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Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has increased from seven to 10 the number of members of the Ministerial Oversight Committee on the Transformation in the South African Public Universities.
Article by Ernest Mabuza, 10 July 2017, Sunday Times
During his successful quest to win Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, Donald Trump told the state’s voters that colleges are fleecing taxpayers and enriching Wall Street.
“What a lot of people don't know is that universities get massive tax breaks for their massive endowments,” he told a crowd in suburban Philadelphia. “These huge multibillion-dollar endowments are tax-free, but too many of these universities don't use the money to help with tuition and student debt. Instead, these universities use the money to pay their administrators, or put donors' names on buildings, or just store the money away. In fact, many universities spend more on private equity fund managers than tuition programs.”
Article by David Sirota and Josh Keefe on 10 May 2017, Newsweek
To many of us in academia, social media is nothing more than a nuisance. Something we try to ignore, at best tolerate and secretly hate with a passion.
And who can blame us? With their smartphones and their hashtags our students are ‘liberating’ our campuses for causes of their own making. Like #FeesMustFall, #EndOutsourcing and #EndRapeCulture. Starting virtual firestorms raging through the hallowed halls of our universities. Consuming our most precious resources – time and peace of mind.
I’m being ironic, of course. Let me make that clear before somebody quotes me out of context. Probably too late already. Never mind – #TruthWillTrumpAll … yeah, right!
Article by Professor Wim de Villiers, in University World News 26 May 2017 Issue No:461
In a world characterised by increasing turbulence and conflict, and of inequities and dissatisfaction, academic freedom has come under siege. In some parts of the world, academic freedom is under brutal attack. In other parts of the world, academic freedom is under mounting pressure. Even in the Nordic countries, many scholars report that their academic freedom is diminishing.
By Ole Petter Ottersen 09 December 2016 Issue No:440, University World News
BOSTON—Academic advisers on university campuses face a common problem: Students rarely ask for advice at the right time. "They're either the high achievers who don't need much help, or students who are already failing out of their classes,” says Allison Calhoun-Brown, a political scientist who oversees advising at Georgia State University (GSU) in Atlanta. “What we need is an early warning system," she adds, a system that can flag a student who needs advising, perhaps long before the student is aware.
Higher education institutions will risk funds being withdrawn if they do not address gender inequality, according to a new report.
The national review of gender equality in higher education, which was done by the Expert Group and commissioned by the Higher Education Authority (HEA), outlined the need for a greater gender balance of staff.
Story by Marése O’Sullivan, UTV, Dublin, 27 June 2016
South Africa’s government is planning a major overhaul of its student funding system. This comes in the wake of protests at the country’s universities that saw students successfully freeze fee increases for the 2016 academic year.
Article by Temwa Moyo, Nimi Hoffmann and Sioux McKenna, 29 April 2016, University World News
Universities globally are increasingly challenged by disruptive innovation that is revolutionary, unpredictable and moving at an unprecedented pace. In this context, universities have to navigate demands for ever-increasing scrutiny from funders, regulatory bodies and societal stakeholders to be accountable for achieving public good purposes such as promoting social justice and equality.
An article by Heather Nel, 06 May 2016, University World News
In the US, 76% of academics are in casual posts with little job security, and some are even on food stamps. There are growing fears that it could happen in the UK.
An article by Mary O'Hara, 17 November 2015, the Guardian
Demands for free higher education and other social services such as health and basic education in Africa date back to the 1960s. These demands were common across countries with diverse ideological orientations – from socialist Mozambique and Tanzania to capitalist Kenya and Uganda.
An article by Patricio Langa, Gerald Wangenge-Ouma, Jens Jungblut and Nico Cloete, 26 February, World University News
This edition has been co-edited by UCT’s Professor John Higgins, Arderne Chair of Literature, and Peter Vale, director of the Johannesburg Institute of Advanced Study.
Recent student protests over tuition fees, university staff and curricula, university autonomy and outsourcing have highlighted a number of issues facing South Africa. The agreement not to increase fees in 2016 has left the country with a short-term education financing gap. The increasing demands for free university education leave it with a longer-term, and much bigger, financing issue.
An article by Professor Steve Koch, in the Conversation, 19 November 2016
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