10 September 2020  Issue No: 282

Efforts to end the scourge of gender-based violence at institutions of higher education in South Africa have often been marred by inefficient coordination and inadequate budgets. A new policy framework now compels higher education institutions to take gender-based violence more seriously.

Malawi was expected to reopen its universities and colleges this week with a phased re-launch. The reopening, announced by the country’s new education minister, Agnes Nyalonje, ends a six-month lockdown forced by COVID-19.

The German Academic Exchange Service or DAAD has launched a grant initiative focusing on African countries with large numbers of refugees. ‘Leadership for Africa’, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, offers talented young Africans and refugees an opportunity to attend masters degree programmes.

From research funding, pandemic preparedness, the impact on early-career researchers and the way universities work, COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on science. Hiring has been curtailed, laboratory and fieldwork interrupted, infrastructure delayed, and the flow of international students is much reduced.

Student accommodation is an often-overlooked part of the student experience. While online learning has been possible for many students, the suspension of in-person classes due to COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of the on-campus experience. Universities should consider housing’s role in that.

The president of the Globethics.net Foundation talks to University World News about his vision, just published, for a world in which the rise of nationalism, polarisation and popular unrest are countered by an ethical approach to leadership, in which higher education has a vital role to play.

University leaders have had to handle a ‘perfect storm’ of COVID-19, economic downturn and societal upheaval with Black Lives Matter. Five women university presidents from the Association of Pacific Rim Universities talked to University World News about the challenges of steering their institution through the ‘triple whammy’.

The third edition of Student Affairs and Services in Higher Education: Global foundations, issues, and best practices is an enormous volume, involving around 250 authors and others from 125 countries. The open access book was recently published by the International Association of Student Affairs and Services with Deutsches Studentenwerk. In this three-part Special Report, authors describe and interpret the landscape of student affairs globally, developments and issues, achievements and challenges.