Times Higher Education (THE)

Restricting student loan access ‘will worsen existing inequality’ Birmingham vice-chancellor’s call to review loan eligibility for students with no A levels criticised by own staff members

@birminghamucu.bsky.social criticises "dangerous" comments by v-c Adam Tickell, who questioned whether students with no A levels should get loans, accusing him of “gatekeeping” HE at expense of “less advantaged students” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/restric... via @jgro-the.bsky.social

Shorten UK undergraduate degrees to just two years, says v-c Adopting a ‘two plus two’ system including longer integrated master’s would boost access, employment and the economy, argues Anthony Finkelstein

City St George's v-c @profserious.bsky.social says most UK undergraduate degrees should be shortened in switch to "2+2" integrated master's programmes www.timeshighereducation.com/news/shorten... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

GenAI can join the dots, so teach students to draw new lines in empty space GenAI tools are getting better at tasks such as sorting data, writing basic reports and generating simple code. That’s why higher education needs to focus on what it can’t do

The future belongs to the extrapolators – those who can imagine, reflect and act with the compassion and ethics that machines lack, write Darkhan Bilyalov and Luis R. Rojas-Solórzano of Nazarbayev University: https://ow.ly/Hwpy50Yr9Vm #HigherEd #AcademicSky #EduSky #GenAI

Shorten UK undergraduate degrees to just two years, says v-c Adopting a ‘two plus two’ system including longer integrated master’s would boost access, employment and the economy, argues Anthony Finkelstein

Most UK undergraduate degrees should be shortened, according to one university vice-chancellor, who claims that the UK’s current three-year bachelor’s model is “largely a historical artefact”

#EduSky #highered

Restricting student loan access ‘will worsen existing inequality’ Birmingham vice-chancellor’s call to review loan eligibility for students with no A levels criticised by own staff members

Birmingham vice-chancellor’s call to review loan eligibility for students with no A levels criticised by his own staff members

#highered #EduSky

Why process mapping matters in higher education A technique to help universities improve collaboration, reduce inefficiencies and build shared understanding across teams to support more effective working – and a framework for successful implementation

A technique to help universities improve collaboration, reduce inefficiencies and build shared understanding across teams to support more effective working – and a framework for successful implementation: https://ow.ly/lvFi50Yr9I8 #HigherEd #AcademicSky #EduSky

What established academics can learn from ECRs Professors can gain immediate, practical benefits if they listen to early career researchers, through inter-generational exchanges such as reverse mentoring. Here, Ian Williams offers five capabilities that ECRs can offer more seasoned scholars

Skills that senior scholars can learn from more junior colleagues: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/what-established-academics-can-learn-ecrs #AcademicChatter #ECRchat #Academia #HigherEd #AcademicSky

Scottish jobs ‘permacrisis’ transforming universities pre-review Closure of low-enrolment courses, higher staff-student ratios and departmental mergers among measures being considered by institutions

Bobs “permacrisis” in Scottish higher education threatening to transform sector before results of funding review can be published, @ucuscotland.bsky.social warns www.timeshighereducation.com/news/scottis... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

How to run effective industry-enriched project-based learning in STEM The foundation of widening participation lies in a curriculum that is flexible enough to accommodate increasing student diversity while aligning with industry needs, writes James Williams

The foundation of widening participation lies in a curriculum that is flexible enough to accommodate increasing student #diversity while aligning with industry needs, writes James Williams: https://ow.ly/vSVR50Yr9BB #HigherEd #AcademicSky #EduSky #DEI

Do students need accommodations for their accommodations? Students with disabilities need accommodations so they can focus on learning. But when accessing those accommodations requires skills they don’t have, is the system really working?

Students with disabilities need accommodations so they can focus on learning. But when accessing those accommodations requires skills they don’t have, is the system really working? https://ow.ly/vzus50Yr9yX #HigherEd #AcademicSky #EduSky @arizonastateuni.bsky.social

The Trump administration’s proposals to eviscerate the NIH and NSF have been overturned in Congress after a year of legal wrangling. As funding continues only to dribble out of politicised agencies, few believe that US science is out of the woods yet, writes Patrick Jack
https://ow.ly/c25s50Yqbrp

Opinion: Experiences in Hungary, the US and the Netherlands make threats like autocratic legalism and oligarchic capture feel existential, says Ferenc Laczó #academicfreedom #AcademicSky
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/three-brushes-populist-power-tell-me-no-one-academia-safe

A jobs “permacrisis” in Scottish higher education is threatening to transform the sector before the results of a funding review can be published, unions have warned. Juliette Rowsell reports #EduSky #HigherEd
https://ow.ly/kJjH50Yq7K3

Shorter UK graduate visa ‘dampens international student interest’: Reduction in work rights may be contributing to reduced international demand for UK study
https://ow.ly/wgr750Yq5zq

Elected representatives would occupy at least one-third of the seats on Victorian universities’ governing councils under new proposals from a coalition of staff, students and civil bodies
https://ow.ly/bsk750Yq4cO

Strong universities can help contribute to Haiti’s development as it grapples with violence and instability, say members of new oversight body. Helen Packer reports #EduSky #HigherEd
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/haiti-looks-restore-universities-amid-instability

Only four in 10 UK PhD graduates remain in academia just over a year after completing their degrees with many more heading overseas for research jobs than in previous years, a major national poll suggests. @jgro-the.bsky.social reports #AcademicSky #PhDs
https://ow.ly/30OW50Yq7AH

What happens when we stop stacking activities and start designing experiences? Here are three ways to make experiential learning more intuitive and impactful: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/flow-not-activities-makes-experiential-learning-stick #HigherEd #AcademicSky #EduSky

The arrival fallacy can eat into scholars’ sense of achievement, reducing milestones to prerequisites for the next step. Rachel Hagan shares ways to redefine success and acknowledge even quiet wins: https://ow.ly/fSnK50YoJ5Y #AcademicChatter #ECRchat #Academia

Academic freedom is under threat not only from direct political pressure but from subtler forces that discourage researchers from pursuing risky and creative ideas, the president of the European Research Council has warned #AcademicSky
https://ow.ly/JM5J50Yq7ao

Not just good intentions: how university staff can support genuine racial justice Practical steps can support racial-minority students, call out bias and make campuses safer at a time when racism in Australian universities is more real than ever, writes Aaron Teo

Practical steps can support racial-minority students, call out bias and make campuses safer at a time when racism in Australian universities is more real than ever, writes Aaron Teo: https://ow.ly/6StO50Yowul #HigherEd #AcademicSky #EduSky

Two-thirds of UK public ‘think student debt burden is unfair’ New polling finds voters would like to see government prioritise reducing interest rates for graduates over other reforms

A majority of the British public think it is unfair that graduates are charged interest rates on their loans, according to new polling

#EduSky #highered

I was glad to provide some insight for this article about the struggles authors sometimes face with scholarly publishing (which are so often structural and not due to the intentional negligence of individual editors)

"Higher education has a choice. We can continue to treat technology as a series of technical problems to be solved in a vacuum, or we can recognise that place and the solidarity found within it still matter. Knowledge is not a cloud-based commodity. It is a grounded, political and collective act."

News Talks podcast: Will FP10 aid global research collaboration? As proposals for the future Horizon Europe are scrutinised by the European Parliament, we discuss likely changes to the seven-year funding programme and whether it can support a coalition of like-mind...

In our latest podcast, @mirandaprynne.bsky.social and @pauljump.bsky.social discuss likely changes to the Horizon Europe funding programme and whether it can support a coalition of like-minded powers amid the current geopolitical upheaval

#AcademicSky #highered

EU competitiveness agenda ‘disconnected from daily challenges’ Commission ambitions diverge from major issues universities face, leading sector figures tell parliament event

Senior figures from the European higher education sector have warned that the European Commission’s push for competitiveness risks overlooking the broader social mission of universities, as debate intensifies over the next Horizon Europe framework #EduSky #HigherEd
https://ow.ly/BHJ650Yq2qz

The government should not resort to wholesale debt forgiveness to soothe escalating concerns about student loans in England, according to Antipodean experts who conceded that the approach had paid political dividends Down Under #studentloans #EduSky
https://ow.ly/Xug350Ypxks

Opinion: If we treat AI as a purely rational evolution of human intelligence, we risk repeating colonial erasure on a digital scale, says Agnieszka Piotrowska #AI #AcademicSky #EduSky
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/post-colonial-africa-ethical-neutrality-ai-pure-fantasy

Calls for UK government to loosen restrictions on international students in wake of shock defeat to Greens in by-election may go unheard without leadership change, say experts #highered #EduSky
https://ow.ly/YbnP50YpyvS

Persistent inequities in uptake of science, engineering, technology and mathematics begin before college. Drawing on evidence from K-12 talent development programmes, Keisha Simmons offers practical guidance to strengthen the #STEM pipeline: https://ow.ly/gNie50YowGM #HigherEd #EduSky #EDI