By Bianka Siwinska. IREG, the Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence, this month granted the first quality certificates to university ranking systems – QS World University Rankings and Poland’s Perspektywy University Ranking – marking the beginning of a new era for this interesting field. The two ranking systems received ‘IREG approved’ quality certificates at the “IREG Forum on University Rankings – Methodologies under scrutiny” conference that was held in Warsaw, Poland, from 16-17 May and attended by 130 rankings experts from 32 countries. The event was co-hosted by the Perspektywy Education Foundation and the Polish Academy of Sciences. The audience reacted enthusiastically to the news, seeing the emergence of a credible rankings watchdog. Audits of other rankings are on the way. The growing use of university rankings is an important phenomenon of higher education in the 21st century. But while rankings have found a lasting place in the academic landscape, both on the national and global levels, they still face a wall of accusation and misunderstanding.
“National and international university rankings serve as an effective and useful tool providing information to prospective students, contributing to improvement of the quality of higher education, and monitoring higher education reforms,” said Jan Sadlak, president of IREG.
Given the key role of rankings in higher education the world over, rankings must also be accountable. It was for this reason that the IREG Observatory came up with the idea of auditing rankings. The IREG Observatory is an international non-profit association of ranking organisations, universities and other bodies interested in university rankings and academic excellence. Its purpose is to strengthen public awareness and understanding of issues related to university rankings and academic excellence. Read more...

By Sue Norton. There is a famous scene in the 1950s American television show “I Love Lucy”. Lucy and her friend Ethel go to work for a chocolate factory. They must wrap Bon Bons that are moving along a conveyor belt. At first the belt moves at a reasonable speed, with Lucy and Ethel managing to wrap each sweet. But as the belt moves faster and faster, high comedy ensues. Bon Bon madness erupts as Lucy and Ethel stuff chocolates into their hats, their mouths, their bras. They manage to deceive their supervisor, a hard-nosed task master who, believing all is well, yells out, “Speeeeed it up!” to the conveyor belt operator behind a screen. Lucy and Ethel reel backwards, aghast. Read more...

By Budd Hall. Confidence that a 'one size fits all' global economy and that the 'Western canon' of knowledge are sufficient to see humanity through the next phase of its transformations and adjustments has diminished dramatically over the past years. We have an economic system that is certainly not a tide that floats all boats. We have challenges to the dominance of traditional knowledge claims as well. What does this mean for higher education, for social responsibility and for the way forward? Read more...