Universities can learn student care from abroad

By Jane Marshall. French universities could learn lessons from abroad on how to provide services for students, according to research from a high-level think-tank, which says their education should be more student-centred, and that with universities’ newly increased autonomy they should take over more responsibility from the state for students’ living conditions.
In its report, Quels services rendus aux étudiants par les universités? – Les enseignements d’expériences étrangères, the Centre d’Analyse Stratégique (CAS), a research centre attached to the prime minister’s office, compared France’s provision of services for university students with those of seven universities in four countries: East London and Oxford in England, Hiroshima and Seikei in Japan, Södertörn and Uppsala in Sweden, and Geneva in Switzerland...
Lessons for France
The CAS found the experiences of other countries had rich lessons for France.
It said French universities should develop their péri-universitaire services, which were a common preoccupation in the other countries. In France, however, research was a greater priority and resources were limited and not directed strategically.
The LRU university autonomy law had only just taken effect, and universities remained in “a situation of semi-autonomy compared with their European counterparts”.
First, said the CAS, French universities should become student-centred, with particular attention given to counselling lycée (higher secondary) pupils about university courses, student support and consideration of students’ future employment prospects. Universities would gain by understanding the expectations of their students, organising the institution around them and giving more attention to those who needed it.
Second, they should improve their para-universitaire services, particularly housing and catering, and adapt them to local needs.
Third, university funds should be directed more towards péri-universitaire services, which could be paid for by adjusting universities’ finance relative to other kinds of higher education, differentiating funds allocated to universities depending on their students’ educational qualifications and increasing finance from regional authorities, businesses – and students.
Fourth, students should be encouraged to participate in designing and managing the services provided by the universities. More...