1 février 2013

By Graeme Paton. More pupils from top private schools are winning places at elite universities despite a Government drive to widen access to higher education, according to research. More than three-quarters of applications made by pupils from Britain’s best independent schools last year resulted in the offer a place, it emerged.
The success rate was up from just over seven-in-10 in each of the previous two years.
Some 95 per cent of applications to one Russell Group university – Exeter – led to the award of a place, while numbers were well over 80 per cent at other leading institutions.
The disclosure – in data published by two of the leading private school organisations – comes despite the introduction of tough new targets designed to force top universities to take in more pupils from “under-represented” groups. Read more...

By John Glen. Less government intervention would give universities the freedom to compete. Universities in the UK are institutions of which we can be rightly proud. Many provide world-class tuition and research, drive innovation and economic growth, and sit at the heart of British intellectual life.
In recent years, the political debate around higher education has been about fees. The bold steps by the Coalition to reduce the funding burden on the taxpayer were a move towards a more stable financial footing for universities. But it would be wrong to think that reform must stop here. We need to find a sustainable funding solution. The sector is often stifled by unnecessary government regulation and misguided interventions from quangos. There are still many areas where universities should be given greater freedom and independence to allow the higher education sector to flourish. Read more...

There is no argument that English has taken a firm hold as the language of modern science. How far should non-English speaking countries go to maintain their own languages?
Several days ago I came across an article in Israel's online Ynet news (belonging to the daily Yediot Achronot newspaper) by Shachar Chai, discussing a decision by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem to allow doctoral theses in English. The bulk of this article, however, addresses the bitterness of the President of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, Professor Moshe Bar Asher, with this decision.
I heartily agree with the idea to allow writing in English. For me, this gets close and personal – so I say "better late than never". I received my doctorate from the Hebrew University in 1998, after a protracted battle for permission to write it in English. A timely retirement of the equivalent of Graduate Studies Dean paved the way for a younger, and more receptive one who acquiesced to my request. Read more...

As UCAS publishes its latest figures, Kathryn Jones considers the role financial support packages play in student attraction. We are midway through our regular student number planning sessions at Birmingham City University (BCU) to review recruitment targets for the coming cycle and to forecast the pattern in 2014/15 and beyond. In terms of the undergraduate market, as you would expect, we are considering the impact of fees, the emerging trends at subject level and the expansion to ABB of the government's core and margin policy. The question that repeatedly comes up, however, is whether financial incentives have made any difference to our current offer or have the potential to do so. It's an interesting debate and I don't for one minute pretend to have the answers. But it's also one that requires a little clarity.
As a firm believer in the virtues of, and rights to access, higher education, I share the view with many others that there should always exist financial support that is essentially needs-based and intended to ensure that no one is deterred from university on thebasis of cost alone. The National Scholarship Programme has an instrinsic merit that should not necessarily be linked to recruitment targets or bottom line. Read more...

Par Olivier Rollot. « L’université a évolué pour mieux accueillir les étudiants » Jean-Loup Salzmann, président de la Conférence des présidents d’université
Élu fin 2012 à la tête de la Conférence des présidents d’université (CPU), Jean-Loup Salzmann est un militant de toujours de l’université. Président de l’université Paris XIII depuis 2008, il revient sur son évolution et comment elle s'est mise toute entière au service de la réussite de ses étudiants. A quelques semaines de l’adoption d’une nouvelle loi traçant les contours de l’enseignement supérieur pour les quinze années à venir, il revient également sur ses grands enjeux.
Olivier Rollot : Les inscriptions dans l’enseignement supérieur viennent de commencer. Que voulez-vous dire aux élèves de terminale, et peut-être surtout à leurs parents, qui hésitent encore dans leur choix d’orientation?
Jean-Loup Salzmann : Que l’université a beaucoup évolué. Il suffit de se rendre aujourd’hui sur un campus pour s’en rendre compte. L’image qu’en ont encore trop de parents, celle de locaux délabrés, d’affiches qui envahissent les murs, est dépassée depuis bien longtemps. Aujourd’hui l’université c’est de moins en moins des cours dans de grands amphis mais des étudiants studieux qui profitent de services numériques et de bibliothèques ouvertes de plus en plus longtemps. Sans oublier qu’aujourd’hui les études à l'université s'accompagnent d'une véritable vie de campus. L'accès au sport, à la culture, à la vie associative participe aussi à l'épanouissement personnel de nos étudiants et donc à leur réussite!
O. R : Les parents ont encore souvent peur que l’université ne mène pas à un emploi.
J-L.S : Là encore il y a longtemps que tout le monde à l’université est mobilisé pour assurer l'insertion professionnelle de tous ses diplômés. Et même les syndicats étudiants. Plus personne n’ose dire que favoriser l’insertion c’est être « au service du patronat ». L’insertion professionnelle fait aujourd’hui clairement partie des missions essentielles de l’université. Suite de l'article...

A plan to streamline the country’s higher education system, leaving fewer departments offering courses on the most popular subjects and abolishing those with scant demand, was unveiled on Thursday by Education Minister Constantinos Arvanitopoulos.
The scheme, dubbed Athina, foresees four universities shutting down – the University of Central Greece, the University of Western Greece, the International Hellenic University and the University of Western Macedonia – and the closure of dozens of departments at universities and technical colleges which have little demand.
According to Arvanitopoulos, the overhaul will allow a larger number of students to enter popular faculties such as those focusing on economics and business but the abolition of a large number of underperforming departments will still bring down the number of entrants to higher education institutions by about a third. Read more...

By Eugene Eteris, European Studies Faculty, RSU, Riga. A new university ranking, called U-Multirank, is being publicly launched under the Irish EU Presidency in Dublin at the end of January 2013. The new 'multi-dimensional' listing focuses on quality of teaching. Some 500 universities from Europe and across the world are expected to take part in the ranking; first results will be published in early 2014.
The new “U-Multirank” university ranking system marks a departure from previously ranking methods aimed mainly at research achievements. Instead, it will rate universities according to a broader range of factors, in five separate areas: reputation for research, quality of teaching and learning, international orientation, success in knowledge transfer (such as partnerships with business and start-ups), and contribution to regional growth. Read more...

By Rob Kidd, The Courier-Mail. INTERNATIONAL students are being targeted by scammers impersonating immigration officers in order to steal "thousands of dollars" in cash.
Students have received "fine notices" demanding payment of thousands of dollars for alleged breaches of visa conditions, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship warned today.
The scammers are targeting overseas students who have limited working rights as part of their visa conditions, the department said.
A department spokesman said it was a well-organised ruse to con visa holders into transferring a purported "penalty payment" offshore, when none is needed. Read more...

When it comes to maintaining and building local, state and regional economies, it’s hard to ignore the sector of higher education that serves nearly every square inch of the country.
That’s the message of a new policy brief from the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) that examines the role of community colleges in providing worker training for constantly changing industries, which in turn stabilize and expand local economies.
"The data on economic returns to students and society are well-documented by leading scholars," said Christopher Mullin, program director for policy analysis at AACC and co-author of the brief, "Community College Contributions." Read more...

Baromètre semestriel - Conjoncture et stratégies professionnelles des cadres
La majorité des cadres (59 %) restent optimistes pour leur avenir professionnel, même si près d’un tiers d’entre eux jugent que leur entreprise est en difficulté actuellement, soit une nette progression en un an (+ 7 points). Les cadres sont aussi moins nombreux en proportion à vouloir quitter leur entreprise dans les douze prochains mois (27 % contre 31 % il y a un an). Ce choix de la stabilité s’accompagne néanmoins d’une légère progression des stratégies d’employabilité, une part accrue de cadres souhaitant suivre prochainement des formations longues.
Espace Presse - Etudes 2013 - Baromètre Semestriel Janvier 2013.