By Leasa Weimer. It’s ranking season once again! Yet, somehow every year the hype around the rankings seems to grow quieter and quieter. Perhaps it is because the rankings, or league tables, have reached a point where there are not many extreme changes to the list of ‘best’ universities. University rankings are not new phenomena. In fact, they have actually been around for over 100 years. 
In 1910, an eminent psychologist by the name of James McKeen Cattell published the first academic ranking, American Men of Science. [i] This ranking focused on research reputation including ‘academic origin’ – ie where professors had studied. Subsequently, he ranked the leading academic institutions. And so began the rankings game.
A second era of rankings commenced in 1959 when research reputation factors began to dominate over academic origin.[ii] Rankings during this era were nationally based and some were even commercially produced, such as the US News & World report Best Colleges rankings. More...

By EAIE. This summer, from 9–10 June 2016 in Amsterdam, the EAIE presents a new Spotlight Seminar on what is one of the most pressing educational challenges facing Europe today. Following the theme ‘Integrating refugees into higher education: solutions for a generation on the run’, the two-day event – starting at lunch time on Thursday and ending on Friday afternoon –  is a chance for international educators to gather and discuss current needs and sustainable solutions for the future. More...

By Regine Lambrech. The work done by international educators is deeply impacted by the risk of emergencies abroad and at home. These issues affect students and scholars in at-risk situations, but also the kind of preparation required by sending and hosting institutions. The upcoming issue of Forum magazine, currently in production, will look at how our conflicted world intersects with internationalisation as a whole (Stay tuned!). More...

By Colin Tuck. Complex and fragmented procedures, contradictory requirements – external quality assurance of joint programmes might sound like a bureaucratic nightmare. Since last year, there's been light at the end of the tunnel: European ministers of higher education agreed on a coherent, European approach for quality assuring joint programmes. More...

By Leasa Weimer. Technology shapes the internationalisation of higher education and will continue to do so in the coming years. The recently published Horizon 2016 Report highlights the five-year horizon of technologies that will likely impact higher education institutions worldwide. This annual report is a joint venture between New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative and is known as the longest-running project exploring emerging technologies and trends in higher education. More...

By Lara Fiamozzini and Donatella Piffer. Most higher education institutions in Europe have established welcome procedures for international students, but such procedures are not as common when it comes to international staff and researchers. The ‘Welcome Office’ at University of Trento in Italy made it its mission to provide researchers and visiting scholars with the same kind of support that students might receive – tending to their specific needs. More...