6-8pm Mon. 15 July. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) began in September 2011 at Stanford and it is already clear that they have radically changed higher education. Free programs from brand name universities with world leading experts, with online assessment and Ivy League certificates of completion at the end of a rigorous program, are a real competitor for face-to-face universities in the international education market, especially now that MOOC programs are recognized by many universities. And some institutions are incorporating MOOC units in their own programs, radically reducing teaching costs. Will academic staff numbers in Australia fall? What are the implications for the teaching/research nexus and for national research capacity? But should the world take its curriculum content from the American Ivy League and a handful of others. And is online assessment adequate and does the excision of face-to-face teaching and discussion take vital elements out of degrees? What do students want?
Confirmed speakers:
A/Prof. Gregor Kennedy, Director of eLearning, University of Melbourne
Prof. Beverley Oliver, Pro Vice-Chancellor Learning Futures, Deakin University
Chair: Prof. Simon Marginson, Chair of Higher Education, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne
VENUE: Woodward Conference Centre, 10th Floor, Melbourne Law School, Pelham St, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria.
Jointly presented by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education & the LH Martin Institute.

6-8pm Mon. 3 June. It is 25 years since the Higher Education Contribution Scheme began and the funding weights applied to each discipline were fixed. But we are yet to achieve a stable consensus on private and public contributions. The funding weights are out of whack with real cost differences, and both public and student contributions are capped at levels blocking the provision of genuinely high quality programs across the board. The rationale for government funding is unclear, a recipe for its continued erosion as a proportion of total revenues. The government commissioned the Base Funding Review to sort all of this out and then threw out the Review report! Meanwhile a future Coalition government, plugging a deficit created by the abolition of the carbon tax, is likely to cut government contributions and ramp up student charges. And the public costs generated by HECS loans at higher levels, in a demand-driven system, are mounting. Can we afford to bankroll education as a right? Can students from poorer backgrounds afford to take on an increased HECS debt? With free online courses of high quality now available, shouldn’t the cost of higher education be going down and not up?
Confirmed speakers:
Bruce Chapman, Director, Policy Impact, Australian National University
Prof. Paul Wellings, Vice-Chancellor, University of Wollongong
Prof. Ian Young, Vice-Chancellor, Australian National University
Chair: Prof. Leo Goedegebuure, Director, LH Martin Institute
VENUE: Woodward Conference Centre, 10th Floor, Melbourne Law School, Pelham St, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria.
Jointly presented by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education & the LH Martin Institute.

By John Furlong. Education academics must demonstrate their practical relevance if they wish to save their discipline, argues John Furlong. Education is the UK’s second biggest social science; only business and administration employs more academic staff in our universities.
But as a discipline, it is at a major turning point - a crisis even.
Academic disciplines are not merely intellectually coherent fields of study, they also have a political life. They are argued for, supported, challenged and debated - and nowhere more so than in education.
Education as a discipline has rarely been master of its own destiny, mainly because it remains dominated by its role in providing professional preparation to teachers. Read more...

What is a Mutual Recognition Agreement?
The NASBA/AICPA International Qualifications Appraisal Board (IQAB) is the link between the U.S. accounting profession and that of other General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) signatory countries. Through a mutual recognition agreement (MRA),  qualified professional accountants from another country can practice in the United States without having to completely re-credential. Similar recognition is given to U.S. CPAs who wish to practice in that same country.
Current Agreements
IQAB has currently established MRAs with the following professional bodies:
Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
Canada, Mexico, and United States Memorandum of Understanding
Chartered Accountants Ireland (formerly the Irish Institute of Chartered Accountants)
Instituto Mexican de Contadores Publicos
New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants
Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Any professional accountancy body wishing to enter a reciprocal agreement with U.S.-IQAB must submit a letter of intent to NASBA. The letter should contain a brief, written description of the nature and objections of the organization, the size of its membership and its interest in applying for an MRA. If the organization does not have the authority to grant practice privileges including audit rights, it must provide evidence it can facilitate obtaining these privileges for U.S. CPAs from the licensing authority.
Mutual Agreement Process
Professional bodies from countries that have signed on to GATS and that have qualifications that are substantially equivalent to those of the U.S. CPA in the areas of education, examination and experience (as stated in the Uniform Accountancy Act) are invited to apply for an MRA by contacting Louise Haberman at lhaberman@nasba.org. Upon approval of an MRA by the Boards of Directors of NASBA and the AICPA, it will be distributed to all 55 State Boards of Accountancy that license CPAs in the United States, with the recommendation that they each adopt the agreement.

One of the most frequently asked questions is where candidates can go to obtain continuing education. This section is designed to provide you with links to all kinds of resources for this information.
Inclusion as a link in this area does not imply endorsement of the educational program by CFRE International, nor does it guarantee that courses taken from these providers will be applicable toward Continuing Education point requirements. To assure acceptance of courses, please choose an programme offered by a CFRE Continuing Education Approved Provider.
All courses submitted for credit on the CFRE application must meet the Continuing Education Credit Policy as outlined in the Candidate Handbook.
When selecting continuing education activities, applicants may wish to be sure they are choosing courses that cover topics found on the Test Content Outline - or which cover skills new to them. Selecting courses which have been approved by various organizations to offer continuing education units (CEUs) is not required - but may be desirable as it provides a measure of assurance of the quality of the program.

May 9, 2013 Online 2 - 3:15 p.m. Eastern. Are you making the most of the new tools for fundraising? Learn about the latest tools for engaging prospects in a highly personalized approach and the methods for integrating those tools into your fundraising system.
Speaker: Nancy Benavente. Nancy Benavente has been a professional in the advancement and development services area for more than 25 years and is an active member of AASP, CASE, APRA, AFP, PMI and WITI. She currently provides leadership for optimizing engagement through a comprehensive strategy utilizing social networks and CRM based on innovation and best practices. Previously, Benavente worked in higher education at UCLA and UC Davis managing advancement services teams and implementing new technology in support of fundraising. Her professional experience includes providing executive leadership in the areas of prospect research and management, information technology, donor relations, stewardship and donor information systems, as well as oversight of analytical reporting. She has a strong background in re-engineering business processes having managed or implemented the top three fundraising systems and a business intelligence and data warehouse. She has managed several projects involving the redesign of systems to produce forecasting, predictive modeling and performance metrics reporting capabilities. Benavente has designed and implemented several online giving and community web sites and is currently implementing the use of social networking for fundraising. She received her bachelor's degree in sociology from UCLA, where she also received an Executive Management Certificate from the Anderson School of Management. Read more...

La reconnaissance de l’économie sociale et solidaire (ESS) a progressé à pas de géants ces dernières années; que de chemin parcouru depuis les Etats Généraux de 2011! La situation est telle qu’elle nous oblige à aller beaucoup plus loin, à transformer véritablement l’économie.
Rendez-vous mercredi 15 mai 2013 à 16h30 pour porter ensemble l’ESS Économie sociale et solidaire.
De très nombreuses initiatives réinventent l’économie; elles sont méconnues, nous les avons mises en scène pour en montrer la portée.
Des personnalités, des penseurs, des économistes, et le LABO de l’ESS échangent sur les combats à mener pour changer de cap.
Avec la participation de Benoît Hamon, Ministre délégué à l’économie sociale et solidaire et à la Consommation.
Lieu
Amphithéâtre de la MGEN
3 square Max Huysmans
75015 Paris
Inscription à la rencontre du 15 mai 2013. Une rencontre organisée par le LABO de l'ESS à Paris.

La Mutualité française Normandie propose une formation gratuite pour les personnes en situation du handicap, qui s'inscrit dans le cadre d'un projet innovant: la pairémulation©.
La pairémulation© met en relation deux personnes en situation de handicap: l'une insérée dans la société (le pairémulateur) fait bénéficier de son expérience une personne en recherche d'autonomie (le pairémulé) pour l'accompagner dans son projet de vie, dans la pratique de loisirs, vers une plus grande mobilité...
Cette formation s'adresse aux pairémulateurs. Elle est composée d'apports théoriques (aspect relationnel, écoute, soutien, conseil...) et d'ateliers pratiques (mises en situation, échanges d'expériences...). Objectifs ? Guider, conseiller et informer les personnes en situation de handicap sur les actes quotidiens de la vie.
Elle sera dispensée par des professionnels qui transmettront les connaissances indispensables pour l'exercice de l'activité de pairémulateur: consultant en communication, formateur, éducateur sportif, chef de service de médecine de rééducation fonctionnelle, conseiller aux démarches administratives...
Deux sessions sont proposées (du 10 au 14 juin 2013 et du 24 au 28 juin 2013) à Hérouville-Saint-Clair. 15 personnes majeures (par session) en situation de handicap, résidant en Normandie, pourront s'y inscrire.
Communiqué de presse de la Mutualité française Normandie (avril 2013).
Contact et inscriptions (avant le 1er juin 2013):
Céline VAUVARIN
coordinatrice des activités de pairémulation©
tél. 02 31 94 10 03
celine.vauvarin@normandie.mutualite.fr.

Blog Educpros de André Sobczak. Audencia Group vient d’obtenir le label Lucie, le label de référence en matière de RSE en France.
Pourquoi nous sommes-nous lancés dans la labellisation Lucie?
La première caractéristique du label Lucie est son approche globale couvrant l’ensemble des aspects d’une démarche RSE. Au cours des dernières années, Audencia Group avait pris un certain nombre d’engagement dans le domaine de la RSE, notamment dans le cadre du Global Compact, de la Charte de la diversité et du partenariat stratégique avec le WWF France. Le label Lucie permet d’offrir un cadre général à l’ensemble de ces éléments, car il se traduit par un cahier des charges comprenant 28 principes d’action regroupés en 7 engagements qui correspondent aux questions centrales de la norme ISO 26 000: respecter les intérêts des clients et des consommateurs; préserver l’environnement; agir avec loyauté et responsabilité sur les marchés; valoriser le capital humain; respecter les droits fondamentaux de la personne; conjuguer les intérêts de l’entreprise et l’intérêt général; et assurer la transparence de son système de décision et de contrôle. Nous y avons ajouté des engagements propres au secteur de l’enseignement supérieur et de la recherche. Suite de l'article...

Blog Educpros de Thomas Froehlicher. Aujourd’hui, plus de la moitié de la population mondiale vit dans des grands centres urbains et de nombreuses études montrent que cette pourcentage va augmenter drastiquement dans les prochaines décennies. Dans ce contexte, les villes deviennent des acteurs clés et sont confrontées à de nombreux challenges en lien avec le Développement Durable tels que la mobilité mais également l’habitat, l’emploi, l’éducation, la culture, la sécurité, les inégalités croissantes entre les « riches » et les « pauvres » ou la gestion de l’eau, des déchets et de l’énergie. C’est l’objet d’une Chaire académique développée depuis trois ans avec Accenture. Suite de l'article...