at Lahore’s Punjab University, as members of a student organisation linked to an Islamist political party attacked the vice-chancellor’s office, broke windows, smashed furniture and roamed around campus beating up professors.<br /><br /><b>IRAQ<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012052417284225">Claims of sectarian discrimination in academia surface</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />The Sunni academic community in Iraq faces discrimination by the Shiite-led government, according to allegations published on a website endorsed by Ghent University in Belgium.<br /><br /><b>JAPAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120524153310458">More mobile students look to Asia and developing world</a></b></div>
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<b>Suvendrini Kakuchi</b><br />In March this year the International Cooperation University Student Association at Rikkyo University in Tokyo completed its fourth charity campaign, providing books to schools in poverty-stricken villages in Nepal as part of the Hope project organised by the students. <br /><h2>
WORLD BLOG</h2>
<b>UKRAINE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012052314121089">An illogical way of funding universities</a></b></div>
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<b>Serhiy Kvit</b><br />The basic funding of state universities in Ukraine is at the total discretion of the minister of education. A leading university has lodged an appeal against this system. A change in the arbitrary nature of funding could boost quality and serve the public and national interests.<br /><h2>
COMMENTARY</h2>
<b>CANADA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120523104051593">Who will guard the academic freedom guardians?</a></b></div>
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<b>David A Welch</b><br /><br />The Canadian Association of University Teachers has gone too far in attacking the Balsillie School of International Affairs' governance structure. The association's guiding principles protect academics from being forced to act in favour of corporate interests, but in this case there is no danger that academic freedom is under threat.<br /><br /><b>UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120525135513146">Online higher education for the masses</a></b></div>
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<b>Stephen Carson and Jan Philipp Schmidt</b><br /><br />Though a relatively new phenomenon, ‘massive open online courses’ – MOOCs – are transforming the higher education experience and opening learning up to a vast number of people. Universities are beginning to take note of the huge opportunities they offer.<br /><br /><b>UGANDA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120522151339876">Moving beyond price to recruit international students</a></b></div>
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<b>Keith Herrmann</b><br /><br />Uganda has had some success in attracting international students. In part this is because it has kept costs for students low. But is this policy sustainable?<br /><h2>
SCIENCE SCENE</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120524160640563">Publisher promises more open access science journals</a></b><br /> London-based academic publisher Versita plans to publish 100 ‘emerging science’ journals this year as part of its open access programme. Jacek Ciesielski, founder and chief executive of the company, said the focus would be on “young and rapidly developing fields of science” that have not yet been covered by existing journals. <br /><br /><b>FRANCE-AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120524160923529">Bee research might lead to artificial vision</a></b><br />An international research breakthrough with bees offers the possibility that machines might soon be able to see almost as well as humans. The French and Australian research shows that honeybees use multiple rules to solve complex visual problems.<br /><br /><b>FRANCE-CANADA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012052416114724">Carnivorous plant fed by ants, which also benefit</a></b><br />An international team of biologists has found that a carnivorous pitcher plant growing in Borneo’s peat-swamp forests benefits considerably from the presence of a species of ant called Camponotus schmitzi, which benefits in turn.</div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-37579806348815643312012-05-20T03:50:00.000-07:002012-06-09T08:26:09.551-07:00University World News Issue 0222<h2>
On university rankings, oil tankers, icebergs and excellence initiatives</h2>
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In Commentary, Daniel Lincoln argues that Times Higher Education’s plan to rank up-and-coming universities highlights the inconsequential nature of most global ranking systems. Martin Ince writes that excellence schemes boost university ranking positions to a point, but are more likely to reinforce existing positions.<br />
Benjamin Ginsberg warns that the erosion of tenure in America and Canada is undermining academic freedom, and in World Blog Stephen Toope describes a recent mission to Brazil that was the largest ever undertaken by Canadian university presidents – and during which 75 new partnerships were announced.<br />
Yojana Sharma and Hana Kamaruddin wrap up coverage of the inaugural AsiaEngage university-industry-community regional conference held in Malaysia earlier this month.<br />
In Features, Alya Mishra writes that the focus of Indian institutes of technology will remain national despite IIT-Bombay’s participation in the winning international bid to set up a Centre for Urban Science and Progress in New York. And Geoff Maslen finds out, from a new Australian study, why small, developed nations produce high-impact research. <br />
Karen MacGregor – Global Editor <br />
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<h2>
News</h2>
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<b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120518091709739">EU ministers raise benchmark on graduate jobs</a></b><br />
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<b>Marguerite-Jeanne Deschamps</b><br />
The European Union’s Council of Ministers has approved a new employability benchmark of 82% of EU graduates being employed within three years of leaving education and training by 2020. This is a significant step up from the 76.5% benchmark in 2010. <br />
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<b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120518090427145">Boosting science, maths and engineering graduates</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />
Australia’s Chief Scientist Professor Ian Chubb has won a grant of US$54 million from Prime Minister Julia Gillard to recommend ways of boosting the number of students in universities and schools taking science and mathematics subjects. <br />
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<b>FRANCE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120517114933706">New minister for higher education and research</a></b></div>
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<b>Jane Marshall</b><br />
France’s new President François Hollande has appointed Geneviève Fioraso, a spec ialist in the economics of research and innovation, as the new minister for higher education and research. <br />
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<b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120516174336490">Education minister faces copycat allegations</a></b><br />
Germany’s federal Education Minister Annette Schavan faces allegations that part of her doctoral thesis may have been plagiarised. Schavan denies the claims made earlier this month but the University of Düsseldorf, which awarded her doctorate, is having her thesis reviewed. <br />
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<b>EGYPT<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120518135637644">Criticism greets new higher education minister</a></b></div>
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<b>Ashraf Khaled</b><br />
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Within days of being named as Egypt's new higher education minister – the fifth in 15 months – Mohamed al-Nashar had been slammed by academics for both his political past and his present views. <br />
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<b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012050819330053">Regulators argue for compromise on raw data</a></b></div>
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust</b><br />
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Key European Union regulators and their counterparts from the UK, France and The Netherlands have called for greater transparency over access to clinical trials data. <br />
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<b>SOUTH AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120517173944163">South Africa and EU sign joint education declaration</a></b></div>
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<b>Ard Jongsma</b><br />
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South Africa and the European Union signed a Joint Declaration on Cooperation in Education and Training on Thursday, the formal endorsement of years of intensifying collaboration between the two partners. <br />
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<b>KENYA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120518093749156">Lecturers angry over proposed salary reforms</a></b></div>
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<b>Gilbert Nganga</b><br />
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Kenya is pushing to change the way universities are funded and how lecturers are paid, in reforms that have angered lecturers. The Universities Bill wants state subsidies to public universities to be based on the courses they offer rather than on student numbers, and proposes that lecturers be paid according to the courses they teach rather than job grades.</div>
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AsiaEngage conference</h2>
The “Regional Conference on Higher Education-Industry-Community Engagement in Asia” was held in Malaysia from 7-9 May. It was the inaugural event of AsiaEngage, a network of universities aimed at strengthening civic engagement. University World News was there.<br />
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<b>ASIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120517132331608">AsiaEngage – Forging university-community partnerships</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />
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As top representatives of the main partners of a new Asian network stood with their hands on a darkened glass ball, the word AsiaEngage lit up in red and blue and swirled around the sphere. It represented the birth of the new AsiaEngage umbrella organisation for community-engaged universities. <br />
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<b>ASIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120518123421968">How to be a world-class, community-engaged university</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />
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The AsiaEngage network was launched this month with a secretariat at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, or UKM. University World News spoke to Vice-chancellor Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin on what it means to be part of the network and how UKM incorporates community engagement without jeopardising its aspirations of becoming a world-class university. <br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120517155927916">ASEAN joins global family of engaged universities</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />
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With the official launch on 7 May of AsiaEngage, a new regional umbrella organisation to promote higher education-community engagement, the international Talloires Network of engaged universities is strengthening its regional activities. <br />
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<b>ASIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120517121051359">Universities need to serve regional economy, society</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />
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Many large universities conduct research and teaching as if they are isolated from the society and region around them. But even the desire to become world-class can be achieved by better serving their locality, a conference on higher education-industry-community engagement in Asia heard. <br />
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<b>PHILIPPINES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120518132734905">University’s key role in disaster preparedness and response</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma </b><br />
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University researchers and scientists are increasingly playing a role in disaster research, analysis and data collection. But the University of the Philippines has gone much further, taking on a central role in planning and response in Asia’s most disaster-prone country. <br />
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<b>ASIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120518114206210">More students receive course credits for volunteering</a></b></div>
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<b>Hana Kamaruddin</b><br />
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Students in some Asian countries – such as Japan, Indonesia and South Korea – now earn credit hours for voluntary work, an incentive that builds volunteering into the university assessment system and promotes community work as an integral part of higher education. <br />
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<b>ASIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120518115926553">Sustaining university-community projects a challenge</a></b></div>
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<b>Hana Kamaruddin</b><br />
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Sustaining university-industry-community initiatives beyond the first flush of enthusiasm is a core challenge for all partners involved, according to delegates at a key Asian higher education conference. <br />
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<b>ASIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012051714504917">Universities in sustainability projects with industry</a></b></div>
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<b>Hana Kamaruddin</b><br />
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Asian universities are engaged in ground-breaking projects to counter waste, boost the use of alternative fuels and reduce emission of greenhouse gases.</div>
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Features</div>
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<b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120518144614487">Building a global alliance, staying nationally focused</a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br />
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The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, is part of a winning bid to set up a Centre for Urban Science and Progress in New York. While this furthers IIT-Bombay’s global footprint, its focus and that of other technical institutes in India remains national. <br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012051713591328">Scandinavian countries top the world in research</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />
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The world’s smaller developed nations, particularly in Scandinavia, have high levels of R&D support and this goes hand-in-hand with international collaboration and results in high-impact research results, according to a new study. </div>
<h2>
World Blog</h2>
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<b>CANADA-BRAZIL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120515124848851">Building prosperity through university connections</a></b></div>
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<b>Stephen Toope</b><br />
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The largest-ever international mission of Canadian university presidents – to Brazil – saw the announcement of 75 new university partnerships and scholarship programmes, and talks around an innovation agenda. Canada is also opening its doors to 12,000 Brazilian students. The stage has been set for further collaboration in the future.</div>
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Commentary</h2>
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120515135729738">A note of thanks from the top 15,000</a></b></div>
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<b>Daniel Lincoln</b><br />
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Times Higher Education has plans to publish a list of the top global 100 universities under 50 years old. The plans highlight the problems of world ranking systems since most don't compare like with like and context, such as funding cuts, is not taken into account. Higher education is in the midst of huge change and rankings are fast becoming inconsequential. <br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120515150546229">Excellence schemes help top universities get better</a></b></div>
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<b>Martin Ince</b><br />
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Research suggests that excellence schemes boost universities’ ranking positions, but only so far. They are more likely to reinforce universities’ existing positions in a competitive market than to seriously challenge American and British domination of the ranking system. <br />
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<b>NORTH AMERICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120515113834642">Weakening tenure is an attack on academic freedom</a></b></div>
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<b>Benjamin Ginsberg</b><br />
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Tenure guarantees academic freedom in the United States and Canada. The shift to more contingent staff will mean that few academics will risk losing their jobs by speaking out about intellectual ideas that challenge orthodoxy or vested interests.</div>
</div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-89230643458933812482012-05-06T03:41:00.000-07:002012-05-06T03:41:49.898-07:00University World News - Issue 0220<h2>
<b>QA in Sweden scores low marks; some international students face prejudice</b></h2>
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In Commentary, Carlos Felipe Escobar Roa writes that in reforming higher education, stakeholders around the world need to rise above narrow interests, listen to one another and share ideas. Phil Baty says complaints that rankings favour old universities has prompted Times Higher Education to publish a new league of the world’s top 100 institutions under 50 years old. Lorraine Brown and Gurhan Aktas describe a study of Turkish exchange students that revealed the need for support to counter possible prejudice and for links between tourism bodies and universities.<br />
In Features, Jan Petter Myklebust says Sweden’s new quality assurance system has been rated ‘unsatisfactory’ by European experts, and Michael Gardner looks at new laws in Germany that will improve prospects for foreign academics and students – though many students report discrimination. Also, Brendan O’Malley outlines a new report that shows knowledge exchange embedded within the higher education sector as a strategic, integrated activity driven in part by the research impact agenda.<br />
We report on the QS-MAPLE conference for university leaders in the Middle East and Africa, held in Durban last week, and in World Blog William Patrick Leonard argues that a disconnect in the US between student fees and the value of qualifications could be resolved by including parents, students and employers as voting members of university boards. <br />
Karen MacGregor – Global Editor <br />
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<h2>
News</h2>
<b>SYRIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120504150621131">Aleppo students killed, injured in campus attacks</a></b><br />
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />
Syrian forces targeted student dormitories during an anti-government protest at Aleppo University early on Thursday, firing teargas and bullets into the crowd. Four students were killed in the attack, 28 people were injured and around 200 students were reportedly arrested. <br />
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<b>EGYPT<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120504165845929">Students embroiled in bloody week of protests</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />
Egypt’s authorities detained 300 people, hundreds were wounded and a soldier died on Friday during bloody clashes between security forces and protestors – including student movements from several universities.<br />
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<b>TAIWAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120502065305241">Conglomerate’s lawsuit sends a chill through academia</a></b></div>
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<b>Mimi Leung</b><br />
Almost 500 academics in Taiwan have signed a statement in support of environmental engineering professor Tsuang Ben-jei, after one of the country’s largest conglomerates filed a libel lawsuit saying Tsuang’s research had damaged its reputation. The move has had a chilling effect on researchers. <br />
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<b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120502080416356">Vice-chancellor pulls back from slashing jobs</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />
Australian National University Vice-chancellor Professor Ian Young has backed away from imposing an A$40 million cut in spending this year, including $25 million in salary savings that would have cost an estimated 150 jobs. <br />
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<b>NEW ZEALAND<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012050210425488">Universities dubious about increased science funding</a></b></div>
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<b>John Gerritsen</b><br />
University leaders and staff in New Zealand are sceptical of government plans to focus their institutions more on STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths. <br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120502134916448">Roadmap for world-class teaching universities launched</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />
A strategy for setting up world-class teaching universities, with an outline for evaluating teaching and learning quality, was formulated at an international conference on higher education held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last month. <br />
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<b>SOUTH KOREA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120504062743557">Plagiarism crisis taints incoming legislators</a></b></div>
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<b>Han-Suk Kim</b><br />
Students and professors at South Korea’s Kookmin University, the centre of a plagiarism scandal involving two recently elected legislators, have joined opposition politicians in demanding that the lawmakers give up their seats after being found to have copied material for their doctoral dissertations. <br />
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<b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012041915093146">Online bank to check plagiarism may not be enough</a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b>In an effort to control increasing cases of plagiarism and low quality research, the All India Council for Technical Education, AICTE, is to launch Project Factory – an online repository aimed at capturing abstracts of all postgraduate projects. <br />
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<b>KENYA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120504161049799">New university colleges increase admissions capacity</a></b></div>
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<b>Gilbert Nganga</b>Kenya will admit 7,000 extra students to its universities in the next academic year, making use of additional capacity in the form of new colleges. This brings to 41,000 the number of students who will join universities in the coming academic year, up from 34,000 admitted last year – a 20% jump.</div>
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<b>QS Maple</b>The second QS-MAPLE – Middle East and Africa Professional Leaders in Education – conference was held in Durban on South Africa’s east coast from 3-4 May, hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The theme was “Meeting the Global Challenges in Higher Education” and the event attracted 140 participants from 40 countries. University World News journalists were there.<br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120505181922178">The shape of higher education to come</a></b></div>
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<b>Karen MacGregor</b>More and more countries are striving to secure a bigger share of the international student market. But while the market is attractive and growing, it is also “very competitive, highly risk-prone and not the only growth area in higher education – far from it”, said Richard Yelland, head of the policy advice and administrative division of the OECD.<br />
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<b>SOUTH AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120505141620603">Increasing requests for joint and double degrees</a></b></div>
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<b>Sharon Dell</b>Increased requests for joint and double degree programmes are encouraging South African universities to address policy vacuums and join the growing number of institutions around the world offering such degrees – as a way to deepen international partnerships, attract top international students and better prepare students for a globalised future.<br />
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<b>AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012050514220249">PhDs for Africa – The SANTRUST fast-track approach</a></b></div>
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<b>Wanda Hennig</b>Governments have grasped the fact that innovation and economic growth will be generated from growing global networks of researchers, students and institutions. It is an accepted fact that nations are increasingly dependent on higher education to produce the highly skilled labour their economies need. In Africa, however, there are significant challenges.<br />
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<b>AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120506092943371">University’s caregiver certificate spreads across Africa</a></b></div>
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<b>Wanda Hennig</b><br />
A South African university’s collaborative certificate in community-based work with vulnerable children and youth has mushroomed following the success of a pilot study, and is currently being implemented in 10 Sub-Saharan countries through the work of the African Centre for Childhood.</div>
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<h2>
Features</h2>
<b>SWEDEN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120503164105608">Quality assurance regime marked ‘unsatisfactory’</a></b></div>
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust</b>More than one in five of 189 study programmes evaluated by the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education have been graded 'unsatisfactory'. And to the embarrassment of the Swedish government, the system of quality assurance itself has been rated unsatisfactory by a panel of European experts.<br />
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<b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120502094302323">Foreign students and academics win better deal</a></b></div>
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<b>Michael Gardner</b>New legislation adopted by the German parliament is set to improve prospects for foreign students and academics, just as the results of a new survey show that many international students are put off staying on in Germany due to discrimination. <br />
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<b>UNITED KINGDOM<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120503160642472">Six-fold return for economy on university innovation</a></b></div>
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<b>Brendan O’Malley</b>Every pound invested in higher education innovation funding adds at least £6 (US$9.70) in knowledge exchange income to the economy, according to a new report sponsored by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.<br />
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World Blog</h2>
<b>UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120503183428111">Open up the higher education governance process</a></b></div>
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<b>William Patrick Leonard</b>University boards appear to be ignoring the fundamental importance of exchanging value added for tuition charged. Including parent, student and employer representatives – and giving them voting rights – could focus governing bodies’ minds more.<br />
<h2>
Commentary</h2>
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120502142250194">Bringing together the voices for university reform</a></b></div>
<div>
<b>Carlos Felipe Escobar Roa</b>Many higher education stakeholders around the world agree on the need for reform. But they do not listen to one another's perspectives enough or share ideas about the way forward. Ultimately, the mission of universities is human development, equality and quality of life. <br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120502164005749">New ranking to select future Harvards and Cambridges</a></b></div>
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<b>Phil Baty</b>International university rankings are criticised for their focus on established elite institutions. Now Times Higher Education is preparing to publish the world’s top 100 institutions under 50 years old and showcase the universities to watch in the future. <br />
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<b>TURKEY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120502134619905">The cultural and tourism benefits of student exchange</a></b></div>
<div>
<b>Lorraine Brown and Gurhan Aktas</b>Little research has been conducted into the growing international exchange student market – particularly on Muslim exchange students. A study of Turkish students revealed the needs for more support to counter possible prejudice and for more links between tourism bodies and universities.</div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-63968652650314774842012-04-21T06:47:00.000-07:002012-04-21T06:47:32.744-07:00University World News issue 0217<h2>
<b>European ministers come under pressure to expand student mobility funding</b></h2>
In a scoop this week, Brendan O’Malley and Jan Petter Myklebust unpack a new report by the Bologna Follow-Up Group warning that Europe risks missing its goal of at least 20% of graduates studying abroad, with only four countries exceeding 5% in inward student mobility and outward mobility averaging less than 2%. See the Features section. In World Blog, Curt Rice explains why scientific publishing is unfair and in need of reform.<br />In Commentary, Madeleine F Green says universities need to be clear and honest about their internationalisation activities and why they are doing them, and Philip G Altbach and Jamil Salmi argue that international advisory groups, which are becoming popular among world-class universities, can add value and prestige.<br />N Jayaram, in the latest in a series of articles from the new book Paying the Professoriate, writes that improved pay scales and quality measures in India have made professors middle-class – but part-time and private sector academics have not benefited.<br />Also in India Alya Mishra looks at reforms in the state of Karnataka aimed at strengthening university autonomy, quality and research, that could provide a model for other parts of the country. And Tunde Fatunde reports on an international conference in Nigeria that investigated the under-studied 17-centuries-long trans-Sarahan slave trade. <br />Karen MacGregor – Global Editor <br /> <br /><h2>
NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report</h2>
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<br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120411232234891">EU and World Bank push for research revolution</a></b><div>
<b>Brendan O'Malley</b><br />Three significant blows were struck this week for the international cause of achieving open access to scientific research – by the European Commission, the World Bank and the Wellcome Trust.<br /><br /><b>UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120412154827497">Community colleges deny access to 400,000 students</a></b></div>
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<b>Alison Moodie</b><br />Community colleges across America are denying access to hundreds of thousands of students, threatening the nation’s economic future, according to the first report from the Center for the Future of Higher Education, the research arm of a new faculty coalition.<br /><br /><b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012041313360238">Austerity-era budget winners and losers revealed</a></b></div>
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<b>David Jobbins</b><br />A study of the impact of austerity-driven policies on universities in 13 countries across Europe shows a divergence between clear winners and losers, with southern European countries generally but not exclusively faring worst. Finland is leading the pack of countries expanding university education budgets while the most savage impacts are being felt in Italy and Portugal.<br /><br /><b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120413171709118">Increase intake to meet higher education demand – UGC</a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br />With India facing major challenges in setting up new universities from scratch, existing universities may have to increase student intakes to meet growing demand for higher education and the urgent need for more skilled human resources. Some universities may have to double student enrolment in the next five years.<br /><br /><b>MALAYSIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120412112504774">Students may join political parties, but not on campus</a></b></div>
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Honey Singh Virdee and Yojana Sharma<br />Bills to amend longstanding laws banning students from joining political parties were tabled in Malaysia’s parliament last week, with student groups and opposition parties saying that restrictive university laws should be repealed, not amended. <br /><br /><b>SINGAPORE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012041213180590">Ministry reins in false claims by private institutions</a></b></div>
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<b>Adele Yung</b><br />Singapore’s Council for Private Education last week published new ground rules on responsible and truthful advertising by private education institutions, to rein in misleading or false claims and provide better protection for students turning to the growing private higher education sector.<br /><br /><b>AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120412173644453">Science and innovation could cut youth unemployment</a></b><br />High levels of youth unemployment across Africa could be reduced if innovation and entrepreneurship were included in university curricula, participants in a major all-Africa conference on science, technology and innovation heard in Kenya this month.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120412112647921">Two countries may share the world’s biggest telescope</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />The battle between South Africa and Australia to win a US$2.1 billion prize – the giant Square Kilometre Array radio telescope – may be resolved by splitting its operations between the two countries. According to a report in Nature last week, the SKA management board is seeking to determine whether the telescope could be divided between the two proposed sites.<br /><br /><b>MALAWI<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120414092857830">New president sacks police chief over academic freedom</a></b><br />Malawi’s new President Joyce Banda has sacked the police chief who was at the centre of academic freedom protests last year. And she has instituted an inquest into the death of a student leader who was critical of the government of the late president, Bingu wa Mutharika.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120415082644343">Sociologist Manuel Castells wins 2012 Holberg Prize</a></b><br />Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells has won this year’s Holberg International Memorial Prize – the ‘Nobel prize’ for the arts and humanities, social sciences, law and theology. A professor at the University of Southern California and other top institutions around the world, Castells earned the award for four decades of compelling analyses of power.<br /><br /><b>SPAIN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120412141315992">Teenagers flown in to advise on higher education</a> </b></div>
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<b>Paul Rigg</b><br /> The private for-profit IE University in Spain has turned to 16- to 18-year-olds from 11 countries for advice on the future of higher education. The teenagers – from countries as diverse as America, Colombia, Germany, India, Peru, Romania, Slovenia, South Africa, Turkey, Wales and Zimbabwe – flew to Madrid to give their views.<br /><br /><b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120411183222194">Government to fund new centre for Jewish studies</a></b></div>
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<b>Michael Gardner</b><br />Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research, or BMBF, is to provide funding for a new Jewish studies centre in Berlin. Several institutions in the Berlin area are supporting the centre, which launched last autumn.</div>
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<b>FEATURES</b></h2>
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<br /><b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120413192957794">Ministers to consider stepping up a gear on mobility</a></b></div>
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<b>Brendan O’Malley and Jan Petter Myklebust</b><br />Ministers from 47 European countries will be warned that they risk missing their target of at least 20% of graduates studying or training abroad, when they assess progress towards the Bologna goals in Bucharest later this month. They will be asked to sign a pledge to expand mobility funding and enable portability of grants, loans and scholarships provided by European Higher Education Area countries.<br /><br /><b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120413074057663">State university reform could improve quality, autonomy</a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br />By separating the academic and administrative functions of the university from its affiliated colleges, the state of Karnataka in southern India has attempted to give two of its oldest universities a new lease on life, with emphasis on autonomy, research and minimal political interference in university governance.<br /><br /><b>NIGERIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120413180645205">Scholars focus on the Arab trans-Saharan slave trade</a></b></div>
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<b>Tunde Fatunde</b><br />Scholars from universities in and outside Africa gathered in the Nigerian city of Calabar recently to examine the role of Arab merchants in the trans-Saharan slave trade, which lasted for 17 centuries. For various reasons, the trans-Saharan slave trade – unlike trans-Atlantic slavery – is under-studied.<br /></div>
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<b>WORLD BLOG</b></h2>
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120410123704286">Two ways scientific publishing is unfair</a></b></div>
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<b>Curt Rice</b><br />Does science publishing need reforming? Although journals aim to publish the best quality research, the processes of selecting which research gets reviewed – and who does the reviewing – are not transparent and could mean that research by groups such as women gets overlooked.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">COMMENTARY</span></b></h2>
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<br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012041114440954">Internationalisation requires greater transparency</a></b></div>
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<b>Madeleine F Green</b><br />Universities need to be honest about internationalisation activities and why they are doing them. Unless institutions make the effort to be clear about the drivers and to measure the impacts of internationalisation, they will be deluded or uninformed about their success.<br /> <br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120411172913611">International advisors – An asset or an added expense?</a></b></div>
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<b>Philip G Altbach and Jamil Salmi</b><br />International advisory groups are becoming increasingly popular with world-class universities. But do they add anything of value? Having the perspectives of outside experts can bring useful insights and the experience of top academics, industry spec ialists and others can add prestige.<br /><br /><b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120411151546561">Good news for permanent academics in public institutions</a></b></div>
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<b>N Jayaram</b><br />India has introduced new pay scales and quality measures in higher education to retain the best staff, and professors are now happily middle-class. But these do not apply to private institutions or part-time staff and there are still problems recruiting enough academics to teach in public institutions.</div>
</div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-42573232745334934862012-04-14T06:04:00.001-07:002012-04-14T06:04:43.983-07:00University World News Issue 0216<b><span style="font-size: large;">Wanted: Blue skies thinking on universities, strong leaders and salary reform</span></b><br />In World Blog, Serhiy Kvit describes an unprecedented move by the prime minister of Ukraine to involve academics in drafting a new higher education law.<br />In Commentary, Anne Corbett and Sacha Garben argue that it is time for blue skies thinking about the future of higher education in Europe, and Elaine El-Khawas finds that more effective leaders can make a major difference to universities. Also, Gregory Androushchak and Maria Yudkevich call for academic salary reform for post-Soviet universities, the latest in a series of articles from the new book Paying the Professoriate. <br />In Features, Francis Yu reports on the connection of Cambodia’s top universities to a high-speed pan-Asian research network. Chrissie Long writes about 50 students from Equatorial Guinea who recently flew to the Caribbean’s Dominican Republic on scholarships aimed at developing their West African country – and at connecting Dominicans with their African roots – and Kaci Racelma describes the implementation of Bologna-style degree reform in another West African nation, Niger. <br />In Student View Abdimalik Buul writes about Somali students in the US who have been raising funds to fight famine, linking up with students in Mogadishu for a research project and helping first generation Somalis in America access higher education. <br />Karen MacGregor – Global Editor <br /> <br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">News</span></b><div>
<b>UNITED KINGDOM<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120403230232411">Universities to be given control over A-levels</a></b><div>
<b>Brendan O'Malley</b><br />Michael Gove, the education secretary, is to hand universities the leading role in the design and development of A-level qualifications in a major rolling back of government control over the key qualifications driving university admissions. <br /><br /><b>SOUTH KOREA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120405175832907">Professors oppose reform of university president elections</a></b></div>
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<b>Han-Suk Kim</b>Nearly 9,000 professors from state-funded universities cast a no-confidence vote against South Korea’s Education Minister Lee Ju-Ho last week, in a protest against attempts to force universities to reform how their leaders are selected – or face the risk of cuts to government subsidies. <br /><br /><b>GREECE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120402213156178">Universities face huge ‘haircut’ losses to reserves</a></b></div>
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<b>Makki Marseilles</b>Universities and technological institutions in Greece face a huge reduction in their reserves despite the 53.4% write-down in the value of government bonds that reduces the country’s debt by €100 billion (US$133 billion). <br /><br /><b>AUSTRIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120407091137294">Political deadlock on tuition fees causes chaos</a></b></div>
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<b>Michael Gardner</b>Public universities are unable to charge tuition fees this summer semester as a result of the Austrian government’s failure to come up with a new framework for fees in time. Earlier regulations were declared unconstitutional and moves by institutions to reintroduce fees on their own have been sharply criticised by students. <br /><br /><b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012040316152962">New website allows university indicator comparisons</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b>For the first time, students can compare Australia’s 39 public universities on the basis of their courses, student satisfaction levels, the qualifications of academics, staff-student ratios, drop-out rates and graduate employment. Although criticised for including information of doubtful validity, the MyUniversity website is probably unique in providing so many comparative details of each university’s operations. <br /><br /><b>CHINA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120403165527482">Abuse of student internships ‘not fully revealed’</a></b></div>
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<b>Mimi Leung</b>Students and academics from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong researching the working conditions of student interns at factories in China have said that an officially agreed investigation into working conditions at Foxconn factories, which produce Apple iPads, did not provide a “full picture” of the extent of abuse of the internship system. <br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120407105937236">EU and Med states to deepen academic cooperation</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b>European Union and southern Mediterranean partner countries plan to establish a mechanism to enhance collaboration and the responses of universities and research centres to socio-economic needs. <br /><br /><b>FRANCE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120404144813415">Richard Descoings, higher education innovator, dies</a></b></div>
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<b>Jane Marshall</b>Richard Descoings, the innovative and charismatic head of the French Institute of Political Studies, died on Tuesday in New York where he was due to attend a United Nations conference for university leaders. <br /><br /><b>AFGHANISTAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120405175729720">USAID funding and building boosts teachers’ education</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b>Afghanistan’s Ministry of Higher Education opened a new faculty of education at Herat University last week. It is one of six new education faculty buildings being funded by the United States Agency for International Development and was constructed by the US military.<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Features</span></b></h2>
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<b>CAMBODIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120405163837449">Link to high-speed network will boost research capacity</a></b></div>
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<b>Francis Yu</b>Researchers in Cambodia’s leading universities are to be connected to a pan-Asian research and education network via a high-speed link, improving access to regional and international data, helping to boost research quality and facilitating international research collaboration. <br /><br /><b>DOMINICAN REPUBLIC<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120320165438406">African students help connect Dominicans to their roots</a></b></div>
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<b>Chrissie Long </b>Fifty students from Equatorial Guinea – a tiny Spanish-speaking country in West Central Africa – climbed off a plane on the lively Caribbean island Dominican Republic in mid-February, destined for a long-standing agricultural university. <br /><br /><b>NIGER<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120406103525105">New degree system drives rising enrolment and quality</a></b></div>
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<b>Kaci Racelma</b>West African countries are continuing to implement the bachelor-master-doctorate system, or LMD – with Niger being one of the latest. Now the system is standard for West Africa’s largest country, which has a population of 15 million people and is mostly Saharan desert.<br /></div>
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<h2>
<b>World Blog</b></h2>
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<b>UKRAINE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120405132528872">New law on higher education – A post-colonial miracle? </a></b></div>
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<b>Serhiy Kvit</b><br /><br />In an unprecedented move earlier this year the Ukrainian prime minister called for a review of draft laws deciding the future of higher education. Academics and interested groups have been given the opportunity to shape the proposed legislation. Could this mark a dramatic change in how universities are run?<br /></div>
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<h2>
Commentary</h2>
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<b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120405131921867">Reframing the Bologna debate</a></b></div>
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<b>Anne Corbett and Sacha Garben</b><br />The 2012 Bologna ministerial conference takes place in Bucharest later this month. It is time to reframe the debate and look long-term at ways of addressing those who lose out in the process. It is time for blue skies thinking about the future of higher education in Europe. <br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120405132236146">Can new university leadership make a difference? </a></b></div>
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<b>Elaine El-Khawas</b>Do rectors appointed from outside make more effective leaders of universities? Or is this only a structural change – rearranging the furniture? Research suggests that stronger university leaders can make a difference. <br /><br /><h2>
GLOBAL</h2>
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<div>
<a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=201204070940315"><b>Post-soviet universities need academic salaries reform</b></a></div>
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<b>Gregory Androushchak and Maria Yudkevich</b><br />Post-Soviet universities pay faculty mainly for teaching and do not incentivise research. Many staff moonlight to boost their wages and universities are losing out on future staff who are being siphoned off by industry. Raising wages could boost quality and retain staff.<br /></div>
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Student View</h2>
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<b>SOMALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120407113026902">Students link up across the diaspora to fight famine</a></b></div>
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<b>Abdimalik Buul</b><br />Somali students in the US are joining together to help first-generation Somalis get into higher education, and are linking up with fellow students in Mogadishu in a research project to promote positive change.</div>
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<h2>
Science Scene</h2>
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120406103841958">Plants do communicate – Even talk to each other</a></b><br />When South African botanist Lyall Watson claimed in his 1973 bestseller Supernature that plants had emotions and that these could register on a lie detector, scientists scoffed and branded it hippie nonsense. But new research has revealed that plants appear to react to sounds and may even make clicking noises to communicate with each other. <br /><br /><b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120406103807508">Discovery shakes beliefs on Earth chemistry to the core</a></b>For the last 100 years, scientists have assumed that the Earth has the same chemical make-up as the sun. But now scientists at the Australian National University have challenged the belief. Ian Campbell and Hugh O’Neill said their research had reshaped scientists understanding of the Earth’s chemistry – “right to the core”. <br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120406103732641">Mountaintop blasts for giant Magellan telescope</a></b>Last month, astronomers began to blast 8,500 cubic metres of rock from a mountaintop in the Chilean Andes to create a base for the Giant Magellan Telescope – the world’s largest once completed towards the end of the decade. The telescope will be located at the US Carnegie Institution’s Las Campanas Observatory – one of the world’s premier astronomical sites, known for its pristine conditions and clear, dark skies. <br /><br /><b>CHINA-US<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120406103627611">Secrets of Permian vegetation in Inner Mongolia</a></b>Chinese and American scientists have uncovered a forest buried under volcanic ash in Inner Mongolia during the Permian period, some 300 million years ago. The researchers say permian flora are important because they represent a time of oscillating climatic changes that might serve as an analogue for modern vegetation control.</div>
</div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-42980047424140258862012-04-09T12:02:00.001-07:002012-04-09T12:03:04.974-07:00University World News - Issue 0215<b><span style="font-size: large;">Knowledge economies need academics but don't pay them well</span></b><br />
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Among our highlights this week, in Commentary, Philip Altbach and Iván Pacheco use a global comparison to argue that academics are inadequately paid compared to other key professionals driving the knowledge economy. Claudia Reyes and Pedro Rosso argue that classifying and comparing types of university is crucial to raising standards. In Features, Jan Petter Myklebust reports on why top Swedish universities are continuing to expand despite the economic downturn. Wagdy Sawahel reveals that newest country South Sudan’s attempts to build a new higher education system are hamstrung by political problems. In World Blog, Tony Chan says European universities are too inward-looking – the big changes in higher education are happening elsewhere.<br />
Brendan O'Malley – Acting Global Editor<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">News</span></b><br />
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<b>EUROPE</b><br />
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<b><br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120330080034747">Academies reject EU research pledge on social sciences</a></b><br />
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust</b><br />
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The European Alliance for the Social Sciences and Humanities rebuts the European Commission's view that their field is adequately covered in the Horizon 2020 research agenda and calls for an added programme to be established. <br />
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<b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120329180042796">Top university slashes spending by A$40 million</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />
Another prominent university has warned that it will have to cut jobs following a sharp fall in income. The Australian National University announced plans to slash expenditure this year by A$40 million, including a $25 million cut in staffing costs. The global financial crisis, sharp falls in enrolments by foreign students, wage rises and higher costs are causing universities across Australia to find savings in their budgets.<br />
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<b>PAKISTAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120330084514278">Court rules on university leadership jobs for retirees</a></b></div>
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<b>Ameen Amjad Khan</b><br />
A Supreme Court ruling has given encouragement to academic staff pushing for an end to the appointment of post-retirement age professors as university heads. They believe it could pave the way for merit-based appointments.<br />
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<b>UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120329192353472">US graduate growth is too slow, says report</a></b></div>
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<b>David Jobbins</b><br />
The rate of increase in the numbers of US graduates is too small, a report by the Lumina Foundation warns. It suggests that the US must do significantly more to build on the modest gains in higher education attainment to keep up with its global competitors.<br />
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<b>NETHERLANDS<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012032719094144">Languages and humanities axed due to cuts</a></b></div>
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<b>Robert Visscher</b><br />
Nationally, 30 small courses in the humanities will disappear in their current form, including the only Portuguese programme in the country, because of budget cuts and government requests for profiling. All universities have been hit by cuts in government funding and as a result several have cancelled small and expensive courses in the humanities.<br />
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<b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120326230548818">More countries are turning to tuition fees</a></b></div>
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<b>Martin Whittaker</b><br />
As nation states contribute less and less to higher education amid the fallout from the Eurozone crisis, Europe’s universities are anxiously seeking new, sustainable forms of funding. And increasingly they are looking with interest at England as a model, where the burden of paying for higher education has passed from state to student.<br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012040108141720">EU and South Korea deepen research cooperation</a></b></div>
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<b>David Howarth</b><br />
The European Union and South Korea have agreed a range of initiatives to strengthen research cooperation. South Koreans have also been invited to apply for European research funding under the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for research.<br />
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<b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120330195343258">A$220 million synchrotron rescued from closure</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />
After nearly five years of operation at a cost of at least A$600 million (US$620 million), the Australian synchrotron faced being shut down as money was about to run out. But an announcement on Wednesday by the federal and Victorian governments of a $95 million injection means the nation’s prized scientific asset will be able to continue.<br />
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<b>CANADA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120327193034118">Three universities in row over donor ‘veto’ </a></b></div>
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<b>Erin Millar </b><br />
Three major universities are facing censure over collaborations with a private think-tank established by Blackberry co-founder Jim Balsillie. The Canadian Association of University Teachers alleges that the universities compromised academic integrity by signing contracts that gave Balsillie influence over hiring decisions, academic programmes and curriculum.<br />
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<b>EGYPT<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012040108154911">Mubarak-era campus election rules divide students</a></b></div>
<div>
<b>Ashraf Khaled</b><br />
Thousands of students at Egypt’s universities have staged protests against a decision by the Ministry of Higher Education to hold student union elections under regulations dating from the era of toppled president Hosni Mubarak.<br />
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<b>MALAWI<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120330194958421">Civil society demands inquest into student’s death</a></b><br />
Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika has come under renewed pressure to reform the higher education sector, with a petition calling on him to set up an investigation into the death of a student activist and to scrap draconian legislation trampling on academic freedom.<br />
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<b>ISLAMIC STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120323105320801">Islamic states plan research and education network</a></b></div>
<div>
<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />
A pan-Islamic research and education network spanning the 57 countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to enhance collaboration among research and education communities is being planned, alongside a range of ambitious ICT projects approved at the International Telecommunication Union's Connect Arab Summit.<br />
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<b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120327145349948">Students say funding priority is better teaching </a></b></div>
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<b>Michael Gardner</b><br />
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The German students' union has criticised efforts to improve higher education funding, saying they contribute too little towards improving teaching and focus too much on a research elite.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Commentary</span></b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120326151609304">Academic salaries: Are you worth the money?</a></b></div>
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<b>Philip Altbach and Iván Pacheco</b><br />
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There have been few global comparisons of academic salaries around the world. New research paints a picture of a profession that, in many countries, is not valued as key to the knowledge economy.<br />
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<b>CHILE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120330222540618">Classifying university types is key to success</a></b></div>
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<b>Claudia Reyes and Pedro Rosso</b><br />
A reclassification of Chile's universities highlights the importance of proper classification of universities to ensure coherence between mission, human and financial resources and the will to achieve the highest possible quality standards.<br />
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<b>NEPAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120328082036102">Years of neglect put global ranking out of reach</a></b></div>
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<b>Pramod Bhatta </b><br />
Rampant political interference, dismal government spending and failure to reform mean Nepalese universities cannot begin to make themselves world class. They must first concentrate on becoming functioning institutions.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Features</b></span></div>
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<b><br />SWEDEN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120326213730206">How top universities are beating economic squeeze</a></b></div>
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust</b><br />
Three years after the global credit crunch led to economic downturn, and widespread austerity budgets, cutbacks in resources and staff at many universities, some have been able to swim against the tide and actually expand.<br />
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<b>SOUTH SUDAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120329103110290">Higher education reform plans for a new nation</a></b></div>
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />
Academics and policy-makers have produced a vision for higher education in South Sudan, which achieved independence from Sudan last July to become Africa’s newest state. Problems facing universities have been identified, reform initiatives launched and possible ways to upgrade universities recommended.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">World Blog</span></b><br />
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<b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120326232625877">Europe needs to look at changes beyond its borders</a></b></div>
<div>
<b>Tony Chan</b><br />
The recent European University Association annual conference was greatly concerned with Europe's economic crisis, but much of what will affect it in the future is happening outside the continent. It should pay more attention. </div>
</div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-22802584619488717882012-04-01T01:37:00.002-07:002012-04-01T01:37:36.298-07:00University World News Issue 0214 - 25th March 2012<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report</b></span><b> </b><br />
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120323101006998">Universities and students face grim financial future</a> </b><br />
<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />University affordability for students in 40 countries around the world may have reached its peak. Across countries in the OECD, government support for higher education barely kept up with inflation last year while the outlook for 2012 looks bleak “given the debt crisis in the Eurozone”, according to a report released last week. <br /><br />
<b>AFGHANISTAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120320161327409">Western troop withdrawals a ‘challenge’ for universities</a> </b><br />
<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />The withdrawal of US and other NATO troops from Afghanistan by 2014 poses a challenge for the country’s universities, which are responsible for turning out local professionals able to take over non-military tasks, a top Afghan higher education ministry official has said. <br /><br />
<b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120321182406879">UK government challenged over Erasmus funding rise</a> </b><br />
<b>David Jobbins</b><br />A House of Lords committee has urged the UK government to think again over its reluctance to support a European Commission proposal for a 70% hike in funding for the new Erasmus for All programme, which will support student mobility beyond Europe's borders.<br /><b> </b><br />
<b>HONG KONG<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120320145906239">Spate of donations to UK universities from philanthropists</a> </b><br />
<b>Mimi Leung</b><br />A £20 million (US$32 million) donation to King's College London by a Hong Kong businessman, announced last week, is the latest in a spate of contributions by Hong Kong philanthropists to UK universities. The donation from Dickson Poon is the biggest from an individual in King's College history and the largest to any single law faculty in Europe.<br /><br />
<b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120320155420586">Universities demand a more active accreditation role</a></b><br />
<b> Michael Gardner</b><br />The Rectors’ Conference in Germany has called for reform of the country’s accreditation system to give higher education institutions a more active role.<br /><br />
<b>ITALY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120314204500707">Students face fee rises despite court victory</a> </b><br />
<b>Lee Adendorff</b><br />The threat of increased fees for Italian students looks set to become a reality. As universities wrestle with shrinking state funding, budget shortfalls and the prospect of court action, the government headed by Mario Monti is seeking a reform package aimed at liberalising the economy and jump-starting growth.<br /><b> </b><br />
<b>NORWAY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120321162718926">Minister wants to lure students from southern Europe</a></b><br />
<b> Jan Petter Myklebust</b><br />Norway's minister for higher education and research has called for more university collaboration with southern Europe, to help countries hit hardest by the economic crisis – and to lure talent.<br /><br />
<b>CHILE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120322131003864">Loan forgiveness plan fails to win over students</a> </b><br />
<b>María Elena Hurtado</b><br />Measures to ease the debt burden of Chilean students in response to violent protests last year have failed to satisfy students and opposition politicians. Critics say new laws that forgive student debt and reduce interest on government-supported loans do not address fundamental problems.<br /><br />
<b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120321212938488">Danes and Swedes lead bid for food research</a> </b><br />
<b>Jan Petter Myklebust</b><br />Danish and Swedish universities are in the running to become world centres for food innovation when the first round of Horizon 2020 research programmes is announced.<br />
<br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>SERIES: African university leaders</b></span><br />
<b>KENYA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120322111220280">Managing a university on the rise – Nairobi</a> </b><br />
<b>Gilbert Nganga</b><br />When it comes to publicity, Professor George Magoha is shy. The vice-chancellor of the University of Nairobi rarely grants an interview or calls a press conference. He believes being too public a leader could be a blunder for Kenya’s premier university. Magoha spoke to University World News for this second in a series of articles on African university leaders.<br />
<br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">FEATURES</span>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120321165129709">Absence of Arab rankings creates obstacles, says study</a> </b><br />
<b>Brendan O’Malley</b><br />The Arab world urgently needs a ranking and classification system for its universities, a pilot study covering seven countries concludes.<br /><b> </b><br />
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120321153708931">Transparency key for more women university leaders</a> </b><br />
<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />Women have now caught up with – and in some subjects surpassed – men in university enrolments. Yet the number of women heads of universities remains small globally. Overcoming this equity hurdle will require institutional changes, including greater transparency in the way leaders are selected, a conference in London heard. <br /><br />
<b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120320173916802">Higher education bills in limbo after election shock</a> </b><br />
<b>Alya Mishra and Yojana Sharma</b><br />Higher education reform in India, including a proposed bill to allow in foreign universities, has hit another snag after the party leading central government performed below expectations in elections in three out of five states – reducing its room for manoeuvre in pushing key bills through parliament.<br /><br />
<b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120321101008780">Facebook enables the dead to ‘live on’ – for others</a> </b><br />
<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />Dr Patrick Stokes is a researcher and philosopher at Deakin University in Melbourne. He found it a little weird when ‘friends’ he knew had died started contacting him via their Facebook pages.<br />
<br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">WORLD BLOG</span><br />UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120320125027997">Gaming in the American university ranking system</a> </b><br />
<b>William Patrick Leonard</b><br />The main international university ranking systems focus narrowly on top institutions and use independent third parties for their metrics. How can people find out more about other American institutions, and can they trust national ranking statistics if they are self-reported?<br />
<br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">COMMENTARY</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120320114704953">Emerging countries need world-class universities</a> </b><br />
<b>Simon Marginson</b><br />Policy experts tend to advise developing countries not to focus on creating world-class universities. But universities that do not develop their global science capacity will find themselves in a position of continuing dependence. The ambition for world-class universities is not a superficial or elitist whim. It is an entirely valid aspiration.<br /><br />
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120320104648996">International rankings: A poisoned choice</a> </b><br />
<b>Kevin Downing</b><br />International rankings raise a huge amount of debate, but undoubtedly have a major impact on everything from university reputation to the ability to hire top academics. Each of the main ranking systems measures different things, so institutions can select the one that most clearly matches their aims and status.<br /><b> </b><br />
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120321125101100">Universities must encourage the philanthropic spirit</a> </b><br />
<b>Daniel McDiarmid</b><br />The huge donation from Dickson Poon to King's College London shows that fundraising efforts, even in harsh economic times, pay off. But many institutions in countries around the world are still slow to invest in fundraising, not just in terms of staffing but also in terms of university leaders' time and energy.<br />
<br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">SCIENCE SCENE</span><br />UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120321112239696">Predicting clinically significant prostate cancer</a></b>Current evidence suggests that screening men for prostate cancer is a double-edged sword, say Dr Carvell T Nguyen and Dr Michael W Kattan, both working in urological institutes in Cleveland, Ohio, in the US. They say the ethical and economic implications of over-diagnosis and over-treatment of clinically insignificant prostate cancer are profound.<br /><br />
<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012032111242122">Diverse bacteria may aid honey bee survival</a></b>Recent challenges to honey bee health, including dramatic colony losses attributable to Colony Collapse Disorder, have devastated honey bee stocks worldwide. But an agent causing the losses has yet to be identified and new ideas about the decline in colonies are still emerging.<br /><br />
<b>LATIN AMERICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120321111927290">Mountains on a plate form the Andes</a></b>Curving down the western coast of South America is the world's longest mountain chain – and one of its greatest puzzles. The Andes run for about 7,000 kilometres with the highest peak, Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, rising nearly 7,000 metres above sea level.<br />University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-70779266371682941472012-03-21T01:32:00.000-07:002012-03-21T01:32:07.026-07:00University World News Issue 0212<b><span style="font-size: large;">News</span><br />GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120313204541137">Reputation of UK universities slips as East catches up</a></b><div>
<b>David Jobbins</b><br />The United Kingdom’s reputation as a centre of excellence for university education second only to the United States is beginning to slip and could be falling victim to the impact of government policies, the results of Times Higher Education’s 2012 World Reputation Rankings suggest. Meanwhile Asian universities are on the rise.<br /><br /><b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120317175745602">Marginal higher education budget rise thwarts ambitions</a></b></div>
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br />India has allocated only marginal increases to higher education in its 2012-13 budget announced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee last week, despite a stated aim to dramatically increase the higher education participation rate from 17% now to 30% by 2025.<br /><br /><b>GREECE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120316162537639">Academic becomes education minister in reshuffle</a></b></div>
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<b>Makki Marseilles</b><br />Greece has a new education minister as Prime Minister Lucas Papademos prepares for an expected general election by reshuffling his cabinet.<br /><br /><b>MEXICO<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120313200045306">Quality concerns over burgeoning private universities</a></b></div>
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<b>Jonathan P Dyson</b><br />A rapidly growing number of students in Mexico are attending private universities, but there are increasing concerns about the quality of many of the new institutions. The government is introducing a quality assurance system and expanding access to student loans and grants – but critics say this will not stop the demand for inexpensive courses, which are often of low quality.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120313200247308">Africa may win Square Kilometre Array</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br /><br />A final decision on whether South Africa or Australia will host the world’s biggest radio telescope may be made as early as 4 April. An expert scientific panel has narrowly recommended a consortium of eight African nations over a joint bid by Australia and New Zealand to build the massive telescope, the US$2 billion Square Kilometre Array or SKA.<br /><br /><b>NIGERIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120316152715901">Government slams vice-chancellors and councils</a></b></div>
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<b>Tunde Fatunde</b><br />The findings of visitation panels to federal universities in Nigeria have been released, along with a white paper responding to them. The reports have accused leaders and councils in most of the 26 universities of abusing autonomy, and some vice-chancellors may lose their jobs for deliberately flouting university statutes.<br /><br /><b>UNITED STATES<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012031523350556">University initiatives melt borders with Brazil</a></b></div>
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<b>Eileen Travers</b><br />Prodding for an exact definition of the elusive term ‘internationalisation’ triggered hearty chuckles from a range of educators gathered to provide a report card on recent United States-Brazil higher education initiatives, at the Institute of International Education in New York.<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">British Council – Going Global</span></b><br />The British Council held its annual “Going Global” international education conference in London from 13-15 March, attended by more than 1,000 delegates from around the world. University World News was there.<br /><br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012031308172724">Fast pace of enrolment growth predicted to slow</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />A combination of demographic and economic changes will resize the global higher education landscape by 2020, according to a new report by the British Council. The largest higher education systems are likely to be China with some 37 million students, India with 28 million, the US with 20 million and Brazil with nine million.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120316174822576">IAU sets out global agenda on internationalisation</a></b></div>
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<b>David Jobbins</b><br />For almost a decade, the International Association of Universities has been conducting global surveys on internationalisation to monitor trends. IAU Secretary-general Eva Egron-Polak, who led a series of discussions at the "Going Global" conference, told University World News about the latest state of play and the costs and benefits of internationalisation.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120315214127715">Europe to open up mobility scheme globally</a></b></div>
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<b>David Jobbins</b><br />Officials in Europe are pressing on with plans to expand its flagship student mobility programme beyond the borders of existing eligible countries despite the economic crisis, the British Council's "Going Global" conference heard on Thursday.<br /><br /><b>AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120318085122612">Should Africa de-internationalise to internationalise?</a></b></div>
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<b>James Otieno Jowi</b><br />Africa might need to cast off the impact of external forces on it higher education system in order to properly internationalise, the “Going Global” conference heard last week. And universities need to participate more in international forums on higher education to highlight what they are doing.<br /><br /><b>CHINA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120315215016166">Not all foreign partnerships are good quality – Official</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />China wants to welcome in foreign universities and branch campuses as part of its drive to grow enrolment in the next decade and in line with plans for increased internationalisation. But it is tightening up the rules on what kinds of universities and programmes it will allow in, the official in charge of auditing overseas university partnerships has said.<br /></div>
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<b>IFC – Making Global Connections</b>The International Finance Corporation held its fifth private higher education conference in Dubai from 6-7 March, titled “Making Global Connections”. University World News produced a special report on the conference last week, and this week we wrap up the reporting.<br /><br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012031514592545">Defusing a ticking time bomb by getting graduates jobs</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />With graduate unemployment recognised as a ticking time bomb in many countries, innovative ways to get graduates into jobs were presented at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) conference held in Dubai this month.<br /><br /><b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012031600441660">Indian university expands overseas branch campuses</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />Two years ago it was just a patch of desert around Dubai, but now a new, state-of-the-art Manipal University campus has arisen out of the sands with its own laboratories, lecture theatres and classrooms in purpose-built facilities.<br /><br /><b>COLOMBIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120316164846694">Public, private or public-private higher education?</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />Colombia is experimenting with more public-private partnerships in higher education in an effort to increase student enrolments through private sector expansion. But allowing for-profit universities is still highly controversial and opposed by students and university rectors alike, according to the country’s former education minister Cecilia María Vélez.<br /><br /><b>CHILE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120316215158242">Employability in a time of change</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />Duoc UC, whose name derives from the Spanish acronym for ‘university department for workers and peasants’ – Departamento Universitario Obrero y Campesino – provides affordable professional and technical education to more than 70,000 low- and middle-income students on more than 40 campuses around Chile.<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Features</span></b></div>
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<b>POLAND<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012030818102350">Campaign fuels rise in students at technical universities</a></b></div>
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<b>Bianka Siwinska</b><br />While the growing worldwide shortage of engineers has become a threat to global development, students have been flocking to technical universities in Poland to such an extent that they are now more popular than traditional universities.<br /><br /><b>SOUTH AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120315174816716">Many students living in ‘appalling’ conditions – Report</a></b></div>
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<b>Sharon Dell</b><br />A significant portion of South African students are living in “appalling” conditions which are jeopardising their academic endeavours and creating health and safety risks. Some are also starving, according to a report on student housing released recently by the Department of Higher Education and Training.<br /><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">World Blog</span><br /></b></div>
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120314140929441">Are recruitment agents an express train without brakes?</a></b></div>
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<b>Rahul Choudaha</b><br />Commission-based agents can increase international student numbers fast, but not without risks and challenges. Should universities use them or consider alternatives such as social media or regional consortia, which might not deliver such high numbers in the short term but won’t run the risk of damaging an institution's reputation?<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Commentary</span><br />GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120314055536933">The impact of the economic crisis on higher education</a></b></div>
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<b>Vangelis Tsiligiris</b><br />The economic crisis has resulted in neo-neoliberal economic policies guiding higher education strategies. This means less focus on government funding of higher education and more focus on monetary objectives. Higher education planning has in effect been given over to economists.<br /><br /><b>RUSSIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120315192619219">Private higher education in Russia: The way forward?</a></b></div>
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<b>Vladimir Geroimenko, Grigori Kliucharev and John Morgan</b><br />The growing number of private higher education institutions in Russia fulfil an economic need in a growing economy for more student places and more courses that are closely linked to industry. They will help create an innovative educational environment and drive up quality.</div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-4693510421632360752012-03-12T02:15:00.001-07:002012-03-12T02:16:30.121-07:00University World News issue number 0211<span style="font-size: large;"><b>NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report</b></span><br />
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<b>IRAN</b><br />
<a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120309180756866" style="font-weight: bold;">Lecturer faces death penalty, UN reports rights abuses</a><br />
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<b>Brendan O’Malley</b><br />
Campaigners have issued an urgent appeal to stay the execution of a university lecturer at the same time that a UN investigation has reported widespread human rights abuses in Iran including arbitrary arrest, torture and imprisonment of students and academics.<br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120309132555536">US tops list of international patent-filing universities</a></b><br />
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<b>Wagdy Sawahel</b><br />
US universities remain the most prolific international patent filers among higher education institutions worldwide, accounting for 30 of the top 50 institutions. The US is followed by Japan and South Korea with seven institutions each, the UN World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO, reported on Monday.<br />
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<b>INDIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120309135847607">Moratorium on new engineering, business colleges mooted</a></b><br />
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<b>Alya Mishra</b><br />
India’s regulatory authority for technical and engineering institutions has said it may stop accepting proposals for new technical colleges in states with surplus capacity. Scores of engineering and business management institutions have announced closures.<br />
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<b>RUSSIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120308163411394">Undergraduates face common compulsory examination</a></b><br />
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<b>Eugene Vorotnikov</b><br />
Russia’s Ministry of Education wants to introduce a compulsory unified state examination for undergraduates. Students will have to pass before they can be awarded a bachelor degree.<br />
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<b>PAKISTAN<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120308153547388">Academics slam controversial new university ranking</a></b><br />
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<b>Ameen Amjad Khan</b><br />
A new university ranking by Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission, announced on 23 February, has stirred controversy in academic circles. Many critics have rejected the criteria, declaring the ranking system faulty and contradictory to international standards and practices.<br />
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<b>GERMANY<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120308161536791">Ban on joint federal-state university funding to be axed</a></b><br />
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<b>Michael Gardner</b><br />
The coalition committee of Germany’s centre-right government has announced a plan to widen the scope for higher education cooperation with the country’s state governments.<br />
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<b>EUROPE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120308181711918">ERC defends concentration of grants in top universities</a></b><br />
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<b>Jan Petter Myklebust</b><br />
Helga Nowotny, president of the European Research Council, has strongly defended the high percentage of ERC grants that go to Europe’s top universities.<br />
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<b>EGYPT<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012031013435073">University in turmoil over student sackings</a></b><br />
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<b>Ashraf Khaled</b><br />
Dozens of students at the privately-run German University in Cairo have been protesting for more than two weeks after five of their colleagues were dismissed in what the university said was disciplinary action.<br />
IFC – Making Global Connections</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The International Finance Corporation held its fifth private higher education conference in Dubai from 6-7 March, titled “Making Global Connections”. Private education providers worldwide discussed issues such as the global skills gap and possible responses, the role of equity in private education, building and maintaining quality and supporting graduate employment. University World News was the media partner to the conference.</span></b><br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012030908474854">Striking a public-private higher education balance</a> </b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />
With increasing investment in private higher education worldwide it is important to strike the right balance between public and private universities to ensure quality and equity, according to participants at last week's International Finance Corporation conference on private education.<br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120306215213618">Making higher education relevant can unleash growth</a></b></div>
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<b>Yojana Sharma</b><br />
Higher education has emerged as a major economic issue in many countries because of its importance in preparing young people for the job market. Yet it is often not seen as relevant to the needs of the economy, the International Finance Corporation conference heard in Dubai on Tuesday.<br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120306123309978">Is formal education failing Arab youth?</a></b></div>
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<b>Dahlia Khalifa</b><br />
One in four Arab youths faces the frustration of not being able to find a job, twice the global average. Education in the region is heavily public sector financed, centralised, outcomes-driven and unresponsive to market needs. There is a major role for the private sector in helping to provide quality education and create jobs.<br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120306215731441">What we can do about the Arab youth jobs crisis</a></b></div>
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<b>Dahlia Khalifa</b><br />
The numbers are stark. A third of the population in the Arab world is below the age of 15 and a further third is aged 15 to 29. Some 50 to 70 million youths are expected to enter the job market in the next decade. But formal education is not enabling youths to find jobs, and two-thirds feel they do not have the necessary skills.<br />
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<b>UAE<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120309110730613">Quality the big challenge for private education hubs</a></b></div>
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<b>Leigh Thomas</b><br />
Quality is the biggest challenge for United Arab Emirates (UAE) education hubs offering private tertiary education, experts said on Thursday during an International Finance Corporation conference in Dubai.<br />
Universities Australia annual conference</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Universities Australia, the peak body representing the nation's universities, held its annual conference in Canberra last week. Geoff Maslen reports.</span></b><br />
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<b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120307125530982">Europe’s €80 billion plan to boost research, innovation</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />
With a proposed budget of €80 billion (US$105 billion), the European Commission’s new Horizon 2020 plan complemented the approach being taken in most of the EU's member states to increase investment in research and innovation as the routes to future growth, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, EU commissioner for research, innovation and science, said last week.<br />
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<b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120308155637291">Demand-driven system boosts student numbers</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />
The federal government’s lifting of restrictions on enrolments that individual universities could accept had boosted student numbers this year by more than 30,000, Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research, Senator Chris Evans, told the Universities Australia conference last week.<br />
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<b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120308134103535">Universities face new world of fierce competition</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />
Australia’s new system of higher education, where universities decide how many students they will enrol, means some will thrive with expanding enrolments and quality offerings while others will be bankrupted and fail to attract sufficient students. “No sector introduced to a market rationale is ever the same,” said Professor Glyn Davis, chair of Universities Australia and vice-chancellor of Melbourne University.<br />
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<b>AUSTRALIA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120308132319163">University reforms of international significance</a></b></div>
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<b>Geoff Maslen</b><br />
The demand-driven university reform introduced by the Australian government this year is significant on the world scale. This is because the reform established one feature of a genuine market: open competition for market share, albeit funded by a government voucher not commercial fees, and operating in some rather than all institutions.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">WORLD BLOG</span></b></div>
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<b>KOSOVO<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120306125201229">Universities are operating in the dark</a></b></div>
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<b>Jehona Serhati</b><br />
Kosovo needs to seek funds for research, whether or not its universities are teaching students the right skills to help build the country's economy and future. Currently all information is based on word of mouth and unsystematic surveys, rather than on rigorous research.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">FEATURES</span></b><br />
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<b>SOUTH AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120306150045171">Are national goals for doctoral education realistic?</a></b></div>
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<b>Goolam Mohamedbhai</b><br />
South Africa’s National Planning Commission, in its 2011 National Development Plan: Vision for 2030, set out a series of goals for improving education, training and innovation in order to promote economic development by using the information-knowledge system as a driver. Two of those goals relate directly to doctoral education.<br />
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<b>SOUTH AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012031108414482style=title">Little to show for postgraduate incentive funding</a></b></div>
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<b>Karen MacGregor</b><br />
Seven years ago, South Africa introduced incentive funding for postgraduates in an effort to meet an urgent national need for more high-level skills. But new research shows that only some universities have been able to respond and that the annual increase in doctoral graduates is limping along at only 3.6% a year.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">COMMENTARY</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>SOUTH AFRICA<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120309094718922">Comments on the tertiary education green paper</a></b></div>
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<b>Nico Cloete</b><br />
South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande, in an article following his attendance at a universities conference in Havana, raised some very important issues for this country’s higher education debate – which, as he suggests, is completely moribund, from bottom to top.<br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120307143954219">Flying faculty teaching – who benefits?</a></b></div>
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<b>Karen Smith</b><br />
Some transnational higher education teaching models include ‘flying faculty’, where home country academics are flown in to teach for a short period in another country and culture. It's a challenging job, but with many benefits.<br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120311084535143">Improving what we offer (international) students</a></b></div>
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<b>Robert Coelen</b><br />
Improving international students' experience will attract more and will also benefit local students. That includes changing the way we teach to ensure international students have a voice.<br />
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<b>GLOBAL<br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120307151108277">Exploring identity through education abroad</a></b></div>
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<b>Andrea O’Leary</b><br />
Can a short immersion study-abroad course really make a difference to students and universities? The director of one award-winning international programme says it can and the answer is through students forging strong friendships and reflecting on their identities.</div>
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</div>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-24327109157872294542012-03-03T06:19:00.001-08:002012-03-03T06:19:26.763-08:00University World News Issue Number 0210<span style="font-size: large;">News</span><br />
<br /><b>GLOBAL</b><br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120224075836483">Fees coupled with aid schemes maintain access</a></b><br />David Jobbins<br />OECD analysts have found the combination of tuition fees and financial support that seems to lead to the best outcomes for universities, students and society. They suggest systems that charge moderate fees supported by means-tested grants and income-contingent repayments successfully promote access, equity and completion for students.<br /><br /><br />SYRIA<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120224170756178">Students in front line of anti-Assad protests</a></b><br />Wagdy Sawahel<br />Up to a quarter of the fatalities in protests in Syria since they began in March 2011 have been students, according to the Union of Syrian Free Students, USFS. It has launched a campaign of civil disobedience in universities, calling on the country’s 800,000 students to support the anti-government uprising.<br /><br />EUROPE<br />
<b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120223201123111">Social science and humanities key to Horizon 2020</a></b><br />Jan Petter Myklebust<br /><br />Europe’s research ministers have voiced concern that social sciences and humanities should be given a more prominent role in Horizon 2020, the next European Union framework programme for 2014-20. The fears already expressed by academics were reflected in discussions between research ministers from European Union member states in Brussels last week.<br /><br />UNITED KINGDOM<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120224173150480">One in four university courses axed in England</a></b><br />Brendan O’Malley<br /><br />The number of full-time undergraduate courses on offer at UK universities has fallen by more than a quarter (27%) since 2006, according to a new report published by the University and College Union. Of the four UK countries, England has suffered the greatest reduction in choice at a time when tuition fees are about to rise to as much as £9,000 (US$14,000) a year.<br /><br />HONG KONG<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120223072121502">Students ‘flee’ change to four-year degrees</a></b><br />Yojana Sharma<br />As Hong Kong shifts from a three-year to four-year degree structure and school-leavers enter university a year earlier, students are applying to study abroad in large numbers to escape a squeeze on university places and amid fears over recognition abroad of the new untried school exam.<br /><br />AUSTRALIA<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120224102115824">Painting sold for A$21 million but 100 academics lose jobs</a></b><br />Geoff Maslen<br />When the University of Sydney, Australia’s oldest and one of the wealthiest, sold a Picasso painting last June for nearly A$21 million (US22 million), few staff would have believed that six months later their jobs would be on the line.<br /><br />EUROPE<br /><br />
<b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120217134852241">One in five graduates ‘overqualified’ for their job</a></b><br />Jan Petter Myklebust<br />Europe’s graduates are finding jobs twice as quickly as non-graduates, according to a EURYDICE report presented to EU education ministers this month. But its claim that one in five are "overqualified” for the jobs they take has been challenged by analysts.<br /><br />THE NETHERLANDS<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120223203851579">Rule changes after diploma scandal</a></b><br />Robert Visscher<br /><br />Independent investigations into journalism diplomas awarded at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands have found that one in four students should not actually have been awarded one.<br /><br />KENYA<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120225103533546">No more university diplomas and certificates</a></b><br />Gilbert Nganga<br />Kenya plans to bar its universities from offering diplomas and certificates, starving them of a key income stream as it seeks to streamline higher education to boost quality. Universities must now concentrate on their core business – degrees – leaving colleges to handle lower qualifications, in a move that should help government regulate the college subsector.<br /><br />NIGERIA<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120224175334876">Academics rally as extremist attacks escalate</a></b><br />Tunde Fatunde<br />Nigerian academics at home and in the diaspora have strongly condemned recent bombings and destruction by Muslim extremists in the north of the country, with some calling the attacks a “declaration of war”. Scholars have put forward solutions to religious and inter-ethnic conflicts, including calling for a national conference on the crisis.<br /><br />GERMANY<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120223202406902">Backlog of bodies causes problems for university</a></b><br />Michael Gardner<br />The University of Cologne has faced accusations of management irregularities at its Institute of Anatomy. Apparently, officials lost track of the identities of bodies for dissection courses for medical undergraduates.<br /><br /><b>MAKING GLOBAL CONNECTIONS</b><br /><br />GLOBAL<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120224110837965">IFC – Major investment in private higher education</a></b><br />Karen MacGregor<br />Reflecting the extraordinary growth of private education worldwide, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has built an investment portfolio of US$400 million involving 69 projects in 33 countries, many of them in higher education.<br /><br /><b>FEATURES</b><br />
INDIA<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120224154055485">Protests erupt against ‘first’ foreign campus</a></b><br /><br />Shuriah Niazi<br />Often dubbed the first foreign campus in India, the UK’s Leeds Metropolitan University has been established on the outskirts of the central city of Bhopal since 2009 on 15 hectares of lush, sprawling land. But earlier this month the university was rattled by the cries of enthusiastic protestors: “Leeds-Met University, Quit India!”<br /><br /><br />CANADA<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120215134424133">Debate over promise of three new campuses for Ontario</a></b><br /><br />Grace Karram<br />Debates about the need for more university charters in Ontario were heard this month at a symposium hosted by the University of Toronto. It followed the latest throne speech in which the provincial government promised to create 60,000 new spaces for students by building three new undergraduate campuses.<br /><br />UNITED STATES<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120225103904413">Students fight to block NYU’s bold plans</a></b><br /><br />Eileen Travers<br />Just when the world thought the Occupy Wall Street movement would fade into the shadows of the New York Stock Exchange, a robust rally organised by its Occupy Student Debt Campaign herded groups of students and non-students alike to protest on Tuesday against a $6 billion New York University expansion project.<br /><br /><b>WORLD BLOG</b><br /><br />CHINA<br /><b><br /><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012022310450891">Developing critical thinking skills through English</a></b><br /><br />
Geoff Hall<br />Chinese students are stereotypically thought to be reluctant to question authority, but this is not the case for English students studying at theUniversity of Nottingham Ningbo. They are taught to question and challenge existing ideas. These critical skills will be vital in an increasingly interconnected world.<br /><br /><br /><b>COMMENTARY</b><br /><br />GLOBAL<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120223155324935">The complexities of 21st century brain ‘exchange’</a></b><br /><br />Philip G Altbach<br />Despite the rise of the BRICs, large numbers of international students are choosing not to return home after completing their studies. Research suggests that this could be for a number of reasons, among them the fact that salaries and facilities in developed countries continue to outpace those at home, and developed countries are keen to maintain their advantage.<br /><br />UNITED STATES<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120223135251143">Universities to be tested to distraction</a></b><br /><br />Diane Ravitch<br />US schools policy has been all about accountability and measurement. This has led to demoralisation among teachers and a narrowing of what education means. Now higher education is about to be subjected to the same experience.<br /><br />UNITED STATES<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120223143446194">Students must be critical in more ways than one</a></b><br />Adam Peck<br />Students today are exposed to more information than ever before, but they appear less able to express their opinions. Universities need to ensure that they teach students the critical thinking skills they need for the future, and demonstrate to students that they are the product they are paying to produce.<br /><br /><b>SCIENCE SCENE</b><br /><br />GLOBAL<br /><br />
<b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120224182133254">Waist size linked to obesity and premature death</a></b><br /><br />For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that the effect of obesity on the risk of premature death is seriously underestimated unless a person’s hip circumference is taken into account. An international team of researchers investigated the relationship between waist and hip circumference in a 20-year study of almost 8,000 Mauritians.<br /><br />GLOBAL<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120224182236103">Sunshine may help prevent allergies and eczema</a></b><br />Increased exposure to sunlight may reduce the risk of both food allergies and eczema in children, according to a new scientific study. Children living in areas with lower levels of sunlight were at greater risk of developing food allergies and the skin condition eczema, compared with those in areas with higher UV.<br /><br />AUSTRALIA<br /><br />
<b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120224182351230">Drinking black tea may lower blood pressure</a></b><br />In a world first, scientists at the University of Western Australia and Unilever, the multi-national consumer goods company, discovered that drinking three cups of black tea a day lowered systolic and diastolic blood pressure.<br /><br />UNITED KINGDOM<br /><b><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120224182510207">Concrete corrosion sensors to spot danger signs</a></b><br /><br />Scientists at Queen’s University in Belfast have made a major breakthrough in developing sensors that dramatically improve the ability to spot early warning signs of corrosion in concrete. Scientists say they will make monitoring the safety of structures such as bridges and vital coastal defences much more effective.<br /><br /><br /><b>FACEBOOK</b><br /><br />University World News has a new Facebook group: <a href="http://facebook.com/UniversityWorldNews"><b>facebook.com/UniversityWorldNews</b></a>. If you are not a member, do consider joining to see our regular updates, post on our wall and communicate with us and otherUniversity World News fans. You can also follow University World News on Twitter @uniworldnewsUniversity World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-36825606901249779292012-02-20T06:36:00.000-08:002012-02-20T06:37:01.766-08:00University World News 0209 - 19th February 2012<span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:18px;color:#231f20"><span style="padding-left:16px"><div style="padding-bottom:10px;margin-top:20px;border-top:4px solid #939598;font-family:Verdana;font-size:20px;color:#0066cc;padding-top:12px">News<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" align="middle" /></div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">GLOBAL</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120214093559192" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Europe defies US in new best student city ranking </a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">David Jobbins</span></span><br /><br />Forget the Eurozone crisis and the attractions of the New World. A new ranking of the world’s best cities for students places Europe’s cities firmly ahead of the US for quality of life, affordability and their universities’ academic reputation.</div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">CZECH REPUBLIC</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012021718164597" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Ministers press on with plans to reduce academic power</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Jan Petter Myklebust</span></span><br /><br /> The government of the Czech Republic intends to press ahead with plans to reduce academic control of universities and introduce student fees. But it faces mounting opposition from students, academics and university leaders. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">AUSTRALIA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012021410520758" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Research commerc ialisation generates A$1.3 billion</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Geoff Maslen</span></span><br /><br />Australian universities and research organisations generated a record A$1.3 billion (US$1.38 billion) from the commerc ialisation of their research activities in 2010. According to a report released by Knowledge Commerc ialisation Australasia, the money came from contracts, consultancies and related agreements. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">INDONESIA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012021616564640" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">All students must publish research to graduate</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Ria Nurdiani</span></span><br /><br />Indonesia’s Ministry of Education and Culture has made a bold but controversial decision to boost the number of research papers produced by the country by requiring all university students to publish papers in academic journals as a condition for graduation. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">GLOBAL</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120216170108462" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">USAID seeks to leverage new trends on campus</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Wagdy Sawahel</span></span><br /><br />The United States Agency for International Development, USAID, is taking a fresh approach to tackling major development challenges, seeking to leverage new trends on campuses in both the US and abroad to improve the efficacy and impact of its programmes and policies. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">NORWAY</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210100257573" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Anger over commercial use of student data</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Jan Petter Myklebust</span></span><br /><br />A Norwegian company, Rekruttering AS, wants to register all Norwegian graduates from the past 15 to 20 years in a commercial databank to be used for recruitment purposes. But student unions and universities are refusing to hand over the information. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">CHINA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012021618362543" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Grades-for-blood scheme opposed by students</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Mimi Leung</span></span><br /><br />Blood donation will become part of student and teacher evaluations at Beijing’s universities, according to the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau. Its controversial new scheme is to include blood donation records in assessments to determine academic performance, official Chinese media reported. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">COSTA RICA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120216085214184" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Scholarship students cleaning administrators’ homes</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Chrissie Long</span></span><br /><br />Costa Rica’s higher education authority is investigating reports that at least 10 students have been working in the homes of university leaders as a condition for their scholarships at the private <i>Universidad Creativa</i> in San José. The students were asked to wash clothes, care for children, prepare dinners and buy food. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">GLOBAL</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120214084454939" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">First woman president for Commonwealth of Learning</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">David Jobbins</span></span><br /><br />The Commonwealth of Learning, or COL, has appointed its first female president. Asha Kanwar, its current vice-president, will succeed Sir John Daniel when he steps down as president and chief executive officer at the end of May. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">GLOBAL</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120213181722891" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">UN sets up space centre for Western Asia</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Wagdy Sawahel</span></span><br /><br />A regional centre for space science and technology education for Western Asia will be sited at the Royal Jordanian Geographic Centre (RJGC) by April, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs has announced.</div><div style="padding-bottom:10px;margin-top:20px;border-top:4px solid #939598;font-family:Verdana;font-size:20px;color:#0066cc;padding-top:12px">Africa News<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" align="middle" /></div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">EGYPT</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218071436864" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Students up pressure on military rulers</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Ashraf Khaled</span></span><br /><br />Students from the universities of Cairo, Ain Shams and Helwan marched on the Ministry of Defence in Cairo on Tuesday to protest against continued military rule. Students are at the forefront of the strike that began on 11 February and is aimed at pressuring army generals into a swift transfer of power to civil administration. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">ZIMBABWE</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120217165816778" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Every lecturer to have a PhD by 2015</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Kudzai Mashininga</span></span><br /><br />Zimbabwe has outlined plans for every university lecturer to be in possession of a PHD by 2015, and is reconsidering salary discrepancies between university and college lecturers. And the country’s higher education regulator has cracked down on state-run and foreign universities deemed to be offering sub-standard programmes. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">KENYA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120217163652356" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Government to rank universities from this year</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Gilbert Nganga</span></span><br /><br />Kenya plans to start ranking its universities based on their performance and the quality of graduates they are producing, to raise their profile globally. The move, which begins in April, is intended to boost the faltering quality of education in the country. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">GHANA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120217171512654" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Shortened school years will spark admissions crisis</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Francis Kokutse</span></span><br /><br />Ghana’s union of students has promised demonstrations if necessary to reverse the government’s decision to shorten the duration of senior high school from four years to three. The new system is likely to put huge pressure on university admissions this year, as double the usual number of school-leavers vie for limited places.</div><div style="padding-bottom:10px;margin-top:20px;border-top:4px solid #939598;font-family:Verdana;font-size:20px;color:#0066cc;padding-top:12px">Features<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" align="middle" /></div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">CHINA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120215181114705" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Vocational students face exploitation in sweatshops</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Yojana Sharma</span></span><br /><br />Overseas non-governmental organisations have been raising the alarm over worker exploitation in factories in China that produce the Apple iPad and other consumer electronic products. A new report by a Hong Kong-based labour organisation has found that many of the exploited are students working as interns as a compulsory part of vocational courses. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">GLOBAL</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120216105739999" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Worldwide student numbers forecast to double by 2025</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Geoff Maslen</span></span><br /><br />The number of students around the globe enrolled in higher education is forecast to more than double to 262 million by 2025, and study abroad numbers could treble. Nearly all the student growth will be in the developing world, with more than half in China and India alone. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">TUNISIA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120219090021593" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Campus stalemate in niqab controversy</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Eileen Byrne</span></span><br /><br />The victory last October of the moderate Islamist party Ennahda (‘Renaissance’) in Tunisia's first election since the revolution intensified the controversy that was already brewing over women students opting to wear the <i>niqab</i>, or full face veil, on university campuses. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">ALGERIA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120219090127387" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Reforms transforming the higher education landscape</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Kaci Racelma</span></span><br /><br />Significant new reforms are on the horizon for Algeria’s universities. Efforts are being made to ratchet up public funding and raise standards, with the government planning to spend US$1.48 billion on higher education and science over the next five years and to double research spending to 1% of gross domestic product.</div><div style="padding-bottom:10px;margin-top:20px;border-top:4px solid #939598;font-family:Verdana;font-size:20px;color:#0066cc;padding-top:12px">World Blog<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" align="middle" /></div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">EUROPE</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012021412482887" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Why universities need more women at the top</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Curt Rice</span></span><br /><br />Having a more equal balance of male and female staff at the top levels of academia is the right thing to do, but also makes sense if universities want to improve output and the quality of team work. Now is the time to act.</div><div style="padding-bottom:10px;margin-top:20px;border-top:4px solid #939598;font-family:Verdana;font-size:20px;color:#0066cc;padding-top:12px">Commentary<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" align="middle" /></div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">GLOBAL</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120214144059875" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">The true spirit of internationalism</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Viv Caruana</span></span><br /><br />Universities talk about internationalisation and diversity, but often students voluntarily self-segregate on campus. Instead, institutions should be looking at how to encourage students to be more resilient and open to change and different ways of thinking. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">GLOBAL</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120214154324613" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">The risky business of university reputation</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Phil Baty</span></span><br /><br />Global rankings have become hugely influential. We should be honest about their limitations, and about the needs for constant improvement and to be more transparent. In this spirit <i>Times Higher Education</i> will soon publish its World Reputation Rankings in isolation from the overarching rankings. It is based solely on the subjective judgment of academics and shows the fragility of the global reputations of universities.</div><div style="padding-bottom:10px;margin-top:20px;border-top:4px solid #939598;font-family:Verdana;font-size:20px;color:#0066cc;padding-top:12px">Student View<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" align="middle" /></div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">UNITED KINGDOM</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012021513380629" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Student fees impact only just beginning</a></div><span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc">Hannah Blackstock</span></span><br /><br />The number of home student applicants to UK universities has fallen significantly this year, with mature student applications the worst hit. Some university figures are playing down the impact, but it could be just the tip of the iceberg after a decade of changes to university funding.</div> <div style="padding-bottom:10px;margin-top:20px;border-top:4px solid #939598;font-family:Verdana;font-size:20px;color:#0066cc;padding-top:12px">Facebook<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" align="middle" /></div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><i>University World News</i> has a new Facebook group: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/UniversityWorldNews" target="_blank">facebook.com/<wbr>UniversityWorldNews</a>. If you are not a member, do consider joining to see our regular updates, post on our wall and communicate with us and other <i>University World News</i> fans. You can also follow <i>University World News</i> on Twitter @uniworldnews</div> <div style="padding-bottom:10px;margin-top:20px;border-top:4px solid #939598;font-family:Verdana;font-size:20px;color:#0066cc;padding-top:12px">World Round-up<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" align="middle" /></div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">UNITED STATES</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218082718843" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">The future of academic publishing</a></div>These are the most uncertain times in living memory for academic publishing. After decades of bumping along with an antique publishing model, researchers have suddenly woken up and found that they are strong. More than 4,700 have signed a pledge not to write, review or edit for Elsevier journals, in a movement <i>The Economist</i> has called the Academic Spring. How did we get here? asks Mike Taylor in <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>The Independent</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">UNITED STATES</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218082637711" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Professor retention a major challenge for universities</a></div>Attracting and retaining the world's brightest students is on the mind of every university official. But a new, unprecedented study in the journal <i>Science</i> suggests leaders in higher education face an understated, even more pressing challenge: the retention of professors, reports <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>Science Codex</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">CHINA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218082554621" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Innovation: The best and worst of times</a></div>It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." The opening line of Charles Dickens' <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i> is perhaps an apt description of the status of innovation in China today. In terms of political stability and research funding, few would argue that China is in "the best of times", free from the upheavals and setbacks that chequered the first 30 years of the modern People's Republic of China, writes Cong Cao for <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>China Daily</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">CHINA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218082511995" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Private universities multiply to meet demand</a></div>Hundreds of private colleges and universities have opened in China in the past decade in response to soaring demand for higher education. The private institutions offer millions of students a no-frills education and a better shot at a paycheck after graduation as China continues its quest to gain influence in the world economy, writes Sarah Butrymowicz for <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>The Washington Post</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">AUSTRALIA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218082413402" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Higher education welcomes student visa changes</a></div>International students will more easily be able to apply for visas following changes announced by the federal immigration and citizenship minister, Chris Bowen. The changes mean that the number of assessment levels across a range of student visa subclasses will be reduced, making the visa application process easier for students from 29 countries, writes Alison McMeekin for <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>The Daily Telegraph</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">AUSTRALIA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218082335242" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Net student flow ratio one of world’s best</a></div>Australia is running a booming trade surplus on education with the largest net student number among the global education industry's major players, writes Stephen Matchett for <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>The Australian</i></span></span>. Dr Daniel Edwards, a senior research fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research, measured the ratio of international students hosted by 109 countries to their nationals going overseas to study. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">AUSTRALIA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218082335242" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Union warning over uncapped university offers</a></div>A 4% increase in the latest round of offers at Australian universities will place overstretched teaching staff under more strain and lower the quality of education for ballooning student ranks, the higher education union warned last week. Latest figures show that in the wake of the government’s move to uncap places from this year, the number of offers has risen to 220,000, reports <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>The Conversation</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">UNITED KINGDOM</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012021808220026" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Institutions count cost of exceeding student cap</a></div>English universities have exceeded their numbers cap by thousands of students this year as applicants flocked to avoid higher tuition fees, and large fines are expected, with London Metropolitan University alone facing a hit of up to £6 million (US$9.4 million), writes John Morgan for <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>Times Higher Education</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">UNITED STATES</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218082117515" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A bad week for international higher education</a></div>It was not a good weekend for international higher education, writes Kevin Kiley for <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>Inside Higher Ed</i></span></span>. An audit released by the American state of North Dakota found that poor record-keeping and a lack of oversight at Dickinson State University resulted in hundreds of foreign students – mostly from China – receiving degrees despite not having completed required coursework. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">UNITED STATES</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218082035582" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Wealth gap at top of higher education widens</a></div>For the 99% of colleges, it was a pretty good fundraising year. For the 1% of super-wealthy elite, it was a much better one that catapulted them even farther ahead of the pack, writes Justin Pope for <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>Associated Press</i></span></span>. The latest annual college fundraising figures out last week show donations to colleges and universities rose 8.2% in fiscal 2011, crossing back over the $30 billion mark for just the second time ever. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">UNITED STATES</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218081955956" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Praise and caution from colleges for Obama budget</a></div>President Barack Obama's budget for the 2013 fiscal year, released last week, reaffirms his commitment to community colleges and college access, targeting scarce federal resources to job training and student aid programmes, writes Kelly Field for <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>The Chronicle of Higher Education</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">IRELAND</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218081900324" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Universities given six months for reform responses</a></div>All tertiary institutions have been given six months to respond to official proposals that would result in the merger of many smaller colleges and the development of regional clusters of universities or institutes of technology, writes Carl O’Brien for <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>The Irish Times</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">SOUTH AFRICA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218081730673" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Students arrested in protest blitz </a></div>Riot police and private security swooped on a residence at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Westville campus in an attempt to quell student protests. The university is also investigating a threat made against the lives of Indian and white students on its Facebook page. A parent who saw the post last Wednesday said she feared for her daughter’s safety, writes Leanne Jansen for <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>Independent Online</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">UGANDA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218081817943" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">New bill to open university jobs to competition</a></div>The Ugandan government last week unveiled new legislation that seeks, among other things, to open up top jobs in public universities to competition as part of a wider plan to stop what legislators called a fraudulent recruitment system, writes Yasiin Mugerwa for <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>The Monitor</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">NIGERIA</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012021808164455" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Government stops university diplomas</a></div>The federal government has stopped universities from running national diploma programmes, urging them to adhere strictly to their approved mandates of awarding degrees and higher degrees, write Kunle Awosiyan and Clement Idoko for the <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>Nigerian Tribune</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">UNITED KINGDOM</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218081604428" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Cameron admits defeat in battle over access tsar</a></div>David Cameron has admitted defeat in his battle to prevent Professor Les Ebdon being appointed director general of the Office for Fair Access (Offa), the universities access body seen by some Conservatives as a threat to excellence in universities, writes Patrick Wintour for the <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>Guardian</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">HONG KONG</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218081521473" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Students in British university surge</a></div>The British Council expects a 35% to 50% increase in the number of Hong Kong students who will be accepted by British universities this year. More than 3,200 students were accepted in 2011, and this year there has been a 37% surge in applications so far, writes Kenneth Foo for <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>The Standard</i></span></span>. </div><div style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20"><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:10px;line-height:16px;color:#ed1c24">ISRAEL</div><div style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:16px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120218081307142" style="font-family:Verdana Bold,Verdana;font-size:14px;color:#231f20;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Ariel centre moves closer to becoming a university</a></div>The Ariel University Centre of Samaria now qualifies as a university, according to a report prepared by the Council for Higher Education in Judea and Samaria. But the bid to recognise the centre as a university has prompted hundreds of academics to urge Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar to revoke the process, writes Talila Nesher for <span style="color:#0066CC;"><span style="color:#0066cc"><i>Haaretz</i></span></span>. </div></span></span>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-89472807795659920672012-02-18T03:16:00.003-08:002012-02-18T03:18:06.409-08:00University World News 0208<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="797px"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="797px"> <tbody><tr style="vertical-align:top"> <td width="480px"> <div style="width:471px;padding-right:8px;border-right:1px solid #939598"> <div style="padding-bottom:10px;font-family:Verdana;font-size:20px;color:#ed1c24"><span>Newsletter</span><img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></div><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:14px;line-height:18px;color:#231f20"><span style="padding-left:16px">This week we launch “Thoughts and experiences of African <span class="il">university</span> leaders”, a series of interviews with higher education leaders across the continent, starting with Cheryl de la Rey, vice-chancellor of the <span class="il">University</span> of Pretoria. The series aims to promote good leadership in universities, especially in Africa, and will publish an article a month over the coming year.<br /><span style="padding-left:16px">In <span class="il">World</span> Blogs, <b>Daniel Guhr</b> reports on the rise and impacts of fraud on international education, and steps that can be taken to thwart the problem. In Commentary, <b>Brenda Gourley</b> writes about a high-level symposium in Oxford that focused on higher education in emerging countries – and reached remarkable consensus. In the United States, <b>Jamie Merisotis</b> outlines ways to attain the goals of making higher education more affordable and able to produce the highly qualified workers the economy needs, and <b>Eva Egron-Polak</b> argues for quality assurance in international higher education.<br /><span style="padding-left:16px">In Features <b>Suluck Lamubol</b> reports on Thai government criticism of international and local scholars supporting a campaign to amend the draconian <i>lèse majesté</i> law, which is curtailing academic freedom, and <b>Sarah King Head</b> describes an award-winning American programme that gives graduates an international edge by combining an engineering degree with a foreign language BA and study abroad.<br /><br /><div align="right"><span><b>Karen MacGregor</b> Global Editor</span></div></span><div style="min-height:10px"></div> <div style="padding-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px; border-top-width: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(147, 149, 152); font-size: 20px; color: rgb(0, 102, 204); padding-top: 12px; ">SERIES: African <span class="il">university</span> leaders<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" align="middle" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" /></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210175914233" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank"><span class="il">University</span> leadership a balancing act</a></div><span>Karen MacGregor</span><br /><br />Cheryl de la Rey, a professor of psychology, notched up several firsts when she became vice-chancellor of South Africa’s large <span class="il">University</span> of Pretoria in 2009 – the first woman, the first black person and the first English-speaker. It seems the <span class="il">university</span> was ripe for change, as she faced no opposition on any of these fronts. De la Rey spoke to <i><span class="il">University</span> <span class="il">World</span> <span class="il">News</span></i> for this first in a new series of articles on African <span class="il">university</span> leaders.</div> <div style="padding-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px; border-top-width: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(147, 149, 152); font-size: 20px; color: rgb(0, 102, 204); padding-top: 12px; "><span class="il">WORLD</span> BLOG<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" align="middle" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" /></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">GLOBAL</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210094015109" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Fraud in international education – The tip of the iceberg?</a></div><span>Daniel Guhr</span><br /><br />Until recently, it has been easy to ignore the impact of fraud on international education given that little systematic data exists on its breadth and pervasiveness. In addition, raising the issue of fraud is hardly a promising way to gain tenure or to impress a lawmaker who is interested in maximising national income from international students. But once comprehensively surveyed, the magnitude and reach of fraud is becoming clear.</div> <div style="padding-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px; border-top-width: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(147, 149, 152); font-size: 20px; color: rgb(0, 102, 204); padding-top: 12px; "><span class="il">NEWS</span>: Our correspondents worldwide report<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" align="middle" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" /></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">EGYPT</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120208181744722" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Students protest at universities, join general strike</a></div><span>Wagdy Sawahel</span><br /><br />Students protested at several universities in Egypt yesterday, and there were reports that an American student had been arrested for allegedly bribing people to join a strike. Student unions at around 20 public and private universities had called for a general strike, prompted by anger at continued military rule and post-football match violence at Port Said stadium in which 74 people were killed, including at least two students.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">HUNGARY</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210131621551" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Government links state grants to working at home</a></div><span>Ard Jongsma</span><br /><br />Hungarian students took to central Deak Ter Square in Budapest on Wednesday to protest against dramatic budget cuts and remarkable new legislation that will severely limit the rights of Hungarian graduates to work abroad.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">CHINA</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120208113212164" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Hong Kong academic quits after controversial survey</a></div><span>Mimi Leung</span><br /><br />An academic has resigned as dean of the school of communications at Hong Kong’s Baptist <span class="il">University</span> after the institution became embroiled in political controversy over a public opinion survey he conducted in January. The resignation is an indication of the sensitivity of independent public polling in China.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">N<b></b>IGERIA</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120211083535676" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Eight-week strike over as government concedes demands</a></div><span>Tunde Fatunde</span><br /><br />Students across N<b></b>igeria expressed joy on learning that the academic staff union had called off its eight-week nationwide strike. The government has promised to implement a 2009 agreement signed with the union, including finalising the retirement age and reviewing issues related to the academic pension scheme.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">INDIA</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210185610870" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Plans to boost social science research</a></div><span>Alya Mishra</span><br /><br />In a bid to rejuvenate social science research, India has announced several measures targeted at the Indian Council of Social Science Research, or ICSSR. They include establishing a Social Sciences Knowledge and Research Network, a National Social Science Research Innovation Centre and a fellowship scheme to attract young scholars into social sciences.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">GERMANY</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120209170221107" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Bologna implementation makes striking progress</a></div><span>Michael Gardner</span><br /><br />Implementation of the Bologna process is making good progress in Germany, according to a new government report. The transformation of courses into bachelor and masters programmes is said to have been largely completed – with positive impacts including greater mobility, access and graduate employment. <div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">NETHERLANDS</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012020919212738" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Masters scholarships will be turned into loans</a></div><span>Robert Visscher</span><br /><br />From 2013, Dutch students will no longer receive a scholarship during their masters studies. Legislation was recently passed to turn the scholarship into a loan. According to the student union LSVB this is the biggest budget cut ever for Dutch students. <div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">CHILE</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120208095845435" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">2011 protests have little effect on 2012 enrolments</a></div><span>María Elena Hurtado</span><br /><br />Warnings that Chilean students applying for <span class="il">university</span> places for the 2012 academic year would steer clear of the 20 universities that were paralysed by five months of massive protests last year, have not been realised.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">QATAR</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120209153450193" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Challenges remain despite huge investment in HE</a></div><span>Wagdy Sawahel</span><br /><br />An official report says that a decade of substantial investments in scientific research and higher education in Qatar has yet to meet expectations. Indeed, the nation has gone backwards on some indicators.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">ZAMBIA</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210091327223" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Higher education law, new institutions on the cards</a></div>Zambia’s new government is crafting a higher education law that will among other things monitor quality. There has been a mushrooming of bogus institutions of higher learning in the Southern African country.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">PAKISTAN</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210184254421" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">US pledges US$15 million to support universities</a></div><span>Ameen Amjad Khan</span><br /><br />The United States has pledged US$15 million to construct facilities at seven Pakistani universities to offer degrees in education. The initiative is considered a confidence-building measure after a NATO raid mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border at Salala last November.</div> <div style="padding-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px; border-top-width: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(147, 149, 152); font-size: 20px; color: rgb(0, 102, 204); padding-top: 12px; ">FEATURES<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" align="middle" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" /></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">THAILAND</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210184634868" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Government slams foreign scholar support for reform</a></div><span>Suluck Lamubol</span><br /><br />The Thai government has criticised foreign scholars for supporting a campaign led by Thai academics to amend the country’s controversial <i>lèse majesté</i> law, saying that the international scholars may not understand the unique meaning of the monarchy to Thai society. <div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">GLOBAL</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210080844817" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Engineers with a foreign language build global bridges</a></div> <span>Sarah King Head</span><br /><br />The <span class="il">University</span> of Rhode Island’s innovative International Engineering Program (IEP) is designed to give graduates a global marketplace edge – adding to a BSc in an engineering discipline a BA in one of four languages: German, French, Spanish or Mandarin. It recently won a Heiskell Award, one of the Institute of International Education’s highest honours.</div> <div style="padding-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px; border-top-width: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(147, 149, 152); font-size: 20px; color: rgb(0, 102, 204); padding-top: 12px; ">COMMENTARY<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" align="middle" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" /></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">GLOBAL</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210094821617" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">No room for complacency in emerging market HE</a></div><span>Brenda Gourley</span><br /><br />A high-powered Emerging Markets Symposium at Oxford turned its focus on post-secondary education in these nations crucial to the <span class="il">world</span>’s future. There was remarkable consensus, including weariness with rankings and concerns about standards and the suitability of Western <span class="il">university</span> models. The importance of mobility, innovation and blended learning solutions became clear. It was agreed that there is no room for complacency at any level – anywhere.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">UNITED STATES</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120209073013906" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Higher education redesign needed to boost the economy</a></div><span>Jamie Merisotis</span><br /><br />Top education officials have been travelling across America to raise awareness of the need to make higher education more affordable. The economy urgently needs more highly qualified workers. There are many ways to attain these goals, including rewarding universities for students who graduate rather than for those who enrol.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">GLOBAL</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210100327579" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Auditing can improve international higher education</a></div><span>Eva Egron-Polak</span><br /><br />Quality assurance in international higher education is more than the end result of a set of narrow statistics. The process encourages universities to question what they are doing in terms of internationalisation, and why.</div> <div style="padding-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px; border-top-width: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(147, 149, 152); font-size: 20px; color: rgb(0, 102, 204); padding-top: 12px; ">SCIENCE SCENE<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" align="middle" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" /></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">ARCTIC</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210211724231" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Arctic approaches climate change tipping point</a></div> Humanity faces dire consequences as a result of the first signs of dangerous climate change in the Arctic. Leading international scientists say the Arctic region is fast approaching a series of ‘tipping points’ that could trigger an abrupt domino effect of large-scale climate change across the entire planet.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">AFRICA</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012021021532982" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Climate change blamed for dead trees</a></div> Trees are dying in the Sahel, a region in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, and human-caused climate change is to blame, according to a study led by a scientist at the <span class="il">University</span> of California, Berkeley.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">NEW ZEALAND</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210211119512" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Supergiant amphipod in the deeps</a></div>An expedition to one of the deepest places in the ocean has discovered one of the most enigmatic creatures in the deep sea – a ‘supergiant’ amphipod. Amphipods are a type of crustacean particularly common in the deep sea, and the deeper the sea the greater their numbers.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">GLOBAL</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210210509649" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Ageing stars – Slow outside but fast inside</a></div>Scientists have made a new discovery about how old stars called ‘red giants’ rotate, giving an insight into what our Sun will look like in five billion years. The international team of scientists has discovered that red giants have slowed down on the outside while their cores spin at least 10 times faster than their outer layers.</div> <div style="padding-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px; border-top-width: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(147, 149, 152); font-size: 20px; color: rgb(0, 102, 204); padding-top: 12px; ">FACEBOOK<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" align="middle" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" /></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><i><span class="il">University</span> <span class="il">World</span> <span class="il">News</span></i> has a new Facebook group: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/University-World-News/213408135361769?ref=ts" target="_blank">facebook.com/<wbr>UniversityWorldNews</a>. If you are not a member, do consider joining to see our regular updates, post on our wall and communicate with us and other <i><span class="il">University</span> <span class="il">World</span> <span class="il">News</span></i> fans. You can also follow <i><span class="il">University</span> <span class="il">World</span> <span class="il">News</span></i> on Twitter @uniworldnews</div> <div style="padding-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px; border-top-width: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(147, 149, 152); font-size: 20px; color: rgb(0, 102, 204); padding-top: 12px; "><span class="il">WORLD</span> ROUND-UP<img src="http://www.universityworldnews.com/newsletters/images/grey_dot_wide.gif" align="middle" border="0" height="14px" width="453px" /></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">EUROPE</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210230206708" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Bologna fails to unite through education – Study</a></div> The European ideal of uniting the continent through education appears a waste of time, according to new research into student mobility and common curricula, writes Stephen Matchett for <span><i>The Australian</i></span>.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">UNITED KINGDOM</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012021022565664" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Council calls for 'urgent review' of visa policy</a></div>The organisation charged with promoting British education overseas has rounded on the government over its student visa changes, calling for an “urgent review” of the policy to avert damage to the economy and the possible closure of <span class="il">university</span> departments, writes John Morgan for <span><i>Times Higher Education</i></span>.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">UNITED STATES</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210225149235" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Taking more campus seats, foreigners pay the freight</a></div>This is the <span class="il">University</span> of Washington’s new maths: 18% of its freshmen come from abroad, most from China. Each pays tuition of $28,059, about three times as much as students from Washington State. And that, according to the dean of admissions, is how low-income Washingtonians – more than a quarter of the class – get a free ride, writes Tamar Lewin for <span><i>The New York Times</i></span>.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">INDIA</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210224640993" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Big jump in students taking global graduate exam</a></div>As an indication that more Indian students are looking at foreign countries like the US for higher education, the Graduate Record Examination, or GRE, witnessed an increase of 43% in students taking the test from India last year, reports the <span><i>Deccan Chronicle</i></span>.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">IRAN</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210224637528" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Mousavi’s daughter barred from <span class="il">university</span> job</a></div>An Iranian opposition website reported last week that authorities had banned one of the daughters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi from her <span class="il">university</span> teaching job, according to <span><i>Associated Press</i></span>.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">UNITED STATES</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210222522558" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Government in push to retain science students</a></div> The Barack Obama administration put its stamp last week on a strategy to boost America’s numbers of science and engineering graduates by working harder to retain those already in the college pipeline, writes Paul Basken for <span><i>The Chronicle of Higher Education</i></span>.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">UNITED STATES</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210222010743" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Stanford <span class="il">University</span> breaks fundraising records</a></div>Stanford <span class="il">University</span> said last week that its latest five-year fundraising drive netted $6.2 billion, one of the largest amounts ever collected in a higher education campaign, writes Terence Chea for <span><i>Associated Press</i></span>.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">JAPAN</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210221501306" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank"><span class="il">University</span> finds a key to unlock philanthropy</a></div>Japan’s universities and research institutes have long had to make do with few philanthropic donations. Strict laws governing <span class="il">university</span> finances, and the lack of a philanthropic tradition, have discouraged the gifts that serve Western institutions so well. But change is coming, writes David Cyranoski for <span><i>Nature</i></span>.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">CANADA</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210221504501" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">RIM co-founder gives $21-million to alma mater</a></div> BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion co-founder Mike Lazaridis is donating another CAN21million (US$21 million) to his alma mater, the <span class="il">University</span> of Waterloo, showing no signs of tightening his philanthropic purse strings after a year in which he saw his personal fortune dwindle, writes James Bradshaw for <span><i>The Globe and Mail</i></span>.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">UNITED STATES</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210220954711" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">When black men succeed in higher education</a></div>The litany of bad <span class="il">news</span> about the status of black men in higher education in the US is by now familiar. They make up barely 4% of all undergraduate students. They come into college less prepared than their peers for the rigours of college-level academic work. Their completion rates are the lowest of all major racial and ethnic groups in the US, writes Doug Lederman for <span><i>Inside Higher Ed</i></span>.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">UNITED KINGDOM</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210220950477" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Oxford ‘less likely’ to accept bright state pupils</a></div>Despite government pressure on universities to diversify their admissions, it has emerged that bright candidates from fee-paying schools were around 25% more likely to get in to Oxford <span class="il">University</span> last year. Black and Asian pupils with decent grades had a significantly lower success rate than their white counterparts, writes Olivia Goldhill for <span><i>The Telegraph</i></span>.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div> </div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">UNITED KINGDOM</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012021022035237" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank"><span class="il">University</span> maths 'too difficult' for students</a></div>Many institutions are “marginalising the mathematical content” of degree courses amid fears that English students are incapable of the most basic sums, writes Graeme Paton for <span><i>The Telegraph</i></span>.<div style="min-height:14px;border-bottom:1px solid #6d6e71"></div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(237, 28, 36); ">UNITED KINGDOM</div><div style="font-family: 'Verdana Bold', Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120210215848572" style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32); text-decoration: none; " target="_blank">Conservative MPs veto choice of <span class="il">university</span> access tsar</a></div>Britain’s Liberal Democrats have suffered a defeat at the hands of their Conservative coalition partners after a committee of MPs overruled Vince Cable’s choice of new <span class="il">university</span> access tsar, writes Jessica Shepherd for the <span><i>Guardian</i></span>.</div></span></span></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-23758681998495312012012-01-17T09:25:00.000-08:002012-01-17T09:28:04.233-08:00University World News 0204 - 15 th January 2012<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS</span></span><br /><br /><span>This week YOJANA SHARMA unpacks a new report by the Observatory on</span> Borderless Higher Education on international branch campuses worldwide. In Features, EILEEN TRAVERS takes a look at the winning bid from Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology to build a cutting-edge sciences and engineering university in New York. WAGDY SAWAHEL reports on university protests by ultra-conservative Muslims in Tunisia and the implications for academic freedom in North Africa, and KACI RACELMA describes plans for higher education reform in Mauritania. In Commentary, SUSAN BUCK SUTTON and DANIEL OBST write that international higher education partnerships are flourishing and transforming the institutions that engage in them. ATLE NYHAGEN warns that importing the American higher education model threatens to undermine the central values of European universities and nations, and DENISE KEENE urges institutions worldwide to visibly welcome students with disabilities.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GLOBAL: International branch campus growth now in Asia</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Yojana Sharma</span><br />Asia has become the focus of growth in international branch campuses after nearly a decade of rapid expansion in the Middle East, according to a just-released report by the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE), the UK-based research organisation. It reveals continued growth and interest in establishing international branch campuses, including by developing countries in other developing regions.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113083126934">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GREECE: Universities face grave financial threat</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Makki Marseilles</span><br />Universities and higher education institutions in Greece that have not held elections for the composition of their new management councils are in grave and imminent danger of losing state financial support.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120112144835566">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">TAIWAN: Reelected PM promises more China students</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Mimi Leung</span><br />Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou, who emerged the victor of yesterday's closely-fought elections, has promised to take up a suggestion by local university presidents to open up Taiwan's universities to more students from China. Ma has consistently advocated closer relations with China.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113203353909">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">INDIA: Student access soars, but challenges remain</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Alya Mishra</span><br />India's efforts to increase higher education participation have paid off, with the gross enrolment ratio (GER) or the proportion of school-leavers aged between 18 and 23 years entering college-level courses, rising from 12.5% in 2007-08 to close to 20%. However, the rise in GER does not necessarily mean an increase in quality or the supply of skilled personnel, academics and policy-makers have warned.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120111073309854">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SRI LANKA: New wave of student protests</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Dinesh De Alwis</span><br />Buddhist student monks have joined thousands of other university students in a new wave of protests to hit Sri Lanka in recent weeks, forcing the temporary closure of at least two major universities this week and widespread disruption of classes.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120111164939334">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SOUTH AFRICA: Mother dies in university stampede</span><br />The mother of a prospective student was trampled to death and 22 people were injured, two critically, in a stampede for limited slots at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Tuesday. The tragedy highlights flaws in the South African higher education admissions process and the desperation of school-leavers to secure access to a tertiary qualification.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113110018923">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SOUTH AFRICA: Plan for 1.5 million students by 2030</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Karen MacGregor</span><br />South Africa's government plans to raise university enrolments from a current 900,000 to 1.5 million by 2030, to achieve a participation rate in higher education of 23%, according to a green paper published on Thursday. The target for colleges and other post-school institutions is a whopping four million students - a six-fold increase over current numbers.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120115093819516">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GERMANY: Higher education admissions chaos looms</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Michael Gardner</span><br />Students in Germany applying for admission-restricted subjects will face chaotic enrolment conditions until at least mid-2013 due to technical problems dogging the introduction of new online national higher education admissions procedures.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120111185958802">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">NETHERLANDS: Germany should pay for student influx</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jan Petter Myklebust</span><br />The Dutch junior education minister has demanded compensation from Germany for the large number of its students attending universities in The Netherlands. Halbe Zijlstra claimed in a statement to parliament that foreign students cost Dutch taxpayers EUR90 million (US$116 million).<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113101751126">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">HAITI: US universities help rebuild higher education</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Garry Pierre Pierre</span><br />Two years after suffering an earthquake that wreaked massive damage on universities, Haiti's higher education sector has benefited from international efforts that have revamped buildings but helped reconstruct curricula.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120115000157531">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ZIMBABWE: Diamond sales to fund student grants</span><br />The Zimbabwean government has relaunched student grants, to be financed from diamond sales, in an effort to resuscitate the tertiary sector. Companies have also pulled resources together to come up with student loans. The country's 2012 national budget has been lauded by lawmakers for prioritising higher education.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113202931320">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MALAWI: Lecturers resume work, but tensions persist</span><br />Lecturers in Malawi have resolved to return to work to end nearly a year of academic freedom protests during a long-running impasse with the government. But with tensions and mistrust persisting, lecturers have been firm about setting out the conditions under which they will resume classes.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113214941712">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">FEATURES</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: New York campus bid to be world innovation capital</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Eileen Travers</span><br />Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's winning plan for a $1.5 billion, environmentally-friendly applied sciences and engineering university in New York could thrust the city to the forefront of high-tech development. Silicon Valley has been warned to brace itself.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113202823324">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">NORTH AFRICA: Democracy versus academic freedom?</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Wagdy Sawahel</span><br />On 5 January Tunisian Salafists, ultra-conservative Muslims, ended a weeks-long protest at Manouba University's faculty of letters, arts and humanities that had forced the institution to close. It is expected to reopen next week. The case has highlighted the implications of democratic changes in the Arab world for academic freedom in universities.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012011320263121">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MAURITANIA: University reforms to bridge deep divides</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Kaci Racelma</span><br />A government commission has been created in Mauritania with the aim of reforming the country's higher education system, which has been riven by poor quality and splits between its French- and Arabic-speaking teaching and students. The divide mirrors the country's linguistic and social make-up with an Arabised north and a black African Francophone south.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113202525840">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">COMMENTARY</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GLOBAL: Dynamic moment for international partnerships</span><br />We are in an era of flourishing international partnerships, say SUSAN BUCK SUTTON and DANIEL OBST. Yes, there may be challenges, but such partnerships enhance and even transform the institutions that engage in them.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113202352271">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">EUROPE: US model threatens European traditions</span><br />The American model of higher education is being used for Europe, says ATLE NYHAGEN. But policy-makers are paying little attention to the different historical paths the two regions have followed and application of the US model threatens to undermine the central values of most of the nation states of Europe.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113202238447">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GLOBAL: Universities need to be vocal about inclusion</span><br />Universities and colleges around the world may welcome students with disabilities and learning disorders, but unless they are upfront about this and make it clear on their websites that they are inclusive, they may put some students off applying, says DENISE KEENE.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113195603976">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ACADEMIC FREEDOM</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GLOBAL: Academic freedom reports worldwide</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Noemi Bouet*</span><br />In Iran, another scientist has died in a bomb attack strongly resembling earlier assassinations of those involved in the country's controversial nuclear programme. In Sudan, peaceful student protests across the country have been violently suppressed by security forces. Academics and students at Israel's Tel Aviv University have condemned the institution's security services for acting like a "secret police on campus" in pressuring lecturers to help them spy on students. And in Sri Lanka, thousands of students protesting a range of grievances have been evicted from their campus following a court order.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113195430447">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">FACEBOOK</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">University World News has a new Facebook group:</span><br />facebook.com/UniversityWorldNews. Even if you were one of the 2,800 members of the original Facebook community you will need to rejoin, or become a fan once again via this page. That way, you will be able to see our regular updates, post on our wall and communicate with us and other University World News fans. Please take a few minutes to rejoin and to inform your friends about our new Facebook page. You can also follow University World News on Twitter @uniworldnews<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">WORLD ROUND-UP</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">INDIA: Lawyers to protest higher education bill</span><br />The Bar Council of India has strongly opposed the inclusion of legal education under the proposed National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) and urged the government to remove the legal profession and education from the ambit of the Higher Education and Research Bill 2011, reports The Hindu.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113195333973">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">INDIA: Bills spark fears of 'police raj' on education</span><br />Three bills the Indian government has lined up to regulate higher education have been described as "draconian" by private institutions, which fear their enactment will bring the segment under a "police raj", writes GC Shekhar for The Telegraph.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113195238786">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UK: University research misconduct 'alive and well'</span><br />Research misconduct is "alive and well" at UK universities, the British Medical Journal has claimed, writes Jack Grove for Times Higher Education. Findings from a survey by the journal published last week found that 13% of UK-based scientists and doctors had witnessed colleagues fabricating or altering research data ahead of publication in peer-reviewed journals.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113195144560">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UK: Universities collect millions in library fines</span><br />UK universities have raised almost £50 million (US$77 million) from fining students for overdue library books in the past six years, reports the Guardian.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113195056333">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: New disclosure rules for economics scholars</span><br />Following heavy scrutiny of economists' conflicts of interest before the financial crash of 2008, the American Economic Association has adopted new guidelines at its annual meeting that require scholars to divulge who supports the research they publish in the association's journals, writes Dan Berrett for The Chronicle of Higher Education.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113195005337">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">INDIA: Desperate students turn to high-tech cheating</span><br />What do you get when you combine Indian technical wizardry with a desperate shortage of spots in higher education? Some really fancy examination cheating, writes Stephanie Nolen for The Globe and Mail.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113194850276">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">VIETNAM: Universities grapple with course ban</span><br />Ho Chi Minh City's University of the Food Industry has complained that it has no clue how to deal with the spec ialised tools and personnel of its vocational courses after the Ministry of Education and Training prohibited universities from running occupational courses alongside traditional academic programmes from the next academic year, reports Tuoi Tre News.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113194801607">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SRI LANKA: University ragging rages on despite law</span><br />Although it is a punishable offence under a 1998 law, ragging incidents varying from verbal to s exual abuse are on the increase at higher education institutions in Sri Lanka, with some students even dropping out due to its serious nature, writes Nadia Fazlulhaq for The Sunday Times.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113194707521">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">KENYA: Professions roped in to run universities</span><br />Professional associations and industry lobbies are to be roped in to the running of universities as the government moves to bridge the gap between training and the skills employers want. The proposal is contained in a draft Universities Bill prepared by a team that the Ministry of Higher Education appointed to align training with the constitution, writes David Herbling for Business Daily.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113194538523">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GHANA: Board issues honorary degree warning</span><br />Ghana's National Accreditation Board has warned that it will not recognise honorary and professorial degrees awarded by institutions that do not have the mandate to do so, reports the Daily Graphic.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113194433693">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UK: £11m distributed to cut university emissions</span><br />Nearly £11 million (US$17 million) in interest-free loans has been distributed to fund projects that will reduce universities' carbon emissions, writes David Matthews for Times Higher Education.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113194341333">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UK: University to open Thailand campus</span><br />The University of Central Lancashire is to open a campus in Bangkok, in what is claimed as the first such UK branch university to be established in Thailand, reports Sean Coughlan for BBC News. The university has signed a deal with a Thai-based entrepreneur to open the campus in 2014. Degrees will be taught in English and validated by the UK university.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113194239604">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: Yale to provide tax relief for same-s ex couples</span><br />Beginning this month, Yale will join the small number of United States colleges and universities that help offset a federal tax g ay and l esbian employees pay on health coverage received by their partners, writes Gavan Gideon for Yale Daily News.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113194146394">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: College sports reform: Now? Never?</span><br />Virtually no matter where you turn for news and commentary, from sophisticated publications like The Atlantic to rants on sports radio for the lowbrow, you're likely to have been left in recent months with the overwhelming impression that big-time college sports is in crisis, and that momentum is building for some kind of radical action that would result in a wholesale transformation of the enterprise. Don't hold your breath, writes Doug Lederman for Inside Higher Ed.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113194036712">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CUBA: Iranian president receives honorary doctorate</span><br />The Iranian president has been granted an honorary doctorate because of his incomparable efforts in defence of the establishment of a just international system as well as nations' rights against capitalist powers, Havana University declared, reports the Islamic Republic News Agency.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113193943667">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: Man accused of starting fake college from prison</span><br />A lifelong con man accused of starting a fake university and churning out fake diplomas - while in prison in Wisconsin - appeared in court last Tuesday to face a fraud charge, years after the complex scheme was uncovered, reports Carrie Antlfinger for the Huffington Post.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113193730149">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: University suspects fraud by wine researcher</span><br />A charge of widespread scientific fraud, involving 26 articles published in 11 journals, was levelled by the University of Connecticut last week against Dipak K Das, one of its researchers whose work reported health benefits of red wine, writes Nicholas Wade for The New York Times.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113193552742">More on the University World News site:</a></span>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-82041334107488160992011-12-18T02:10:00.000-08:002011-12-18T02:16:58.875-08:00University World News 0202- 19th December 2011<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ANNOUNCEMENT: Festive season break, new website, new sections</span></span><br /><br /><span>University World News is taking a short break over the year-end festive</span> season. Our next weekly edition will be published on Sunday 8 January, although breaking news stories will continue to be posted on the website. We will kick off 2012 with a special report looking ahead at likely developments and challenges facing higher education around the world.<br /><br />The new year will herald a new look for University World News, with the launch in January of a redesigned website with a newsy feel and a more flexible structure that will lift the Features and Commentary sections higher up the page, among many other things. We will also be launching blogs, which will boost the academic voice in University World News over and above the Commentary section, and a new article series titled "Thoughts and Experiences of African University Leaders", funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">This week's highlights</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>In Commentary, RICHARD HOLMES says the new Leiden Ranking is unlikely to attract much attention because it does not declare a winner, but it contains a wealth of data and other rankers should pay attention. In articles from International Higher Education, RUTH HAYHOE and JUN LI examine how China has balanced support for world-class universities with policies promoting institutional diversity, and MARCELO KNOBEL writes that Brazil's new initiative to send 75,000 students abroad has good intentions but has met with criticisms. In Features, MUNYARADZI MAKONI reports on a controversial bill in South Africa that has been slammed as a threat to academic freedom, and SHELDON G WEEKS writes that after years of delays, Botswana's second public university and a fourth college are set to open next year. AMEEN AMJAD KHAN says concern is growing in Pakistan that most university courses are irrelevant to the country's socio-economic needs, and in Vietnam, HIEP PHAM reports that universities are struggling to attract international students.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">NIGERIA: Striking academics close public universities</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tunde Fatunde</span><br />Striking academics have once again shut down Nigeria's public universities, and students have been sent home. Leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, or ASUU, have accused the federal and regional governments of deliberately failing to execute a memorandum of understanding on funding, salaries and conditions signed two years ago.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216111634663">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">EUROPE: Block Belarus bid to join HE area - Students</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Brendan O'Malley</span><br />The European Students Union says Belarus should not be allowed to join the European Higher Education Area because it denies academic freedom.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2011121521084547">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SWEDEN: Living costs and fees deter foreign students</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jan Petter Myklebust</span><br />A government survey of the impact of the introduction of tuition fees on international students in Sweden this autumn has revealed that one in three of those accepted into universities did not take up the places because living costs are too high. Only 29% of 4,600 fee-eligible students accepted for a study place actually registered, compared to 79% of Swedish students.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216172507431">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GERMANY: Foreign students need special support</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Michael Gardner</span><br />The success rate of foreign students who go on to universities in Germany after attending school there is improving, but fewer of them complete higher education than German students and many are faced with problems that require special support, according to a new survey.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111212202550772">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">NORWAY: State to fund more study abroad in BRICs</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jan Petter Myklebust</span><br />The Norwegian parliament's committee on education has asked the Ministry of Education to fund more Norwegians to study in Brazil, Russia, India and China - the four original BRIC countries - from 2012. Kyrre Lekve, junior education minister, said funding would be focused on attendance at "good quality" institutions listed in international rankings.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111215095713784">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AFRICA: Pan-African University officially launched</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Mamadou Mika Lom</span><br />The Pan African University was officially launched last Wednesday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, headquarters of the African Union, which has been driving the initiative. The event transformed into reality the dream of creating centres of excellence across Africa to conduct research and train the high-level professionals desperately needed for development.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111217193353605">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: Risks and opportunities for multi-state campuses</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Alison Moodie</span><br />Creating campuses in multiple US states carries both risks and opportunities for private colleges, according to a report by Moody's Investors Service. Northeastern University in Boston recently opened regional campuses across America. The move reflects a new trend that may well spread to other private not-for-profit universities as enrolment continues to decline and revenues dwindle in a weak economy, says the study.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216172415786">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GLOBAL: Plan to grow Arab-South American links</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Wagdy Sawahel</span><br />A three-year plan to increase higher education cooperation between 12 South American and 22 Arab countries is to start next year. The aim is to improve the quality of education in both regions, enhance cooperation and exchange of experience, and build an educational and scientific database.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111212205339292">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">EGYPT: Tough challenges face new universities minister</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ashraf Khaled</span><br />He is Egypt's fourth higher education minister in 10 months. His predecessor held the post for four months and was forced to quit along with the rest of the government after clashes between pro-democracy protesters and security forces left 45 people dead. When named universities minister this month, Dr Hussein Khaled said he would handle the job regardless of when he might leave it.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111215091240430">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GLOBAL: Business schools turn to Islamic finance</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Leigh Thomas</span><br />As unemployment levels remain high in the West, finance students are being encouraged to gain expertise in Islamic banking so that they will be able to work in the Gulf states and in the wider Islamic world.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216131700252">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CÔTE D'IVOIRE: President closes universities for 2012</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jane Marshall</span><br />A decision by President Alassane Ouattara to close Côte d'Ivoire's two universities until at least September 2012 has caused consternation in the higher education community and provoked condemnation by human rights organisations, according to press reports.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=201112161723117">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">KENYA: Universities in talks with private investors</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Gilbert Nganga</span><br />Kenya is in talks with three South African investors to construct facilities in one of its public universities, as institutions seek private funding to expand facilities against a background of soaring student numbers. Another major university is also seeking private investment in academic and residential infrastructure.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216172218651">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MAURITIUS: State might cancel 'useless' courses</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Guillaume Gouges</span><br />The Ministry of Tertiary Education announced last week that it might cancel some humanities and social sciences courses at the University of Mauritius. The news sparked an uproar among students and intellectuals on the Indian Ocean island.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216172047524">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">FEATURES</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SOUTH AFRICA: Bill is a threat to democracy, research</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Munyaradzi Makoni</span><br />The Protection of Information Bill, which was passed by South Africa's national assembly with a majority vote on 22 November, has raised the ire of researchers, who have slammed it as a threat to democracy and academic freedom.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216171950703">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">BOTSWANA: Two stalled institutions to open in 2012</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Sheldon G Weeks</span><br />After years of delays, both the Botswana International University of Science and Technology and the Oodi College of Applied Arts and Technology are to open next year. The new institutions will give a major boost to the country's ability to produce high-level skills.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216171819934">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">PAKISTAN: Universities must tackle national problems</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ameen Amjad Khan</span><br />Pakistan has been hit by massive floods many times and once by a severe earthquake that killed more than 100,000 people. These, and numerous other problems the country faces, have raised questions about the role of universities. Concern is growing that most courses taught at universities are irrelevant to Pakistan's social and economic needs.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2011121617171265">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">VIETNAM: Struggling to attract international students</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Hiep Pham</span><br />Vietnam is changing university enrolment requirements to make it easier for foreign students to study at its universities. The new rules are part of a strategic plan to internationalise universities, produced earlier this year, which also includes more courses delivered in English and inviting foreign scholars to Vietnam to conduct research.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2011121617161637">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">COMMENTARY</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GLOBAL: Leiden Ranking: Many ways to measure research</span><br />The just-published Leiden Ranking adds to the panoply of global university rankings. It is likely to get little attention because no overall winner is declared, argues RICHARD HOLMES. But Leiden contains a wealth of data and other rankers using citations should pay careful attention. The problem is how to choose among all the data and how to combine it.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216171523473">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CHINA: World-class universities in a diverse system</span><br />China has been able to maintain a certain amount of institutional diversity within its higher education system despite moves to achieve world-class universities, say RUTH HAYHOE and JUN LI. How it has balanced support for world-class universities with policies promoting diversity and national economic redistribution, could provide useful lessons for other developing countries.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216171430504">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">BRAZIL: Study-abroad initiative needs careful study</span><br />Brazil's new initiative to dramatically boost the number of Brazilian students studying abroad has good intentions, but has met with a number of criticisms. The main one is that the programme is not a proper exchange, says MARCELO KNOBEL. In the latest edition of International Higher Education he calls for more careful discussion on the way forward.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216171338689">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ACADEMIC FREEDOM</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GLOBAL: Academic freedom reports worldwide</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Noemi Bouet</span><br />In Uzbekistan, a female Uzbek student on vacation from studies in Germany has committed suicide after four days of police interrogation. In Turkey, 22 of 28 leftist youths detained for six months over accusations of terrorist links have been released after a court rejected the accusations against them. Professor Nasser bin Gaith of Abu Dhabi's Sorbonne University, along with four others detained for eight months for signing an online pro-reform petition, has been freed after a presidential pardon. In Iran, an imprisoned rights activist has been denied leave to write a graduate admissions test. And in Tunisia, Islamic fundamentalist groups have disrupted university classes and exams and have targeted female professors.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216171232921">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">FACEBOOK</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">University World News has a new Facebook group at </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.facebook.com/UniversityWorldNews">www.facebook.com/UniversityWorldNews</a>. Even if you were one of the 2,800 members of the original Facebook community you will need to rejoin, or become a fan once again via this page. That way, you will be able to see our regular updates, post on our wall and communicate with us and other University World News fans. Please take a few minutes to rejoin and to inform your friends about our new Facebook page. You can also follow University World News on Twitter @uniworldnews<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">WORLD ROUND-UP</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UK: Oxford agrees to reprint controversial Indian work</span><br />In a bow to pressure from scholars worldwide, Oxford University Press has said it will immediately reprint The Collected Essays of AK Ramanujan, an Indian scholar, poet and translator, and another book containing his work, writes Jennifer Howard for The Chronicle of Higher Education.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216171139547">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">INDIA: State funds to help local universities compete</span><br />India's national government would give financial support as a protective measure to state universities, as envisaged in the 12th five-year plan, Association of Indian Universities president Prakash T Chande said last week. It would enable Indian universities to withstand competition from foreign universities, writes Sudha Nambudiri for The Times of India.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216171058648">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: Top Indian students to pay in-state fees</span><br />There's good news for meritorious Indian students aspiring to pursue higher education in the US. American institutions have started charging foreigners with top academic records in-state tuition fees - the fees US students pay, which are less than those fixed for international students, writes N Arun Kumar for the Deccan Chronicle.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216171014133">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: Apology and defence at Davis pepper-spray hearing</span><br />State lawmakers grilled University of California officials last Wednesday over the controversial pepper-spraying of student protesters at UC Davis, only to be warned by those administrators, however conciliatory, that more protests are inevitable if the legislature keeps cutting funds for higher education, writes Michael J Mishak for the Los Angeles Times.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216170933166">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: Berkeley enhances aid for middle-class families</span><br />The University of California, Berkeley, is offering a new financial aid programme to help families whose gross annual income is $80,000 to $140,000, amid tuition increases and state funding cuts, writes Janet Lorin for Bloomberg.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216170849944">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: For-profit college lobby blitz diluted new rules</span><br />Last year, the Barack Obama administration vowed to stop for-profit colleges from luring students with false promises, writes Eric Lichtblau for The New York Times. In an opening volley that shook the $30 billion industry, officials proposed new restrictions to cut off the huge flow of federal aid to unfit programmes. But after a ferocious response, the Education Department produced a much-weakened final plan that almost certainly will have far less impact as it goes into effect next year.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216170807216">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: Universities block triple-X domain names</span><br />New .xxx addresses became available to the public last week, but some universities did not wait that long to secure important addresses, as a way to prevent adult content providers from profiting off them, writes Mike Snider for USA Today.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216170723245">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GLOBAL: Africa the loser in medical brain drain</span><br />Sub-Saharan African countries that train, and invest in, their doctors end up losing billions of dollars as the clinicians leave to work in developed nations, new research has found, reports IT-Online. South Africa and Zimbabwe have the greatest economic losses in doctors due to emigration, while Australia, Canada, the UK and the US benefit most from the recruitment of physicians educated in other countries.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216170626199">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AUSTRALIA: Chinese students learn vice of the dice</span><br />Chinese student Sai Meng arrived in Australia as a promising young scholar: captain of the best high school in Nanjing, two-time winner of the municipal essay competition and dux of his graduating class, writes Peter Cai for The Age. But Sai Meng (not his real name) did not finish his learning journey on the podium of a sandstone graduation hall. Instead, he spent his last days in Australia in a hospital ward under suicide watch.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216170536520">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UK: Cambridge University puts Newton papers online</span><br />The notebooks in which Sir Isaac Newton worked out the theories on which much classical science is based have been put online by Cambridge University. More than 4,000 pages have been scanned, including his annotated copy of Principia Mathematica, containing Newton's laws of motion and gravity, reports the BBC.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216170456230">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UK: Reading hopes Malaysia branch will bear fruit</span><br />The University of Reading aims to open a campus in Malaysia, becoming the latest in a growing band of UK universities to establish overseas offshoots, writes Sarah Cunnane for Times Higher Education. Reading's plans follow recent announcements from Lancaster University, which will partner with Guangdong University of Foreign Studies to open a campus in China, and the University of Nottingham, which has begun talks on a Shanghai branch that would be its third overseas campus.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216170413514">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UK: Universities risk aggressive marketing</span><br />Until recently, Britain's University of Kent prided itself on its friendly image. Not any more. Over the past few months it has been working hard, with the help of media consultants, to downplay its cosy reputation in favour of something more academic and serious, writes Harriet Swain for the Guardian.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2011121617033157">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UAE: Institute offers first Islamic endowments masters</span><br />Zayed University has launched the world's first masters in charitable endowments, the centuries-old Islamic form of philanthropy, writes Haneen Dajani for The National. As the university launched the Institute for Islamic Higher Studies last week, religious and education officials said the degree was timely, as misconceptions were dogging Islamic transactions and procedures.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216170247472">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: How to define disability</span><br />A US federal appeals court ruled last week that George Washington University was within its rights in 2003 when its medical school kicked out Carolyn Singh, having determined that she was not meeting academic standards. Singh was diagnosed as having a learning disability shortly before she was dismissed, and she claimed that the university violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not accepting her diagnosis and approving adjustments she requested, writes Scott Jaschik for Inside Higher Ed.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216170204159">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CANADA: Universities form immunology network</span><br />A consortium of universities in Canada is setting up a national network to promote and enhance human immune system research with a $600,000 (US$581,500) catalyst grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, writes Peter Mansell for Pharma Times.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216170118967">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">NIGERIA: University urges students to look elsewhere</span><br />Overwhelmed by the huge number of candidates seeking admission annually, the University of Lagos has pleaded with parents to patronise other institutions in the country, writes Emmanuel Edukugho for Vanguard.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216170037726">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UGANDA: Virtual university launched</span><br />Uganda launched a virtual university in a low-key event recently, writes Raymond Mpubani for The Monitor. Minister for Higher Education John Chrysostom Muyingo said at the ceremony held at the university's offices in Muyenga, an upmarket suburb in Kampala: "This is a radical move away from the blended learning approach used in many distance learning programmes offered by Uganda's universities."<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216165935236">More on the University World News site:</a></span>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5609955277485792044.post-17480172828479964462011-12-12T01:07:00.000-08:002011-12-12T01:13:25.280-08:00University World News 0201 - 11th December 2011<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">This week's highlights</span></span><br /><br />In Features, ALYA MISHRA says visa and work restrictions in Britain and America are prompting Indian students to seek out more welcoming destinations such as Canada, Europe and Singapore. WANDA HENNIG looks at local green research projects showcased at the global COP17 climate conference in Durban, and GEOFF MASLEN reports on a major research programme in Australia into mass species extinctions and biodiversity conservation. TUNDE FATUNDE says N igerian universities are responding to an ultimatum for the 61% of academics who do not have a PhD to upgrade their qualifications. In Commentary, TERRI KIM argues that financial turbulence in Europe could undermine higher education participation and encourage mobility and mergers. JEFF L SAMIDE calls for more emphasis on developing students' communication skills to better prepare them to work in a globalised world, and in Australia, LUCIENNE TESSENS, CLAIRE WEB and KATE WHITE argue that senior women in universities need more support and leadership programmes that focus on developing skills such as networking.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GLOBAL: New university ranking aims for objectivity</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">David Jobbins</span><br />A new university ranking seeks to use a sophisticated set of bibliometric indicators to rate scientific performance to establish the world's top 500 research universities.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111205195909326">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SWEDEN: Top universities in merger talks</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jan Petter Myklebust</span><br />Three top Swedish institutions - Stockholm University, the Karolinska Institute and the Royal Institute of Technology-KTH - are discussing a merger which would create the largest university in Northern Europe.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209133927441">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">EUROPE: EU sets 20% student mobility target</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jan Petter Myklebust</span><br />At least one in five higher education students should spend three months studying or training abroad by 2020, European Union member governments have agreed. Education ministers from the 27 member states last month adopted conclusions on the modernisation of higher education with a special emphasis on mobility.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2011120816445063">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">NETHERLANDS: 'Halve foreign students', right says</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Robert Visscher</span><br />A right-wing political party has called for the number of foreign students allowed into The Netherlands to be halved, to ease a shortage of student housing.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111205190916720">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GERMANY: Shortage of science graduates alarming</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Michael Gardner</span><br />German industry still lacks spec ialists in mathematics, informatics, the natural sciences and engineering, according to a survey recently published by the country's leading industrial organisations. It stressed that the shortage of graduates in these key fields had grown dramatically since the beginning of the year.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209201100962">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AFRICA: Local academics excluded from policy-making</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Munyaradzi Makoni</span><br />Crafting of policies in Africa largely excludes African academics, with over-reliance on donor agencies and foreign consultancies. But universities can play a key role by building stronger linkages with facilitative institutions to ensure that adequate skills are developed in policy research.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2011120920071644">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ISLAMIC STATES: Central Asia university links to grow</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ameen Amjad Khan</span><br />A representative body of the ministers of higher education and research from Islamic countries agreed, during a meeting held in the last week of November in Azerbaijan, to expand higher education cooperation with Central Asian countries.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111210130050241">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">GLOBAL: Prioritise higher education for refugees - UN</span><br />A study commissioned by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has stressed the need to prioritise access to higher education for refugees, as a tool to rebuild lives and for post-conflict reconstruction.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209200817999">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ARAB STATES: New centre to tackle genetic disorders</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Wagdy Sawahel</span><br />In an effort to boost the development of education and research in inherited diseases and genetic disorders in the Arab world, a molecular medicine centre has opened in Bahrain.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209200535452">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">FEATURES</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">INDIA: New destinations for students heading abroad</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Alya Mishra</span><br />For many years Indian students, the world's largest group of overseas students after the Chinese, rarely looked beyond Britain, the US and Australia for higher education. But changes in visa rules, fraudulent institutions that prey on unsuspecting foreign students and lack of opportunities to work after graduation in the UK and US have prompted students to seek newer, more welcoming destinations including Canada, Europe and Singapore.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209195503978">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SOUTH AFRICA: Local green research showcased at COP17</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Wanda Hennig</span><br />You only had to attend a few events at COP17 to know that this mammoth annual climate-focused happening is in effect a great big academic gathering, all the way from the scientists who provide climate impact facts and figures to students protesting the tardiness and vested interests of government negotiators and researchers called on to provide the data NGOs need to raise sustainable project funding.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209133352962">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AUSTRALIA: Major research into mass species extinction</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Geoff Maslen</span><br />Of the six great mass extinctions of species on Earth, five involved catastrophic events such as collisions with huge meteorites, geological upheavals or the advent of ice ages whose effects lasted for millennia. The sixth mass extinction is occurring now but it is the behaviour of humans over the past few hundred years rather than nature that has resulted in the ever-increasing loss of thousands of animal and plant species from the planet.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209195143907">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">N IGERIA: Urgent need for more academics with PhDs</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tunde Fatunde</span><br />Professor Julius Okojie, executive secretary of N igeria's regulatory agency the National Universities Commission, has again reminded universities of the urgent need to upgrade the qualifications of academics. He said there were 35,000 lecturers in N igeria and 21,350 of them - 61% - still did not have a doctoral degree.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209195021937">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">COMMENTARY</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">EUROPE: Higher education amid financial meltdown</span><br />What will be the impact on higher education of the current financial turbulence in Europe? TERRI KIM argues that widening participation is likely to suffer, and that there will be greater mobility among students and academics, and more mergers and restructuring of public universities. She argues, however, that this is the perfect time to revisit accepted truths about higher education and to question its purpose.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209194832765">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: The changing role of academic career development</span><br />Increasing globalisation means students need to be prepared better for the working world they will face. This includes understanding cultural and linguistic nuances, says JEFF L SAMIDE, as he calls for more emphasis to be placed on developing students' communication skills at university.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209194619195">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AUSTRALIA: How to increase women university leaders?</span><br />The number of women leaders in Australian universities is still low, despite various initiatives aimed at boosting it. LUCIENNE TESSENS, CLAIRE WEB and KATE WHITE argue that support needs to be strengthened and leadership programmes need to focus more on developing skills such as networking.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209194512403">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">SCIENCE SCENE</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UK: Creating nanoporous materials</span><br />A new method of creating nanoporous materials, with potential applications from water purification to chemical sensors, has been developed by scientists at the University of Cambridge. To produce a porous material it is necessary to have multiple components, so that when the minor component is removed, small pores are left in its place.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209194351908">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">JAPAN: Low friction along fault lines</span><br />Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have uncovered the physical interactions between water and minerals that might explain why some fault lines slip without causing catastrophic earthquakes.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209194239971">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AUSTRALIA: Indian Ocean seamounts mystery solved</span><br />Scientists have unexpectedly found traces of the supercontinent Gondwana in the Indian Ocean - in the process solving a mystery behind a large group of ocean 'mountains' known as seamounts that include Christmas Island.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209194137501">Full report on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">FACEBOOK</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">University World News has a new Facebook page at </span><a href="http://facebook.com/UniversityWorldNews"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.facebook.com/UniversityWorldNews</span></a><a href="http://UniversityWorldNews%20facebook.com/UniversityWorldNews">.</a> Even if you were one of the 2,800 members of the original Facebook community you will need to rejoin, or become a fan once again via this page. That way, you will be able to see our regular updates, post on our wall and communicate with us and other University World News fans. Please take a few minutes to rejoin and to inform your friends about our new Facebook page. You can also follow University World News on Twitter @uniworldnews<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">WORLD ROUND-UP</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">EUROPE: EC head urges restraint in R&D funding cuts</span><br />European Commission President José Manuel Barroso has warned that innovation and research funding should be spared from austerity, in a speech at the 2011 Innovation Convention, a gathering of entrepreneurs and innovators sponsored by the commission, writes Jordan Shapiro for New Europe.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209194026605">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CANADA: Universities fare poorly on free speech index</span><br />A new report contends that a "disconcerting" number of Canadian universities have failed in their mission to protect free speech and in the process are helping to erode open debate in the larger society, writes Charles Lewis for the National Post.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209193930754">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">THAILAND: Cabinet backs one university per province</span><br />Anticipating a drop in the number of students studying at universities in future, the Thai cabinet has approved in principle an education ministry proposal to merge state-run institutions into one university per province, write Samatcha Hoonsara and Wannapa Khaopa for The Nation.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209193835639">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ITALY: Nepotism in universities may fuel brain drain</span><br />One reason for the poor performance of Italian institutions in world league tables may be nepotism, it has been suggested. The practice has been blamed for a brain drain that has seen many of the country's best researchers move to the US or the UK after failing to progress at home because of their lack of connections, writes Frank Nowikowski for Times Higher Education.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2011120919373947">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AUSTRALIA: Gillard urged to lift some university fees</span><br />Fees for some university courses will soar if Julia Gillard's government accepts the recommendations of a major review of higher education funding. The review has proposed a controversial overhaul that would eventually lead to all students paying 40% of the cost of their courses, writes Dan Harrison for The Sydney Morning Herald.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209193602250">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">WALES: More universities 'at risk' - Review</span><br />The number of universities in Wales at 'moderate risk' of collapse has risen in the past year. An Institutional Risk Review unearthed long-term sustainability issues with seven of the nation's 10 campus-based universities, writes Gareth Evans for Wales Online.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209193502336">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SCOTLAND: Student vandals cost universities £600,000</span><br />The Young Ones made undergraduate excess an art form, but it seems they have nothing on Scotland's students. Universities north of the border have suffered damage worth more than £600,000 (US$942,000) at the hands of students in the past five years, reports The Scotsman.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209193407772">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UK: University fees lowered to fill degree courses</span><br />Figures show that 24 new universities and former polytechnics and one further education college in England have lowered their tuition fees to below £7,500 (US$11,700) a year, writes Tim Ross for The Telegraph. Most elite institutions and red-brick universities will still charge the maximum £9,000.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209193303243">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UK: Cures for killer diseases 'at risk' from cuts</span><br />Academics have warned that scientific breakthroughs with the potential to cure Parkinson's disease, provide vaccines for global killers such as HIV-Aids and malaria, and deliver solutions to curtail the environmental costs of building homes could be delayed by "ruinous" cuts to the development of research facilities at the country's leading universities, writes Daniel Boffey for the Guardian.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209193121930">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UK: Professors issue warning on private universities</span><br />Coalition government plans to expand the number of private universities in the UK risks leading to higher dropout rates and lower academic standards, according to a powerful lobby of almost 500 professors, writes Graeme Paton for The Telegraph. It is claimed that giving profit-making companies access to state funding will create a system in which institutions pursue short-term financial gains at the expense of a decent education.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209192820851">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AUSTRALIA: New journal for private higher education</span><br />A peer-reviewed journal for the study of private higher education is part of a plan to foster research in this growing part of the sector, writes Bernard Lane for The Australian.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209192723272">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: On private campuses, income gap widens at the top</span><br />Within the world of American private higher education, there are a handful of college presidents who earn considerably more than professors on their campuses, or gobble up a notable share of their institutions' budgetary pie, write Jack Stripling and Andrea Fuller for The Chronicle of Higher Education.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209192626803">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: For-profit breaks mould of part-time staff</span><br />Professors at online colleges in the US can be an anonymous, itinerant bunch, moonlighting as adjuncts from far-flung locales and often struggling to cobble together a teaching load that can pay the bills, writes Paul Fain for Inside Higher Ed. Breaking this mould are 98 newly minted online faculty members at Grand Canyon University. The for-profit Christian university hired them as full-time employees, and they get standard benefits packages that are not available to part-timers.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209192530228">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: Guidelines given to promote campus diversity</span><br />The Obama administration has released new guidelines aimed at encouraging school districts and colleges to keep and pursue policies that promote racial diversity. In the process, they withdrew directives put forward during the administration of George W Bush, reports the Los Angeles Times.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209192442852">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: Masters degrees no guarantee of higher income</span><br />Laura Sayer, unsure of what she wanted to do after graduating from college in 2006, figured a masters degree was "a safe bet". With $5,000 in loans from her time at the University of Cincinnati, Sayer was set back $50,000 more after completing the interdisciplinary masters programme in humanities and social thought at New York University. The 27-year-old now makes about $45,000 a year as an administrative assistant for a non-profit group, a job that didn't require her advanced degree, writes Janet Lorin for Bloomberg Businessweek.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209191915672">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US-INDIA: Harvard drops Indian party leader's courses</span><br />Harvard University has cancelled Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy's summer courses over his controversial article in a Mumbai newspaper advocating destruction of hundreds of Indian mosques and disenfranchisement of non-Hindus in India, reports The Economic Times.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209191652722">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">PAKISTAN: PhD courses peter out</span><br />PhD courses that had flowered in Pakistan's universities during the last decade with encouragement from the Higher Education Commission have been petering out, according to academic sources, writes Ikram Junaidi for Dawn.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209191554624">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">PALESTINE: Online university opens in West Bank</span><br />An American online university started by an Israeli entrepreneur has opened an operations centre in the West Bank, writes DD Guttenplan for The New York Times. Shai Reshef, the founder of University of the People, a non-profit institution that offers free online education to students in more than 120 countries, said his agreement with ASAL Technologies, a Palestinian software and information technology services company based in Ramallah, was just the first stage of a plan to move the university's entire back office to the West Bank.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209191448727">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: Virginia Tech shooting tests emergency plans</span><br />In the chaotic minutes following a fatal shooting at Virginia Tech last Thursday, school officials were forced to test emergency procedures put in place following the 2007 campus rampage that resulted in 33 deaths, writes Mark Guarino for The Christian Science Monitor.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209191328671">More on the University World News site:</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">US: Penn State rethinks role of football programme</span><br />In his first extensive interview since taking office last month, Penn State President Rodney Erickson said last week that he seeks to transform the university's public face from a football factory to a "world-class research institution", write Kevin Johnson and Kelly Whiteside for USA Today.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111209191200473">More on the University World News site:</a></span>University World Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485956475815401458noreply@blogger.com0