Campus Life™

An ultra-realistic addition to the panoply of campus-based game apps Following the success of Sim University we now have Campus Life™: Create the hottest new sorority on campus! Throw parties with the best girls on campus as you build your own sorority house! At this college, the party never stops as you recruit star athletes, …

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Somewhat tenuous graduation and London 2012 Registrarism posting

Registrarism

Graduations: A bit like the Olympics but then some

Graduation is one of the most significant events in the university calendar. It is a slightly bizarre and rather ritualistic event. Everyone (well, nearly everyone) dresses up, in gowns and/or posh frocks or newly acquired suits.

I have attended two of my own and over 150 others at different institutions. Whilst I was a bit grumpy about attending the one for my undergraduate degree (I decided I was doing it just for my parents), pretty chipper about the second (after nearly 10 years’ hard graft on my PhD I genuinely felt I’d earned it) and having skipped the one for the Diploma in Management Studies in between I do really rather like them now.

Whilst there is something to be said for the total experience of the US style commencement, I do think the UK model is hard to beat in…

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Oh dear, it’s the top Registrarism posts of 2012

Possibly the least requested best of 2012 list Given that everyone does this kind of thing at this time of year I thought I would join in this highly efficient means of listing previous postings. Yes, it's the list of the most viewed Registrarism posts of 2012! Here we go then...it's rankings, rankings, guns, pets, …

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One from earlier this year

Registrarism

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 of universities but who are the first to be identified for removal or outsourcing in financially challenging times. But what do we mean by the back office?

In a university context, it is generally taken to mean those staff who are neither engaged in teaching or research nor involved in face-to-face delivery of services to students. So they might be, for example, working in IT, human resources, finance or student records. Or they might be the people who maintain the grounds, administer research grants or edit the website.
Too often, their somewhat anonymous roles mean…

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University Adds “Puppy Room” to Fight Finals Jitters

Now this is real innovation in supporting the student experience A top story from Hack College on a university which has brought in a “Puppy Room” to help students fight exam stress:  As finals week looms closer and the stress begins to pile, most college students see self-destructive habits rise considerably, in the form of …

Is Life Too Easy on Campus?

Shouldn't things be a little harder than this? The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece on the changing nature of student accommodation in the US. Residents at a new rental community in Orlando, Fla., lounge around a resort-style pool in private cabanas. They practice their golf swings at the putting green and meditate in …

The Imperfect University: the first chapter

Because universities are difficult, but worth it This year there have been a dozen posts in the Imperfect University series. Covering leadership, staff mobility, regulation, governance in Scotland and Virginia, not so revolutionary online provision, the CDBU and more regulation, there was I hope something of interest for many in here somewhere. The Imperfect University …

Logo wars

A new logo for the University of California has really caused a stir Inside Higher Ed reports on a bit of a battle at the University of California about a change of logo. The move from something very traditional to a more contemporary design has resulted in a mass campaign against the change: One student …

True Crime on Campus §26: Best of 2012

True Crime on Campus §26: Best of 2012 and vote for #1 It's the time for some end of year reviews and 2012 has been another busy year for our hard working Security staff. Here are some of my true crime on campus favourites from the year together with an opportunity to vote for the …

More on Latin American rankings

More details on Latin America from the QS rankings A post from some time ago noted the new found enthusiasm in Latin America for rankings. This has been borne out by the publication in 2011 and now 2012 of a specific Latin american league table by QS. The introduction to the table notes that QS …

The Imperfect University: How not to defend higher education

Simple: ignore administrators (or worse) The recent launch of the “Council for the Defence of British Universities” (or CDBU) offered some fascinating insights into a particular corner of British society. Like a strongly worded round robin letter to the Times made flesh it attracted some big names  from Sir David Attenborough to Baroness Deech. A …

Some Vice-Chancellors will do anything for money…

...provided it's for a good cause A bit late in the day but I did want to register how impressive this fundraising effort is from the Vice-Chancellor of De Montfort University. The video, which is intended to raise money for LOROS and PROSTaid, features over 1,000 students from DMU too and can be seen here: …

A New Type of University?

Or Back to Victorian Values? Salman Khan, founder of the online enterprise which provides video lectures, the Khan Academy, has set out an alternative vision for education in a new book, The One World School House. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on this exciting new publication (which I must admit I am unlikely to buy): Khan's …