NEWS – Our correspondents worldwide report
CHINA
Universities involved in crackdown on student activism
Yojana Sharma
Students from China’s top universities are among a dozen being held after a series of coordinated raids carried out during 9 to 11 November by security officials in a number of major cities to quash a student support of labour rights in China. But the increasing role of universities in the repression of activist students is also causing concern.
UNITED STATES
International student growth is the slowest since 9/11
Mary Beth Marklein
Last year the growth rate of international student recruitment at universities in the United States was the slowest since the 2001 terrorist attacks, a new report says, but experts differ on whether this is due to the Trump administration’s immigration policies or competition from other destinations.
AUSTRALIA
Universities in dispute over copyright fees legal action
Geoff Maslen
Australia’s 39 universities could face a huge increase in their copyright fees following legal action by the Australian Copyright Agency to claim a bigger return from institutions copying and sharing material in published work.
RUSSIA
Low university scholarships fuel student discontent
Eugene Vorotnikov
Discontent is rising among Russian university students over the small amount students receive for state scholarships and the ever-growing cost of tuition, according to recent statements of some representatives of a local student union and analysts in the field of higher education.
EUROPE
Networks eye bid for ‘European University’ status
Jan Petter Myklebust
The pilot for French President Emmanuel Macron’s initiative to create ‘European universities’ is attracting interest from consortia of higher education institutions, but what can they achieve on a tiny budget and if non-European Union countries such as Switzerland and the United Kingdom post-Brexit are excluded?
SOUTH AFRICA
Top academic in ambitious bid to groom future scholars
Edwin Naidu
The former vice-chancellor of South Africa's University of the Free State, Professor Jonathan Jansen, has launched the Future Professors Group, an ambitious fortnightly seminar for postdoctoral fellows and young academics that aims to accelerate their paths to professorship.
SWEDEN
Populism a threat to internationalisation, rectors say
Jan Petter Myklebust
Five leaders at two of Sweden’s top universities have written a joint article raising concern that the rising support for nationalism and populism sweeping Sweden is threatening internationalisation in higher education and the benefits it brings to societal development.
AUSTRALIA
Freedom of speech review arouses campus debate
Geoff Maslen
A debate has erupted on Australian campuses following a government decision to hold an investigation into university freedom of speech. Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan has announced that the rules and regulations protecting freedom of speech on university campuses would be reviewed.
UNITED STATES
DeVos proposes new rules on sexual misconduct in HE
Sarah Brown and Katherine Mangan, The Chronicle of Higher Education
Students accused of sexual misconduct would gain greater protections – including being guaranteed the right to cross-examine the accuser – and colleges investigating complaints could face reduced liability under sweeping new regulations proposed on Friday by the United States Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
AFRICA-GERMANY
Practice-oriented German universities reach Africa
Wagdy Sawahel
Egypt is to host the German University of Applied Sciences as a model for practice-oriented academic training that will be operational by 2020 and will be the first of its kind in the North Africa region.
GERMANY
Student support proposals meet with mixed response
Michael Gardner
A government benchmark paper on federal student grants has been given a cautious welcome by the German National Association for Student Affairs, although it states that increases in support referred to in the paper still fall short of actual needs.
ZIMBABWE
Women’s NGO fights sexual harassment at universities
Tonderayi Mukeredzi
Katswe Sistahood, a women-focused non-governmental organisation, has set up a campus programme aimed at addressing the myriad challenges facing women students in Zimbabwean higher and tertiary education institutions, including widespread sexual harassment and discrimination.
COMMENTARY
UNITED KINGDOM
Trading in HE with the EU post-Brexit will not be easy
Howard Davies
The United Kingdom government insists it will be easy to strike trade agreements with foreign partners post-Brexit. But all trade negotiations are lengthy and tortuous, and UK attempts to trade in higher education services, particularly with the European Union, will be no exception, experts warn.
EUROPE
‘Distributed Excellence’ – A model for European HE
Gerhard Duda
French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to establish ‘European Universities’ is based on the concept of distributed excellence, which Germany has pioneered through its excellence initiatives. Academics have welcomed the European Commission’s modestly funded pilot as potentially the starting point for something big.
AUSTRALIA
Vocational education can solve oversupply of graduates
Andrew Norton
Overqualification frequently co-exists with skills shortages in jobs that require vocational not higher education, but vocational education is consistently underfunded. A good vocational education funding system is therefore an essential complement to a good higher education funding system.
WORLD BLOG
UNITED STATES
How ‘America First’ puts international students last
Paul Schulmann
The latest Open Doors report shows significant falls in international student mobility to the United States. Institutions need to mitigate further declines in new enrolment – which are most notable from long-time top source countries – and prepare for their potential impact.
TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP
NORWAY
Leading role for universities in fight for sustainability
Dag Rune Olsen
The University of Bergen is demonstrating within Norway and worldwide how universities can play a leading role in addressing the United Nations 2030 Agenda via education and research, providing scientific advice and building partnerships to ensure research-based knowledge underpins global sustainability.
AFRICA
Putting reflective practice at the heart of leadership
Sharon Dell
At the centre of transformative leadership stands the reflective practitioner, an individual learner who is open to a constant exchange of knowledge, cultures and world views, says Yusuf Karodia, one of the founders of a pan-African higher education network dedicated to preparing Africa’s next leaders.
GLOBAL
Study tracks how scholarships promote social change
Stephen Coan and Brendan O'Malley
How effective can scholarship programmes be in preparing and encouraging students to return to their communities to promote social justice? The fourth tracking study for the Ford Foundation’s International Fellowships Program shares important insights from alumni in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Palestine.
EUROPE-ISRAEL
Transformation through teaching excellence
Christian Jowers
A multi-university project in Israel which partners with academics and student representatives in Europe aims to transform the way institutions of higher education approach teaching so that students receive the excellent teaching that is so crucial to their education.
LATIN AMERICA
How Latin American universities can be drivers of change
Alicia Cantón
Latin American universities are embedded in societies facing multiple challenges – including poverty, inequality and slow economic growth – and some are demonstrating the crucial role they can play in educating future leaders in the skills they will need to transform their region.
ASIA
Social sciences and humanities vital for change-makers
Roger Chao Jr
ASEAN universities need to increase their focus on the humanities and social sciences if they are to develop the kind of transformative leaders the region needs, who will take collaborative action to ensure regional and global development and peace.
AFRICA
Developmental universities need strong leadership
Eric Fredua-Kwarteng
Africa needs developmental universities that focus on producing research for the purpose of national development. These require leaders who can communicate their vision and be role models for the kinds of attitudes and behaviour they seek to inspire.
FEATURES
AFRICA
What’s holding Africa’s young scientists back?
Munyaradzi Makoni and Sharon Dell
The continued dependence of African higher education on international science funding, along with insufficient mentoring programmes and the legacy of the brain drain, are among key constraints to the progress of young African scientists, according to a comprehensive new book.
THAILAND
International programmes proliferate at universities
Kalinga Seneviratne
From less than 2,000 foreign students two decades ago, Thailand now hosts 30,000, including short-term exchange students, and is the third-most popular study destination in Southeast Asia after Malaysia and Singapore. Many universities have introduced international programmes teaching courses in English.
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