University World News - summer break

Northern summer break and debates

University World News is on a two-week break over the northern summer holidays, but we are publishing a debate series compiled by Commentary Editor MANDY GARNER and some breaking news stories. Full publication of the newspaper resumes next week.

This second debate looks at how much say students should have in how a university is run, and whether the increasing focus on the student experience might raise or lower quality in higher education. There are articles by CATHERINE MONTGOMERY of Northumbria University in Britain, WILLIAM PATRICK LEONARD of SolBridge International School of Business in the Republic of Korea, and ALLAN PALL of the European Students' Union.

University World News would like to mandy.garner@uw-news.com interested in writing articles for our popular Commentary section, which provides a space for academics around the world to write about important and topical higher education issues in their countries, regions and globally.

Second debate - The student voice

UK: Students - Angry customers or global citizens?
Students are portrayed as being consumers of education who are only focused on getting a job and a big salary. But research shows they are interested in the social and intercultural experience offered by globalised universities and institutions should listen to them, says CATHERINE MONTGOMERY.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Praised for access, slammed for lower quality
Increasing student numbers, including international students, has led to criticism about slipping educational quality. This has been addressed by offering students more remedial-type programmes. WILLIAM PATRICK LEONARD argues that university is not necessarily for all students, that we need better ways to assess potential and that some students should be allowed to fail.
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: Access and quality are not mutually exclusive
The so-called failure of widening participation is not an argument against it, but for an understanding of what universities need to do better to support a more diverse body of students, writes ALLAN PALL, chair of the European Students' Union.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWS: Our correspondents report

NORWAY: Political massacre demands new research
Jan Petter Myklebust
The killing last month of 77 people in Norway, most of them young members of the Labour Party attending a summer camp at Utøya outside the capital Oslo, shocked the country and the world. More research into political extremism is needed, Junior Minister of Higher Education Kyrre Lekve told University World News.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Libyan students call for help
Geoff Maslen
Thousands of Libyan students enrolled in universities and colleges in Australia, Britain, Egypt, South Arica and the US face suspension of their monthly stipend from the government in Tripoli, possibly by the end of August. Many students fear reprisals for holding protests against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi should they return home, but the British and US governments have promised to do what they can to ensure the students will be able to complete their courses.
Full report on the University World News site:

GERMANY: student mobility rising
Michael Gardner
Germany is sending more students abroad to study than other Western European countries and the number of international students in Germany is set to increase, according to a survey by the German Academic Exchange Service and the statistics agency HIS.
Full report on the University World News site:

GHANA: Angry students protest range of fee hikes
Francis Kokutse
Students of the University of Ghana, Legon, in Accra and representatives of the National Union of Ghana Students and the Graduate Students Association of Ghana took to the streets at the end of July to protest increases in the academic and residential fees that take effect from the new academic year, starting in August.
Full report on the University World News site: