One quango to rule them all? | Simon Baker | Times Higher Education | 22 December 2011
Government plans for the Higher Education Funding Council for England are ringing alarm bells across the sector. Can it really become a consumer protection body and fund universities without conflicts of interest? And would Hefce’s expanding remit further erode institutional autonomy? Simon Baker surveys an uncertain future
A ‘Moneyball’ Approach to College | Marc Parry | Chronicle of Higher Education | 16 December, 2011
Educators have long held that the interactions between students and professors defy simple reduction. Yet in several areas of campus life, colleges are converting the student experience into numbers to crunch in the name of improving education.
Head hunt extended after too-short shortlist | Simon Baker | Times Higher Education | 15 December 2011
Lack of suitable outside candidates for Offa adds to uncertainty in sector. Sir Martin Harris is to stay on as director of fair access for another four months after the government failed to find a suitable candidate from outside the sector to replace him, Times Higher Education has learned.
Equitable vision in funding review | Andrew Trounson | The Australian Higher Education | 14 December, 2011
THE Lomax-Smith base funding review released last week has backed an egalitarian vision for higher education that reinforces quality across the sector. But it also found the current uniform funding system left little scope for diversification, driving universities with all-too-similar offerings.
On Campuses, the Income Gap Widens at the Top | Jack Stripling and Andrea Fuller | 09 December, 2011 | Chronicle of Higher Education
The economic divide is not confined to Wall Street and Main Street. Within the world of private higher education, there are a handful of college presidents who earn considerably more than professors on their campuses, or gobble up a notable share of their institutions’ budgetary pie, a Chronicle analysis has found. There are also significant pay gaps among presidents, 36 of whom earned more than $1-million in 2009.
One in four new courses attracts no students, i-Map finds | Sarah Cunnane | Times Higher Education | 08 December 2011
A quarter of all new undergraduate courses fail to attract a single student, a major study has found, with the proportion rising to half for joint-honours programmes.The figures have been recorded by a two-year research project financed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and are based on an analysis of Universities and Colleges Admissions Service data from 2005 to 2008.
Funds to be shared for better uni access | Julia Hare and Andrew Trounson | The Australian Higher Education | 07 December, 2011
A CONSORTIUM of Queensland’s eight universities has been granted $21 million to work towards improving university access for the state’s disadvantaged and indigenous students. The consortium, under which each university will form a partnership with every eligible school in the state, was formed last year.
Questionable Decisions Cast College Leaders in Harsh Light | Goldie Blumenstyk and Jack Stripling | The Chronicle of Higher Education | 02 December, 2011
Controversial leadership decisions at Penn State and the University of California at Davis dominated headlines over the past month, yet the damage may extend well beyond those two institutions. Both crises have raised broader questions about the moral credibility of college leaders, adding weight to the nation’s brewing discontent with higher education at the very time when public disaffection for banks, government, and other institutions is also on the rise.
LSE’s ‘mistakes were legion’ in Libyan dealings, Woolf finds | David Matthews | Times Higher Education | 01 December 2011
‘Damning’ report criticises governance, but Saif Gaddafi likely to keep PhD. An investigation by the former Lord Chief Justice into links between the London School of Economics and deposed Libyan dictator Mu’ammer Gaddafi’s regime has reached “damning” conclusions.
Higher Education in the Headlines 