HE News Briefs 14.9.11
- KOREA: After an extensive audit, 43 institutions have lost important funding
- ENGLAND: Institutions are rethinking the amount they want to charge for tuition fees
- INTERNATIONAL: According to a new report, collaborative international degrees are on the rise
- NETHERLANDS: Morning raids at VU Amsterdam and University of Amsterdam
- UGANDA: Institution shutting down due to lack of funds and staff discontent
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HE News Brief 16.8.11
by Abby Chau
- RANKINGS: Publication of the Academic Ranking of World Universities
- LATIN AMERICA: Alba member states looking to harmonise higher education
- SOUTH KOREA: Auditing of institutions to ascertain whether they are fit for foreign students
- EAST AFRICA: Plans for harmonising of higher education
- LATIN AMERICA: Region increasing study abroad programmes Read more
HE News Brief 12.7.11
by Abby Chau
- NETHERLANDS: New policy changes to increase completion rates
- UNITED KINGDOM: University minister seeking international students from Brazil
- CHILE: Students force the government to invest 4 billion dollars in higher education
- SOUTH KOREA: Decreasing birthrates will stagger particpation in higher education
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HE News Brief 28.6.11
by Abby Chau
IN THIS EDITION
- KENYA: Government’s plan to substantially increase student intake is criticised
- SOUTH KOREA: The government pledges to cut tuition by 30% after a series of student protests
- UNITED KINGDOM: White paper on higher education is anxiously awaited
- SAUDI ARABIA: A new institution has its sights set for world class university status
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HE News Brief 12.4.11
by Abby Chau
IN THIS EDITION
- AUSTRALIA: Leadership at top institutions are targeting indigenous students’ leadership and participation rates
- SOUTH KOREA: Series of suicides on the KAIST campus has forced a change in student scholarship policies
- POLAND: Private and public institutions jostle for students and supremacy
- KENYA: Brain drain affecting professors and students
- GLOBAL: New QS Subject Rankings – Engineering & Technology has recently been released
HE News Brief 1.3.11
by Abby Chau
- A new report by the European University Association (EUA) has been published to address how institutions can look elsewhere to diversify their income. The report is based on 150 responses from universities spanning 27 different countries and shows that although public funding accounts for 73% of budgets, institutions must get creative in order to remain competitive. Findings show that red tape and an inflexible structure can stronghold universities from seeking private funding.
Full Story: Science Business
- In less than a decade, South Korea has tripled its international faculty and is poised to make significant gains in its internationalisation program as heavy hitters like the United States and the UK slump into economic austerity. Currently 7% of South Korea’s faculty are foreign hires, compared to Japan’s, which has a longer history on the international stage, average of 5%. Last year the government approved a $752 million World Class University Project which, among other initiatives, earmarked funds to hire more foreign professors as a method to modernise its higher education system. However, many are saying that there are issues that still need to be ironed out, such as the fact that salaries for foreign professors are nearly double that of domestic faculty, and a recent survey by the Education Ministry found that international faculty average a stay of only four months before they decide to leave their post.
Full Story: Chronicle of Higher Education Read more
An insight on the new South Korean university admission policy – will it work?
by Irene Jay-Shin
A new South Korean admissions policy which attempts to give consideration to an applicant’s extracurricular activities does not seem to be compatible with the general temperament of Korean society which may not accept variety and/or differences between individuals. The society sets a series of ‘correct’ answers for the lives of individuals e.g. a ‘proper’ age to get married, an ‘appropriate’ age to study in a university, expected roles for women and men, etc. These sets of answers do not enable the individuals to pursue their own lives; furthermore, they end up following a standard path followed by their seniors, believing that such a way would be right and correct.
The new South Korean admission policy will first affect the top universities. Eventually, the new policy might contribute to stereotyping once again a ‘right’ way to be successful in the Korean society, which is inflexible in accepting changes as described above. For example, people can be socially successful by becoming the graduates of top universities in Korea as alumni form strong social networks and may tend to recruit graduates from their own universities.
HE News Brief 25.1.11
by Abby Chau
- Approximately 15,000 protestors descended on the Parliament in Hague to demonstrate against a proposed multi-billion austerity plan, which include plans to slash university budgets and increased fees for some students. A policy aimed at students who take longer to graduate is causing a commotion. Under the new proposal, students who take longer than 4 years to complete their three year undergraduate degrees will have to pay an extra $4,000 per year in fees. Starting from 2012, the government is hoping to save $501 million each year from this initiative.
Full Story: Businessweek
More: Edmonton Journal - A survey of over 6,000 students at 62 institutions and 20 junior colleges showed that graduate employment rates in Japan has hit a new low since records began in 1996. 68.8% of Japanese university students found a job before graduation, which represents a 4.3% decline from the previous year. Those graduating in the field of science and engineering had the largest hurdle, with job offers dropping 7.3 percentage to 71.3 %. In response, the Japanese government has announced new incentives for companies who employ graduates as well as plans for more career fairs.
Full Story: Japan Today
More: BBC News
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Evaluating rankings – Perception is everything… or is it?
by Ben Sowter
In a recent article in Inside Higher Ed, Philip Altbach commenting on the latest set of rankings from THE said “Why do Bilkent University in Turkey and the Hong Kong Baptist University rank ahead of Michigan State University, the University of Stockholm, or Leiden University in Holland? Why is Alexandria University ranked at all in the top 200? These anomalies, and others, simply do not pass the “smell test.” Let it be hoped that these, and no doubt other, problems can be worked out.”
I would like to explore this notion of a “smell test” a little further, as in reality, it seems to be the single factor that defines the global credibility of any of these evaluations in the eyes of their many observers worldwide.
2010 QS World University Rankings® Video – Asia Pacific focussed
Nunzio Quacquarelli, Managing Director of QS Quacquarelli Symonds, gives a brief description of the QS World University Rankings®.
Ben Sowter, Head of the QS Intelligence Unit, gives an overview of the performances of Australian and Malaysian Universities.
Martin Ince, convenor of the QS Academic Board, gives his views on the great performance of Korean Universities.
