Regional
European Universities Twice as Likely as US Universities to Offer International Joint Degrees
According to the findings of a new report, “Joint and Double Degree Programs in the Transatlantic Context,” European institutions of higher education are approximately twice as likely as U.S. institutions to offer at least one joint degree, and the main motivations for offering them are to help internationalize a campus and raise international visibility and prestige. The most common fields offering Joint or dual degree programs are business and engineering. The report, conducted by the Institute of International Education [1] and Freie Universität Berlin [2], is based on a survey of 180 universities in the United States and the European Union.
Both European and American universities “are most likely to have collaborative degree programs with European partners than with institutions in any other region,” says the report. Most of the respondents to the survey reported that their institutions were planning to develop more international joint- and dual-degree programs, but cost hurdles were a significant factor on both sides of the Atlantic.
– IIE [3]
January 22, 2009
European Credit System Introduced for Vocational Education
In December, the European Parliament adopted a European-Commission proposal for two new tools designed to facilitate mobility within the vocational education and training sector.
Top of the bill is the creation of ECVET [4], a new credit system specifically designed for vocational education and training. The objective is to make it easier to transfer study credits from one training system to another, from one qualifications’ system to another, or from one learning pathway to another. The credit system will be compatible with the existing European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System [5] (ECTS), used primarily for academically focused university programs.
The second tool, the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework [6] (EQARF), is being implemented to help authorities in member states promote and monitor the improvement of their systems of vocational education and training. This new framework includes ways of monitoring the performance of a particular system and uses measurements to review and improve both entire systems as well as individual institutions.
– ACA Secretariart [7]
January 2009
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnian Schools Remain Ethnically Segregated 13 Years On
The guns stopped firing 13 years ago, yet intolerance for different ethnicities remains deeply ingrained, and nowhere is this more evident than in the school system, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Luxemburg.
The mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Bosnia conducted a study of 230 schools there and documented that many children are spending hours each day just going to and from school. Not because the more distant school is better, but because their parents want them to study in a school where their ethnic group dominates. In some cases, children even cross international borders to go to an “acceptable” school.
“We should be very concerned,” Republika Srpska Education Minister Anton Kasipovic told RFE/RL. “The key issue here is a lack of confidence among the different ethnic groups of these kids’ parents. We cannot fix this with a short-term campaign. We will need a long time to deal with this.”
However, 13 years have passed with little to no progress. Today, there are seven educational systems in Bosnia, each with its own curriculum and textbooks. Muslim children learn that the events of Srebrenica were “genocide,” while Serbian kids are told they were a “tragic accident.” These different histories being learned in schools contributed to the conclusion of the Banja Luka (Republika Srpska) office of the Helsinki Committee in a 2008 report that extreme nationalism is on the rise among Bosnian youths.
RFE/RL reports that there are a few exceptional schools in Bosnia, such as the One World College in Mostar and the Catholic Gymnasium in Sarajevo and maybe a few others, but these are few and very far between. Most Bosnian kids will grow up knowing only the values of their own community and with a deep suspicion of the country’s other two ethnic groups.
– RFE/RL [8]
December 12, 2008
France
President to Increase University Places for Minorities
French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged in December to increase the number of enrollments among non-white students at France’s elite universities in a speech at the École Polytechnique [9], one of the country’s most exclusive grandes écoles. France’s ruling elite, in the political, economic and academic realms have overwhelmingly been educated at the country’s grandes écoles.
Mr. Sarkozy expressed frustration with “the slow pace of promoting diversity in France” and promised “to put more ethnic minorities on TV screens, in political parties, and in elite schools,” the Associated Press reported. Among other measures outlined in his speech, Mr. Sarkozy proposed that, “by 2010, 30 percent of places in the preparatory classes for grandes écoles should go to scholarship children, from an average of around 20 percent now and as little as 0.5 percent in some cases,” Agence France-Presse [10] reported. Admission to the grandes écoles is highly selective, unlike public universities, which must offer admission to all qualified students.
– Associated Press [11]
December 17, 2008
– AFP [10]
December18, 2008
University Autonomy Becomes Reality
Twenty of France’s more than 80 universities began the new year with increased autonomy from the state over budgets, recruitment, salaries, tenure and working hours with the introduction of the government’s Universities’ Freedoms and Responsibilities law. All universities must adopt the reform by 2012, although academics and students continue to express their opposition, citing fear of privatization of the university sector and the loss of less-popular, or non-cost-effective programs.
The universities that enjoyed newfound autonomy on January 1 were Aix-Marseille 2 [12], Cergy-Pontoise [13], Clermont-Ferrand 1 [14], Corse, La Rochelle [15], Limoges [16], Lyon 1 [17], Marne-la-Vallée [18], Montpellier 1 [19], Mulhouse [20], Nancy 1 [21], Paris 5 [22], Paris 6 [23], Paris 7 [24], Saint-Etienne [25], Strasbourg 1 [26], 2 [27] and 3 [28], Toulouse 1 [29] and Troyes [30]. To ensure a smooth transition, each university will receive grants totaling EUR250,000 (US$335,000) to meet expenses such as staff training and recruitment of consultants and specialists.
The law also enables universities to create foundations and seek sponsorship from individuals and businesses to fund teaching and research projects such as professorships, mobility grants and laboratories. They may also apply to become owners of their university’s buildings.
– University World News [31]
January 11, 2009
Germany
Government Encouraged to See University Enrollments Continue Upward Tick
According to figures released by the Federal Statistical Office [32], approximately 385,500 freshman students enrolled at German higher education institutions in the 2008 academic year, 24,000 or 6.7 percent more than in 2007. The new figures are good news for the government, which has now almost reached its goal of enrolling 40 percent of university-age students. The ratio, which currently stands at 39 percent, is calculated based on the share of new entrants in the population of the same age.
The numbers were up by seven percent from 2007, with traditional universities reporting a three percent increase in enrollments, and technical universities reporting a 13 percent increase.
“This clearly shows that the current education policy of the federal and Länder governments has been a success,” Education Minister Annette Schavan stated at the release of the figures. This is the first time overall student numbers exceeded two million since the winter semester of 2003-2004 when enrollments peaked at 2.01 million. Schavan said the Higher Education Pact 2020 agreed last year between the federal and state governments had made a crucial contribution to enabling institutions to enroll more students. The pact foresees extra funding to make the goal of a 40 percent first-year rate attainable by 2010.
– Federal Statistics Agency [33]
December 1, 2008
Excellence Initiative Gets Positive Report Card
Two years ago, Germany launched a program designed to propel a select group of German research universities to ‘elite’ status. At the end of the start-up phase, in which 39 graduate schools, 37 excellence clusters and nine ‘future concepts’ received a total of EURO1.9 billion, a preliminary evaluation [34] was conducted. The conclusions of that evaluation suggest the program has started successfully. The profile of beneficiary universities has reportedly been sharpened, young researchers have been benefiting, and cooperation with non-university actors has been strengthened.
The evaluation, carried out by the Bonn-based Intitut für Forschungsinformation und Qualitätssicherung [35], looked exclusively at graduate schools and excellence clusters. The authors point out that an evaluation after only two years can, by necessity, not yet assess impact, but only identify preliminary trends. The overall verdict is that the excellence initiative has created considerable activity – even beyond the beneficiary institutions. As of April 2008, approximately 1,500 new researchers – most of them doctoral students – have been employed or received scholarships through the program; however, the study points out that world-class talent has not been effectively recruited.
The program has also been successful in introducing a more interdisciplinary approach to university studies, one of the main goals of the initiative. The exact means by which interdisciplinary research has been introduced has varied widely. Cooperation with non-university research centers, industry, and overseas universities is growing.
– Intitut für Forschungsinformation und Qualitätssicherung [35]
December 2008
Greece
Protestors Destroy Universities
After two week-long riots from December 6 to December 19, many Greek universities were ripped apart by rioting anarchists. At least four major universities in Athens and Thessaloniki are reported to have suffered severe damage, as did several smaller institutions in the provinces.
Aristotle University [36] in Thessaloniki is said to have suffered the most extensive damage, with several buildings being set on fire. Rioters were aggrieved at police presence on campus, contrary to laws ensuring academic sanctuary. Years of research, notes and priceless books, in addition to more tangible products such as computers and office equipment were all destroyed in the rampage. The death of a 15-year-old schoolboy at the hands of the police sparked the riots.
The autonomy of the Greek university and in particular the institution of academic sanctuary came under extreme pressure from politicians and the police during the riots. The academic sanctuary law was established after the fall of the seven year-long military junta (1967-1973) to ensure freedom of speech and the free dissemination of ideas. It was not to provide immunity to those who commit criminal acts within the university.
However, during marches, demonstrations and protests, sundry anti-authority groups, often having the most tenuous link with the academic community, took refuge in the precincts of the universities to taunt and bait the police and avoid arrest.
– University World News [37]
January 18, 2009
Italy
University Reform in Effect
A government decree designed to overhaul the employment of university staff and promote meritocracy in Italy’s higher education system came into effect in November.
Among measures introduced in the decree, which forms part of a wider program of cost-cutting reforms for the sector yet to be finalized, seven percent of government funds allocated to universities will be shared out on a performance basis from 2009, rewarding universities which demonstrate excellence in teaching and research.
In addition, the decree relaxes a restriction placed on the recruitment of researchers in the government’s budget blueprint passed this summer, permitting universities to take on one new researcher for every two researchers whose contracts expire, instead of one for every five, between 2009 and 2011. To promote the hiring of young researchers, the decree also rules that universities must spend at least 60 percent of their funds on the employment of researchers and 10 percent on more senior lecturers. However, universities who are already spending more than 90 percent of their funds on salaries are barred from taking on any further staff.
The decree has been welcomed by some university bodies, including the Conference of Italian University Chancellors, but critics have downplayed the usefulness of the decree in the light of government spending cuts of an estimated EUR1.5 billion in the sector planned from 2010.
– ANSA [38]
November 28, 2008
Lithuania
Branding Lithuanian Higher Education Abroad
Lithuania is getting on the higher education branding bandwagon with the creation of a logo, motto and tools for those interested in studying in the Baltic nation. In 2007, the Ministry of Education and Science [39] employed the services of the Education Exchanges Support Foundation (SMPF) to promote Lithuanian higher education abroad.
The outcome in 2008 was the creation and public approval of the motto “Study in Lithuania. Discover. Develop. Enjoy.” The SMPF is seeking funding through the European Social Fund to help develop an Internet portal for the promotion of Lithuanian education, the production and dissemination of promotional tools and materials, and the further elaboration of the marketing campaign.
– ACA Secretariat [40]
December 2008
Spain
Students Protest En Masse against Bologna
At the beginning of December, several student and academic groups expressed severe discontent with the imminent implementation of reforms related to the Bologna Process [41] in Spain, joining a series of student protests across Europe. As many as 250,000 Spanish students protested, occupying university buildings, blocking train lines and interrupting senate meetings across the country.
Students are protesting what they see as the privatization of state universities, where the private interests of employers are taking precedence over the common good. They also fear that Bologna reforms will open the door to the introduction of tuition fees. Spanish students, who often work part-time while studying, are also arguing that the new degree structure will not allow the necessary flexibility to continue working during term time. Students also fear that the new shorter degrees, being implemented under Bologna, will devalue the worth of their first degrees forcing them to complete an often-expensive master’s degree, a credential considered equivalent to the traditional longer first degree.
The reduction in length of first degrees from five to three or four years also means that teaching hours have to be reduced or reallocated, which has led to discontent among academic staff as well.
– University World News [42]
December 7, 2008
United Kingdom
Weakening Pound Could Drive Increased Enrollments
The British pound is worth 25 percent less against the dollar than it was just 6 months ago. While this means trouble for businesses that import goods, it is huge for export-focused businesses selling goods or services denominated in pounds. For British universities selling an education to overseas students, this means tuition fees are 25 percent cheaper, relative to U.S. universities, than they were last year.
The British Council [43], which represents and markets British universities abroad, made just that argument in December. However, the global economic downturn will also mean much fiercer competition for a pool of international students that might be set to shrink in the coming years. The Council presented its research in December at the Going Global conference, and predicted growth in the numbers of students from India, China and Nigeria coming to the UK to study as a result of the drop in the value of the pound.
“Our baseline forecast estimates a rise in market share for the UK in the forecast period compared with the competitor set of countries, from an estimated 12.5 percent in 2006 to almost 26 percent by 2015,” the report says.
“This suggests a continuation of the trend since 2000 of a steady increase in the UK’s market share. But the major driver of this increased market share in the forecast period is our substantial projected decline in the value of the pound, not only against the rupee but also against the currencies of almost all the competitor countries. We are currently forecasting a 20 percent depreciation of sterling against the US dollar and a 13 percent depreciation against the rupee in 2009 alone,” projects the report.
The Council’s economic forecasting research predicts that shifting demographics, price awareness among students and growing opportunities for them to study in their home country may add up to a fall in demand for undergraduate courses overseas. While demand for postgraduate education is expected to continue to grow, recruiting students at this level can be less cost-effective since they may only stay in the UK for one or two years.
Universities that fail to change their recruitment strategies stand to suffer substantial losses, the Council warned.
– The Guardian [44]
December 4, 2008
Usual Suspects Top Research Rankings, for the Most Part
It comes about once every seven years, and sets future government spending on research departments, making it a very important assessment of institutional quality at British universities.
The Research Assessment Exercise [45] (RAE) measures the quality of academic research and influences the destination of £1.5 billion a year of research funding. A media studies department at a former polytechnic is among the top-rated academic centers in Britain. Sixty percent of the research published by the school of Media Arts and Design at Westminster University [46] (formerly the Polytechnic of Central London) was rated as “world-leading” by the RAE. Only the museum studies department at Leicester University [47] scored higher, with 65 percent of its research rated as world class.
Although some institutions, such as Westminster University, performed well in certain fields, for performance across all departments, the top performers will be much more familiar to an international audience. The University of Cambridge [48] cemented its place as Britain’s leading research center, with 71 percent of its academics whose research was examined by panels of experts working in departments rated as “world leading” or “internationally excellent”.
Oxford [49] had the same number, but was beaten by Cambridge’s grade-point average, which takes in all levels of performance. The London School of Economics [50] was third and Imperial College London [51] fourth. The new rankings are the result of deliberations of 1,100 experts drawn from academia and industry, sitting on 67 specialist panels, assessing the quality of 200,000 pieces of work submitted by 159 research institutions published between 2001 and 2007. Work is graded from 4* (world leading) down to 1* (nationally recognized) and 0 (not good enough to be recognized nationally).
The results show that more than half (54 percent) of the research conducted by 52,400 staff is of world-class quality and is in the top two grades. Seventeen percent of the research submitted received the top rating of world leading, with 37 percent being internationally recognized.
One of the most valuable results of the RAE is that it uncovers pockets of excellence in all types of university. The University of Oxford did not make it into the top ten for physics, coming joint 15th with Liverpool [52] and Bristol [53]. Imperial, a renowned center for science, topped the history table for its work on the history of science. The University of Portsmouth [54] (a former polytechnic) came fifth for applied mathematics. In English, De Montfort University [55] (formerly Leicester Polytechnic) comes joint tenth with Cambridge and only slightly lower than Oxford.
Click here to see the full table of university research assessment scores [56]
– The Times Higher Education Supplement [57]
December 18, 2008
Record Domestic and International Tertiary Enrollments
A record number of students accepted places on undergraduate courses in the United Kingdom in 2008, according to final figures released in January by the University and College Admissions Service [58] (UCAS). The number of full-time students accepted on to courses rose by 10.4 percent – 43,197 more than the previous year – to a total of 456,627.
This included 14,184 nursing and midwifery applicants who applied through UCAS for the first time. Excluding these students, the number of acceptances rose by 7 percent. The figures show a rise in overseas enrollments – up 5.6 percent overall, with Romania (140.5%), Bulgaria (109.4%), Singapore (32.2%) and China (21%) seeing the biggest increases in student numbers.
The application deadline for students applying to university in 2009 closed Jan 15, and admissions officers hope this year’s figures will see the positive trend continuing. Applications for Oxford and Cambridge, and for medicine and dentistry courses, in 2009 had to be completed in October, and they showed a 6.5 percent increase.
The government will use figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency [59] rather than UCAS when it calculates the participation rate of young people in higher education in March. Its target is 50 percent.
– The Guardian [60]
January 15, 2009