By Katie Forster. An agency finds placements for you – and you get to experience a range of workplaces, from the weird to the wonderful. If you can't afford to do an unpaid internship and don't fancy pulling pints all summer, temping can be a great way to earn money and gain varied work experience – and you get to keep your weekends. More...
07 septembre 2013
Why temping is tempting for students
The best policy for student insurance – go it alone or piggyback parents?
By Jill Papworth. Students, with an average of £2,000-worth of gadgets, are three times more likely to be a victim of burglary than the average household. We look at their cover options. The average student now lugs more than £2,000-worth of laptops, smartphones and bicycles to university but they are nearly three times more likely to be a victim of a burglary than a conventional family household. So what should they do about buying insurance? More...
Broadband: cheapest ways for students to get connected
By Miles Brignall. Plusnet is still the favourite with a rolling term-time only contract for landline and broadband. If you are renting a private house or flat, chances are you are going to need internet access. Most phone companies impose a minimum contract of a year or 18 months, and you'll mostly have to take a landline to get broadband.
Plusnet has long been the students' friend in that it will allow you take out a rolling contract you can stop when the summer term ends – for nine months. Plusnet Unlimited broadband with weekend calls costs £12.49 a month plus £14.50 a month for the landline. You get a free router (£5.99 delivery) and the contract can be cancelled at any time with 10 days notice. There's an upfront £25 activation fee. More...
Universities twice as likely as other employers to use zero-hours contracts
By Sarah Butler.Half of universities and two-thirds of further education colleges use zero-hours contracts, freedom of information requests reveal. Universities and colleges are more than twice as likely to employ staff on controversial zero-hours contracts as other workplaces, freedom of information requests have found. More than half of the 145 UK universities and nearly two-thirds of the 275 further education colleges that responded to the requests said they used the contracts, which do not specify working hours and often give limited guarantees on conditions. The FoI requests were made by the University and College Union (UCU). Among businesses in the wider economy, according to recent research from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, just over a quarter (27%) of companies use zero-hours contracts. More...
Edinburgh signs pledge to end zero-hours contracts
By John Morgan. The University of Edinburgh has signed an agreement to cease all use of zero-hours contracts and replace them with “fair and equitable” deals. Times Higher Education reported yesterday that Edinburgh had been found to be the biggest user of zero-hours contracts for academic staff in a University and College Union survey of UK institutions, and had committed to stop using the contracts. Edinburgh had 2,712 academic staff on the controversial deals, which give workers no certainty on the hours they will work or on their income.
Now the UCU has said it has signed a formal agreement with the university to ensure it meets the commitment on abolishing use of the contracts. More...
Southampton to run one of first FutureLearn Moocs
By Chris Parr. One of the first Moocs on the FutureLearn platform will be a University of Southampton web science course beginning on November 11, it has emerged. Although Southampton offers both a master’s and an undergraduate degree in web science, its massive open online course will not be a direct port of an existing module. Rather, it will be a “mini” course, designed to offer a taster of what students might experience were they to take a paid course at the university.
“It’s an introduction to web science – I think it could be studied by anyone who is interested in studying web science at master’s or undergraduate level,” said Dame Wendy Hall, professor of computer science at Southampton, who has already recorded some videos that will form part of the Mooc. More...
Prestige plays part in desire for varsity degree
By Ng Qi Siang. THE debate on varsity education has been focused on why it is unnecessary.
Although job seeking is a key factor as to why people desire varsity education, the fact is that the prestige attached to it also plays a part.
Singapore society places an extremely high premium on education. People with higher educational qualifications are seen as being more desirable and respected relative to those who are less highly educated, and on another level, in terms of refinement and skill as well. More...
State’s colleges adapt to the changing world of business education
By Bob Sanders. At a time of stagnating college enrollment nationwide, business schools and programs in New Hampshire are thriving and finding new ways to attract and teach students.
The 15 institutions granted a total of more than 4,000 business degrees in 2011 – the latest figures available – with more than 1,250 coming at the graduate level or above. Most report that they have grown since then, as they rush to adapt to globalization and technological change.
The schools are, for the most part, ramping up their efforts by investing in accreditation, online education and additional facilities and revamping their course offerings to cut costs. They’re also building connections with local businesses and reaching across borders, both to entice international students and internationalize their offerings.
The education being sought in college has come a long way in the last generation. In the early 1970s, more than a fifth of undergraduates earned a bachelor’s in education, while nearly another fifth went into social sciences and history. Business-related degrees accounted for 14 percent of the total. But in the 1980s that changed in a big way, and today 22 percent of all degrees are in business. Social sciences make up 10 percent of the total, and 6 percent are would-be teachers. Read more...
Recruitment of Individual Consultants : Mongolia
Ministry of Education and Science (MEDS) is now accepting applications for International Individual Consultants under the Higher Education Reform Project 43007-023, financed by Asian Development Bank (ADB). Higher Education Reform Project (HERP) aims to support the Ministry of Education and Science to institute needed reforms in higher education to improve (a) the quality and relevance of higher education programs; (b) and governance, management and financing of higher education institutions (HEIs); and (c) promote equitable access to higher education. International and National consultants will work under supervision of the Ministry of Education and Science (MEDS) and Project Implementation Unit (PIU).
Interested consultants may obtain detailed information and apply on ADB’s consulting services recruitment notice (CSRN) from the following link: http://csrn.adb.org/
(Above consultant notices are listed under Mongolia.)
Deadline of submitting Expression of Interest (EOI):
12 September 2013 12:00 PM (Ulaanbaatar time)
Contact Information:
Mr. Chinzorig Nergui /Procurement Specialist/
“Higher Education Reform Project”
Tanan Center Room #401
8th Khoroo, Sukhbaatar District
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Tel: +976 77117263
Fax: +976 77117265
Email: herp@mecs.gov.mn
Call opens for HEA International Scholarship Programme
The call opens today, 3 September 2013, for the HEA Professor Sir Ron Cooke International Scholarship Programme, which aims to support individuals to undertake specific investigations outside of the UK which will enhance the UK student learning experience.
The scheme supports individuals in the sector to undertake specific investigations outside of the UK to explore innovative examples of teaching excellence and learning and teaching policies. International scholars will then translate these for a UK audience to make a positive impact on the student learning experience.
The focus for the call this year is for international scholars to explore:
•innovative examples of international teaching excellence;
•innovative policies describing funding models within HE and their impact on the student learning experience. Read more...
