Universities learning from cities

More alike than you think? The Chronicle of Higher Education has a diverting piece on what cities can teach Higher Education. Essentially the argument is that there are many similarities and that a long term view is necessary to deliver success: Cities and colleges are more alike than people think. Both are considered economic engines …

Knowing Your History

Know your history. Given the current running of The Changing University: Inside Nottingham NOOC I thought I would reflect on university histories. Given their nature it's often struck me as rather surprising that universities and their staff tend not to have a well developed sense of institutional history. Research matters to universities but they tend …

True Crime on Campus §38: back to school

Autumn brings even more True Crime on Campus As autumn arrives and students return to campus our outstanding Security staff are ready for any eventuality: 2315 Patrol Security Officers spoke to a member of the Public who had fallen off his bike while cycling on a footpath adjacent to the Orchard Hotel. The male stated …

A campus facilities arms race?

It's all about the aquatics apparently I've posted before about the growth of luxury student accommodation in the US. Now the Education Advisory Board has a report on what it says amounts to a recreation facilities arms race on US campuses: Auburn University has a 45-person paw-print shaped hot tub, Pensacola Christian College has a …

Chemical Reaction

Fire! Reflections on a major incident In the evening of Friday September 12 I received a call from our Deputy Head of Security to alert me to a major fire at the University's Jubilee Campus. The building ablaze was the unfinished GlaxoSmithKline Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry and, during the hours that followed, it …

Dialogue through technology

Dorm Room Diplomacy   Intrigued to learn about the activities of an organisation called Dorm Room Diplomacy which gets groups of students together from around the world, via videoconferencing, to engage in dialogue aimed at promoting greater international understanding: Founded by students at the University of Pennsylvania in 2009, Dorm Room Diplomacy fosters intercultural dialogue …

True Crime on Campus §37: long hot summer

Even More True Crime on Campus It may be summer but our always vigilant Security staff are still on duty to ensure that every unlikely situation is dealt with: 08:05 Security reported an altercation between a driver and a cyclist at the end of the road leading up to the West Entrance Gatehouse on University …

Video game scholarships

League of Legends becomes a varsity sport Inside Higher Ed has a story about an Illinois university which has decided to make 'League of Legends' a varsity sport and award a number of scholarships to boot: In the latest blow to the nerd-jock distinction, an Illinois university has added video games to its varsity sports …

Signs of the Times

Is university signage important for academic achievement? No. And I fear that this story rather overstates the significance of signage on university campuses. This piece was pointed out to me by Simon @GlobalHE (to whom many thanks) and covers the importance of signage in education. Whilst I really do want to take it seriously and …

The luxury gap

Dormitories v apartments I wrote some time ago here about the advent of extremely luxurious student accommodation in the US. This was linked to anxieties about students having it all just too easy. Certainly the trend in the UK has been away from shared rooms and bathrooms and towards individual en suite rooms and studio …

Celebrating Student Success

We really do have an outstanding Students' Union A nice new website publicising the University of Nottingham Students' Union's successes over the past year and its centenary celebrations: For the last week of the semester, your officers decided it was time to celebrate the things we’d achieved. So, we launched our very first Celebration Week. …

Big bucks for students with big ideas

A big prize for University of Pennsylvania graduates The Philadelphia Enquirer has a good story about an initiative at the University of Pennsylvania for graduates who want to change the world: Graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a strong desire to change the world and an excellent plan for how to do it?A new …

True Crime on Campus §36: one in the eye

True Crime on Campus: Once again our always vigilant Security staff are on hand to ensure that every unlikely situation is attended to: 2240 Report of a smell of gas in Humanities Building. Security attended. Officers could detect a faint smell of gas which dissipated during the night. 1325 Report of blocked toilets in DHL. …

True Crime on Campus §35: Funny hats

True Crime on Campus: More funny business Once again our ever-dependable Security staff are faced with more challenges trying to keep campus safe for all: 2305 Report that Students had blocked sinks in  Hall JCR causing a flood. Security attended Lanes for Drains and Quality 1st was called out. Two large concrete benches had also …

Still waiting for a decent new campus novel?

Fertile territory for Higher Ed fiction? Previous posts on Higher Ed fiction have looked at the end of the campus novel and some flickers in the embers with a few more recent offerings including the Marriage Plot. More recently I also posted on satire in HE which covered, among other things, an unpromising series of British …