Antigua & Barbuda
University to Develop Veterinary College with US Institution
Officials of the American University of Antigua [1] (AUA) have reached an agreement with Tuskegee University [2] in the United States to develop a program of veterinary medicine at the Caribbean institution. The AUA College of Medicine was created in 2001 as part of a government plan to make Antigua the Caribbean’s premier center of medical training and treatment. A veterinary college is a logical next step due to the high demand for the profession in the region. Tuskegee University, which currently supplies nearly 60 percent of the veterinarians in Antigua, will consider a proposal from AUA to establish programs in veterinary medicine, nursing, allied health, and liberal arts. When the new program begins students will complete two years of training at AUA before completing their final two years of schooling at Tuskegee.
— Tuskegee University [2] news release
Jan. 18, 2006
Argentina
Top University Officials Resign after Distance-Learning Confusion with Spanish Institutions
The Rector and the Dean of University Faculty at the National University of Formosa [3] (UNdF) have resigned over the results of an investigation into the validity of distance-learning degrees awarded to students studying in Spain. UNdF and the private Atlantic Argentina University awarded degrees to students studying at the Cibernos Institute [4], the Higher Business School in Madrid, and the Ecina School in Pamplona, under the management of the Tierra del Fuego-based World College.
Neither of the Argentinean institutions are certified by the Argentinean Embassy in Spain to operate there, nor by the Ministry of Education [5] in Buenos Aires to offer distance-education programs. Both steps are prerequisite to offering distance-learning programs in Spain. World College, whose representative Dr. Jorge Gorosito is registered in far away Buenos Aires, has operated under many names like “World University” and “Foundation World University” since 1999 in an effort to confuse authorities investigating the suspect higher education organization. In addition to the investigations of World College, the Cibernos Institute has received warnings from authorities in Madrid in the past about functioning as an unrecognized institution and for false advertising.
Officials at UNdF have expressed concern over the possible future effects this incident might have on the validity of their degrees.
— Times Higher Education Supplement [6]
Jan. 6, 2006
Bolivia
Education in Transition
Bolivia’s new President, Evo Morales, has only been in power a short time, but his new administration has developed plans for widespread reform in almost all facets of government, including education.
In one of his first acts as head of state, Morales signed an agreement with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that will grant over 5,000 scholarships for Bolivian youth from rural areas to study at Venezuelan universities. The agreement also includes additional funds to support 100 professional and graduate students pursuing further education. Another signed by the Morales administration has created a new Ministry for Literacy and Alternative Education that will work with Cuban advisors to help end illiteracy in Bolivia through the use of Cuba’s highly successful audiovisual program “Yo, Sí Puedo” (Yes, I Can).
New Minister of Education, Félix Patzi, announced that he is negotiating with other ministries to introduce a law requiring all Bolivian public and private schools to teach Quechua and Aymara as well as Spanish in their curriculum before they are recognized by the new government. Quechua and Aymara are dialects native to Bolivia and are official languages of the country along with Spanish, although they are rarely taught in the nation’s elite schools.
— Ukhamawa [7]
Feb. 4, 2006
— Prensa Latina [8]
Feb. 3, 2006
— VCRISIS [9]
Feb. 6, 2006
Canada
Accord Between Indian and Canadian Business Schools
The University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management [10] and the Indian School of Business Hyderabad [11] have struck an agreement to host student exchanges beginning the 2006-2007 academic year. Rotman Dean Roger Martin said that the partnership reflects the interests of his students, moving away from China and towards India. The Indian school already has partnerships with University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School [12], Northwestern University’s Kellogg School [13], and the London Business School [14].
— The Economist [15]
Jan. 25, 2006
Mexico
New Quality Assurance Measures
In an effort to enforce quality assurance regulations at Mexico’s institutions of higher education, the Mexican Senate [16] has passed legislature requiring all Mexican universities to receive an external evaluation of their programs or risk losing their license to operate. If the bill passes the National Congress it would be the first time that accreditation was made nationally mandatory for higher education programs. The Mexican government estimates that only 82 of Mexico’s 2,000 institutions of higher education have accredited programs, while less than a fourth of the country’s 7,000 degree programs have ever received external evaluations.
As the demand for higher education has increased in Mexico, the government has failed to respond with greater public funding for higher education. As a result so-called “junk-universities” have sprouted up, accounting for a vast majority of Mexico’s 1,800 private universities.
Roberto Rodriguez, higher education researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico [17] is skeptical about the government’s ability to evaluate Mexico’s many universities in the bill’s proposed four months. He notes that while government supervision of Mexican education is lacking, the process will remain highly bureaucratic and essentially, “the law would just say that accreditation is a desirable thing.”
— The Chronicle for Higher Education [18]
Jan. 4, 2006
Trinidad and Tobago
New University Awards Degrees
The newly established University of Trinidad and Tobago [19] (UTT) has awarded 500 degrees and diplomas before construction of the campus has even been completed. This is in part because the new institution recruited the former professors and students of the now defunct Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Technology. The other part of the equation is the government’s ambitious Vision 2020 Action Plan [20] dedicated to extensive support of tertiary and post-secondary education. The initiative’s primary goal is to increase enrollment levels on the archipelago from less than 9 percent to 60 percent by 2020. There are currently three campus centers of the new university under construction with plans to build two more being discussed. UTT has formed strategic alliances with universities and businesses around the globe such as University of Texas at Austin [21] (USA), Cambridge University Institute of Manufacturing [22] (UK), and TATA Infotech [23] (India) in order to help support its developing academic and vocational programs.
— Times Higher Education Supplement [6]
Jan. 27, 2006
United States of America
American Public: Overwhelming Support for International Education
A national survey conducted by NAFSA [24]: Association of International Educators, has found that the vast majority of Americans believe that international education is essential for their children to be successful in the globalized work place of the future. According to the survey, “Americans Call for Leadership on International Education [25],” Americans place high value on international education regardless of age, gender, race, region, income, or level of education. With this information NAFSA is hoping that they can influence the government to establish a program that will guarantee study abroad for all higher education students and develop a strategy for reaffirming the role of the U.S. university as the leading host of international academic talent.
Some of the NAFSA survey’s highlights:
- 90 percent of Americans believe it is “important” or “very important” to prepare future generations for a global society
- 94 percent feel it is important for future generations to have knowledge of other countries and cultures
- 92 percent agree the knowledge of other languages will give future generations a competitive edge in career opportunities
- 86 percent feel it is important for their children to attend a college where they can interact with and get to know students from other countries
— NAFSA [24]
Jan. 11, 2006
Washington-Based University Sends Students to Every Corner of the Globe, Literally
IES Abroad [26] reports that Pacific Lutheran University [27] (PLU) is the first American university to have students studying on every continent in the world simultaneously. As part of the university’s “Study Away” program, 370 students from Tacoma-based PLU are participating in 25 different study abroad semesters around the world. The university offers programs in a variety of locations, such as Beijing, Melbourne, Namibia, Milan, Peru, and the Antarctic Peninsula.
PLU’s goal is to have 50 percent of their 3,600 students studying abroad by 2010. According to UCLA [28]’s Cooperative Institutional Research Program [29] 19 percent of students at public universities and 30 percent at private colleges are interested in international study programs when they enroll. After four weeks in classes at Pacific Lutheran that number soars to 76 percent. Officials at the university credit their long-standing commitment to international education as well as their largely international faculty (70%) to the success of “Study Away”.
— Inside Higher Ed [30]
Jan. 18, 2005
State Dept. Publishes Guidebook for Foreign Students
The U.S. State Department [31] recently released an online guidebook for international students looking to study in the United States. The guide is designed to give international students a comprehensive understanding of the American education system and what to expect should they decide to study in the United States. Entitled “College and University Education in the United States [32],” the book covers academic issues, institution types, tuition cost, financial aid, different majors, and extracurricular activities such as community service. A link to interviews with current internationals studying in the U.S. and a photo gallery showing students at cultural and athletic events are included. The goal of the guide is to present America as a welcoming place to study abroad.
— U.S. Department of State press release [31]
Jan. 4, 2006
U.S. Dips in International Education Rankings
Recent studies show that other nations of the developed world are overtaking the United States in terms of the quality of their education offerings. A 2003 UNICEF [33] study that averaged the results of five different international education surveys ranked the United States 18th out of the 24 top nations in regards to the effectiveness of the educational system. Another study, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study [34], shows a steady decline in U.S. student performance between 4th and 12th grades, a phenomenon not found in other countries surveyed. Some experts attribute this to the fact that the U.S. education system covers many topics at a break-neck pace, rather than examining concepts in detail over time.
Finland, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Netherlands and the UK performed better than the U.S. in both studies, with South Korea, Japan, and Singapore ranked first through third.
— The Massachusetts Daily Collegian [35]
Jan. 19, 2006
U.S. Takes Steps to Ease Student Visa Process
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the United States has seen an unprecedented drop in the number of international students applying to study at the country’s institutions of higher education. Tightened visa restrictions, a perceived discrimination against foreigners, and growing discontent with U.S. foreign policy have all contributed to the decline. In a move to keep up with other nations around the world who have picked up the slack in international recruitment, the United States is taking steps to ease the process of obtaining an international student visa.
Measures include the creation of 500 new overseas visa-processing positions, the installment of digital videoconferencing to interview foreign applicants, an extension in the duration of student visas, the creation of “model airports” with friendly greeting centers for foreign travelers, and the introduction of inexpensive security cards that enhance the ability of foreigners to cross U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico. In response to the large number of Chinese students applying for student visas, the U.S. government has spent $50 million to improve its efficiency in overseeing the 25,000 annual applications it receives from the Asian nation.
Some problems still remain such as substantial waiting times for students attempting to schedule appointments at U.S. consulates worldwide. The average waiting time for a visa appointment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is 55 days. Another challenge for the U.S. is to overcome perceptions abroad that foreigners are not welcome in the U.S. It is clearly in the United States’ best interest to do so with roughly 565,000 international students bringing in around $13 billion to the economy each year.
— USA Today [36]
Jan. 18, 2006
Bush Administration Plans to Internationalize Higher Education
At the U.S. University Presidents Summit on International Education [37] last month, 120 university presidents from a variety of higher education institutions representing all 50 states, gathered in Washington D.C. to discuss U.S. efforts to enhance international education partnerships and to listen to the Bush administration outline its strategy for the internationalization of higher education.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice outlined four fundamental principles guiding the county’s desire to increase its role in international education exchange. Rice called for the expansion of the Fulbright [38] and Gilman International Scholarship Programs [39], the development of educational exchanges with the Far and Middle East, the creation of more spaces in universities for students from underprivileged backgrounds, and the streamlining of the student visa process. To help expedite this process, the State Department [31] announced a variety of measures that they would enact including organizing delegations of university president to visit foreign countries and recruit students, a new International Fulbright Science Award for outstanding foreign scholars, and a rise in the number of grants provided for minority and community college students to study abroad.
President Bush announced that the administration will also earmark $114million for a program of intense foreign language training, designed to introduce American students to Arabic, Chinese, and other foreign languages. The goal of the National Security Language Initiative [40] is to produce 2,000 advanced speakers of primarily Middle Eastern, and Central Asian languages over the next several years in order to improve national security and cultural understanding.
— Inside Higher Ed [30]
Jan. 9, 2006
Venezuela
Cross Border Med School Planned
Venezuelan Higher Education Minister, Samuel Moncada, announced government plans last month to open the Latin American School of Medicine later this year. The new institution will endeavor to train community doctors from the poorest Latin American nations such as Ecuador, Bolivia, and Paraguay in order to serve their extensive healthcare needs. The school will be located in Guri, in the eastern province of Bolivar and will enroll 500 students at the onset with plans to progressively increase that number.
— Escambray [41]
Jan. 25, 2006