University World News - GLOBAL: University rankings - It's about jobs, stupid!

University World News - GLOBAL: University rankings - It's about jobs, stupid!: "International study has been one of the global phenomena of the current millennium. The numbers going abroad to university have jumped from fewer than two million in 2000 to more than three million this year. Until now, most of the traffic has been from Asia to Western universities, but there may be a new direction of travel this year, as students squeezed out of British and American universities look overseas in much larger numbers."

ARWU FIELD 2010 Life and Agriculture Sciences

ARWU FIELD 2010 Life and Agriculture Sciences. University rankings.

University World News - AUSTRALIA: The perils of commercialism

University World News - AUSTRALIA: The perils of commercialism: "More than two decades ago, the Australian government decided that international higher education should become an industry; since then it has become a major income producer for the nation. The higher education sector was motivated to make money from international education by government budget cuts, with revenue to be made up largely by entrepreneurial international activity.

One result has been the widespread and welcome internationalisation of both student and staff profiles and important initiatives to internationalise programmes. Another result has been that the prime goal of internationalisation has become money-making, largely driven by government under-funding."

Journal of Critical Globalisation Studies | Issue 2, 2010 'Globalisation and War'

Journal of Critical Globalisation Studies | Issue 2, 2010 'Globalisation and War'

Directory of open access journals

Directory of open access journals: "The aim of the Directory of Open Access Journals is to increase the visibility and ease of use of open access scientific and scholarly journals thereby promoting their increased usage and impact.

The Directory aims to be comprehensive and cover all open access scientific and scholarly journals that use a quality control system to guarantee the content."

Science, Nature Team Up on New Journal - ScienceNOW

Science, Nature Team Up on New Journal - ScienceNOW: "Science and Nature have ended their historic battle for the world’s best basic science articles, agreeing to cease their respective publications and co-launch an open-access, online-only journal with an innovative democratic peer-review system, sources at both journals revealed this morning.

'The difficult economics of scientific publishing today did play a role in this decision, but we also saw an opportunity to create a Web 3.0 basic sciences journal for the next generation of researchers,' says Havel Affe, the geneticist who has agreed to become the journal’s editor-in-chief. 'We predict the journal will become the dominant force in scientific publishing.'"

Commentary

Commentary: "University Globalization Is Here to Stay

By Ben Wildavsky

Anybody who makes confident predictions about the future of today’s fast-growing global higher-education marketplace should be reminded that education trend lines can shift unexpectedly and relatively quickly."

Co-operation makes life easier for international students

Co-operation makes life easier for international students: "EDMONTON - Fifty high-level Chinese delegates converged on the University of Alberta campus this week in an effort to increase the number of Chinese students studying in Edmonton.

If the effort succeeds, Canadian students will see more group work aimed at helping students learn from each other, said U of A provost Carl Amrhein, plus swanky new residence towers catering to those used to international urban living, and better online services for payment and registration at the university."

Programme for women scientists brings research to the poor - SciDev.Net

Programme for women scientists brings research to the poor - SciDev.Net: "Winning a fellowship with the African Women in Agriculture Research and Development (AWARD) programme for her research was just the first step for Kenyan researcher Mary Anyango Oyunga.

Oyunga's research —that Orange Fleshed Sweet Potatoes were extremely rich in vitamin A — was published in 2009 in the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development.�"

CIHE | The Boston College Center for International Higher Education

CIHE | The Boston College Center for International Higher Education

Journal of Globalization Studies

Journal of Globalization Studies: "The 'Journal of Globalization Studies' is a new international journal distinguished by its focus on the systemic aspects of globalization processes in particular geographic, social, cultural and historical contexts."

Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa

Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa

"FARA is the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, an umbrella organization bringing together and forming coalitions of major stakeholders in agricultural research and development in Africa. FARA complements the innovative activities of national, international and sub-regional research institutions to deliver more responsive and effective services to its stakeholders. It plays advocacy and coordination roles for agricultural research for development, while the national agricultural research systems (NARSs), advanced research institutions (ARIs) and international agricultural research centers (IARCs) develop improved technologies along the research-to-development continuum in their respective countries and coverage areas."

IngentaConnect Internationalization of Higher Education in Africa: Developments,...

IngentaConnect Internationalization of Higher Education in Africa: Developments,...: "his paper analyses the complex process of internationalization, its manifestations and current developments as well as the main challenges it poses to higher education in Africa."

SpringerLink -

SpringerLink -: "Reform in higher education financing in Kenya has been occasioned by both endogenous and exogenous variables. Internal pressures of a declining economy, rapid demographic growth and increased inter-and intra-sectoral competition for scare financial resources, couple with external neo-liberal doctrine championed by global donors like the World Bank have resulted in a new market-competitive policy of financing higher education. This paper analyzes the equity and risk effects of the new policy for the main stakeholders, namely students, academics and institutions themselves. The paper contends that the policy shift has had a significant effect on equity just as it has introduced universities to risks through engagement in academic capitalism with its emphasis on marketization of university programs and services."

SpringerLink -

SpringerLink -: "It is generally known that the general goals of universities are to produce high-quality graduates for the job market, to continuously advance the frontier of knowledge in all the disciplines, and ultimately to advance human civilization. There can, however, be numerous specific goals which differ from one university to the other. Whatever it is, in order to achieve the desired goals, universities need to design a realistic strategic development plan, which must include, among others, the important logistical components and factors of university development."

CODESRIA at a glance | CODESRIA

CODESRIA at a glance | CODESRIA: "The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is headquartered in Dakar, Senegal. It was established in 1973 as an independent pan-African research organisation primarily focusing on social sciences research in Africa.


CODESRIA’s mission required the emergence of a pan-African community of researchers, the protection of their intellectual freedom and autonomy in performing their duties and the elimination of barriers regarding language, discipline, region, gender and generation."

Weekend Essay by Jonah Lehrer: How Power Affects Us - WSJ.com

Weekend Essay by Jonah Lehrer: How Power Affects Us - WSJ.com: "Robert Kelly has written a book which may shed light on why this happens. The book is 'The Power of Followership; How to Create Leaders People Want to Follow, and Followers Who Lead Themselves'. The main thesis of this book is that everyone follows someone; that at the top of an organization leaders must follow groups like customers, the board, society; that followship has various 'styles' just as much as we recognize 'leadership styles'; that one has a greater choice over how one follows than how one leads; and, most importantly, that how you follow is very evident to those around you and effects whether or not they want to follow you. So how you follow effects how you lead.

Some leaders, especially those whose 'followership style' is 'whatever the boss says I do without question' when they rise to a level where they no longer have a single boss telling them what to do may then turn into a caricature of themselves. It looks like an about face but it really reflects a consistent weakness in their character."

The Psychology of Power | Wired Science | Wired.com

The Psychology of Power | Wired Science | Wired.com: "Psychologists refer to this as the paradox of power. The very traits that helped leaders accumulate control in the first place all but disappear once they rise to power. Instead of being polite, honest and outgoing, they become impulsive, reckless and rude. In some cases, these new habits can help a leader be more decisive and single-minded, or more likely to make choices that will be profitable regardless of their popularity. One recent study found that overconfident CEOs were more likely to pursue innovation and take their companies in new technological directions. Unchecked, however, these instincts can lead to a big fall."

Scientific 'code of conduct' must foster openness - SciDev.Net

Scientific 'code of conduct' must foster openness - SciDev.Net: "Ensuring science is conducted with integrity requires a supportive culture, not draconian rules and sanctions.

Last year, in a much-publicised case, two researchers at Jinggangshan University in Southern China were dismissed after 70 scientific papers they had published in an international journal were found to contain fabricated data.�

The university blamed the falsification on the researchers' 'lack of moral integrity'. But critics also pointed fingers at the intense pressure put on Chinese scientists to compete with other researchers and raise their university's status.

For example, Jinggangshan University was reported to have offered prizes of 5,000 Chinese yuan (US$733) for any scientist publishing in a recognised international scientific journal. Other universities are said to have offered twice this figure."

University World News - GLOBAL: US lead slips in world's top 100 universities

University World News - GLOBAL: US lead slips in world's top 100 universities: "American universities continued to lead the latest Academic Ranking of World Universities, but US dominance of the global top 100 list compiled by China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University slipped this year, to 54 institutions against 67 in 2009. Harvard clinched the top slot, as it has since the ranking was first published in 2003.

The University of California, Berkeley, leapfrogged Stanford into second place, while MIT pipped Cambridge into fourth place, leaving the UK university - one of only two non-US universities in the top 10 - in fifth place. Next came California Institute of Technology and Princeton, Columbia and Chicago. Oxford retained its 10th place for the fifth year in a row."

Review of "The Great Brain Race," by Ben Wildavsky

Review of "The Great Brain Race," by Ben Wildavsky: "Globalization is changing the food we eat, the way we communicate and, increasingly, the way we go to college. Nearly 3 million students were enrolled in universities outside their borders in 2009, a 57 percent increase over the previous decade, according to the Institute of International Education, which facilitates exchange programs."

AFP: Shanghai rankings rattle European universities

AFP: Shanghai rankings rattle European universities: "SHANGHAI — Research fraud and limited academic freedom make China an unlikely arbiter for international university excellence, but a Shanghai school's rankings are making Europe's education ministers sweat.
France's higher education minister travelled to Jiaotong University's suburban campus last month to discuss the rankings, the Norwegian education minister came last year and the Danish minister is due to visit next month.
Dozens of university presidents have also made the trip.
'We believed the results would be of interest to university experts and scholars all around the world but we never imagined the rankings would be so influential,' Ying Cheng, the executive director of Jiaotong's Centre for World-Class Universities, told AFP.
The centre has compiled its annual 'Academic Ranking of World Universities' since 2003, listing what it sees as the 500 best schools in the world."

What Universities Can Learn From Airline Alliances - Forbes.com

What Universities Can Learn From Airline Alliances - Forbes.com: "Higher education needs to build tighter global networks to share resources and foster opportunities.
Fourteen years after Manuel Castells coined the term 'the network society,' networks are proliferating: human networks, social networks (real or virtual, as if the distinction mattered), commercial networks and information technology networks, not to mention the fraught challenge posed by new forms of terrorist networks. Fast-frozen structures have yielded to new forms of social organization with 'rhizomatic' reach, to borrow a term from French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and F�lix Guattari. Globalization is less a matter of uniformity than hyper-networking."

2010 - Marginalization | EDUCATION - | UNESCO

2010 - Marginalization | EDUCATION - | UNESCO: "Education systems in many of the world's poorest countries are now experiencing the aftermath of the global economic downturn.

The 2010 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, argues that the crisis could create a lost generation of children whose life chances will have been irreparably damaged by a failure to protect their right to education."

Canadian Global Campaign for Education - GMR Launch

Canadian Global Campaign for Education - GMR Launch: "Reaching the Marginalized
On March 25, 2010, the Canadian Global Campaign for Education hosted the Canadian Launch of the 2010 EFA Global Monitoring Report in cooperation with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, CIDA and Aga Khan Foundation Canada.

The launch was an opportunity for civil society and government to come together to hear and discuss issues explored in the 2010 report Reaching the Marginalized."

Skill acquisition: Stakeholders canvass lifelong learning for built environment players

Skill acquisition: Stakeholders canvass lifelong learning for built environment players: "Citing the changing body of knowledge, technologies and socio-economic environment, academias and professionals in the building environment have call for a paradigm shift towards lifelong learning in the built environment where the desire to upgrade skills and knowledge is voluntary and self motivated."

nbbusinessjournal.com - Universities are an Asset to Our Prosperity - Breaking News, New Brunswick, Canada

nbbusinessjournal.com - Universities are an Asset to Our Prosperity - Breaking News, New Brunswick, Canada: "Evidence is thick on the ground that universities are a core element of competitiveness. Not only are they the foundation for pure research, they are responsible for much technology transfer and diffusion, they are incubators and accelerators for innovation and they are a vital training ground for technical and professional expertise."

Are You Part of ‘Generation Plagiarism’? - The Learning Network Blog - NYTimes.com

Are You Part of ‘Generation Plagiarism’? - The Learning Network Blog - NYTimes.com: "Universities are finding that plagiarism has become widespread and that many students seem not to believe that copying content without giving credit is a serious academic integrity violation. Do you think the digital age has caused confusion over acceptable practices, or is the notion of original authorship being redefined?"