21 septembrie 2019
Bobocii UAIC încep studenţia cu trei zile de informare şi un concert în aer liber
Cei mai talentaţi la muzică vor putea susţine o audiţie pentru un loc în corala universităţii * studenţii vor putea participa şi la o tombolă la care pot câştiga 120 permise de bibliotecă, dintre care 20 la Sala Germană de Lectură
Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iaşi (UAIC) organizează, în perioada 29 septembrie - 1 octombrie, noua ediţie a evenimentului „Bun venit la UAIC”, dedicat informării şi orientării studenţilor din anul I. Pe parcursul celor trei zile, „bobocii” vor găsi în faţa Universităţii zeci de standuri amenajate special pentru ei. Prima oprire va fi la punctul de informare central, unde vor primi gratuit o mapă cu informaţiile esenţiale de orientare în studenţie. Aceasta conţine ghidul studentului, harta campusului şi materiale despre serviciile Universităţii, informaţii despre oportunităţi de angajare sau promoţii. În plus, tot pentru studenţii din anul I sunt pregătite tururi ale oraşului, vizite ghidate la Muzeul Universităţii, Biblioteca Centrală Universitară, la sediul British Council sau Sala Germană de Lectură.
Una dintre activităţile de amploare ale evenimentului va avea loc duminică, 29 septembrie, atunci când „bobocii” sunt aşteptaţi să îşi cunoască mentorii, colegi din ani mai mari de la care vor afla tot ce au nevoie pentru începutul vieţii de student. După încheierea întâlnirii, toţi studenţii UAIC sunt invitaţi la concertul de bun-venit susţinut de solistul Mihail, pe esplanada corpului B, la ora 19.30.
Studenţii din anul I au la dispoziţie o gamă diversă de activităţi pregătite special pentru ei. Zilnic, Serviciul pentru Studenţi, Orientare în Carieră şi Inserţie Profesională şi Alumni organizează workshop-ul „Start în studenţie”, care îşi propune să ofere „bobocilor” informaţii, tehnici şi ponturi utile pentru un plan inteligent de carieră. La standul „Servicii pentru studenţi şi absolvenţi”, bobocii talentaţi la muzică vor putea susţine o audiţie pentru un loc în corala universităţii. În toate cele trei zile de eveniment, la ora 13.00, studenţii vor avea ocazia să participe la turul ghidat organizat de echipa Iasi.Travel - o plimbare de o oră care îi va purta prin cele mai importante locuri ale Iaşului studenţesc. De asemenea, luni şi marţi „bobocii” vor putea participa la o vizită ghidată la Centrul de Învăţare al Universităţii.
Festivitatea de deschidere a anului universitar 2019-2020 va avea loc luni, 30 septembrie, la ora 11.00, în Aula Magna „Mihai Eminescu”.
Biblioteca Centrală Universitară şi-a propus să promoveze lectura în rândul studenţilor din anul I prin campania „Răsfoieşte, ia acasă şi citeşte”. Pe parcursul celor trei zile, la standul BCU Iaşi vor fi oferite cărţi şi reviste donate de către edituri şi personalul bibliotecii, special pentru acest eveniment. De asemenea, vor avea loc vizite ghidate la sediul bibliotecii în fiecare zi de eveniment. În plus, studenţii UAIC vor putea participa la o tombolă la care pot câştiga 120 permise de bibliotecă, valabile pe parcursul unui an universitar, dintre care 20 de permise la Sala Germană de Lectură.
Ligile şi asociaţiile studenţeşti vor fi şi ele prezente alături de „boboci” încă din prima zi de facultate, cu activităţi interactive de promovare a voluntariatului şi a spiritului de iniţiativă
Publicație : Evenimentul și Bună Ziua Iași
Universitatea Cuza din Iasi, implicata într-un proiect pe tema discriminarii romilor
În perioada 6 - 7 septembrie 2019, la Institutul de Cercetare în Psihologie Sociala al Academiei Slovace de Stiinte din Bratislava - Slovacia a avut loc întâlnirea anuala a comitetului administrativ al proiectului Polrom cu titlul "Identificarea metodelor bazate pe dovezi pentru a combate eficient discriminarea romilor în climatul politic în schimbare al Europei" (808062 - PolRom - REC-AG-2017/REC- RDIS-DISC-AG-2017), în cadrul careia au fost discutate relatiile complexe dintre discursul politic, antigipsism si actiunile colective orientate catre romi.
Proiectul de cercetare, cu o durata de doi ani (2018 – 2020), este realizat de un consortiu format din cinci universitati si institutii de cercetare europene: ELTE Budapesta - Ungaria, Universitatea din Limerick - Irlanda, Universitatea Paris-Nanterre - Franta, Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Iasi - România, Academia Slovaca de Stiinte - Slovacia, în strânsa colaborare cu partenerii civili, partile interesate la nivel national si european. Scopul proiectului este de a identifica efectele discursului politic asupra prejudecatilor fata de romi (antigipsism), de a identifica intentiile de actiune prosociala sau antisociala fata de romi si nomazii irlandezi si de a evalua si îmbunatati interventiile anti-discriminare.
"În primul an al proiectului au fost efectuate anchete de opinie pe esantioane reprezentative, în cinci tari: Ungaria, Slovacia, România, Franta, Irlanda. Rezultatele acestor anchete dovedesc o legatura puternica între antigipsism, acceptarea discursului politic ostil sau favorabil romilor si intentiile de actiune colectiva ostila sau pro-sociala «fie prin donatii, fie prin actiuni politice». S-a constatat, de asemenea, ca în raport cu normele sociale preponderent ostile cu privire la romi si nomazi, discursul politic care nu este în mod deschis ostil «chiar daca este paternalist» este un predictor al intentiilor de angajare în actiuni colective în favoarea romilor, în rândul persoanelor cu un nivel mai scazut de antigipsism. De asemenea, a fost efectuata o analiza de continut a discursurilor politice, care fac referire la romii din cele cinci tari, în anul 2018. Analiza preliminara a aratat ca mass-media raporteaza discursuri politice despre romi care reflecta multe voci, dar nu si cele ale romilor", au transmis cei de la Cuza.
Rezultatele proiectului vor fi utilizate pentru a crea un set de instrumente pentru conceperea interventiilor anti-discriminare si pentru alcatuirea rapoartelor la nivel de tara si a unor rapoarte integrate, care vor fi diseminate pentru informarea factorilor de decizie la nivel local si european, practicienilor, ONG-urilor, cercetatorilor, precum si a publicului larg.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Student who killed herself was ‘failed’ by mental health services
Family of 19-year-old Ceara Thacker were not told she had previously taken overdose
The parents of a University of Liverpool student found dead at her halls of residence have claimed she was “failed” by mental health services.
Ceara Thacker, 19, was found in her room in the university’s Brownlow Hill accommodation on 11 May last year.
A five-day inquest at the Gerard Majella courthouse in Liverpool heard her family had not been informed that she had taken an overdose three months before her death, nor that she was struggling with her mental health.
Speaking outside the court on Friday, her father, Iain Thacker, 56, said: “For as long as I live I will never understand why no one at the university picked up the phone to us in February 2018, and told us that our 19-year-old daughter was in hospital after taking an overdose.
“If we had known how Ceara was suffering we could have, and would have, made a difference.”
He said his daughter, from Bradford, had found herself “falling through the cracks” with different mental health services, who failed to communicate with one another.
He added: “In my view it is absolutely essential that all universities have in place proper systems for identifying students at risk and communicating effectively with healthcare services and, where appropriate, with families, to ensure they are kept safe.”
Her mother Lorraine Dalton-Thacker, 51, said: “At every turn, she was failed. I can’t imagine how frightening that must have been for her.
“She should not have had to face this and it breaks our hearts that she did. We don’t want any other family to go through this pain.”
Recording a conclusion of suicide, area coroner Anita Bhardwaj said she would make a report for the prevention of future deaths to the NHS, recommending that the issue of parental involvement, with consent, was included in mental health assessments.
She said: “It’s difficult and unclear whether Ceara would have had a different outcome had she had additional mental health appointments, been given an urgent appointment, and had family involvement.”
Ms Bhardwaj said there was no record of discussions between medical professionals and Miss Thacker about contacting her family.
Ceara Thacker with her father Iain. Photograph: Family Handout/PA
She said: “It would have been helpful to have those discussion, so if Ceara wanted additional support from her family that could have been facilitated.”
The coroner described a delay of two months between Ceara referring herself to the university’s mental health advisers in February, and being given an appointment in April, as “unacceptable”.
The court heard the delay was caused by “exceptional circumstances”, including strike action, staff sickness and training days.
Gavin Brown, pro vice-chancellor for education at the University of Liverpool, said: “We have conducted a thorough review of the support Ceara was offered and, as a result of this and our ongoing review of how these services work, we have instigated a number of improvements to mental health support services.
“This includes an additional £500,000 investment in staffing and the introduction of rapid access appointments with an adviser.
“Following Ceara’s death, we have also updated guidance to ensure that students who are experiencing substantial distress as a result of mental health difficulties are asked whether they would like to inform family members.
“We know that students’ family circumstances can differ, and where students choose not to inform family we will explore reasons for this, and work with individuals to identify alternative support networks.”
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
Publicație : The Guardian
Charity regulator warns Ucas about marketing loans to students
Commission intervenes as Martin Lewis calls on service to stop ‘promoting debt’
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service has been rebuked by the Charity Commission over its role in the marketing of private loans to students and school-leavers, with the regulator warning that Ucas needs to rein in its commercial arm.
The commission’s intervention followed direct mail and email marketing sent to students last month by Ucas Media – Ucas’s commercial subsidiary – advertising Future Finance, a company offering private loans targeted at students.
After a complaint by Martin Lewis, the consumer finance expert, the commission sent guidance to Ucas’s board, warning of the need to maintain its independence from its non-charitable subsidiary.
A spokesperson for the commission said: “We’ve contacted Ucas to remind them of their obligations towards their charity. It is now for the trustees to consider our guidance and how they manage their obligations in the best interests of their charity.
“More generally, charities hold important positions of trust in society so it is vital that any relationships with non-charitable organisations are clear to those the charity is set up to help.
“The public rightly expect charities to be driven only by their charitable mission and purpose in everything they do. New guidance from the commission makes clear that trustees should work to defend and promote their independence from non-charitable organisations at all times.”
Ucas said its board had met to discuss the commission’s message as well as the complaints from Lewis and students about the mailings.
“Following discussion, we will work with Future Finance to ensure further messages from Ucas Media include clear information on all the funding options available to students, stressing that a government-funded loan should always been the first port of call as well as signal the likely interest rates and terms within the email,” Ucas said in response to Lewis.
“It is important that everyone has access to high-quality information and advice on all aspects of finance relating to higher education, and we will look to strengthen the information and advice we provide through our website, emails and across social media.”
Ucas has previously defended its commercial marketing by saying the communications from Ucas Media were only sent to students who opted in to receive them.
But Lewis, the founder of the MoneySavingExpert website, said he was unhappy with Ucas’s response, and called for it to bar advertising by commercial lenders.
“This is a fundamental error by Ucas. With its privileged position and being seen as an official body communicating with students, Ucas should be whiter than white,” Lewis said.
“The charity has to remember that it is there to help admissions for students, and the fundraising from its commercial arm must be a distant, secondary consideration. But this response shows that it isn’t a secondary consideration.
“I again call on Ucas to drop adverts for commercial lenders. Its reputation and brand among students make people feel that it is some form of official communication. The argument that it’s opt-in only, when dealing with impressionable young people, that’s simply not enough of a protection.”
Lewis argued that because it held unique access to data on students, Ucas needed to be especially careful on who it allowed access to its services.
“I’m not going to say Ucas can’t use advertising at all. But those advertisements must be things that the charity, not the commercial arm, would be happy to recommend to students if it wasn’t being paid,” he said.
“In an era where universities are facing real criticism over dealing with the mental health issues for students, I think it is totally inappropriate for an official university body to be promoting commercial debt that risks exacerbating the stress and mental health of their students.” said Lewis, who chairs the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute.
Eva Crossan Jory, the National Union of Students’ vice-president for student welfare, said Ucas should review its operations to benefit students, with increasing numbers of students now using unsecured loans.
“The impact of this debt can often act as a trigger for mental or physical problems, and often has a knock-on effect on attainment and employment outcomes,” she said.
Ucas said it wanted to meet Lewis “to discuss how we can collectively further support the interests of students”, but Lewis said he did not want Ucas to set the agenda.
“The first point for me will be discussing that it needs to drop these types of advertising,” Lewis said. “Ultimately, the only thing to suggest would be that you treat all information from Ucas with a pinch of salt. It would be a sad state of affairs to have to say that.”
Future Finance said it always advises applicants to check they had made full use of the government support available to them before considering taking out a loan. Olga Dolchenko, the company’s chief executive, said it never encouraged students to borrow more than they could afford.
Ucas is governed by trustees dominated by university vice-chancellors. Its income is largely derived from £24 application fees paid each year by hundreds of thousands of prospective undergraduates seeking places at UK higher education institutions, and fees from universities for acceptances.
Ucas Media, the commercial subsidiary, donates its profits to the parent charity. “We don’t receive any direct financial support from the government, so our commercial activities help us deliver our charitable objectives, whilst keeping costs down for students and education providers,” Ucas states.
In 2018 Ucas received £27m in fees, including nearly £14m from applicants. Ucas Media reported income of £19m, of which profits of £4.3m was paid out to Ucas via gift aid. The company spent £4.7m on administration costs and more than £6m on distribution. Ucas Media also spent £3.8m on a “brand and data charge” that appears as income in the main Ucas accounts.
Publicație : The Guardian
Universities should not shy away from their economic purpose
Higher education is about more than giving graduates an earnings boost, but institutions should be able to detail such returns among evidence of their many contributions to society, argues Anna Vignoles
In recent years, there has been much criticism of universities. Students, partly in response to higher tuition fees, are demanding more from universities. Policymakers have questioned whether a degree still represents good value for money and suggested that the UK already has too many graduates. Critics also point to the significant minority of graduates who do jobs that historically have been done by non-graduates.
Universities, naturally, have pushed back on this criticism, arguing that they don’t exist just to train people for work: they have a higher purpose.
It’s true that higher education’s role in society certainly goes far beyond the economic. Universities seek to develop students’ critical thinking, provide an enriching and enjoyable learning experience, impart and create new knowledge, offer a pathway to independence and the opportunity to meet a diverse range of people. And they contribute more broadly to society culturally and intellectually.
They have also historically provided a route to upward social and economic mobility for some. And increasingly, many UK universities are global, with alumni who go on to share their experiences, ideas and values around the world – an “export” that we should value more highly.
That said, we cannot disregard the economic purpose of higher education. Universities do have an important role in preparing students for the world of work, and they receive state funding partly on the basis of what they do for the economy. Even more crucially, students, and particularly those who are the first in their family to go to university, are very focused on their degree as a route to a better job: employability and career prospects are undoubtedly key issues for them.
But hard evidence on whether universities really do provide good economic value for students is crucial, particularly for those whose families have little experience of higher education and who cannot provide the tacit knowledge that more privileged families can.
I collaborated with the Institute for Fiscal Studies to study the value of different degrees in the labour market. We show that even in the early years of their career, female graduates benefit from their degrees (earning 28 per cent more than similar non-graduates) and male graduates continue to have significantly higher earnings (8 per cent higher than non-graduates).
While some courses, economics, for example, offer very large economic “returns” in the form of higher wages, others do not. Even when we compare students with similar backgrounds and A-level grades, what subject you study and where you study it makes a great deal of difference to your earnings. Surprisingly, graduates from some degree courses earn less than the national average for non-graduates.
A key question for students, then, and indeed for the state, is whether the low graduate wage premiums from some degrees suggest that they do not offer value for money. In a competitive labour market, an individual’s wage reflects the supply of and demand for their particular skills.
Knowing that economics graduates’ skills, for example, are valued more highly than those who studied creative arts does not inform us about the quality of the university provision in creative arts, nor about the social value of the degree, nor about the intrinsic value of the learning. It is simply a reflection of the labour market demand for those particular skills.
Similarly, a nursing degree might have a smaller impact on a student’s earnings than an economics degree, but it does not mean that the former is not valuable. Indeed, one can argue that we should focus state subsidies on degrees that offer relatively low wage premiums for students (and hence might not be attractive to them economically) but offer very high social value. Nursing might well be a prime candidate.
However, I do not think we can be silent on the diversity of labour market outcomes from higher education. Students do need information on what different types of graduates are earning and which skills are in particular demand in the labour market.
Such data might also encourage universities to consider how these valuable skills might be embedded into courses irrespective of degree subject. For example, might we need our students to study a broader range of subjects before specialising to better embed such skills in our degree programmes, perhaps in a similar manner to many US and other European degrees?
Universities need to acknowledge that for many students (and many politicians) the economic value of a degree is an important factor in students’ choices. But equally, it is imperative that institutions convince the public and the government that the wider purpose of higher education is also crucial and justifies strong state financial commitment. The two are not mutually exclusive.
We can have a truly informed public debate about the purpose and value of higher education only if we have good empirical evidence on its intrinsic and extrinsic intellectual and social value, as well as robust data on the economic benefits of a degree to students’ futures.
Publicație : The Times
‘Common sense’ needed on English post-qualification admissions plans
Switch to students applying after receiving their results still faces sector resistance despite government and opposition signalling support
A former Ucas boss has called for “common sense” to prevail as the political wind blows towards a post-qualification admissions system in England.
Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, wrote to the Office for Students last week to express his support for the higher education regulator’s review of university admissions, which includes consideration of the “pros and cons of potential models of post qualification application”. Mr Williamson said he was “glad the OfS is looking at whether it would be in students’ interests to apply for their university place after they have their A-level results”.
Labour has already pledged to abolish the system of making university offers based on predicted grades. Meanwhile, Universities UK is carrying out a review into the admissions system, in parallel to the OfS review.
Although the apparent political backing for universities to adopt a PQA system might suggest that such a move is now inevitable, it is likely to meet resistance from within the higher education sector, including from Mary Curnock Cook, the former Ucas chief executive.
“I was personally very committed to PQA until I saw the evidence,” she said. “My hope will be that the political imperatives will be balanced by common sense in the face of evidence.”
For Ms Curnock Cook, leaving students to make their university applications after they have left school “would carry great risks, even if the universities were prepared to move their start date to January – which, for multiple reasons, they would be very reluctant to do”.
The risks would be “especially acute” for students from disadvantaged backgrounds “because they might not have the momentum from family and community to press on with a university application after having left school”, she warned.
A University and College Union report proposed a system in which applicants make “expressions of interest” to up to 12 institutions in the January of the year of application. This would be followed by an application week in August, after students have received their grades, placement by the end of September and the start of the first academic year in November.
One of the authors of that UCU report, Graeme Atherton, of the National Education Opportunities Network, said it was not simply a case of taking the current system and “just shifting it for the students to apply after they get their results”.
“You have got to look at changing the system as it is constructed,” he added, calling for a far greater emphasis in supporting and advising pupils about higher education study options while they are at school. “The key thing is that we advocate a change in the overall admissions system to enable students to be better supported to make decisions.”
The current predicted grades system is seen by many to penalise poorer and ethnic minority students.
Another UCU report on PQA, by Gill Wyness, senior lecturer at the UCL Institute of Education, found that AAB applicants from the lowest-income backgrounds were under-predicted more frequently than their peers from higher-income backgrounds. Overall, Dr Wyness’ report found that just 16 per cent of applicants’ grades were predicted accurately, with the majority over-predicted.
Research by Vikki Boliver, a professor of sociology at Durham University, found that university applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds were less likely to apply to Russell Group universities than their more advantaged peers, even when they had the same grades at A level.
“More disadvantaged students might see highly selective universities as within their reach if they are applying with high grades in hand, rather than mere predictions (and possibly under-predictions at that),” Professor Boliver told Times Higher Education.
Other concerns raised about the current system include what Mr Williamson described as a “worrying rise” in unconditional offers made to students, particularly “conditional unconditional” offers, which become unconditional only when an applicant selects the university as their firm choice.
Ms Curnock Cook said that changing the academic calendar would present “multiple challenges”, including changing staff teaching and research contracts and disrupting the UK’s position in the international recruitment calendar.
Julie Kelly, head of the Student Centre at the University of Hertfordshire, said it would require a “compromise all round”, among schools and universities, to implement a new system.
“In the past, it has been put in the ‘too difficult’ pile, but other countries manage it,” she added.
Ms Kelly said the nature of the current system truly hit home for her only when her daughter applied to university. She described the current predictive grades system as a “bit like looking for a house or buying a car when you don’t know what you can afford”.
“It just feels like the weirdest, broken process. Until I really personally went through it, I didn’t realise how broken it was,” Ms Kelly added.
An OfS spokesman said that its review, which will report next year, was at a “very early stage” but would be “wide-ranging”, with terms of reference published towards the end of this year.
Publicație : The Times
Colleagues ‘distraught’ at Australian academic’s detention in Iran
Episode spotlights concerns for safety of scholars who visit repressive regimes
Colleagues of a young Australian scholar have expressed shock over her detention in Iran, in an episode that could curb academic fieldwork in the country.
Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Melbourne, has been held for a year on allegations of espionage. There are conflicting reports about her situation, with one Iranian official claiming that she had been jailed for 10 years while another said that she was yet to face trial.
David Malet, a security specialist at American University in Washington DC, tweeted that he was “very distraught to learn Kylie Moore-Gilbert has been in solitary confinement for a year” and faced a 10-year sentence.
“I served on Kylie’s dissertation committee,” said Dr Malet, who previously taught at the University of Melbourne. “She’s a wonderful person and a serious scholar, not a spy.”
Dr Moore-Gilbert is believed to have been arrested in the city of Qom, renowned as a holy site for Shia Muslims.
The Australian reported this week that Qom’s University of Religions and Denominations, where Dr Moore-Gilbert had taken an “intensive course on Shia studies”, took photos of her during the course and used them in promotional materials on its website. She was arrested shortly after completing the course, it said.
Australian officials have been tight-lipped about the detention. Trade minister Simon Birmingham said that the government had a policy of “restraint” in public commentary around individual cases. “Often that is the best way to provide support,” he told the ABC.
The University of Melbourne said that it was maintaining close contact with the government and Dr Moore-Gilbert’s family. “We believe the best chance of securing Kylie’s safe return is through diplomatic channels,” it said.
“This is a sensitive matter and the university will not be providing further comment.”
Its statement contains a link to the Australian government’s travel advice website, which advises would-be visitors to “reconsider your need to travel to Iran due to the risk that foreigners including Australians could be arbitrarily detained or arrested”.
Considered the world’s largest centre for Shia studies, Qom is a magnet for scholars as well as pilgrims. The Australian Academy of the Humanities declined to comment on the risks of conducting field studies there, saying that it “does not have a formal position on this situation”.
Enrica Fei, a doctoral student in Islamic studies who met Dr Moore-Gilbert at a 2019 International Political Science Association forum, said on Twitter that the Australian was “a lovely, humble woman and bright academic”.
“I wondered for months why she’d stopped replying to my emails and never met in the UK, as we’d agreed,” Ms Fei tweeted.
A native of rural New South Wales who completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Cambridge, Dr Moore-Gilbert specialises in Middle Eastern politics with a focus on the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
As an undergraduate and Cambridge Union member in 2011, Dr Moore-Gilbert scored a brief interview with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange after a talk from which journalists had been excluded. “He spoke about the role of Wikileaks in the current unrest in the Arab world,” she reported in the Western Advocate newspaper of her hometown of Bathurst.
“He said…he had leaks which proved that the Australian government had been collecting information about its citizens and was giving it to the American security services. Meeting Assange in the flesh was a wonderful if somewhat nerve-wracking experience…opportunities such as this are one of the big bonuses of going to a university such as Cambridge.”
Publicație : The Times
Parcoursup : 1 175 bacheliers sans affectation à l’issue de la procédure
Les bacheliers sont 0,18 % à ne pas avoir obtenu de place dans l’enseignement supérieur à l’issue de la procédure complémentaire d’admission.
Un total de 1 175 bacheliers sont restés sans affectation à l’issue de la procédure Parcoursup a indiqué, vendredi 20 septembre, la ministre de l’enseignement supérieur, Frédérique Vidal, lors de sa conférence de presse de rentrée. La plupart d’entre eux proviennent des filières technologiques et professionnelles, seule une trentaine d’un baccalauréat général. Ils resteront accompagnés par les rectorats pour trouver une solution, a assuré la ministre.
A l’issue de la phase principale de Parcoursup, qui s’est achevée le 19 juillet, près de neuf bacheliers sur dix avaient reçu une proposition ; 59 000 candidats sont restés sans affectation. La plate-forme d’admission dans l’enseignement supérieur, qui a accueilli cette année 898 000 candidats (lycéens, étudiants en réorientation, reprises d’études), proposait une procédure complémentaire, close depuis le 14 septembre.
L’an dernier, 955 bacheliers étaient sans affectation à l’issue de Parcoursup, soit 0,15 % des lycéens ayant confirmé un vœu. Cette année, cette proportion augmente très légèrement pour les bacheliers, puisqu’ils sont 0,18 % à ne pas avoir obtenu une place dans l’enseignement supérieur, selon les calculs de l’Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Des premiers signaux « encourageants »
Après une deuxième année de fonctionnement de la plate-forme, Frédérique Vidal a estimé que les premiers signaux étaient « encourageants » s’agissant de la réussite étudiante. Contestée, la loi relative à l’orientation et à la réussite des étudiants (ORE), promulguée en 2018, visait notamment à réduire le taux d’échec en première année à l’université (jusque-là de 60 %), en permettant à chaque établissement de classer les candidats sur dossier scolaire.
Les universités ont pu orienter des bacheliers ne disposant pas des prérequis jugés nécessaires vers des parcours renforcés – les « oui si ». « Deux fois plus [d’étudiants] que l’an dernier » ont fait leur rentrée dans ces parcours, d’après le ministère, soit 30 400.
S’il est trop tôt pour avoir des chiffres « complets et consolidés » sur l’évolution de la réussite sur les bancs universitaires, la ministre a mis en avant l’augmentation de 12 points du taux de passage en deuxième année de licence en Staps (sciences et techniques des activités physiques et sportives). La filière, particulièrement sous pression, avec une demande supérieure aux places disponibles, a vu le profil de ses étudiants évoluer au profit des bacheliers généraux de voie S.
A l’heure du bilan, en revanche, sur cette session de Parcoursup, 88 % des bacheliers technologiques et 78 % de ceux issus de la voie professionnelle ont obtenu une proposition d’admission sur Parcoursup, a annoncé Frédérique Vidal, ce 20 septembre, contre respectivement 92 % et 86 % l’an dernier.
Autre particularité de cet an II : la progression du nombre de candidats en reprise d’études, dont des adultes en reconversion, inscrits sur la plate-forme. « Nous ne nous y attendions pas car ce sont des profils éloignés de Parcoursup mais cet afflux est une bonne nouvelle », car elle démontre « un appétit de formation », a commenté la ministre. Sur les 110 000 candidats dans cette catégorie, 70 000 ont eu une proposition sur la plate-forme. Frédérique Vidal a annoncé la création, en 2020, d’un nouveau dispositif, « Parcourplus », qui leur offrira une « offre spécifique d’information, d’accompagnement et de formation ».
La situation en Ile-de-France faisait elle aussi partie des questions particulièrement scrutées. C’est l’un des principaux changements de cette nouvelle édition : la région est désormais désectorisée. Les candidats venant de ses trois académies – Paris, Créteil et Versailles – ont été considérés comme appartenant à un seul et même secteur, alors que des quotas géographiques limitaient auparavant les candidatures à l’université d’une académie à l’autre. Ce qui avait pu participer au sentiment de discrimination à l’entrée dans les établissements parisiens exprimé par de nombreux bacheliers de Seine-Saint-Denis.
« Les résultats sont là », a estimé Frédérique Vidal, en termes de « mobilité sociale et géographique ». 882 lycéens supplémentaires de l’académie de Créteil ont accepté une proposition à Paris (+ 12 % par rapport à 2018), 1 752 de Versailles (+ 19 %). En sens inverse, également, le mouvement est plus fort : 430 Parisiens de plus ont opté pour une formation de l’académie de Créteil (+ 27 %) et 512 lycéens issus de Versailles (+ 36 %).
Publicație : Le Monde
Bologne essaie de rattraper ses étudiants chassés par Airbnb
A Bologne, en Italie, 2 000 logements environ sont loués par les touristes sur Airbnb, au détriment des étudiants, contraints de s’exiler en périphérie. La mairie et l’université se mobilisent pour leur trouver des chambres.
Le centre-ville de Bologne, traditionnellement peuplé par les étudiants de la Alma Mater Studiorum, la plus ancienne université d’Europe (1088). Cathrine Stukhard/LAIF-REA
Autrefois, leurs petites annonces tapissaient les murs des « portici », les arcades caractéristiques du centre historique, où se concentre la vie universitaire de Bologne.
Les étudiants fuori sede, arrivés du reste de l’Italie ou de l’étranger pour fréquenter la prestigieuse université, s’y échangeaient demandes et offres pour louer
une chambre dans des appartements à partager. Aujourd’hui, cela n’est plus qu’un souvenir.
Les annonces ont migré sur les réseaux sociaux, et leur nombre a surtout baissé, au profit des locations touristiques. Bologne la docte, qui se targue de posséder depuis 1088 la plus ancienne université d’Europe, ne parviendrait plus à loger ses étudiants, une « urgence » dénoncée depuis quelques années par des associations et les syndicats.
Pour trouver une solution au problème, le conseil municipal et plusieurs représentants de la société civile se sont réunis le 20 septembre sous les fresques du Palazzo d’Accursio, l’hôtel de ville, dans le cadre d’une vaste enquête publique. L’initiative a été lancée en avril par Pensare Urbano, le « laboratoire pour le droit à la ville ».
Locations privées saturées
Ce collectif, né en 2018 et réunissant les associations d’enseignants et d’étudiants engagés de longue date sur le front des difficultés de logement, a rassemblé en quelques mois les quelque 2 000 signatures nécessaires pour l’organisation de ce dispositif de participation citoyenne. A l’issue de la rencontre, un document d’orientation devrait être présenté par le conseil à l’organe exécutif. Sur les 63 000 étudiants inscrits à l’université de cette ville de 390 000 habitants, près de 35 000 sont des fuori sede, à la recherche d’un logement bon marché. Bologne est aussi la première destination européenne des étudiants Erasmus, avec 3 200 arrivées par an en moyenne. Les résidences étudiantes étant peu nombreuses – 18 à Bologne, gérées par une agence régionale, pour un millier de places à loyer modéré –, les étudiants se tournent donc massivement vers les locations privées, aujourd’hui saturées.
« Au cours des dix dernières années, Bologne a changé radicalement », assure Fabio D’Alfonso, membre du laboratoire Pensare Urbano. En raison de la crise de 2008, qui n’a pas épargné la ville, mais surtout à cause de l’ouverture, la même année, des premiers vols low cost vers l’aéroport Guglielmo-Marconi. L’arrivée de Ryanair et consorts a eu un effet direct sur le tourisme, qui a doublé en une décennie, avec plus de 3 millions d’arrivées en 2018. En parallèle, les plateformes de location temporaire ont proliféré.
Publicație : Le Monde
23 septembrie 2019
Ceremonie omagiala EMOTIONANTA, derulata la Universitatea Tehnica din Iasi. A fost CELEBRATA una dintre figurile invatamantului politehnic din Romania
Colectivul Universitatii Tehnice (TUIASI) "Gheorghe Asachi" din Iasi l-a omagiat, saptamana trecuta, pe prof. univ. dr. ing. Mihai Gafitanu, fost rector al institutiei de învatamânt superior, care a împlinit, pe 16 septembrie 2019, venerabila vârsta de 85 de ani.
Senatul TUIASI a decis ca marele profesor sa primeasca o placheta aniversara. Cu acest prilej, prof. univ. dr. ing. Dumitru Olaru, de la Facultatea de Mecanica, unde a activat si fostul rector al Universitatii, a tinut un discurs despre activitatea acestuia înainte de momentul decernarii plachetei aniversare, punctând cele mai importante momente din activitatea didactica si cea de cercetare.
"Profesorul Gafitanu a participat din toata inima la efortul de «cladire» al Institutului Politehnic, cei care au ajuns mai târziu în Scoala gasind laboratoare, carti si îndrumare, o atmosfera propice dezvoltarii si un climat favorabil atât formarii specialistilor în inginerie, cât si cercetarii stiintifice. Un exemplu cred ca este edificator: sub îndrumarea profesorului Popinceanu si-a început activitatea, la Iasi, o adevarata Scoala în domeniul contactelor cu rostogolire, cu aplicatii mai ales în industria rulmentilor", a transmis prof. univ. dr. ing. Dumitru Olaru.
Prof. univ. dr. ing. Mihai Gafitanu a fost rector al Universitatii în perioada 1976 si 1984, având înca un mandat si în intervalul 1996-2000, fiind urmat apoi de profesorii universitari doctori ingineri Nicolae Badea, Ion Giurma si rectorul din prezent, Dan Cascaval. Acesta i-a multumit profesorului Gafitanu, amintind faptul ca în timpul mandatelor fostului rector au avut loc doua momente importante care l-au apropiat de Universitate: a devenit student si conferentiar. "Aceste momente au fost practic marcate de prezenta dumneavoastra ca rector al Universitatii. Îmi revine foarte onoranta misiune ca în numele colegilor mei profesori sa va oferim un foarte nesemnificativ omagiu al întregii dumneavoastra activitati si a faptului ca Universitatea noastra este astfel astazi datorita dumneavoastra", a marcat momentul omagial rectorul Cascaval.
De asemenea, universitarul Gafitanu a tinut un scurt discurs în care a punctat faptul ca o buna parte din reusitele sale sunt datorate oamenilor de care s-a înconjurat, chiar daca el a detinut functiile de conducere. "Am avut parte de niste echipe de exceptie, prorectori care erau devotati cu totul activitatilor Universitatii, oameni de la care am învatat foarte mult, care au avut grija de mine si mi-au transmis aceste lucruri. Conteaza mult si ambianta, asa ca, multe dintre realizarile pe care le-ati enumerat dumneavoastra eu le-as pune pe seama acestor oameni cu totul deosebiti pe care i-am întâlnit în viata", a conchis, emotionat, prof. univ. dr. ing. Mihai Gafitanu.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
UK universities publish guidance on risks of initiation ceremonies
Students warned of physical and mental dangers three years after death of Edward Farmer
Edward Farmer died from effects of excessive drinking at an initiation event at Newcastle University in 2016. Photograph: Family handout
Students starting university are this week being warned of the dangers of initiation ceremonies, almost three years after an undergraduate was killed as a result of the “toxic effects” of such events.
Ed Farmer died after excessive drinking at an initiation event run by Newcastle University’s agricultural society in 2016. Karen Dilks, the coroner at the inquest into his death, called on universities to issue more forceful warnings about the dangers of alcohol for first-year students.
As part of its response, Newcastle University worked with Universities UK to publish guidance about the potential physical risks of initiation ceremonies and the bullying and coercion that can be involved.
At the time of the inquest, Farmer’s parents expressed frustration at the “inactivity” of the university and its student union over initiation ceremonies.
But in a foreword to the Initiations at UK Universities guidance, Jeremy and Helen Farmer say they hope the document could save lives.
They write: “If students were made aware of the dangers of drinking large volumes of spirits in short periods of time and maybe aware of the signs of someone that is no longer just drunk but in a life-limiting state, and use the example of Ed to give the message some relevance, then possibly just one student might be luckier on a night out than Ed.”
The guidance stops short of calling for an outright ban on initiation ceremonies as some parents have suggested.
Instead it seeks to raise awareness among students and staff of risky behaviour involved in initiation ceremoniesincluding advertising support available to students.
It claims that a blanket ban would be “unhelpful” because it could encourage initiation ceremonies “into private spaces, such as off-campus accommodation” where they would be more dangerous and difficult to monitor.
ProfChris Day, the vice-chancellor of Newcastle University, said: “The situation Ed found himself in that night which led to him drinking an excessive quantity of alcohol over a very short period of time, together with a lack of knowledge from his fellow students about the dangers of drinking to excess, resulted in the most tragic of outcomes.
“We all wish we could rewind three years and change what happened that night. But we can’t go back and so, instead, we are looking forward and doing everything we can to minimise the chances of anything like this happening again.”
He pointed out that such deaths were “vanishingly rare” and added: “Sometimes physical but often mental damage can be done by attending these events, where you are coerced or bullied into doing things you don’t want to do”.
“It could be excess alcohol, it might be ingesting something horrible and toxic or it might be drug-related, it might be getting them to walk along the parapet of a bridge. It could be anything like that which has an element of coercion, forcing or bullying which we are trying to stamp out.”
He said that the behaviour typically occurred with junior students being coerced by more senior students and that, while much attention is placed on freshers’ week, these types of events are just as likely to happen at other times.
The universities minister, Chris Skidmore, said: “It is a shame that such a tragic case brought this issue to light, but it is important that students will now have access to increased information and that universities can use their position to warn students of the dangers involved in such activities.”
Publicație : The Guardian
Ministers ‘should have waited’ for review before subject-level TEF move
Education secretary’s backing for subject-level exercise before publication of TEF review prompts university warnings of ‘significant diversion of staff time’
English sector figures have voiced concerns about moves by the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, to force a switch to the subject-level teaching excellence framework before the publication of an independent review of the exercise.
Some in the sector believe that Jo Johnson – creator of the TEF – pushed through approval for the subject-level exercise during his brief return to the post of universities and science minister.
Mr Williamson said in a letter to the Office for Students last week: “I would like the OfS to publish subject-level TEF in 2021.”
Until now the TEF has taken place at a provider level, with government plans to take it to the subject level proving controversial, bringing complaints from universities about complexity, bureaucracy and cost.
An independent review of the TEF by Dame Shirley Pearce, the former Loughborough University vice-chancellor – which was expected to deliver a verdict on the subject-level TEF – has been received by the government but is yet to be published. The report must be laid before Parliament before being published, meaning that will be delayed by the prorogation of Parliament.
The findings of the latest pilots on the subject-level TEF are also yet to be published.
An OfS spokesman said: “We are currently awaiting the findings of the independent review of the TEF.
“We will consider these requests [in the education secretary’s letter] in the context of its recommendations, as well as the government’s response and the findings of the recent pilot of subject-level TEF.”
Gordon Marsden, Labour’s shadow higher education minister, said there were “very considerable concerns right across the university sector, that we fully share” about subject-level TEF.
He added: “If the Secretary of State wishes to respect the autonomy of the OfS then he should not be issuing peremptory statements, but he should be waiting for Dame Shirley Pearce’s report and then giving a considered response.”
Greg Walker, chief executive of MillionPlus, the association of modern universities, said that the government “should have waited” until the independent review had been published “before taking a decision on whether, or how, to take forward subject-level TEF”.
As currently designed, the subject-level TEF “heaps costly reporting burdens on universities without creating a helpful or accurate rating of teaching quality for students at the end of the process”, added Dr Walker.
Sarah Stevens, director of policy (higher education) at the Russell Group, said: “We welcomed the opportunity to convey our concerns to the independent review that, as currently designed, subject-level TEF is not fit for purpose and risks misleading students.”
The Russell Group looked forward to “working constructively with the government, OfS and the wider sector” on next steps, she added.
Gordon McKenzie, chief executive of GuildHE, said that from what he has heard from those who have piloted subject-level TEF, it “is too burdensome for any additional value that it brings”.
Vanessa Wilson, the University Alliance chief executive, said: “As things stand, this complex and costly subject-level exercise would exacerbate the many shortfalls in the current TEF model.”
The University of Brighton estimates that about 70 members of staff would be involved in the subject-level TEF process over many months.
“This is a significant diversion of staff time, which will be repeated in all participating institutions across the sector,” said Debra Humphris, the university’s vice-chancellor.
“The TEF is important, but there are significant questions to be asked both about the value versus the cost and the methodology of the subject-specific approach.”
Paul Ashwin, professor of higher education at Lancaster University, said that without seeing the pilot results, independent review and government response, it is “very difficult” to know what publishing the subject-level TEF in 2021 means.
“What we do know is if the subject-level TEF is like the pilots, that would be a huge amount of work for universities,” he added.
Publicație : The Times
Student’s arrest highlights fine line for Hong Kong universities
Hong Kong Baptist University unrest comes as mass demonstrations in city pass 100-day mark, with major impact for universities
Hong Kong’s mass demonstrations have passed the 100-day mark, with protests at one university over the arrest of a student journalist highlighting the impact on the city’s higher education institutions.
Thirteen student unions – including those at Hong Kong’s eight main public universities – are calling for a general strike starting on 1 October, timed to coincide with China’s National Day and the beginning of the Golden Week holiday in mainland China.
Meanwhile, at Hong Kong Baptist University, the arrest of a student and ensuing protests illustrated the fine line that Hong Kong’s university staff must walk – as they balance safeguarding student welfare, condemning violence and working with the authorities.
The student, Boaz So, was covering a protest on 15 September for HKBU journalism school’s Broadcast News Network when he was detained by police on suspicion of carrying an offensive weapon, after they found an instrument in his backpack. The university later described it as a common “table knife”, which Mr So said was for slicing mooncake, a traditional food at the recent Mid-Autumn Festival.
Bruce Lui, director of HKBU’s Chinese Journalism Concentration, told Times Higher Education that Mr So “was clearly identified as a reporter, with press gear like a helmet, vest, and press card issued by the school. The police searched him and other student reporters he was with. As soon as I heard about the arrest, I called people to help.”
Mr Lui was at the police station within an hour, and was joined by a barrister and solicitor. He continued: “I was really worried about [Mr So] – about whether the police would give him a hard time, and whether he would be given a serious charge…The arrest was totally without good cause, since he is a reporter – and student reporters have the same rights as other reporters.”
The following day, HKBU president Ronald Chin wrote in a statement that the university was “deeply concerned”, urging the police to “ensure that the case is handled properly and fairly”.
Hundreds of students rallied on campus, with a smaller faction breaking into the building housing Professor Chin’s office “with rods and rocks” according to student newspaper The Young Reporter. Some of the protesters allegedly vandalised two doors and shouted abuse at staff.
Mr So was released on bail later that evening, but campus protests continued.
In a subsequent statement, Professor Chin emphasised that HKBU supported freedom of expression, academic freedom and a diversity of views. However, he took a harder line over the vandalism, also condemning both physical and verbal “abusive behaviour”.
“This kind of activity is absolutely unacceptable,” Professor Chin wrote. “There can be no excuses. We will take action against the perpetrators, including initiating disciplinary procedures.”
Mr Lui said that “the students were motivated by concern for [Mr So] and other student reporters. I admire their good intentions. But when they demonstrated in the building housing the president’s office, that was vandalism, and I don’t want more students punished because of the incident.”
Debate over the protests continued at the University of Hong Kong, where academics held an off-the-record discussion on 20 September about ethics related to “Issues about the Rule of Law and Violence in the HK Protests”.
But all eyes were on a gathering outside the university, where masked protesters called for US lawmakers to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which aims to establish US protections for democracy in Hong Kong. In an example of the social media-savvy nature of protests, two student protesters bearing a trumpet and a tuba played The Star-Spangled Banner before being joined by the crowd in singing the US national anthem.
Publicație : The Times
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