Post-Secondary News Digest for November 9, 2009
Canada
U of T strike averted:
(The Canadian Press) About 1,200 contract faculty members with the Canadian Union of Public Employees have reached an agreement with the University of Toronto to avert a strike. Both parties say they are happy a strike was avoided. The agreement was made late last night, yet it still has to be ratified by the union. The faculty members include lecturers, writing and music instructors, and make up three per cent of the teaching staff at the university.
Event to commemorate 20 years after Berlin Wall:
(The Chronicle Herald) Saint Mary's University’s McNally Theatre will host a tribute to the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Steffen Kaubler, who lived in Dresden, Germany during the time the Berlin Wall was built, will be present as part of the events. Kaubler and his family lived under the dictatorship of the East German government, near the wall, where he says he spent one of the worst periods of his life. The event will commence at 7 p.m. this evening.
Mansbridge named Mt. A chancellor:
(CBC) CBC anchor Peter Mansbridge will become the next chancellor of Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B. University President Robert Campbell said Mansbridge’s name will raise the profile of the small New Brunswick university. Mansbridge said the position won’t affect his job as host of CBC-TV’s The National. He is replacing Nova Scotia businessman John Bragg, who is retiring as chancellor.
Murals add colour to Dal’s LSC:
(Dal News) Zeqirja Rexhepi, an employee with Facilities Management, is painting a mural in the Life Sciences Centre. The mural is 60 metres long and has transformed the oceanography wing of the centre into a watery world. The mural depicts various scenes of British Columbia and Nova Scotia, mostly of marine life, and gives life to the Life Sciences Centre. Rexhepi has painted other murals at Dalhousie University that can be found in the new Dal Bike Centre and Grawood Lounge.
U.S.
Universities look at medicine policies on global scale:
(Inside Higher Education) Five universities in the U.S. are working together to try to make some medicines more accessible and less expensive in poorer countries. This initiative came into being after campus student groups pushed for cheaper drugs for poor patients. Boston University and Brown University, along with Yale, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, signed a report that considers how companies are able to get licensed medicines.
Fans and fears of ‘lecture capture’:
(Inside Higher Education) A new technology called lecture capture, which allows students to look at lectures online, sparked a debate at this year’s Educause Conference on Nov. 6. Some faculty members, including those from the University of California in Berkeley, agreed that posting their lectures online didn’t affect how many students showed up to listen in class. However, some teachers at Purdue University didn’t agree. Faculty members canvassed there said they would not even be willing to press a button at the beginning of class to initiate a recording.
Possible rise in tuition for Pittsburgh students:
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) A one per cent increase in tuition tax for universities and colleges in Pittsburgh is being proposed today by the state’s mayor, Luke Ravenstahl. Raventstahl said the one per cent increase isn’t too much for students. According to the article, the tuition increase would mean a $16 million overall, which would go towards funding for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and next year’s budget.
Professor questions NSSE survey:
(Inside Higher Education) The results of this year’s National Survey of Student Engagement are set to be released today. However, Stephen Porter, a professor at Iowa State University, suggests in a study published Nov. 6 that some students may have wildly different expectations as to what phrases such as “frequent” or “rare” mean in a questionnaire. The report concludes that when students say "often” they could mean either "once a week" or "three to six times a year."
Former student sues after getting lower grade:
(Inside Higher Education) A 40-year-old former student at the University of Michigan-Flint, is taking a stand after sending an email complaint to his Spanish teacher for getting a B grade instead of an A on a test. Steven Tripodi is suing the school for US$40 million because he says he was singled-out for how he looks, and also that the email was viewed as a threat because it happened after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007.
World
Uganda teachers want school meal program:
(The Guardian) The Uganda National Teachers’ Union is calling on the country’s government to feed 7.8 million hungry school children. It says parents are sending their children to school without feeding them. Education Minister Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire says it is up to the parents to provide food for their own children. "These households are not too poor to provide breakfast, because you see the men in the evenings drinking beer," she said.
U.K. launches tuition fee review:
(Telegraph) Undergrads in the United Kingdom may have to pay more for university. The U.K.’s secretary of state for business, innovation and skills, Peter Mendelson, has initiated a review of tuition fees that could increase the rate from $5,696 to $12,365 a year. The National Union of Students is concerned that this review could squeeze out poorer students from the higher education system. Union president Wes Streeting says, “This would be a disaster for U.K. higher education and must not be allowed to happen.”
Fines proposed for U.K exam boards not making the grade:
(BBC News) Chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry Dr. Richard Pike, has accused U.K. exam boards of “dumbing down” science exams. Pike says they are finding some exams with no math in it and some questions with no science element. "This is a blatant breach of expected standards," he says.. Pike is calling for fines as high as $1,766,500 to be levied against any offending exam boards.
Danish students use web in exams:
(BBC News UK) Colleges in Denmark are allowing students to access the Internet during exams. Education Minister Bertel Haarder says exams have to reflect daily life in the classroom and society, and it’s allowing students to look up any site they want to answer questions. Students are not allowed to use email or message anyone in or out of the class, and teachers are relying on students’ integrity not to cheat.
U.K. universities may lose students to Scandinavia:
(The Guardian UK) Universities in Scandinavia and the Netherlands are increasing the number of courses they teach in English. One attraction is that Sweden’s higher education is free, even for international students, however the language switch does have some drawbacks. Many students and professors are not as comfortable with English, making lectures less anecdotal and more technical. Universities in the United Kingdom welcome the change, hoping this will increase the world’s student population.
University admissions spark fury in U.K.:
(BBC News UK) Amid cries of social engineering and class warfare, the U.K.’s secretary of state for business, innovation and skills has called for universities to look beyond test results when selecting students. The government proposes that universities look at students’ home neighborhoods and schools as well as test scores. But the government says this is not intended to create a divide between the classes. Rather, it is looking to implement an admission system that will also allow for more social mobility.