The latest edition of EUA’s public funding observatory highlights that in countries where cuts are taking place, funding for infrastructure has been one of the most affected areas and it is likely that this trend continues. Ageing facilities and equipment will necessarily trigger increasing costs for institutions and deteriorate teaching and research environments. It is therefore of crucial importance for the financial sustainability of Europe’s universities that, in addition to national funding schemes, the future European funding programmes, in particular the Horizon 2020 programme currently being negotiated at EU-level in the “trilogue” negotiations, provide funding rules that cover the costs for university research infrastructure in an adequate way. EUA’s Public Funding Observatory can be viewed here.
EUA understands that an important element of the trilogue discussions next week are the proposed “guidelines” circulated by the European Commission on how to cover costs for infrastructure in their proposed flat rate model. Taking account of the costs for infrastructure is indeed an important issue for the financial sustainability and competitiveness of Europe’s universities. Read more...

EUA’s Annual Report 2012 is now available on the EUA website. The online publication gives an overview of all EUA’s activities, including policy work, projects and events, together with a breakdown of EUA’s governing bodies, financial statements and membership development in 2012.
The report outlines EUA’s policy and advocacy work on key issues related to the main thematic areas of EUA’s work: learning and teaching; research and innovation; quality management; governance, autonomy and funding; and internationalisation. It also presents an overview of the different EUA projects and thematic events, which provide opportunities for members to exchange experiences and best practices, and of the different areas of EUA’s policy work.
Together with the EUA Council for Doctoral Education and the Institutional Evaluation Programme, these services are designed to enable members to take part in activities that correspond to their own specific interests and needs.
To download the report, click here.

The University of Canberra (UC) says attracting more international students will help the city's higher education sector overcome federal funding cuts.
The ACT Government allocated $2 million in Tuesday's budget to promote Canberra as a study destination.
On Friday Chief Minister Katy Gallagher met with the vice-chancellors of UC and the Australian National University (ANU) to discuss strategies to attract more international students.
Ms Gallagher says international students can bring much to the Canberra economy. Read more...

By Bruce Spencer. Athabasca U staff look at shifting from corporate-style management. The cut of more than seven per cent in public funding for post-secondary institutions that were expecting a two-per-cent increase has created a crisis for Alberta's university and college sector. This new cut in funding, alongside mandate letters that emphasize post-secondary education as essentially preparation for work and university research in the service of business, is all in line with global trends that threaten university independence. Is it possible for universities to survive in this environment or will we be left with only the largest privately funded universities? Read more...

The latest Future Directions conference was an opportunity for academics, careers advisers and university managers to share their experiences about how to make the sort of skills required in employment a fundamental aspect of a student's course - without significantly increasing the workload for undergraduates and their lecturers.
The Future Directions for Skills and Employability event on 15 May was jointly organised by HEFCW, QAA Wales and the HEA. The conference also addressed how people already in work could gain higher skills and qualificiations while working.
Martyn Flynn, a talent aquisition manager for the second largest graduate recruiter in the UK, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, said: "By helping universities put crucial transferrable skills at the heart of their students' courses, we are giving our future graduate trainees the edge that they need to compete in the tough recruitment market. Read more...

Par Stéphane Bernault. Pour fêter dignement son demi-siècle, l'Université d'Avignon lance un appel pour réunir les 160 étudiants qui, en 1963, étrennaient les amphis du centre d'enseignement supérieur scientifique.
Parce que l'Université n'a plus les archives de l'époque, le président Emmanuel Ethis et son équipe sont obligés de lancer un grand appel pour interpeller les anciens étudiants de la promotion de 1963 - année qui marque le retour d'Avignon en tant que ville universitaire avec l'ouverture d'une université dédiée aux sciences - dans le but de pouvoir fêter dignement avec eux le 50e anniversaire de la réouverture. Seul objet de l'époque qui parle de cet événement: un reportage de l'INA, daté du 23 octobre 1963, jour de la rentrée. Il a immortalisé la réouverture de la faculté dans la cité des papes et aussi les premiers cours donnés dans les bâtiments de l'ancienne école normale.
Ce Centre d'enseignement supérieur scientifique, situé rue Louis Pasteur et dépendant de la faculté des sciences d'Aix-Marseille, a offert, 170 ans après la fermeture de l'ancienne université, la possibilité à ses étudiants de se former dans des filières touchant aux mathématiques, à la physique, la chimie et aux sciences naturelles. Ces quelques minutes d'images d'archives ont permis à l'Université d'Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse d'apprendre qu'il y avait 160 élèves présents dans cette toute première promotion et que les étudiants venaient du Vaucluse, du Gard et des Bouches-du-Rhône, comme encore majoritairement de nos jours. Suite de l'article...

This event is launched by the European University Association (EUA) in partnership with the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), the University of Duisburg-Essen, the University of Lisbon and the University of Zagreb.
The project wants to incentivize those in charge of managing quality processes at universities to take on the responsibility for quality. For that purpose, the idea is to develop and implement three training workshops with a practical approach to strengthening quality cultures and providing quality managers. These workshops will also give the opportunity to exchange experiences and build connections for future cooperation at European level as well as collect feedback, while exploring questions such as: How to build effective communication structures for engaging staff and students in quality culture? How to use staff development as a means for enhancing quality? How to connect QA to the decision-making processes at all levels? How to avoid hindering creativity at the university through bureaucratic QA processes?
The workshops will take place in Lisbon, Portugal on 8-10 April 2013, Zagreb, Croatia on 22-24 May 2013, and Essen, Germany on 26-28 June 2013.
More information about this event…

A collaboration between donor-advised fund sponsors and nonprofit organizations, led by Fidelity Charitable®, has created a new web application (widget) that helps nonprofit organizations simplify charitable giving and tap into the growing popularity of donor-advised funds (DAFs). The DAF Direct widget is the first technology that enables donors to initiate a grant recommendation from their charitable account with their donor-advised fund sponsor while on a nonprofit’s website. Throughout the development of the DAF Direct widget, 10 nonprofit organizations and other sponsors of donor-advised funds worked with Fidelity Charitable®, an independent public charity with a donor-advised fund program, to develop the concept and improve the technology. Nonprofits interested in adding the DAF Direct widget to their site can learn more at www.dafdirect.org. Read more...