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The Egracons (European Grade Conversion System) project aims to facilitate exchange mobility by working out a conversion system based on ECTS grade conversion tables as used in the ECTS Users’ Guide.
The project, which is cofunded by the EC, aims to “create tools to enable an accurate interpretation of marks (or grades) given abroad and a fair and manageable conversion of these marks to a local mark in the home institution”.
As part of the project, the organisers are carrying out a survey of higher education institutions in Europe. The survey is open to staff with authority on grade conversions and recognition at the institutional, faculty or departmental level within HEIs.
The information gathered from the answers will be used “to draw up both institutional and country reports for the whole of Europe and work out the final specifications for the Egracons online tool for grading conversion”.
The survey is available online and the deadline is 1 August 2013.
More information about the project, comprised of a consortium of partners from across Europe, is available here.

Universities UK has published a new report which examines the impact of significant changes that have taken place in UK higher education since 2011.
These include the introduction of new fee levels in 2012-2013 and changes to the funding of undergraduate students, as well as immigration reforms that have affected the UK's universities.
The report, entitled “The funding environment for universities: an assessment” looks at the implications of these developments for the future funding and financial sustainability of UK universities.
Download the full report here.

The Moodle Research Conference 2013 (MRC 2013) will take place in Sousse, Tunisia, from 4 to 5 October 2013.
The MRC is an annual event dedicated to research and development (R&D) in learning and teaching carried out with Moodle (open-source software). The event is an opportunity for academics, researchers, experts and practitioners who use Moodle and perform research and development to share experiences and exchange research achievements.
To find out more about the Moodle Research Conference 2013, please visit this website.
The Research Conference follows the Mediterranean Moodle Moot Conference, which takes place from 2 to 3 October.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published the latest (2013) edition of its “Education at a Glance – OECD Indicators” publication, which provides data on the structure, finances and performance of the education systems in more than 40 countries, including OECD members and G20 partners.
More information, including country notes and key fact tables are available on this website.
The full publication is also available for download here.

25th Annual EAIE Conference, Istanbul, Turkey (10-13 September 2013)
The 25th Annual Conference of the European Association for International Education (EAIE) will take place from 10 to 13 September 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey.
The theme of this year’s event is “weaving the future of global partnerships”.
To find out more about the programme and different activities, please visit the conference website.

Magna Charta Observatory Annual Conference, ‘Universities, Students and Societies - Connecting Academic Freedom and Creative Cities’, Bologna, Italy (19-20 September 2013).
From 19 to 20 September 2013, the Magna Charta Observatory will hold its Annual Conference in Bologna, Italy, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Magna Charta Universitatum. The theme of the conference is “Universities, Students and Societies - Connecting Academic Freedom and Creative Cities”.
EUA President Professor Helena Nazaré is due to give an opening keynote speech during the event that will also include the annual Academic Ceremony for the signing of the Magna Charta by universities committed to the principles of the Universitatum.
The target audience for the conference includes university leaders and representatives, higher education professionals and students, policy makers and higher education stakeholders from all sectors.
To find out more or to register by 1 September 2013, please visit the conference website.
The Magna Charta Observatory of Fundamental University Values and Rights is a non-profit organisation based in Bologna, founded by the University of Bologna and EUA. The Magna Charta Observatory aims to gather information, express opinions and prepare documents relating to the respect for, and protection of, the fundamental university values and rights laid down in the Magna Charta Universitatum signed in Bologna in 1988 by 388 Rectors of worldwide main universities.
EUA has also nominated two Magna Charta Council Members – former EUA Board members Sijbolt Noorda and Jean-Pierre Finance – and looks forward to continued cooperation with the Observatory.

During spring 2013, EUA organised three training workshops for quality managers at European higher education institutions. Staff members from more than 60 EUA member institutions from 25 European countries came together in small groups to exchange experiences on how to develop and strengthen quality cultures at their institutions. Participants included vice-rectors responsible for quality assurance, members of quality assurance units, academic and administrative staff and students.
The training workshops were organised in response to EUA’s recent work which has shown that those in charge of managing quality at universities feel the need for further capacity building in how to incentivise all stakeholders to take on the responsibility for quality. The workshops sought to address this need by presenting findings from EUA’s studies on quality culture in Europe, giving an insight into current European-level trends in quality assurance, presenting case studies from the host countries, providing a forum for an open exchange of experiences and building connections among colleagues from different countries. Read more...

On 11 July, the European Commission launched the Communication “European higher education in the world”, which outlines a strategy for the internationalisation of European higher education.
EUA welcomes the Communication as it places emphasis on the broad range of issues that are important for the internationalisation of European higher education. The document, which references the EC’s recent Communications “Modernising Europe’s Higher Education Systems” and “Rethinking Education”, places specific emphasis on how member states and higher education institutions can develop strategic international partnerships to tackle global challenges more effectively.
Among the key priorities outlined is the development of comprehensive internationalisation strategies at national and institutional level. The Commission states that such strategies should cover the following areas:

• The promotion of international mobility of students and staff (for example through enhanced services for mobility, tools for recognition of studies, better visa procedures for foreign students and emphasis on two-way mobility – into and out of Europe).
• The promotion of “internationalisation at home” and digital learning (including language learning, using ICT to internationalise curricula).
• The strengthening of strategic cooperation, partnerships and capacity building (with emphasis on joint and double degrees, partnerships with business and also international development cooperation partnerships).

The EC aims to contribute to the realisation of this strategy through stronger policy support and financial incentives for internationalisation strategies in particular through the future EU programme for education that will be called Erasmus+ (formerly called Erasmus for All). Read more...

Registration is now open for the 8th European Quality Assurance Forum (EQAF) that will take place from 21 to 23 November 2013 at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.
EQAF provides a unique platform for the higher education and quality assurance (QA) communities to monitor, shape and anticipate developments in the field. The main purpose of the Forum is to foster a dialogue on QA that bridges national boundaries and leads to a truly European discussion on QA in higher education, and to create a common European understanding of QA through discussions and networking among different stakeholder groups.
Through a mix of plenary and parallel sessions, the 2013 EQAF, entitled “Working together to take quality forward”, will combine practice-oriented or research-based discussions that will take place in the paper sessions and workshops with presentations of current developments in quality assurance.
Recent studies show that European quality assurance has taken huge steps forward in the past decade: both institutions and quality assurance agencies have developed sophisticated processes that aim to assure and enhance the quality of European higher education. However, it is also widely recognised that while processes are in place, there is still need for further work in developing the engagement of the whole academic community in quality, as well as communication and cooperation with other stakeholders. This year the Forum will therefore specifically explore how both individuals and organisations can better understand the role that quality assurance can play in their daily lives, get engaged and work together to take quality forward.
The Forum will be of interest to rectors and vice-rectors responsible for QA, QA officers in higher education institutions, students, QA agency staff, and researchers working in higher education or the QA field.
To register or find out more about the 2013 EQAF and the call for contributions (for papers and workshops), which is still open until 2 August, please visit the event website.
The European Quality Assurance Forum is co-organised by the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), the European Students’ Union (ESU), EUA and the European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE).

GUNi invites you to participate in a research project on community-university engagement by completing an online survey questionnaire. The conclusions of the research will be published in the next GUNi Report, “Higher Education in the world 5”.Currently, the main activities of GUNi are focused on one of the most significant trends in higher education over the 10-15 years: the growth of the theory and practice of Community-University Engagement (CUE). The centrality of engagement is critical to the success of higher education in the future (Fitzgerald, Bruns, Sonka, Furco, and Swanson, 2012).Within this framework GUNi is conducting a research project on CUE to document and study the wide range of CUE initiatives around the world. The final purpose is to define a typology of mechanisms and partnership structures that can integrate teaching, learning, research and/or knowledge creation with community engagement.
Following the Carnegie Foundation, CUE can be defined as “the collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (…) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity” (Driscoll, 2008, p.39).The Talloires Network highlights that in the CUE movement the practices and structures of engagement are rich and continually evolving. The main ways and practices of engagement are service learning (Campus Compact, McIlrath and MacLabhrainn, 2007), community-based research (Strand et al, 2003), engaged scholarship (Boyer, 1996, and Fitzgerald et al, 2012), community-university research partnerships (Hart et al, 2007, and Hall, 2011), knowledge mobilization and its variants such as knowledge translation, impact or utilization (Levesque, 2010, blog), among others. Read more...