A report from Marco Broccati, FLC CGIL (Italy)
In Italy, things are going from bad to worse. This Government has cut funding in every public branch. Schools, Universities and public institutions of research have been the first victims. We had, all in all, a cut of about 10 billions euros in 3 years, which means a [...]
An interesting report in the Observer newspaper on 22 August picked up that Kaplan’s parent company, the Washington Post, saw its share price fall to the lowest point this year as the row about defaults on student loans among private sector students in the USA continues. Peter Preston’s report noted:
“Some 62% of Post revenues last year [...]
Victory for research – plans to make funding dependent on ‘economic impact’ postponed
On 9 July 2010 UCU welcomed the announcement from the minister for universities and science, David Willetts, that there would be a one-year delay in order to review proposed changes to the Research Excellence Framework (REF): UCU welcomes decision to postpone [...]
UCU warned the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government that encouraging the growth of private universities would damage the UK’s international reputation and invite serious questions about standards. BPP, the subsidiary of Apollo which has degree awarding powers, has been lobbying the government heavily to relax the regulations on who can call themselves a university.
As the Times Higher reported [...]
22,000 staff risk losing their jobs if the government presses ahead with plans to cut 25% more from already slashed HE budgets, according to UCU research published in July: http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=4736&from=4725&start=11
This comes at the same time as news that 200,000 young people will miss out on a university place this year as a result of cuts [...]
Inside Higher Ed reports that U.S. colleges are increasingly turning to for-profit pathway programs for international students in a bid to boost revenues.
In January 2010, Australia-based Navitas sealed its first U.S. deal, a 10-year contract with Western Kentucky University. Since then, the company has signed three more agreements – with the Universities of Massachusetts [...]
UK private education company BPP College has been lobbying the new coalition government for further de-regulation of the rules governing university status in moves that would open the door for the further expansion of the private sector. A story in the Times Higher Education magazine appeared to confirm what UCU has suspected, that BPP has [...]
As more and more universities and colleges seek out alleged fortunes overseas by setting up branch campuses, nagging questions linger about the financial stability of these ventures. We are being told by governments and employers alike that money is scarce after all. So surely our administrators are being careful about how they are spending their [...]
Thanks to the National Tertiary Education Union of Australia (NTEU) for writing to President Uribe of Colombia calling for a fair trial for Dr Beltran. The NTEU’s letter, copied to Education International and the minister for Foreign Affairs in Australia, notes that Dr Beltran is a prisoner of conscience and calls for independent observers to [...]
Dear colleague
The University and College Union has invited an imprisoned academic, Dr Miguel Angel Beltran, to address our Congress which takes place in Manchester in a month’s time, from 30 May to 1 June. In fact, Dr Beltran is expected to be in court in Bogota at that time, after a year in prison without [...]