NEWSLETTER

Are the professional learning needs of teachers neglected in internationalisation of HE?

   In Commentary this week, Ly Tran and Truc Le say increasing internationalisation in tertiary education makes it necessary for teachers to be provided with professional learning that enables them to effectively address the learning needs of international students. Ayenachew A Woldegiyorgis considers what can be done to address rife sexual violence and gender bias on university campuses in Ethiopia. R Ponnusamy says India needs to recognise that it will take more than funds to build India’s top higher education institutions to world-class status. And Obafemi Ogunleye writes that as new partners seek to enter the African health market through higher education, institutions that are already working in these communities should be setting the ground rules.

   In our section on Academic Freedom, Brendan O’Malley reports on a settlement of US$300,000 to be paid by Washington State University in the US to a leading researcher to resolve a complaint about infringement of academic freedom by university administrators whom he accused of trying to silence him and impede his research.

   In our World Blog, Nita Temmerman questions whether single, high-stakes exams effectively measure genuine student learning and suggests other methods of assessment that provide students with constructive feedback to help them improve.

   In Features, Tunde Fatunde writes that a recent sex-for-marks scandal at a Nigerian university has highlighted the prevalence of the problem in the country’s universities and the difficulties in addressing it. And Jan Petter Myklebust reports that some universities in Europe are answering French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for 20 European university networks, but some stakeholders warn of ambiguities in his vision and the European Students’ Union warns against ‘elitism’.

Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor

NEWS – Our correspondents worldwide report

SINGAPORE

Academic freedom faces ‘grave threat’ from parliament

Yojana Sharma

The way one expert witness invited to a Singaporean parliamentary committee hearing on ‘fake news’ was treated has caused consternation around the world. Academics have protested that using parliamentary privilege to try to undermine academic integrity will have a chilling effect on others in Singapore.

AUSTRALIA

Research infrastructure allocated record AU$1.9 billion

Geoff Maslen

In one of the largest outlays ever made for Australian research, the federal government has committed AU$1.9 billion (US$1.4 billion) towards research infrastructure to secure the future of the nation’s research efforts – enough to provide 40,000 researchers with state-of-the-art equipment crucial to breakthroughs.

HONG KONG

China’s research funding is extended to Hong Kong

Yojana Sharma

After years of waiting, Hong Kong scientists are at last to gain access to research funding from China, previously restricted to academics on the Chinese mainland, according to guidelines released last week by the ministries of science and technology and of finance in Beijing.

NEW ZEALAND

Universities shocked as government freezes funding

John Gerritsen

The new Labour-led government in New Zealand has shocked universities by freezing their funding in its first Budget, in an apparent trade-off for the hundreds-of-millions of dollars committed to waiving students' fees for their first year of tertiary study, a policy rushed into place late last year.

AFRICA-GLOBAL

Report highlights global trend towards HE cost sharing

Christabel Ligami

As enrolment in higher learning institutions has been growing steadily driven by improved student progression rates and higher numbers of part-time students, governments around the world, including those in Africa, are finding ways to shift the cost burden, according to a recent UNESCO report.

UNITED STATES

University to pay out US$500m to sexual abuse victims

Brendan O’Malley

Attorneys representing 332 survivors of abuse by former Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar in lawsuits against Michigan State University and attorneys for the university have announced a global settlement in principle worth US$500 million dollars to victims of his sexual abuse.

CHILE

Female students occupy universities over sexual abuse

María Elena Hurtado

Thousands of female students are occupying facilities at Chilean universities up and down the country, demanding non-sexist education and an end to sexual harassment and abuse. Meanwhile, in one university nearly one in six students say they have experienced sexual violence on university premises.

CHINA

Beijing bans promotion of university exam top scorers

Amber Ziye Wang

China has officially banned state media from promoting top scorers in the upcoming National Higher Education Entrance Examination, or Gaokao, only weeks before more than nine million students take part nationwide. Previously the publicity has drawn attention to education disparities in the country.

AFRICA

ARUA launches first centre of excellence

The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) has launched the first of 13 ‘centres of excellence’ – with this centre focused on inequality – at an event held at the University of Cape Town’s School of Economics in South Africa last week.

ZIMBABWE

Vision of ‘university towns’ starts to take shape

Kudzai Mashininga

Zimbabwe is forging ahead with plans to establish university towns in areas where the development of three state universities with technological hubs is set to commence, following a national budgetary allocation for construction amounting to US$21 million.

COMMENTARY

AUSTRALIA

Teacher development is neglected in internationalisation

Ly Tran and Truc Le

It is often left to individual teachers to negotiate the professional demands placed on them by international students. That means they usually learn the skills they need in an ad hoc manner and get little recognition for them. This needs to change.

ETHIOPIA

Fighting the scourge of sexual violence on campus

Ayenachew A Woldegiyorgis

With sexual violence and gender bias rife in higher education in Ethiopia, both top-down and bottom-up approaches to addressing the problem are needed. Universities should consider investing in student support services on campus and creating a gender-neutral environment where everyone feels safe to study.

INDIA

The road to sustainable world-class universities

R Ponnusamy

If India is to achieve its dream of having world-class institutions generating competitive new ideas and innovations, it needs to recognise that it takes more than funds and requires a strong focus on institutional autonomy and internationalisation.

AFRICA

Managing the rise of university global health partnerships

Obafemi Ogunleye

The opportunity to partner with a well-endowed institution will always be attractive from the perspective of a less-endowed institution, but as new partners seek to enter the African health market through higher education, institutions that are already working in these communities should set the ground rules.

UNITED STATES

When university tuition fees go up, diversity goes down

Drew Allen and Gregory C Wolniak

A study of tuition fee hikes at public colleges and universities over 14 years shows that for every US$1,000 increase in tuition fees at four-year non-selective public universities, diversity among full-time students decreased by 4.5%. It concludes that as tuition fees go up, diversity goes down.

WORLD BLOG

GLOBAL

Are high-stakes exams useful to the learning process?

Nita Temmerman

There are many different types of assessment methods, each appropriate for assessing different types of learning outcomes. They should all provide students with constructive feedback about their progress and help them improve. There is little evidence that high-stakes exams fulfil such a role.

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

UNITED STATES

University pays US$300,000 to settle ‘gagging’ complaint

Brendan O’Malley

Washington State University has agreed to pay a leading researcher US$300,000 to resolve a complaint about infringement of academic freedom by university administrators who were accused of threatening him with disciplinary action, impeding his research and imposing a gagging order.

FEATURES

NIGERIA

No easy solutions to university sex-for-marks phenomenon

Tunde Fatunde

A recent sex-for-marks scandal involving a senior academic and a postgraduate student has highlighted not only the prevalence of the problem, but the difficulty in addressing it in Nigerian universities.

EUROPE

Will Macron clarify his university networks vision?

Jan Petter Myklebust

Some European universities are already answering French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for 20 European university networks. But some stakeholders are warning of ambiguities in his vision and the European Students’ Union warns that it could create yet another form of ‘elitism’.

PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME

GLOBAL

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WORLD ROUND-UP

FRANCE-TURKEY

French studies suspended in Turkey amid Koran row

Turkey earlier this month suspended the opening of any new French studies departments at its universities, an education official said, amid a growing row with France over a call there for some passages to be removed from the Koran, write Gulsen Solaker and Tuvan Gumrukcu for Reuters.

INDIA

Country produces most science and tech graduates

India leads the world in the number of students getting bachelor degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics or STEM subjects, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, reports IANS.

NETHERLANDS

Dutch universities aim to limit overseas intake

Dutch universities are aiming to reduce the number of students that come to their university, especially students coming from abroad to study, writes Emma Brown for Dutch Review.

AUSTRALIA

Sydney students get no satisfaction at major universities

Sydney’s major universities are languishing at the bottom of the pile for student satisfaction, with smaller private universities maintaining a healthy lead over their larger public rivals, writes Michael Koziol for The Sydney Morning Herald.

CANADA

Sexual assault support varies at universities in BC

One year after a bill came into effect requiring universities in British Columbia (BC) to have sexual assault policies, the support available at different universities varies widely and students are urging the province to fill a funding gap, reports The Canadian Press.

UNITED KINGDOM

Scottish universities failing to attract poor students

Universities do not get enough qualified applicants from Scotland’s poorest communities to meet tough access targets, according to a new report which shows that only 15% of applications in 2017 came from the poorest postcodes, writes Andrew Denholm for The Herald Scotland.

MALAYSIA

University staff call for more autonomy from politicians

Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Association of Academic and Administrative Staff has asked that public universities be allowed to self-manage, including to review the pay packages for academics, and to be free from laws that restrict freedom of discussion, writes Yimie Yong for The Star Online.

SWEDEN

Agreement with Elsevier cancelled over open access

A consortium of Swedish universities and research institutions will not renew its current contract with Elsevier that expires at the end of June, Times Higher Education reported on 16 May, writes Ashley Yeager for The Scientist. The move comes not long after academic institutions in other countries have let publishers’ subscriptions lapse when fee negotiations came to an impasse.

UNITED STATES

Data raises racial diversity, student debt questions

The proportion of the United States college-going population comprising non-traditional students – at least by some common indicators – has dropped off in recent years as the economy has continued to improve. And among those pursuing graduate education, the share of black students accumulating significant student debt levels has shot up sharply, outpacing other student groups, writes Andrew Kreighbaum for Inside Higher Ed.

PAKISTAN

Ten new universities built in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Higher Education Department in Pakistan has successfully constructed 10 additional universities, including two female universities, during its five-year tenure, according to a performance report issued by the department last week, reports the Pakistan Observer.

KENYA

Students turn their backs on ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees

Students are increasingly becoming selective in their choice of degrees and where they want to study, according to data from the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service, writes Wachira Kigotho for Standard Media.

SAUDI ARABIA

Women throng universities to learn driving rules, skills

Saudi women have started to learn the skills of motor driving in various universities across the Kingdom, as several universities have obtained licences from traffic police to operate driving schools for women, writes Irfan Mohammed for Saudi Gazette.