By Jamil Salmi. In order to accelerate the transformation process towards building “world-class” universities, a few governments - China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia and Spain, for example - have launched so-called “excellence initiatives”, consisting of large injections of additional funding to boost the performance of their university sector. Read more...
Higher Education Corruption and 'Reputational' Damage
By Ararat L. Osipian. In April 2016, following the widely publicized pepper-spraying of protesters by campus police, the Chancellor of University of California Davis, Linda Katehi, was criticized for spending $175,000 on outside consultants for Internet search optimization in order to diminish online references to the incident so the public would see a more favorable image of UC-Davis. Read more...
What If We took the Collective Nature of Knowledge Seriously?
By Paul Ashwin. When the quality of research and teaching are measured in higher education, the focus tends to be on the individual performance of inspirational academics. This ignores their fundamentally collective character. In order to explore this, I first examine the nature of research and how this should inform our measures of research quality and then do the same for teaching. Read more...
A National Celebration of Teaching Quality — Briefly
By Andrys Onsman. The news that the Office of Teaching and Learning is to be shut down has been met with a remarkable lack of fanfare. The OLT is the federal organisation that supports research and innovation in teaching and learning in Australia and provides rewards for outstanding teaching across the entire tertiary sector in the country. Read more...
American Cloaca: A Memoir: 3a
By Oronte. Rules for Horse Tag in Herrin, Illinois
1) Runners (usu. 3-6) may hide anywhere in The Woods. Boundaries are the barbed-wire fences on the north and west sides, 13th Street on the east, and Eric’s dad’s Shop on the south. Read more...
Three Ways to Support Candidates on the Job Market
By Stina Soderling. Summer has started. A long job market season has come to an end, and yet another one is about to begin. Most Inside Higher Ed readers know people who are on the market, often for several years, and most likely want to be supportive of job-seeking friends and colleagues. More...
Preparing for a Full English Brexit
By Eric Stoller. Just in case you've missed it, the UK is heading towards a full English Brexit...a plate full of economic and political instability as the United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union. Read more...