EC gives details of €100 billion research proposal
What are the implications when a country abolishes university tuition fees?
In our World Blog, Grace Karram Stephenson wonders if Doug Ford’s victory in Ontario’s elections and the voting in of the Progressive Conservatives in the Canadian province will spell funding cuts for higher education or rises in the cost of tuition, or both.
In our section on Academic Freedom, Elif Ceylan Ozsoy suggests ways to show solidarity with the ‘Academics for Peace’ in Turkey, hundreds of whom have lost their jobs and-or been charged with terrorist offences, all for signing a peace petition.
In a new series on Pacific Rim higher education and research issues, Yojana Sharma highlights the pertinent issues that will be discussed when university leaders from Pacific Rim countries meet in Taiwan next weekend for the Association of Pacific Rim Universities conference entitled “Our digital future in a divided world”.
In Features, Nic Mitchell reports that Gerry McGovern, one of the top visionaries of web developments, speaking at a recent conference, urged universities to wake up to how marketing to young people has shifted in the digital age. And Sharon Dell reports that the South African medical deans have offered to make available expertise in the university sector to help the country deal with a crisis in the national health system and the “systemic failures” in the provincial health departments that are affecting patient care and the training of medical professionals. More...
Universities will need to be more innovative in their international recruitment
In Commentary, Tatiana Belousova provides insights through a survey of international students in Kerala state in India into the challenges they face – as India seeks to quadruple the number of international students in the country. Nader Habibi and Gholamreza Keshavarz Haddad outline how their study of employment statistics in Iran shows that graduates are taking an increasing number of low-skilled jobs from school leavers. John K Hudzik, Bernhard Streitwieser and Francisco Marmolejo say that internationalisation of higher education is more of an imperative now than it has been at any time in the past but it needs to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. And Denise Jackson writes about the need to embed technology in the design of internships and placements as it is rapidly changing the way we work.
In Features, Kalinga Seneviratne reports that Singapore’s lifelong learning initiatives may ensure the country’s universities are less affected by declining student numbers due to the dip in population numbers than those in other Asian countries, while Jan Petter Myklebust reports on the launch of the South Africa-Sweden University Forum, a three-year project with a budget of US$2 million aimed at strengthening education and research ties between the two countries.
Finally, we would like to bring to your attention that all universities worldwide are invited to participate in a survey on internationalisation of higher education being conducted by the International Association of Universities. More...
No Consensus on Free Speech
By Emma Whitford. "In the last five years, we’ve certainly have an increasing number of free speech confrontations on many campuses across the country," George Waldner, president emeritus of York College, said to a room full of nodding professors. More...
Students Want Due Process -- With Limited Rights in Sexual Misconduct Cases
By Emma Whitford. College students support due process rights in campus disciplinary hearings, but they are less supportive when it comes to matters of sexual misconduct, according to survey results from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education released today. More...
Fraternity Members Suspended for Racist, Homophobic Video
By Emma Whitford. Syracuse University announced last week that it has suspended 15 members of the Theta Tau fraternity after videos surfaced in April showing pledges using racial and anti-Semitic slurs, mocking gay sex, and simulating the sexual assault of disabled people. More...
Complaints at Mesa on 'Last Temptation of Christ'
By Emma Whitford. The Maricopa Community College District is fielding complaints after a professor showed clips from The Last Temptation of Christ -- a 1988 film by Martin Scorsese depicting Jesus struggling with human temptations -- during class, the Arizona Republic reports. More...
The Year of 'Frankenstein'
By Emma Whitford. Bicentennial of the classic inspires its selection as common reading for freshmen. Other selections this year highlight the impacts of science and technology, regional geography, and injustice in society. More...
Gates Offers Free Download of 'Factfulness' to All Graduates
By Emma Whitford. Any student who was awarded an associate’s, bachelor’s or postgraduate degree from a U.S. college or university this spring is eligible for the free download on Gates’s blog, Gates Notes, after creating a Gates Notes account and providing the name of their college or university. More...