Flawed indicators used to compare the academic market | Rebecca Attwood | Times Higher Education | 30 September 2010
Efforts to inform student ‘customers’ reliant on reputation, not quality. Any market in university fees will be based solely on branding and reputation unless institutions are held to account by valid indicators of teaching quality, including class size, the standard of teaching staff and the time and effort students devote to their studies.
Quality conflict deemed unlikely | Bernard Lane | The Australian Higher Education | 29 September, 2010
VICE-CHANCELLORS have been assured there is no conflict between the new tertiary regulator and the Australian Learning and Teaching Council. Universities Australia’s chairman Peter Coaldrake emailed members after an article in last week’s HES touched a nerve
U. of Iowa Finds Renewal in Rebuilding | Lawrence Biemiller | Chronicle of Higher Education | 24 September 2010
The article discusses the University of Iowa and the efforts that the school has made to renovate buildings that were damaged when the Iowa River flooded in June 2008. The extent of the damage and the level of water, which forced university officials to turn off the university’s power plant, is discussed, as is the amount of time that it took for the flood water to recede from the campus. The school was forced to use an empty big box store not far from the campus in order to provide the School of Art with facilities for its students. University president Sally K. Mason discusses working with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to negotiate over the restoration of buildings.
Graduate tax ruled out as ‘unworkable’ | Simon Baker | Times Higher Education | 23 September 2010
Business secretary still seeks progressive system linking payments to earnings. Vince Cable has completely rejected the idea of a pure graduate tax as a solution to student finance and university funding in England.
Tertiary regulator TEQSA stands alone | Bernard Lane | The Australian Higher Education | 22 September, 2010
DENISE Bradley, interim chairwoman of TEQSA, has distanced the new regulator from an attempt to pioneer an academic standards system. Some have seen this project, run by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, as a precursor to a TEQSA system for monitoring learning outcomes.
Portugal Aims to Modernize With Help From the U.S. | Fischer, Karin | Chronicle of Higher Education | 17 September, 2010
The article discusses Portugal’s efforts to promote economic growth by investing in scientific research and development at its higher-education institutions. The article mentions the University of Coimbra’s relationship with several U.S. universities, such as Carnegie Mellon University and the Harvard Medical School, to engage in research and academic exchange programs. Government spending has increased in these fields due to a commitment by the country to become a knowledge economy through innovation in science and technology. Relationships between Portuguese and U.S. universities have brought jobs to the country, attracted high-achieving students, and attracted business investments, but leaders fear funding from the federal government may decrease.
New weights and measures throw up a few surprises | Phil Baty | Times Higher Education | 16 September 2010
Phil Baty looks at the rankings winners and losers and explains how weightings have affected results. The new methodology used to compile the 2010-11 Times Higher Education World University Rankings is more reliant on evidence and less on reputation, and has produced a number of eye-catching results
Word up as sector gets full portfolio in Labor government | Julie Hare | The Australian Higher Education | 15 September, 2010
CHRIS Evans, the new minister with responsibility for the university sector, had his portfolio title changed yesterday just hours before being sworn in by Governor-General Quentin Bryce.The alteration, which added tertiary education to the previous portfolio of jobs, skills and workplace relations, came less than 48 hours after the new Gillard cabinet was announced on Saturday.
For-Profits Spend Heavily to Fend Off New Rule | Kelly Field & Goldie Blumenstyk | Chronicle of Higher Education | 10 September, 2010
The article discusses a plan by the U.S. Department of Education to stop providing federal aid to for-profit colleges and universities that have many enrolled students who are unable to repay their student loans.Supporters of for-profit schools have begun to lobby and petition the department and the U.S. congress that this plan is unnecessary. It is noted that student loans contribute a large amount of revenue to for-profit schools and lobbyists claim that the rule would hurt students and schools alike. The financial health of for-profit schools like Corinthian Colleges, Kaplan Inc., and Career Education Corporation, is discussed.
UK losing its allure…and ground to rivals | Simon Baker | Times Higher Education | 9 September 2010
OECD figures offer unsettling news – even before the coalition swings the axe. Traditional “big hitters” in higher education such as the UK and the US are losing their allure for international students thanks to the dramatic pace of change and intensifying competition in the global academy, a key study suggests.
Higher Education in the Headlines 