US students censor a Brecht play and themselves
GALESBURG (free beacon) -- Knox College in Illinois, a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, has cancelled the production of a Bertolt Brecht play in response to student outrage over the drama’s representation of women and Asian culture. Massachusetts’s Brandeis University also cancelled a play recently, this one about comedian and free speech advocate Lenny Bruce. A university spokesperson said in a statement that it pulled the play due to the “challenging issues” it raised ... read more 00.09.2017
Airports drive university internationalisation
WARWICK (british council) -- Universities looking to improve their international rankings position could be better off relocating near an international airport, the authors of a joint study by the University of Warwick and the Alan Turing Institute suggest ... read more 26.10.2017
EU data protection law looms
PHILADELPHIA (ihe) -- The soon-to-be-enforced European Union General Data Protection Regulation, experts warn, will have “very sharp teeth” and would almost certainly apply to all U.S. higher education institutions, too. Failure to comply with the EU rules could lead to extremely high fines, a sensitive issue regarding also information on incoming EU students ... read more 06.11.217
“Sorbonne Process” - straitjacket for Bologna?
BRUSSELS (esu) -- A big surprise in the EU Commission’s proposal of new European Education Area is the establishment of a new “Sorbonne Process”. It focusses on cross-border recognition of school, higher education and further education diplomas. “It seems to us that the Commission has given up on the Bologna Process. They rightfully point out that the non-binding agreement has not reached its targets. Nonetheless, we have not heard any Bologna countries calling for legal tools like the one the EU now proposes,” says Helge Schwitters, President of the European Students’ Union (ESU). Also, it seems, the Commission proposes the creation of a European Network of Universities, which, as ESU reads it, leads to the establishment of new institutions, on a European level ... read more 21.11.17
European Education Area by 2025
BRUSSELS (baltic course) -- The European Commission has formulated its vision for the creation of a European Education Area by 2025. It is to include 49 countries, and will focus on student mobility, the mutual recognition of diplomas, and improving language learning ... read more 15.11.17
Tuition fees spread across Germany
DÜSSELDORF (nw) -- The state government in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany has announced plans to demand 1,500 euros per semester from non-EU foreign students. The plan follows the state of Baden-Württemberg’s lead, however, the region’s science minister, Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen has reassured that if the fees have a negative impact on student numbers in Baden-Württemberg, the plan will be scrapped ... read more 201117
Ultimatum over funding in Portugal
LISBON (tsf) -- Rectors of Portuguese universities have warned that if they do not receive the money to uphold their salary requirements by the end of the month, a crisis will open up in the country’s universities. This comes after 5.9 million euros, promised by the state budget in July last year, have still not materialised ... read more 14.11.2017
Belarussian universities to be cut in half
MINSK (udf) -- Universities in Belarus, the nation with the greatest number of students per head in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent Nations), are discussing the possibility of a mass-scale merger. Belarus has 51 universities for just over 300,000 students, while world-trends suggest that the country ought to only need 13. Vladimir Dunayev of the Public Bologna Committee says that this high number of students is testament to the accessibility of higher education, but not necessary to its quality ... read more 20.11.17
Breton universities unite against sexual harassment
RENNES (ouest france) -- The presidents of universities in Britanny, France have committed, in a charter, to fighting sexual violence in their institutions. Olivier David, president of the University of Rennes 2, says “our goal is simple, to change individual behaviours and social standards” ... read more 20.11.17
Greek student halls in chaos
ATHENS (multi news) -- Many students in Greece are complaining of accommodation without the basics – food, maintenance and heating. Education minister, Kostas Gavroglou has now changed the leadership of the Foundation for Youth and Lifelong Learning, which oversees student halls, twice in a few months, but the problems remain ... read more 20.11.2017
Italian lecturers on three euros an hour
TURIN (tgcom24) -- Professor of Language of Corporate Communication at the University of Turin, Maria Grazia Turri has complained of being paid just three euros an hour over her 13 years teaching there. “I want to clarify that this problem is not limited to our university, it is about all Italian universities, because the law allows this type of treatment. Following drastic reductions in funds, universities are forced to hire contract professors instead of filling roles” ... read more 17.11.2017
Romanian ‘diploma factory’ raided
ARAD (cotidianul) -- 120 people, teachers and students from Vasile Goldis Western University of Arad, Romania, are being investigated over alleged corruption offenses relating to fraudulent exams and diplomas awarded without studies. In a police raid, 64,000 euros, 31,000 US dollars, 5,000 British pounds, 4,500 Swiss francs, 500 grams of gold, 200 grams of rubies and two diamond rings were found ... read more 12.11.17
Record number of foreign students at Dutch universities
THE HAGUE (nl times) -- The number of international higher education students in the Netherlandss is rising steeply, with over 80,000 enrolled during the 2016-2017 academic year. About 25 percent of these students are likely to stay in the country for a lifetime ... read more 14.11.2017
Westphalian universities resume military research
DÜSSELDORF (wz) -- Isabel Pfeifer-Poensgen, science minister of the German federal state North Rhine-Westphalia, has proposed to resume military research in the region’s universities. The practice has been banned in recent years by the ‘civil clause’. “Good research cannot be prescribed by the state” she said, “Universities are not militarists with nothing better to do than arms research” ... read more 15.11.2017
Maastricht pulls Belgians over the border
MAASTRICHT (rtbf) -- The small class sizes and English-taught degree programmes of the University of Maastricht, in The Netherlands, are attracting a growing number of Belgians across the border. 600 Belgian students enrolled there this year alone, twice the number of five years ago ... read more 31.10
UK universities lie to prospective students
LONDON (guardian) -- Six British universities have been forced to scrap their marketing campaigns as the advertising watchdog launches a crackdown on misleading students with false claims. Many claims were examined, including the University of Leicester stating that it is in the “top 1 percent” in the world, none of the assertions could be proved to be true ... read more 15.11.17