Regional
International Stakeholders in Higher Education Pen Global Principles for Graduate Education
Leaders from higher education institutions and organizations around the world who participated in what they termed as the first global meeting on graduate education have produced a statement outlining nine guiding principles for graduate education. [1] Representatives from Australia, Canada, China, Europe, and the United States agreed in September on what have been dubbed the Banff principles, [2] named for the Canadian city where the meeting took place, to shape “future collective and collaborative work to advance and improve graduate education.”
Noting that “graduate education is in transition globally,” participants agreed to “promote the quality of graduate programs,” “clarify and strengthen the role of the master’s degree,” and “establish an inclusive global platform for discussion of best practices in graduate education.”
The principles cover areas such as promoting quality and encouraging innovation, while also setting out an agenda for some of the more challenging issues involved in international collaboration. For example, the principles commit signatories to clarify and strengthen the role of the master’s degree, to review and understand the global flow of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, to promote high quality collaboration in programs that cross national borders, and to create an “inclusive global platform” to discuss the best practices in graduate education.
The Banff Strategic Leaders Global Summit on Graduate Education [1] was convened by the government of the Canadian province of Alberta and U.S.-based Council of Graduate Schools [3]. The 27 participants at the three-day meeting included representatives of individual institutions, the Australian government, the Association of Chinese Graduate Schools, [4] and the European University Association, [5] whose 780 member institutions include universities and rectors’ conferences from 46 European countries.
– The Chronicle of Higher Education [6]
September 7, 2007
Brazil
Britain and the Brain Drain
This summer the British government made it easier for overseas students to work in the United Kingdom after graduating, and the governments of Australia and the United States have introduced similar incentives, as competition for international students continues to heat up across the globe.
The International Graduates Scheme [7] (IGS), announced by the Home Office for non-European students who finished a graduate or postgraduate course in the UK after May 2007, allows the student to live and work in the UK legally for one year after graduation. While it is a great opportunity for students, it also has consequences for home countries, which more often than not are in greater need of the talent.
Today, 9,400 Brazilian students are living in the UK, 1,170 of them in higher education. Since many Brazilians have dual nationality with other European countries, the real figures may be even larger. And according to the Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, government agencies are trying to recover an estimated US$26 million in scholarships from PhD students who finished their studies abroad and did not return to the country.
In an effort to retain talent, the Brazilian government is this month launching a national program for post-doctorates that will offer grants to support research in strategic areas. According to a study published by the economist Marcio Pochmann in 2006, every year 140,000 to 160,000 Brazilians with degrees leave the country looking for professional opportunities in other countries.
– The Guardian [8]
September 12, 2007
Canada
Report: Canadian Universities Should do More to Internationalize
Canadian universities have increased significantly their efforts to internationalize campuses since 2000, but they are in need of increased funding from the federal government if they are to become major players in the international education arena, according to a survey [9] released in September by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada [10].
The survey found that while internationalization has become part of the mainstream in Canadian higher education, the number of Canadian students who study abroad is small when compared to their peers in other developed countries. However, the number of foreign students on Canadian campuses has almost tripled in the last ten years, and three-quarters of Canadian universities now operate education and training programs outside Canada, with more than two-thirds actively marketing educational products and services in other countries.
In a report [11] on the survey, the association warns that Canada’s international recruiting and marketing must be strengthened, to better compete not only with traditional host countries such as Australia, Britain, and the United States, but also with newer locales like the Czech Republic, New Zealand, and South Korea.
– The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada [9]
September 13, 3007
New University Opens Doors
The first private, nonprofit, secular university in Canada inaugurated its first class last month. The US$100 million Quest University [12] campus in Squamish, British Columbia is modeled after the liberal-arts colleges of the United States. The school’s first class is represented by many nations, with half of the students hailing from Canada and the rest from 14 different countries. More than a quarter of the inaugural class is from outside the North American continent.
– The Chronicle of Higher Education [13]
Sep. 7, 2007
Chile
New Scholarship Deal with U.S. to Attract Chilean PhDs
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Republic of Chile’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alejandro Foxley, signed an agreement in August that will bring up to 100 Ph.D. students to the United States each year. Under the U.S.-Chile Educational Scholarship Agreement, students will undertake programs in fields that are priorities for Chile’s future, including science and technology, public policy, environmental studies, education, and public health. The new agreement expands the scope of the existing U.S.-Chile Educational Exchange Agreement – which established the bi-national Fulbright Program [14] between the two countries – and increases access and equal opportunity for Chileans to pursue advanced-degree study at universities in the United States with high quality academic programs in their fields of interest.
– U.S. Department of State News Release [15]
August 8, 2007
United States
5 New Universities Join Sino-American 1+2+1 Dual Degree Exchange Program
Humboldt State University [16] is one of five new U.S. institutions to be chosen to participate in the Sino-American “1+2+1” Dual Degree Program, administered by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities [17] (AASCU), in collaboration with the China Center for International Education Exchange [18] (CCIEE).
The initiative involves 15 Chinese universities that will partner with the five new American institutions in a proven academic program that enables Chinese students to obtain dual degrees through attendance for two years at a Chinese campus and two years at the American counterpart. Students spend their first year at their native school, study for two years in the United States, then return to China for the their final year—hence the “1+2+1” designation.
Chinese students enrolled in the program will begin their studies at the five new U.S. universities in fall 2008. Besides HSU, the four other United States institutions named for the second phase are the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire [19], Mansfield University [20], Salem State College [21] and Georgia South Western State [22] University. The first phase included Ball State University [23], University of North Carolina at Pembroke [24], Troy University [25], University of Nebraska at Kearney [26], Eastern Washington University [27], Northern Arizona University [28], George Mason University, [29] and California State University – San Bernardino [30].
China’s partner schools are Jiangsu Institute of Technology, Dali University [31], Henan Polytechnic University [32], Henan University [33], Henan University of Science and Technology [34], Inner Mongolia University [35], Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, Jilin Institute of Chemical Technology [36], Long Dong University [37], Nanjing University of Technology [38], Nanyang Normal University [39], Pingdingshan University [40], Tianjin Institute of Urban Construction [41], Tianjin University of Science and Technology [42], Yangzhou University [43], Zhengzhou University of Light Industry [44] and Zhongyuan University of Technology [45].
– Humboldt State News [46]
March 2007
University of Washington Leases Office Space in China
University of Washington [47] (UW) President, Mark A. Emmert, announced in August that the university will open an office in Beijing as part of an effort to expand its presence in China. Emmert made the announcement during a visit to the UW campus by Zhou Wenzhong, ambassador of the P.R. China to the United States. Through its new presence in China, UW hopes to identify, promote and enable UW research and learning opportunities with Chinese universities, research institutes, government and industry.
– UWNews [48]
August 22, 2007
NYU Expanding Across the Globe
New York University [49] (NYU) is planning to open new study abroad sites in Tel Aviv, Israel and Buenos Aires, Argentina as well as a new dual-degree law program with the National University of Singapore [50] and a major expansion of its current site in Paris.
The Tel Aviv site, which is scheduled for a fall 2008 opening, will be operated in collaboration with Tel Aviv University [51]. It will accommodate up to 50 students per semester and offer research opportunities for graduate students and faculty. The Buenos Aires site is planning for a spring 2008 opening and will be NYU’s first center in Latin America. With the addition of Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires and Singapore, NYU will operate a total of 11 study abroad sites. Current NYU sites include London, Prague, Paris, Florence, Madrid, Shanghai, Berlin and Ghana.
– Washington Square News [52]
September 11, 2007
Study: U.S. Experiencing Foreign “Brain Gain”
Foreign nationals living in the United States registered more than a quarter of all new U.S. patents and inventions last year, according to a report recently released by collaborating researchers at Duke University [53], New York University [49] and Harvard University [54]. Researchers contributing to the study found that U.S. “resident aliens” contributed to more than half of all patents filed by large multinational companies such as General Electric and Cisco Systems. The report also states that 41 percent of patents filed by the U.S. Government were submitted, at least in part, by foreign nationals.
Currently, the U.S. is experiencing a “brain gain” due to the large number of foreign-born skilled workers vying for the limited amount of 120,000 permanent resident visas the government issues annually. The report also hypothesized that if the U.S. does not reform its complex immigration process, the economy could lose billions of dollars due to the potential loss of foreign innovation.
– The Times Higher Education Supplement [55]
Sep. 7, 2007
Community College Transfer Simplified in NJ
A New Jersey law [56] signed by the governor in September provides a simplified approach to transferring community college credit by requiring that, upon acceptance, an associate degree awarded by a county college must be fully transferable and count as the first two years toward an undergraduate degree at any of the state’s public institutions.
A number of states have statutes in place to ease transfer of credit by offering community college graduates guaranteed admission to public universities or offering a common course numbering system across the two-year and four-year institutions. New Jersey’s new law, however, does not guarantee acceptance — students still have to do that part on their own — but rather a full transfer of credits. Transfers have typically been facilitated by individual articulation agreements between two- and four-year colleges.
– InsideHigherEd [57]
September 14, 2007
New York Times to Host Online Classes
The New York Times in September announced it would begin providing technology and marketing for non-credit course taught by college and university professors. A number of colleges are already either committed to using the new technologies or are in negotiations to start doing so. Funds from tuition revenue will be split (with the precise formula varying) between the colleges and the Times. Among the institutions that are already part of the effort are Mount Holyoke College [58]; New York, Northern Kentucky [59], Stanford [60] and Towson [61] Universities; and the Society for College and University Planning [62]. The newspaper expects that the list will soon grow significantly.
– InsideHigherEd [63]
September 7, 2007
Graduates from Down Under Enjoy Extended Stay
University graduates from Australia and New Zealand may now remain in the United States to work for a year. The program, which expands the length of stay from the current four months, was announced at the U.S.-N.Z. Partnership Forum, in Auckland, New Zealand, by Christopher R. Hill, the American assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. It mirrors a similar deal with Australia signed a week earlier.
– Chronicle of Higher Education [64]
September 21, 2007
Princeton Succeeds in Deflating Grades
Three years ago Princeton [65] initiated a policy to bring grade inflation under control and reduce to 35 percent the number of students receiving A grades. Since then, according to university officials, the percentage of A’s earned by undergraduates has declined across most disciplines.
The policy established a common grading standard and limited the proportion of A grades (including A+, A, and A-) to 35 percent in every undergraduate course, and 55 percent for independent projects completed by juniors and seniors. From 2004 to 2007, only 40.6 percent of undergraduate grades were A’s, compared with 47 percent in the period from 2001 to 2004. In the humanities, A grades declined about 10 percentage points, from 55.5 percent in the 2001-4 period to 45.9 percent for 2004-7. Social-science A’s were only 37.6 percent of the total for 2004-7, compared with 43.3 percent in the preceding three-year period. The smallest percentage-point decline occurred in the natural sciences, where A grades declined from 37.2 percent in 2001-4 to 35.7 percent in 2004-7.
– The Chronicle of Higher Education [66]
September 18, 2007