Blog Educpros de Jean-Luc Vayssière. Interrogé récemment par un journaliste du Monde sur la concurrence entre les écoles et les universités et sur le rôle de la sélection, j’ai eu l’occasion de revenir sur le chemin restant à parcourir dans le domaine de la réforme du premier cycle des études supérieures. Ce débat sur la sélection est en train d’émerger largement ; il a mobilisé et partagé les étudiants élus lors du dernier conseil d’administration de l’UVSQ.
Comme certains collègues ont contribué à le montrer depuis 2007, le point de blocage principal des études supérieures dans notre pays se situe à l’articulation entre le secondaire et le supérieur, où le système repose sur une série d’inégalités entre filières. Sur ce point central, on ne peut noter aucune avancée sérieuse dans les débats des Assises de l’enseignement supérieur, ni dans la nouvelle loi. Suite...

By Elisabeth Ponsot. When Hugo Nicolas was 11 years old and living in Veracruz, Mexico, his parents sold their possessions and told him they were leaving.
After nearly two days of walking through mountains and desert, he crossed the border into the United States with his mother. The pair met up with his father who had crossed earlier, and the family settled in Salem, Ore. More...

By Greg St. Martin. North­eastern Uni­ver­sity Pres­i­dent Joseph E. Aoun told a group of higher edu­ca­tion writers from around the country on Friday night that there is one fun­da­mental change facing col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties today. This “tsunami,” as he described it, is not tech­nology. Instead, it’s the dra­matic shift in stu­dent demographics. See more...

By Libby A. Nelson. WHAT THE SHUTDOWN MEANS FOR EDUCATION: A shutdown of the federal government now seems all but certain if Congress doesn’t come to an 11th-hour agreement today. And it will hit the Education Department hard. About 90 percent of the department’s 4,225 employees will be immediately furloughed, and most won’t come back until the funding crisis is resolved, even if the shutdown lasts longer than a week. But many schools and colleges won’t feel an immediate effect if the funding crisis is resolved quickly. Federal dollars will continue to flow to both K-12 and higher education. A longer shutdown, though, could lead to a big paperwork backlog and problems for schools, colleges and students that receive federal funds. More...

By James Skimore. Every new school year brings new questions about the value of an educational system that favours research over teaching. Teaching-focused professors help universities save money while meeting the public outcry that universities do more to prepare young people for the future.
These teaching-centered positions are just the latest development in the continuing efforts of universities to demonstrate their commitment to teaching and learning. My own university has both a Student Success Office and a Centre for Teaching Excellence. I bristle at the names, but I endorse their goals: improving student ability to navigate university life, and equipping instructors with better teaching skills. More...