Locals shun doctorates for jobs | Bernard Lane | The Australian | 31 March, 2010
AUSTRALIA has become heavily dependent on overseas students to tackle PhDs in the hard sciences as locals choose well-paid industry jobs over insecure careers in research, according to a new analysis.
Texas Push ‘Em: Betting Big on Research Universities | Eric Kelderman | The Chronicle of Higher Education | 26 March, 2010
Lone Star Rising: Texas Looks to Put Its Colleges on Top 1 Texans, it seems, aren’t content with being second in anything. Now the state has set its sights on creating the nation’s premier higher-education system. As esteemed public universities in California and other states have faced major budget cuts, resulting in layoffs, furloughs, and enrollment caps, Texas is setting aside hundreds of millions of new dollars to bolster the research and prestige of its universities.
Students prone to grey-sky thinking | Rebecca Attwood | Times Higher Education | 25 March 2010
A cloudy open-day visit can boost enrolment numbers, study indicates. According to research published in the latest edition of The Economic Journal, students who visit a university on a cloudy day are more likely to choose to study there.
US campuses chase foreign students | Guy Healy | The Australian Higher Education Supplement | 24 March, 2010
SCORES of cash-strapped US state universities are preparing to open their doors to foreign undergraduates, posing a serious challenge for Australian universities, US Studies Centre chief Geoff Garrett has warned. In the wake of the global financial crisis, US state universities were turning to foreign undergraduates for the first time to compensate for funding cuts, Professor Garrett told the HES
Divided Loyalties: Conflicts of Interest in the Boardroom | Paul Fain, Thomas Bartlett, and Marc Beja | Chronicle of Higher Education | 19 March, 2010
Trustees are a university’s ultimate decision makers. Whether approving a building project or directing endowment money, they profoundly affect everyone on the campus. In making those choices, trustees are supposed to be concerned only with what is best for the institution.But what happens when a trustee also has a business relationship with the university?A Chronicle investigation of 618 private colleges found that one in four have financial ties with trustee-affiliated companies. These relationships are common at both small liberal-arts colleges and large research universities. The connections, ranging from a few thousand dollars’ worth of business to multimillion-dollar contracts, involve banks, law firms, construction companies, and insurance conglomerates.
Teaching and research escape 9% grant cut | Melanie Newman | Times Higher Education | 18 March 2010
Hefce 2010-11 allocations target capital funding and special projects. Universities face a real-term cut in funding of more than 9 per cent next year, although the recurrent grant for teaching and research has largely been protected.
Curbs on shonky providers hailed | Andrew Trounson and Guy Healy | The Australian Higher Education Supplement | 17 March, 2010
BAIRD review proposals to tighten regulation of the overseas student industry have been welcomed but questions remain over enforcement. University of Melbourne skilled-migration expert Lesleyanne Hawthorne said the proposals would go a long way towards weeding out shonky providers and restoring confidence to the sector. But she warned that the effectiveness of the recommendations would depend on whether sufficient resources were put into enforcement.
As Its Popular President Retires, U. of Southern California Looks for an Encore | Josh Keller | The Chronicle of Higher Education | 7 March, 2010
New leader must sustain university’s ambitious ascent into elite ranks. Steven B. Sample has been called many things on this campus—darling of donors, beloved leader, brilliant scientist—but above all he is a master marketer. Mr. Sample, 69, president of the University of Southern California, delights in promoting his institution. After Time magazine named USC its College of the Year a decade ago, he had the article reprinted 600,000 times.
Dual-strand science funding pots may move closer in wake of budget review | Zoë Corbyn | Times Higher Education | 11 March 2010
‘Illogical’ not to view QR and research council cash together, says BIS official. Fears have resurfaced about the future of the dual-support system for research as the government seeks formal advice on how to carve up the science budget.
Equation for maths warns of disaster | Luke Slattery | The Australian | 10 March, 2010
THE Group of Eight has declared mathematics education in Australia is in crisis. A six-point rescue package for maths and related disciplines recommends better dialogue between mathematics and teaching faculties to improve the mathematical competence of teachers.
Higher Education in the Headlines 