By Andrew Denholm. ACADEMICS and students should have more say over how much university principals get paid, according to the chairman of an influential report on the sector.
Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, the principal of Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University, also called for staff and learners to have greater influence over the running of higher education institutions.
The call came as the Scottish Parliament's education committee took evidence on a new draft code of conduct for universities.
The code, drawn up by a experts chaired by Lord Smith of Kelvin, followed an earlier review of higher education governance chaired by Mr von Prondzynski. Read more...

By Sarah-Jane Collins, Daniel Hurst. The University of Sydney has amassed more than $300 million in philanthropic donations since quietly embarking on a $600 million fund-raising campaign in 2008.
The university announced the result at a dinner to mark the going-public phase of its campaign on Saturday night. One donor, entrepreneur Sean Howard, pledged $10 million for the university's Save Sight Institute. His gift was one of three major donations that will net the university $16 million. In recent years Australian universities have increasingly turned to philanthropy to expand their funding base, with Sydney University among the most successful. In 2008 the university received more than $58 million in philanthropic donations, and that figure has continued to rise, with more than 10,000 donors contributing more than $80 million in 2012. Read more...

By Bella Counihan and Sunanda Creagh. The Australian government’s recent proposed cuts to university funding and student loans will cost universities A$1 billion a year by 2017 and make it harder for people to balance study and work, the chief of the peak body for Australian universities said today.
Professor Sandra Harding, Vice-Chancellor of James Cook University and chair of Universities Australia, told the National Press Club today that a new study funded by Universities Australia showed over 80% of full time university students must find a job while studying. Read more...

By Ellis Booker. Coursera teams with publishers to offer some free textbook content to students enrolled in online classes.
Massive open online course (MOOC) company Coursera today announced a pilot program with several education publishers, who will make some of their e-textbook content free to students while they take an online Coursera class.
The pilot marks the first time Coursera has worked with publishers this way. Up until now, Coursera has avoided requiring students to pay for textbooks, in line with its goal of making its classes free to a mass audience. Read more...