Giving league tables a bad name

This kind of thing really shouldn't be given any airtime Yes, sad to say it is the 'University Drinking League'. Fortunately it does not deserve to be taken at all seriously given that it is simply self-reported consumption by students. Being the responsible folks that we are we would never stoop to making lazy generalisations, …

Real Crime in the USA

An unhappy league table This really is true crime on campus. Business Insider has produced a report on what it describes as the "Most Dangerous Colleges In America". Drawing on FBI data, the piece produces a league table of the worst affected institutions in terms of crime. It makes grim reading. However, the results are …

Another New University

This time it's Caterpillar University Following the establishment of the University of Law in the UK there is news of another, perhaps slightly surprising, seat of learning:  Caterpillar University. Actually it seems to have been around for more than a decade but I've only just noticed it: Caterpillar University leads Caterpillar’s continual learning efforts by …

True Crime on Campus §25: Cowabunga

More true crime on campus: Things can get pretty tricky on campus sometimes. However, our outstanding Security staff are usually up for any kind of challenge - no matter how bizarre: 0030 Report of a person being let into Hall via Fire Escape door. Security attended and the area was searched - the person could …

How to take over the world

A handy guide to global domination KPMG have produced a useful guide to universities looking to expand their international activities. Its Guiding Principles for Global Expansion offers some sensible advice for universities looking to develop their global operations and highlights a range of motivations for doing so: Higher education institutions around the world are responding to …

African Universities and the Global Rankings

Should African universities be concerned with the global league tables? Inside Higher Ed has a really good piece on African universities and the impact of the international rankings. Essentially the challenge for Africa is that the global league tables use metrics which simply don't favour the continent's institutions: Any observer of higher education in Africa …

International Students in the USA (and Nottingham)

Interesting data on international students in the USA (and at the University of Nottingham) The Institute of International Education has just released its 'Open Doors' report on international education in the USA. The press release give the headlines: The 2012 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, released today, finds that the number of international …

The Imperfect University: the year to date

Because universities are difficult, but worth it With the latest post, on why administrators really do matter in universities,  we are now up to a total of 11 pieces to date in the Imperfect University series. Covering leadership, staff mobility, regulation, governance in Scotland and Virginia, not so revolutionary online provision, the cult of efficiency …

Mapping global student mobility

A new interactive map University World News has a piece on a new UNESCO interactive map on global student mobility which shows the inflows and outflows of mobile students across the world. East Asia and the Pacific is the largest source of international students, representing 28% of the world’s 3.6 million mobile students in 2010. …

The Imperfect University: First for the chop

The Imperfect University: Some people really don't think much of administrators Last year I wrote a piece for Times Higher Education on the problem with the term “back office” and the often casual, unthinking use of it in order to identify a large group of staff who play a key role in the effective running …

Culture Clubs

US builds up cultural presence in China Perhaps slightly surprising news from Inside Higher Ed on the establishment by the US State Department of “American Cultural Centres" in partnership with Chinese universities. “Their primary purpose is to expose Chinese audiences to the depth and breadth of U.S. culture,” said Erik W. Black, an assistant cultural …

Widening participation in the USA

Preparing for study: a new approach to WP in the US The Chronicle carries a story on a new report about student readiness for higher education in the US. The proposition contained in a new report from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities is that institutions have to be more involved in earlier …