Freshers’ week: just a drunken scam?

An interesting view on freshers' week Libby Purves, writing in The Times, argues that freshers' week is not quite what it seems and has to stop. The new fees regime, she suggests, may put an end to this "ghastly scam". These festivals are now in progress or revving up at most British universities; a weird, …

A “hyperwired” freshers’ week?

Freshers! Come and try a new kind of learning laboratory The Chronicle of Higher Education has a fascinating freshers' week piece on a very different kind of learning lab, within the setting of a student dorm: Students moving into a newly renovated dormitory at the University of Kentucky signed up for a hyperwired college experience: …

The reinvention of the campus novel?

A new direction for the campus novel? The Chronicle Reviewc has an excellent article on a new campus novel from Jeffrey Eugenides about leaving campus behind. A five year old post on my other blog includes reference to a couple of articles, including one by David Lodge, on the 'end of the campus novel'. The …

African adventure for Buckingham

More international adventures An interesting piece in Times Higher Education about what many might see as a surprising international venture for the University of Buckingham: Buckingham already has similar arrangements with institutions in Singapore and Sarajevo, while other UK universities have foreign campuses in places ranging from Dubai to China, but East Africa represents new …

Students as consumers? Or not?

University isn't just a business – and the student isn't always right In his review of higher education funding, Lord Browne made the student as consumer the centrepiece of his rationale for change. The Government's White Paper last June also claimed it was putting students "at the heart of the system". The Guardian Higher Education …

Fashion victims?

Another exciting new higher education development The Evening Standard, along with much of the fashion press (I believe), carries this story about a new fashion and design college: MOVE over AC Grayling, there’s a new college in town. Magazine publisher Condé Nast is launching a private college for fashion and design next year, which will …

Carnegie Mellon U. to Open “Campus” in Rwanda

A new venture in Africa for Carnegie Mellon - an unequivocal good? A number of previous posts here have touched on differing approaches to internationalisation and branch campuses. The Chronicle carries this story about what looks, at first sight, like a terrific development: Carnegie Mellon University plans to open a branch campus in Rwanda next …

UK: Swedish Registrars Seminar 2011

2011 UK: Swedish Registrars Seminar This event, held in September at the University of Cardiff, was the latest in long series of biennial seminars, alternating venues between the UK and Sweden and I was privileged to be invited to attend as one of the dozen or so UK delegates. The seminars started, I think, about …

The four UK University League Tables of 2011

UK University League Tables 2011/12 Given the huge amount of traffic (OK, huge for me) to the site over the past week or so on UK league tables, I thought a summary might come in useful. Four league tables have been published during the current year for those considering 2012 entry and all have previously …

Sunday Times 2012 University League Table

Sunday Times League Table 2012 The full table has now been published and is available (paid access) on the Sunday Times website. Some interesting changes inside the top 20, largely I suspect down to changes in the way NSS data has been used. Birmingham, Southampton and Edinburgh drop out of top 20. (last year's position …

More student visa problems

A foreign university closes its UK campus The New York Times reports that as a result of the new restrictions on student visas, at least one institution has been forced to close a UK campus. Schiller International University, which is based in Florida and has four other international campuses, is closing its London campus and …

“For-Profits Eye the British Market”

New opportunities for private providers The Chronicle of Higher Education has a good piece on the interest for-profit providers are taking in the UK market. Robert Lytle of the Parthenon Group, management consultants with an interest in education, seems a bit sceptical: "It's a very expensive market to operate in, and the profitability is not …

QS World University Rankings 2011 – UK Results

QS World University Rankings 2011 - Results for UK universities The UK presence in the QS top 100 for 2011 is largely unchanged although there is some jockeying for position in the top 10 where Cambridge is ranked first for a second consecutive year ahead of Harvard, MIT and Yale and Oxford moves up to …

Build and they will come

Or better not to build at all? The Chronicle has an entertaining piece about an unusual problem faced by Belmont University: The institution’s board of directors recently approved $48-million for a five-story building with five levels of underground parking. But according to The Tennessean newspaper, “its purpose is a big question mark.” President Bob Fisher …