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 …

‘Digital Intelligence’ for Higher Education

Is this the future? Or just a passing trend? A recent post discussed the possible benefits of learner analytics for delivering a more personalised education. Now we have a broader view as The Chronicle of Higher Education provides an update on Educause, the huge US Education Tech Trade Show in which it is observed that …

Norway Doesn’t Like University Rankings

The Norwegian Government Gives a Big Thumbs Down to Global University Rankings The Chronicle of Higher Education has a piece on an analysis commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research of Norwegian universities’ performance in international university rankings. The report concluded that the "top rankings are so based on subjective weightings of factors …

The Promise of Personalized Education

Is this the future of student support? There has been a lot of talk of late about learner analytics and the potential benefits in terms of tracking student performance and identifying and intervening where they are at risk of dropping out. The Chronicle of Higher Education has a story on a number of companies who …

Applying to uni via video

Better than qualifications? The Chronicle of Higher Education has an interesting story on the use of videos in university applications. Whilst some institutions have been encouraging students to submit videos as supporting information, it seems at least one has now gone further and is offering students the opportunity to provide them as the primary selection …

Tooled up campus security

Guns and Grenades for University Security Earlier this year I posted on the acquisition of an armoured truck by security at Ohio State University. The Chronicle of Higher Education has since discovered that other US universities have also taken advantage of the opportunity to buy surplus army kit including grenade launchers, M-16s, and armoured vehicles: …

A long list of management principles

Important maxims to live and work by? Or just a long and forgettable list? The Chronicle of Higher Education has a diverting piece on a set of rules the new president of the University of Akron has issued to his senior staff: If Scott L. Scarborough gets his way, the University of Akron will have …

Betting the farm

A very big gamble The Chronicle of Higher Education has an extraordinary piece about how one investment manager gambled away $13.1 Million of her university’s money: Over a series of three contracts, Ms. Prizevoits signed over more than $8-million of the 96-year-old university’s money in 2008 to a Florida-based company called Betts and Gambles Global …

Graduation Fails

It's that time of year again I've previously commented on graduation matters here but omitted to mention one particular challenge of the season: pronouncing graduands' names. Our Deans work very hard on this and it really is not a task I envy them. But now there is a possible solution. The Chronicle of Higher Education …

An Ethics App?

Difficult ethical decision? There's an app for that I was taken by this interesting development in applying academic research to real world issues. The Chronicle of Higher Education has a story on a new mobile app intended to help with decision support on those difficult ethical issues: The disclaimer on Santa Clara University’s new mobile …

A New Student Services Role?

Does every University need a Course Concierge? The Chronicle of Higher Education recently had a piece about the development of the idea of the 'Course Concierge'. The label seems to have been assigned to Paul Neill title who is director of the core curriculum at the University of Nevada at Reno, by the students there. …

Students behaving badly

Crimes and misdemeanours at university I was greatly taken by this list of fineable offences for 18th-century students at Harvard: Offense #19, "Cutting off the lead," seems to refer to the lead on the college building's roof. Lead was once used for roofing material (especially for more expensively-constructed buildings), and such buildings suffered from the …

Better Grades for More Ticket Sales

Novel assessment method or student exploitation? The Chronicle of Higher Education has a story about marketing students at the Metropolitan State University of Denver who, it says, are graded on the basis of the number of ticket sales to professional sports games they make. Academic staff are now reviewing some of these courses which apparently …

Two very different approaches to campus security

Sophisticated Mobile App or an Armoured Truck? Tough Call The Chronicle of Higher Education had an interesting report on the introduction of 'LiveSafe', a mobile app that was adopted by the university in August and has been downloaded 4,200 times: "We get the luxury of getting a lot of information from the students because we …

Free Education in Rwanda?

edX and Facebook say they are offering free education in Rwanda A previous post on a 'university in a box' noted a report on a project to bring higher education to Rwanda in a novel way. Others are now following. The Chronicle of Higher Education has a report on another initiative in Rwanda, this time …