By Scott Sayare. In a nation of schools typically christened with sensible acronyms or the names of dead Frenchmen, “42” seems an odd title for an institution of higher learning. But then, Xavier Niel’s new technology academy hardly aims to be conventional. 
Mr. Niel, an affable, longhaired telecommunications executive with a high school diploma and several billion euros to his name, has spent the past decade gleefully disrupting France’s staid corporate establishment. With 42, he means to do the same, in a small but conspicuous way, to higher education in France. Programming classes start this month. More...

By Lindsay Kines. The University of Victoria’s new president cautioned Tuesday against measuring the value of a post-secondary education solely by economic terms. 
Jamie Cassels, who was installed as the seventh president and vice-chancellor at the start of fall convocation ceremonies, said the increasing focus on jobs and money is understandable in a time of global uncertainty. 
“But to focus purely on the immediate bottom line misses the value of education as part of the absolutely essential longer gain for individuals and society,” he said in remarks to graduates and their families at the University Centre Farquhar Auditorium. More...

PRESS RELEASE: The Observatory and Google link up for conference: The international HE revolution - Impacts on mobility, qualifications, networks.
London 11/12 December 2013 
Senate House, University of London Regent’s University London
The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (obhe.ac.uk) will share its conference with Google on 11 - 12 December , who will announce a new initiative on the opening day. The UK’s minister for higher education David Willetts will address the second day of the conferen ce. Key contributors include Pearson’s Chief Education Advisor Sir Michael Barber and senior HE professionals from around the world. 
The conference, presented in association with Laureate, OC&C and The UK HE International Unit is entitled ‘The internation al higher education revolution: Impacts on mobility, qualifications, networks’. It will be held at Senate House, University of London, and at Regent’s University London. The conference takes as its starting point current developments in online learning and explores how they may impact on three aspects of international higher education: student mobility, how qualifications are gained, and international partnerships and networks. 
Keynote speakers are: Sir Michael Barber (Chief Education Advisor at Pearson), Rt Hon David Willetts MP (Minister for Universities & Science), and Professor Nigel Thrift (Vice - Chancellor at the University of Warwick).
Speakers include: Conrad Bird (Foreign Office & GREAT Britain Campaign), David Black (Google UK), Professor Sir Dru mmond Bone ( Balliol College, Oxford), Sam Brenton (Academic Partnerships), Carolyn Campbell (QAA), Professor Aldwyn Cooper (Regent’s University), Eva Egron - Polak (IAU), Dr Stephan Geifes (DAAD), Tim Gore OBE (University of London International Programmes), Dr Joe Hong (HKCAAVQ), Mark Jeynes (OC&C Consultants), Dr Fernando León - Garcia (CETYS University, Mexico), Professor Dato’ Hassan Said (Taylor’s University, Malaysia), and Dr Dirk van Damme (OECD). 
The programme is here and registration form is here.

By Justin Cremer. Addressing the University of Copenhagen's Årsfest today, Gwen Gruner-Widding says her choice of English is "the correct and polite thing to do".  
When Gwen Gruner-Widding addresses the University of Copenhagen’s (KU) annual ceremony today in the presence of Queen Margrethe II, she will do something that no-one else has done in the 500-plus year history of the event. She will deliver a speech in English. More...

By Mary Beth Marklein. More U.S. colleges are opening branch campuses overseas, reflecting the growing demand for higher education across the globe and increasing desire among U.S. universities to internationalize their institutions and tap new revenue sources. 
Call it a twist on college study abroad. After a few false starts, U.S. colleges and universities are setting up campuses in booming markets overseas. New York University enrolled its first class of students at a just-opened Shanghai location in August. More...