Editie in lumina reflectoarelor Studioului BZI LIVE in care a fost in prim-plan CARTEA, in dialog cu Adrian Acatrinei - reprezentant al Editurii Universitatii Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Iasi
Luni, 11 februarie 2019, in lumina reflectoarelor Studioului BZI LIVE a demarat o noua saptamana plina de editii aparte, riguroase si de actualitate din arealul cultural - academic al orasului • Astfel, de la ora 15.00, a fost programat un dialog interesant si inedit alaturi de Adrian Acatrinei, responsabilul cu promovarea - PR al Editurii Universitatii Alexandru Ioan Cuza - UAIC din Iasi • Alaturi de domnia au fost prezentate informatii si noutati legate de activitatea entitatii pe care o reprezinta • De la proiecte editoriale, volume realizate pana acum sau care se afla in curs de publicare, colectiile speciale ale Editurii UAIC, Libraria acesteia au fost alte repere ale emisiunii • De asemenea, au fost scoase in prim-plan si cateva din cartile aparute de-a lungul timpului la Editura, care mai sunt realitatile de pe piata de carte din Romania, participari la saloane internationale de gen cat si colaborari pe plan national sau pe plan extern • Emisiunea completa cu oficialul Editurii UAIC poate fi urmarita AICI:
Pe 11 februarie 2019, in lumina reflectoarelor Studioului BZI LIVE a demarat o noua saptamana plina de editii aparte, riguroase si de actualitate din arealul cultural - academic al orasului. Astfel, de la ora 15.00, a fost programat un dialog interesant si inedit alaturi de Adrian Acatrinei, responsabilul cu promovarea - PR al Editurii Universitatii Alexandru Ioan Cuza (UAIC) din Iasi.
Alaturi de domnia au fost prezentate informatii si noutati legate de activitatea entitatii pe care o reprezinta. De la proiecte editoriale, volume realizate pana acum sau care se afla in curs de publicare, colectiile speciale ale Editurii UAIC, Libraria acesteia au fost alte repere ale emisiunii. De asemenea, au fost scoase in prim-plan si cateva din cartile aparute de-a lungul timpului la Editura, care mai sunt realitatile de pe piata de carte din Romania, participari la saloane internationale de gen cat si colaborari pe plan national sau pe plan extern.
De reamintit ca, doar in anul 2018, 30 de lucrari aparute la Editura Universitatii Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Iasi au primit diverse distinctii, în semn de recunoastere a valorii lor stiintifice. Pe lânga aceste distinctii (premii, medalii, plachete, diplome), Editura a mai primit înca doua premii care îi onoreaza programul editorial: Premiul Mihail Kogalniceanu pentru editarea cartii stiintifice si de specialitate la Librex 2018 si Medalia Centenarul Marii Uniri 1918 - 2018, din partea Primariei Municipiului Iasi, pentru programul editorial dedicat aniversarii a 100 de ani de la Marea Unire.
Ajunsa in cel de-al XXIX-lea an de activitate, Editura UAIC a fost fondata dupa un model occidental verificat – Presse Universitaire sau University Press -, interesul Universitatii iesene fiind de a-si promova propriile valori pe o piata a ideilor.Emisiunea completa cu oficialul Editurii UAIC poate fi urmarita AICI:
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Doar in studioul BZI LIVE este invitat, la un dialog special si riguros pe o tema de interes pentru toti romanii, profesorul Anton Carpinschi, figura a Universitatii Alexandru Ioan Cuza
Marti, 12 februarie 2019, incepand cu ora 15.00, in lumina reflectoarelor Studioului BZI LIVE este invitata una dintre figurile academice de marca ale Universitatii Alexandru Ioan Cuza (UAIC) din Iasi. Este vorba de prof. univ. dr. Emeritus Anton Carpinschi - Facultatea de Filosofie si Stiinte Social - Politice.
Alaturi de domnia sa vor fi dialogate si abordate o serie de tematici pe o zona de INTERES si ACTUALITATE pentru toti ROMANII anume POLITOLOGIA si Stiintele Social - Politice. Pe de alta parte, despre lucrarile acestuia SAU realitati universitare vor fi alte elemente avute in vedere.
Membru în asociatii stiintifice internationale de prestigiu precum Asociatia Sociologilor de Limba Franceza (AISLF), membru al în colegiul stiintitic al unor reviste recunoscute de Consiliul National al Cercetarii Stiintifice din Invatamantul Superior (CNCSIS) precum "Perspective politice", "Polis", "Sfera Politicii" acesta este si laureat al Premiului "Mircea Florian" al Academiei Române pentru cartea "Cultura recunoasterii si securitatea umana" - 2012. Domeniile de cercetare ale universitarului sunt Filosofia si teoria politica, ideologii politice, organizatii internationale.
Dincolo de toate acestea, editia BZI LIVE va fi pigmentata de analize pertinente si avizate ce tin de evolutia partidelor politice, din ultimele decenii, atat autohtone dar si in context european, cultura poltica sau ideologii.
Toti cei care doresc sa-i adreseze intrebari prof. univ. dr. Emeritus Anton Carpinschi - Facultatea de Filosofie si Stiinte Social - Politice, o pot face in timp real pe pagina de Facebook BZI, dar si la sectiunea de comentarii pe www.bzi.ro.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Profesori de limba franceza formati ca mentori prin Asociatia Romana a profesorilor francofoni
Asociația Română a Profesorilor Francofoni (ARPF) a derulat la Iași, în perioada 25 ianuarie-10 februarie 2019 programul de formare continuă « Mentoratul între teorie și practică. Responsabilizarea profesorului față de problematica abandonului școlar », acreditat de fundația EuroEd din Iași, conform O.M. nr. 4586/09.08.2017 în categoria « Programe de dezvoltare profesională în concordanță cu politicile și strategiile Ministerului Educației, Cercetării, Tineretului și Sportului (89 ore, 22 de credite) și destinat profesorilor de toate specialitățile, institutori, învățători și educatori, care au dreptul, conform legislației în vigoare, să exercite activitate de mentorat.
Stagiul a fost organizat prin proiectul intitulat „Sprijin pentru profesorii tineri”, inițiat de Federația Internațională a Profesorilor de Franceză (F.I.P.F.) și finanțat de Organizația Internațională a Francofoniei (O.I.F.) și Ministerul European al Afacerilor Externe. Prin acest program, 24 de profesori de franceză metodiști din toate colțurile României au fost formați în cadrul unui stagiu pentru abilitarea ca mentor, consolidând echipa ARPF de sprijin pentru tinerii profesori formată printr-un modul intensiv derulat în luna decembrie.
Inițiatoarea proiectului, prof. dr. Doina Spiță, vice-președinta F.I.P.F., explică nevoile care au condus la conceperea unui astfel de proiect și obiectivele pe care acesta și le propune: „Federația Internațională a Profesorilor de Franceză consideră că activitatea sa trebuie să se intensifice în direcția tinerilor actuali sau viitori profesori de franceză. În acest context, problema transmiterii meseriei constituie una dintre prioritățile sale. Această transmitere este o chestiune de empatie, desigur, și ea se poate produce prin împărtășirea informală, dar ea se poate produce de asemenea de manieră formală, prin programe sistematice de consiliere instituționalizată, care sunt numite „tutorat” sau „mentorat”. Inițiat de FIPF și implantat mai întâi în două țări pilot, Benin și România, proiectul va putea ajuta tinerii profesori de franceză în primii lor ani de activitate astfel încât să fie evitate reticențele, descurajările și eventualele abandonuri.”
Președinta Asociației Române a Profesorilor Francofoni, prof. dr. Irina Cosovanu, precizează rezultatele așteptate prin acest proiect: „Beneficiarii acestei formări, după o strategie comună la nivel național, vor organiza activități de mentorat cu tinerii profesori din județele lor. Pentru o mai bună coordonare a acestei activități, vom încerca să formăm o rețea a mentorilor și a profesorilor debutanți printr-o platformă online care va servi de asemenea ca forum de discuții, pentru împărtășirea ideilor și a documentelor. Un alt produs al acestui proiect va viza de asemenea crearea unui ghid destinat tinerilor profesori care va fi publicat gratuit pe această platformă.”
Prin activități teoretice și practice, dezbateri și momente de reflecție, discuții în comun și simulări globale, au fost abordate probleme privind statutul de mentor și activitatea sa, competențele pe care acesta trebuie să le aibă pentru a fi în măsură să consilieze profesorii stagiari, utilizarea documentelor specifice precum și planificarea activității de mentorat.
Prof. Mihaela Postelnicu, vice-președinta A.R.P.F., remarcă impactul pozitiv al proiectului și profesionalismul acestuia: „Pe durata stagiului, participanții au beneficiat de o formare bazată pe tehnici de lucru ludice, creative, axate pe munca în echipă și pe competențele necesare profesorului mentor: ascultare activă, observare atentă și consilierea stagiarilor. În unanimitate, profesorii de franceză beneficiari au apreciat formarea ca pe o gură de oxigen pentru viitorul carierei lor atât la clasă cât și în activitatea de mentorat.”
Deschiderea cursului a fost marcată printr-un moment solemn, în timpul căruia prof. dr. Doina Spiță a transmis mesajul directorului Institutului Francez din Iași, Vincent Lorenzini, aflat într-o misiune la Paris: „Consilierea tinerilor la începutul carierei lor este o misiune nobilă care trebuie încurajată și dezvoltată. Ce poate fi mai dificil decât trecerea de la teorie la practică? Numeroșii tineri absolvenți care se află pentru prima dată în fața unei clase nu au întotdeauna instrumentele necesare pentru a se simți în largul lor și se pot descuraja repede. Predarea unei limbi și a unei culturi străine reprezintă o mare responsabilitate pentru un profesor. În fața acestei provocări, autoritățile publice, organizațiile internaționale competente și actorii din mediul asociativ trebuie să coopereze și să consilieze cât mai bine tinerii profesori. Acest lucru se întâmplă prin tutorat, conceperea de instrumente pedagogice adaptate, crearea unei rețele a tinerilor debutanți astfel încât experiența lor să fie o sursă de reflecție și de perfecționare pentru ei toți.”
La finalul stagiului, prof. drd. Cristina Durău, secretar general al A.R.P.F. a concluzionat: „Programul urmat de profesorii de franceză beneficiari ai proiectului nu este doar o reactualizare a strategiilor care trebuie utilizate de mentor pentru a-și ajuta stagiarii să progreseze, ci răspunde unei nevoi reale a sistemului nostru de învățământ, aceea a unui parteneriat oficial recunoscut între profesorii cu experiență și colegii lor debutanți.”
Această inițiativă se dorește a fi un proiect complementar dispozitivelor deja existente datorită Biroului regional al OIF (Organizația Internațională a Francofoniei) sau ale Ministerului român al Educației.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Un student al Universitatii Tehnice din Iasi si-a realizat licenta, un costum popular, inspirat de cel purtat de Majestatea Sa, Regina Maria
Razvan Madalin Ivanus, absolvent al Facultatii de Textile - Pielarie si Management Industrial de la Universitatea Tehnica (TUIASI) "Gheorghe Asachi" din Iasi, a realizat pentru lucrarea de licenta un costum popular inspirat de cel purtat de Majestatea Sa, Regina Maria. Este vorba de un costum din regiunea Muscelului compus din ie, fota si opinci. Pasionat de portul popular romanesc, studentul a folosit tehnologia de tricotare digitala pentru a recrea costumul purtat de Regina Maria.
"Tanarul a fost ajutat de mesteri populari pentru a intelege mai bine costumul traditional romanesc si simbolistica motivelor acestuia, dar si de o firma de textile din Buzau, pentru realizarea produsului final. Coordonatorul proiectului sau de diploma a fost prof. univ. dr. ing. habil. Mirela Blaga. Costumul original a fost tesut manual, dar Razvan Madalin Ivanus a inlocuit tesatura cu tricotul. A creat un program de tricotat care sa reproduca fidel modelul, iar produsul final a fost realizat cu ajutorul firmei Datsa Textil din Buzau", au reliefat oficialii TUIASI.
Costumul, care este autentic si respecta integral originalul, a fost expus la targul de moda Première Vision de la Paris - Franta, unde a impresionat prin acuratetea cu care a fost lucrat si curajul de a inlocui tesatura cu tricotul.
"Conform profesorului Mirela Blaga, coordonatorul lucrarii de doctorat, atat Regina Maria, cat si Regina Elisabeta au promovat costumul popular romanesc ca brand national. Acesta nu este singurul costum popular din garderoba Majestatii Sale, Regina Maria, iar studentul si-a propus ca proiect viitor sa tricoteze digital un costum cu elemente din Banat si Oltenia", au mai detaliat cei de la Universitatea Tehnica.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Laborator regional pentru studiul bolilor la USAMV. Ar urma să fie cercetate cele mai periculoase virusuri
Universitatea de Ştiinţe Agricole şi Medicină Veterinară „Ion Ionescu de la Brad“ a atribuit lucrările de 9 milioane de lei pentru modernizarea unui corp de clădire început deja din fonduri proprii, unde va fi sediul Centrului regional de cercetări avansate pentru boli emergente, zoonoze şi siguranţă alimentară - ROVETEMERG.
Cum universitatea avea şantierul deja pregătit, compania care a câştigat proiectul pe 7 februarie a şi intrat direct în activitate, urmând să fie pus pe picioare un centru în care se vor cerceta cele mai periculoase boli care afectează inclusiv oamenii, de la diferite virusuri gripale, la unele care au făcut ravagii în ultimii ani în lume, precum pesta porcină sau West Nile.
„Proiectul centrului de cercetări este axat pe studiul bolilor emergente, noi, mai periculoase, virale, bacteriene, pentru animale şi om, şi altele care afectează şi siguranţa alimentară. El are ca scop amenajarea unor condiţii de biosecuritate de gradul al III-lea de protecţie, în care să se poată face cercetări şi experimentări direct cu aceste infecţii“, a declarat prof.dr. Gheorghe Săvuţă, decanul Facultăţii de Medicină Veterinară şi coordonatorul proiectului.
În paralel vor fi mai demarate şi diferite licitaţii pentru achiziţia de dotări şi echipamente, bugetul total al proiectului fiind de peste 9 milioane de euro. Reprezentanţii universităţii spun că finalizarea proiectului s-a prelungit în urma birocraţiei legată de procesul de achiziţii, astfel că au solicitat şi au obţinut permisiunea de a-l termina spre finalul lui 2020.
Publicație : Ziarul de Iași
Curs despre navigatorii din Grecia Antică, la care pot participa studenţii ieşeni la vară, în Corfu
Studenţii ieşeni pasionaţi de limba şi civilizaţia greacă au oportunitatea să participe la cursurile de vară „Navigatorii în Grecia Antică: Piraţi, Marinari, Colonizatori“, care este organizat în perioada 1-20 iulie de Universitatea Ioniană din Corfu, Grecia. Totodată, universitatea mai organizează pentru participanţi şi cursuri de limbă greacă veche.
„Cursul «Navigatorii în Grecia Antică» explorează rolul navigatorilor în călătorii mitice, procesul de colonizare şi bătăliile navale din perioada arhaică până în epoca elenistică. Programul profită de localizarea oraşului Corfu, incluzând călătorii în locaţiile unde au avut loc lupte marine şi întrebând despre rolul vechii Corsica în navigaţia maritimă“, au precizat organizatorii. Cursul de limbă greacă veche va fi unul de tip intensiv, organizat de patru ore pe zi, disponibil pe toate nivelurile de competenţiă lingvistică, cel introductiv, intermediar şi avansat. Toate cursurile se desfăşoară în Corfu în perioada 15 - 20 iulie 2019. Studenţii interesaţi pot să se înscrie la unul sau la ambele cursuri, completând un formular disponibile la adresa https://sites.ionio.gr/classics/. În afara formularului completat, este necesară şi o scrisoare de recomandare, toate documentele necesare putând fi trimise până la data de 31 martie.
Publicație : Ziarul de Iași
Tinerii medici, clienţi fideli ai statisticilor cu şomeri
În România, condiţiile din spitale şi salariile relativ mici nu-i descurajează pe studenţi să pornească pe un drum extrem de dificil, care durează şase ani – iluzia de a deveni medic specialist.
În anul 2018, la examenul de admitere din cadrul Universităţii de Medicină şi Farmacie „Grigore T. Popa” (UMF) din Iaşi au participat 2.150 candidaţi, în creştere cu 6% comparativ cu anul 2017, când s-au înscris 2.022 candidaţi.
În fiecare an, aproape o treime dintre absolvenţi pleacă în străinătate. După ce au fost formaţi în România, iar statul a cheltuit cu fiecare dintre ei în jur de 81.000 de lei, decid să-şi încerce norocul în alt stat. De ce? După ce studiază ani buni şi obţin şi o diplomă de licenţă, aceştia nu pot profesa dacă nu trec rezidenţiatul.
O diplomă tocmai bună de pus pe perete
Potrivit reprezentanţilor UMF Iaşi, pentru examenul de rezidenţiat de anul trecut s-au înscris 1.367 candidaţi, numărul fiind mai mare decât în anul precedent cu 152 de candidaţi. Dintre aceştia, 995 de absolvenţi au susţinut examenul pentru rezidenţiat în medicină, 265 în medicină dentară şi 107 la farmacie.
Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie Iaşi „Grigore T. Popa” Iaşi număra, în acelaşi an, 1.502 de absolvenţi ai Facultăţilor de Medicină, Medicină Dentară, Farmacie şi Bioinginerie Medicală. Aşadar, 135 de absolvenţi au ales fie să îşi finalizeze educaţia prin rezidenţiat în altă ţară, fie să lucreze la companii medicale, companii farmaceutice, ca reprezentant medical sau în alte domenii în care se cere o astfel de pregătire, dar nu pot profesa ca medici.
Anul trecut, la nivel naţional, Ministerul Sănătăţii a scos la concurs 4.987 locuri şi posturi. Dintre acestea, 4.357 de locuri/posturi sunt pentru medicină, 405 - pentru medicină dentară, 225 pentru farmacie, pentru care au concurat 8.420 de candidaţi,
studenţi ai facultăţilor de medicină umană, stomatologie şi farmacie.
La medicină s-au înscris 6.258 de absolvenţi, pentru cele 4.357 de locuri scoase la concursul de rezidenţiat, iar în spitale sunt disponibile 274 de posturi. Astfel, 1.600 de tineri vor deveni şomeri de lux.
Doar trei posturi în spitalele ieşene, în 2018
În Iaşi, anul trecut, absolvenţii universităţilor de medicină şi farmacie din ţară au dat concursul de intrare în rezidenţiat pe post şi rezidenţiat pe loc în domeniile medicină, medicină dentară şi farmacie, organizat de Ministerul Sănătăţii. În contextul în care erau disponibile doar trei posturi şi 622 de locuri, bătalia nu a fost deloc uşoară.
Alegerea unui loc sau post este condiţionată de obţinerea unui punctaj minim de promovare de 60% din punctajul maxim realizat la nivel naţional pentru cele 200 de întrebări pentru fiecare domeniu, diferenţa dintre cele două fiind aceea că locul este valabil doar pe perioada rezidenţiatului, în timp ce postul permite absolvenţilor să rămână în acelaşi spital după Rezidenţiat. Cu alte cuvinte, nu se vor alătura celor care, după definitivarea Rezidenţiatului, în lipsa posturilor disponibile în spitalele din oraş au devenit... şomeri de lux ai Iaşului. Asta în cazul în care sunt refuzate posturile din spitalele mici din provincie.
În judeţul Iaşi erau disponibile, anul trecut, doar trei posturi: Unul la Spitalul de Neurochirurgie „N. Oblu” (rezident la ATI, secţia Anestezie şi terapie intensivă), la Spitalul de Boli Infecţioase „Sf. Parascheva” (pentru specializarea boli infecţioase) şi un post la Centrul Regional de Sănătate Publică Iaşi(epidemiolog).
În celelalte judeţe ale Moldovei, cum ar fi Oneşti, Adjud, şi Buhuşi au fost scoase 60 de posturi. De cele mai multe ori, din cauza numărului mic de posturi în judeţul Iaşi, absolvenţii ieşeni care obţin punctaj mare la rezidenţiat optează pentru locuri la spitale aflate în judeţele învecinate.
În ceea ce priveşte numărul de locuri, în anul 2018, la Iaşi, erau 532 de locuri pentru medicină generală, 50 pentru medicină dentară şi 40 pentru farmacie. La medicină generală, la specializarea boli infecţioase au fost cele mai multe locuri – 36, urmată de specializarea în chirurgie generală – 35 de locuri, pediatrie – 26, medicină internă – 25, în timp ce la specializarea psihiatrie erau 24 de locuri.
Realitatea pe care o trăiesc aproape toţi medicii tineri, proaspăt specialişti: în sistemul medical românesc sunt foarte puţine posturi disponibile
Publicație : Evenimentul
UK university unveils country's first sports hijab to encourage Muslim women to participate
A university in London has become the first to roll out its own sports hijab for female Muslim students.
Brunel University, which is only one of four in the UK to offer a free sports programme, spotted a gap in the number of women taking part – and in particular those wearing hijabs.
A 2017 study by Sport England found that just 18 per cent of Muslim women participate in regular sport, against 30 per cent of the UK’s female population as a whole.
raditionally the hijab, which covers the wearer’s hair and neck, is made from cotton which can quickly become hot, sodden with sweat and uncomfortable when used for sport.
But Brunel’s has been made from materials specifically designed to keep the wearer cool while also respecting their religious beliefs.
Created with Sketch. Life in a Rohingya camp: how Muslim women and girls protect their skin
Faith Al Saad, a business management student at the university, said she was “100 per cent confident” the hijab would encourage more of her peers to get into sport.
“It’s great; really lightweight, really easy to wear, really comfortable – it feels like you’re wearing nothing on your head which is amazing, especially when doing sports,” said the keen gym-goer.
“The traditional hijab is basically a cloth you wrap around your head and then pin down. You can’t really run in it, it’ll literally fly off. The pins come out and it falls off – it’s not comfortable.
“Wearing the sports hijab makes it ten times easier, and I genuinely think it’s a lifesaver.”
Some sports giants already have their own hijabs on the market, however at £15 Brunel’s is about 40 per cent cheaper than the one Nike launched in 2017.
The hijab will initially only be available in “Brunel blue” and in two sizes but it is hoped there will be a wider range of colours if it takes off.
Ranjeet Rathore, president of the Union of Brunel Students, has been a driving force behind the hijab.
When we narrowed it down, we found the main gap to be in BAME female sports participation – specifically, we found there to be a barrier to Muslim women taking part in team sport,” he said.
“Of course, they were participating in sports on their own and in private, but they weren’t really going out to competitions, or using sport as a social tool to get involved in activities.
“There are now other unis that want to partner with us, who want to take samples off us, who want to do their own hijab – which is great news.”
Publicație : The Independent
Sheffield University student investigated over offensive messages about women and STIs in leaked group chat
Students report an endemic ‘lad culture’ within group chats at British universities
A medical school student is under investigation by his university after posting messages describing women in derogatory sexual terms in a social media chat group containing more than 240 fellow trainee doctors.
The messages, which received no response, include a screenshot of a female student’s Instagram post where she is pictured with one other woman, her name clearly visible, followed by a message describing them as “easy shags”.
Going on to urge others in the chat to “use protection”, the Sheffield University student then sends a voice recording that says: “Remember to use the old condoms, be a good boy, STIs are not a joke.” He adds, “wrong chat lol … I mean the message still stands” before sending a further voice message ridiculing STIs.
The university has said it is now investigating the incident and examining whether it is a breach of General Medical Council rules on doctors’ use of social media.
Students say the post, made in the early hours of last Sunday morning, is only the “tip of the iceberg” of an endemic “lad culture” within group chats of students at British universities.
Speaking to The Independent, the person who disclosed the messages, who wants to remain anonymous, said: “I find it saddening that such harassment appears to be such commonplace amongst university students.
“The group chat exists for all the medics in that year group to chat and arrange things and I hate to see that coming from a group of students who are meant to represent integrity and professionalism.
“By sending it to a group this big it made us aware that this sort of thing is happening behind closed doors.”
Sheffield Students’ Union’s Feminist Society called for universities to respond more swiftly to support students affected by “rape culture, which is what this is”.
“Sheffield needs to look closely at how it will vocally support the students affected and take this as an opportunity to reform their sexual consent education – we need signposting of existing services and a genuine political will to deal with lad culture,” the society’s president Emily Doyland said.
“I wouldn’t know who to send those screenshots to other than a newspaper, and if I don’t know then how is anybody else meant to know?”
This case follows widespread outcry over a Facebook chat at The University of Warwick which saw 11 male students suspended over racist, anti-Semitic and misogynist exchanges last year, with messages including “sometimes it’s fun to just go wild and rape 100 girls”.
Warwick’s student union president called for the institution’s vice-chancellor Stuart Croft to resign unless he could explain why two of the perpetrators had their 10-year bans lifted, as hundreds marched on Warwick’s campus on Wednesday demanding urgent action into how the university “fail[ed] the victims” of the group chat in its investigation.
Megan Wain, a Warwick student who was targeted in the chat, said: “My mental health deteriorated as a result of the situation, having men who were once my friends speaking about me so explicitly, impacted my life drastically. Campus makes me feel uneasy and anxious as a result of the climate created by the chat.”
Launching an independent review into Warwick’s disciplinary procedures in the wake of the scandal, Mr Croft said: “We are deeply sorry and understand the distress this has caused the victims of this abuse and the wider impact which we know has been felt by our students and our staff.”
Ms Doyland added: “This is clearly a symbol of a wider problem – it’s not just happening in group chats or at some universities, this is happening in everyday encounters and it is ingrained within society. It is the responsibility in particular of universities to lead.”
A spokesperson for The University of Sheffield said: “As soon as our Medical School was made aware of this issue it followed established investigatory procedures, in line with University disciplinary and Fitness to Practise regulations.
“Fitness to Practise procedures use standards set by national regulatory bodies, including the General Medical Council, to review conduct that could impact a student’s suitability to practise medicine.
Publicație : The Independent
Republicans push to rate universities on graduate earnings
Senate education committee chair pushes to apply federal aid eligibility test for private colleges across whole sector
After years of watching Democrats battle for-profit college abuses by subjecting them to job market performance measures, Republicans appear determined to do the same to the rest of US higher education.
As part of a planned year-long legislative overhaul effort, the top Republican on higher education policy, Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, is seizing on an Obama administration rule that requires non-degree programmes to show student job success to remain eligible for federal aid.
“The concept of ‘gainful employment’ is OK,” Mr Alexander, chair of the education committee in the Republican-led Senate, said in outlining his strategy last week. “What is different about this proposal,” he said of his planned gainful employment expansion, was “that it would apply to every programme, and it would apply to every college – public, private and non-profit.”
That threatens a major ideological confrontation with Democrats now controlling the House, and serves as one of many signs that the ambitious goal of rewriting the foundational federal law governing US higher education at a time of intense partisan friction will again get bogged down and fail.
That law, known as the Higher Education Act, has not had a major revision since 2008. Lawmakers have generally seen updates as necessary every decade, if not faster given the rapid pace of technological change.
And both parties are feeling pressure to act now, with the public anxious about rising college costs and soaring student debt levels, and institutions seeking reduced regulatory demands and greater freedom to experiment with online models.
But political cooperation seems unlikely beyond such populist bromides as delivering a shorter version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – the 108-item questionnaire on family wealth that students must submit to the government for the purposes of federal aid allocations.
The idea of subjecting all college programmes to a gainful employment-style test of future student earnings – not just the job-oriented non-degree programmes common at for-profit colleges – is a simple concept with wide implications.
First of all, said Terry Hartle of the American Council on Education, the main US higher education lobby group, there is the forbidding logistical complexity. Federal records list thousands of college majors, and aggregating them to more manageable numbers would produce “all sorts of weird outcomes”, he said.
“The major category for ‘medicine’, for example, includes doctors and dentists. Fine,” Mr Hartle said. “But it also includes nurses, medical assistants and yoga instructors. Do we really think that such a number would be meaningful to anyone?”
Beyond such mechanical considerations, however, is the fundamental question of whether postsecondary education operating with taxpayer support should be serving any purpose beyond job training geared to the immediate needs of US industry.
Trump administration officials and many leading Republicans have increasingly portrayed US colleges as hotbeds of liberal indoctrination, and have urged colleges to give industry leaders a much stronger hand in deciding what is taught to students.
“Having business integrally involved with helping form and shape programmes and curriculums is an imperative, really, for connecting students with the possibilities” of their careers, US education secretary Betsy DeVos said during a college tour this past autumn.
Democrats hope to maintain a far more expansive view of higher education. “Not every degree can be quickly monetised,” the chair of the education committee in the Democrat-led House, Representative Bobby Scott of Virginia, said at an event with Mr Alexander.
“A four-year on-campus liberal arts college experience is a transformational experience for a student,” Mr Scott said at the event, hosted by Inside Higher Ed. “We ought not limit that experience to those who can write $50,000 a year checks – we need to make sure that opportunity is available to all who are academically qualified.”
Some in his party are pushing even harder. Newly elected Representative Donna Shalala, a former university president, said that she would make all for-profit colleges ineligible for federal student aid. “I don’t see any place for taxpayer money to subsidise a business,” she said.
Publicație : The Times
‘Perfect 10’ wariness reveals gender bias in student evaluations
Switching to a six-point scale in surveys eliminates perceived gap in teaching performance, study finds
Students are much more reluctant to give female lecturers a “perfect 10” in teaching evaluations than men but rate them equally highly when a different scale is used, a study has found.
The experiment – which found that the apparently minor tweak to a six-point scale virtually eliminated gaps in survey scores in male-dominated fields – suggests that learners are likelier to associate “genius” or “brilliance” with male academics and raises further doubts about the reliability of student feedback, according to researchers.
In their paper, due to be published in the American Sociological Review, Northwestern University’s Lauren Rivera and András Tilcsik from University of Toronto outline how one North American university’s decision to switch from a 10-point satisfaction scale to a six-point one had radically altered the distribution of marks.
Under the 10-point scale, in four subject areas that were most male-dominated in terms of staffing, 31.4 per cent of men’s ratings were a perfect 10 – making it the most common result – whereas only 19.5 per cent of women’s scores were. Eight was the most common score for women, whose average score was about a point lower than men’s.
However, under the six-point scale, there was no substantial difference in the frequency of the top rating being awarded: sixes accounted for 41.2 per cent of men’s ratings, and 41.7 per cent of women’s scores. Likewise, there was no longer a major difference in the average scores of men and women.
The stronger performance of women using a six-point scale was probably explained by the tendency of students to regard female academics as being “merely good rather than brilliant”, Dr Rivera told Times Higher Education.
Students felt more able to award a six-out-of-six score to women since it did not have the same associations of “genius” or “brilliance” more commonly attached to male tutors and accompanied by 10-out-of-10 ratings, she said.
“Whereas 10 out of 10 elicited images of perfect performance that don’t fit with our typical image of female faculty, the six-point scale didn’t carry such heavy cultural connotations of flawless performance,” Dr Rivera said.
This “enabled a wider range of performance…to be recognised as meriting top marks, which closed the gender gap that used to exist in the most male-dominated fields in our sample”, she added.
Publicație : The Times
Call for £500 million fund to boost UK universities’ civic role
Dozens of universities are already interested in striking ‘civic university agreements’ proposed by commission
The UK government should create a £500 million “civic university fund” to incentivise universities to prioritise “securing economic, social and environmental regeneration” in their towns, cities and regions, according to a major new report.
The UPP Foundation Civic University Commission, chaired by Lord Kerslake, the former head of the UK Civil Service, also recommends that universities taking this role should strike “civic university agreements” with other local “anchor institutions” to analyse their “place and people’s priorities” and set strategy. Thirty universities have already indicated that they want to draw up such agreements, which could cover plans for widening participation locally, according to Lord Kerslake, the chair of Sheffield Hallam University.
The commission gathered evidence from witnesses, experts and the public over the past year. Its report warns that “under the pressure to grow student numbers and become global players, universities have lost some of the tangible connection to their places”.
And it says that government policy on universities in England “remains almost wholly national”, criticising the failure to recognise “that universities are anchor institutions in particular in ‘left-behind’ places and their closure could have drastic effects on those areas”.
Lord Kerslake said universities’ civic role was key at a time when there was increasing focus on “left-behind places” and improving regional productivity. Universities have often replaced industries to be “at the centre of what happens to a place” and have a crucial role in “securing economic, social and environmental regeneration”, he added.
But the peer noted that universities are “going through quite a choppy time”, with adverse political and media attention on issues such as fees and vice-chancellors’ pay.
“Bluntly, [universities] need all the friends they can get,” said Lord Kerslake. The civic role of universities “works in both directions – it’s incredibly important to the places and it’s incredibly important for universities to have those places backing them, championing them and, crucially, knowing what they do that’s good for their place”, he continued.
While the commission had found “really great examples of civic engagement”, there were “very few examples of a strategic approach”, and civic university agreements could help remedy this, he added.
The report urges the government to remove “perverse measurements” that “mitigate against civic activity” – such as the use in the teaching excellence framework of graduate earnings data which are skewed against universities whose graduates enter regional labour markets.
And the planned knowledge exchange framework “must be a broad measure of civic impact, not purely research innovation”, the report says.
The civic university fund should be worth around £500 million over five years, the report recommends. Universities would bid competitively for multi-year projects, with a “preference towards supporting places that are both economically and socially vulnerable”.
Another recommendation urges universities to act as “role models” as employers and procurers by paying the “living wage” and using their spending power to “buy local”.
Lord Kerslake warned on the government’s ongoing post-18 education review: “If the government denudes universities of a significant amount of their funding then this civic activity will be at risk.”
The peer said he has met with the new universities minister, Chris Skidmore, describing him as “very open” to the report’s agenda.
Publicație : The Times
Rural schools ‘need extra cash’ to support university access
Pupils in rural and coastal areas are losing out in the drive to widen participation, says charity
Schools in the UK’s rural and coastal communities should receive additional, ring-fenced funding to help pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds access higher education, according to a new report.
The report published on 12 February by The Bridge Group, a charitable research consultancy, says schools in sparsely populated areas need this extra funding to address the additional costs they face supporting progression to further and higher education.
Although there has been a welcome push in recent years to improve widening participation in higher education, the interventions often disregard the dispersed nature of rural poverty and the fact that pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds in rural areas have weaker levels of attainment compared with their urban peers, the report says.
“At every stage, schools in isolated communities face increased costs per pupil and they are limited in the array of the additional activities they can offer,” Sarah Dauncey, head of policy at The Bridge Group, said. This included attracting higher education providers to the school or even taking pupils on meaningful school trips, she said.
Dr Dauncey said addressing the problem was also about understanding where pupils in rural areas live and how their distance from school affects their capacity to take part in extracurricular activities, such as university-led widening participation events that take place after school or at weekends. “Because those pupils have to be on that bus at 3.30pm to get home and that affects their ability to take part,” she said.
Universities also needed to “rural-proof” their policies and interventions to ensure they are accessible to remote pupils, Dr Dauncey said.
The report recommends that higher education institutions improve their understanding of the geographical distribution of their outreach activities, particularly those that aim to raise attainment and promote progression. “We need to better understand the way that each higher education institution spends its widening participation budget in terms of place,” the report says.
Students from lower socio-economic backgrounds who live in remote areas are deprived of the option to commute to higher education, making their decision-making process much more complex, the report adds.
It also says that the prevailing model of social mobility places “too much” emphasis on supporting high-achieving young people to leave their local area for higher education and to then secure a graduate job. This approach leaves rural communities and economies with a dearth of highly talented young people.
“It's great that high mobility students leave Great Yarmouth and go to Oxford or LSE, but that’s great for them but not great for Great Yarmouth,” Dr Dauncey said. “We need a social mobility narrative that keeps in mind that the success of a small group of individuals from lower-socio economic backgrounds who might get to elite universities isn't necessarily helpful for thinking about regional economic equality.”
Publicație : The Times
Peers ‘extremely concerned’ over lack of no deal planning for HE
House of Lords committee also calls for UK to fully associate to EU’s Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ programmes after Brexit
Peers have urged the UK government to seek full association to the European Union’s next research funding programme and Erasmus+ mobility scheme, and have said that they are “extremely concerned” by the failure to prepare no deal Brexit contingency plans for both.
The House of Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee makes the recommendations in a report published on 12 February, following an inquiry into the implications of Brexit for the UK’s involvement in the EU programmes that was held late last year.
Chris Skidmore, the new universities and science minister, has said that the UK’s “ambition is to associate” to the Horizon Europe research programme, which begins in 2021, but that talks cannot begin until the EU has finalised its regulations – with European elections potentially further holding up negotiations until next year.
There is a similar lack of clarity over the UK’s involvement in Erasmus+ after Brexit.
The committee says on Erasmus that it “has played a significant role in facilitating the international mobility of people studying and working in the fields of education, training, youth, and sport in the UK…The government should seek to ensure the UK remains part of this important initiative by seeking full association to the 2021–2027 Erasmus programme.”
But if association “cannot be negotiated, it will be essential to establish an alternative UK mobility scheme”, the peers add.
The committee also notes the government’s commitment to increase research spending and affirmation that research is central to “the future economic prosperity of the UK”.
“A key part of this strategy should be to prioritise continued access to EU research framework programmes by securing association to Horizon Europe,” the committee adds. “The government should ensure UK universities retain full access to EU funding opportunities and can participate in, and lead, collaborative research projects.”
Although the government has committed to underwrite funding for successful bids to EU programmes until the end of 2020 if the UK leaves without a deal, the government “still needs to agree terms with the EU for UK organisations to continue to participate in Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020 projects as third-country entities”, the peers say.
“We note the European Commission’s current unwillingness to engage in discussions on possible actions to protect people on Erasmus+ exchanges and Horizon 2020 projects in the event of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit, but urge the government to continue its efforts to reach a resolution with the Commission to avoid disruption”, they add. “We remain extremely concerned about the lack of time available to negotiate and confirm these ‘no deal’ contingency plans.”
If this cannot be resolved, the UK government should “use funds set aside for the underwrite guarantee to establish replacement UK mobility and research funding schemes as quickly as possible”, the peers say.
Universities UK has warned that recent official guidance shows “that the UK government does not intend to provide a national replacement for the Erasmus scheme for 2019 and 2020” in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Publicație : The Times
Uighur academics targeted by Chinese ‘cultural cleansing’
Academics have been urged to mention China’s persecution of Muslim minorities at every public event in which they participate
Academics have been urged to protest against China’s mass internment of the Uighur community and to reconsider their interactions with state-controlled educational programmes as the country’s persecution of Muslim minorities continues.
A report from the Uyghur Human Rights Project states that at least 338 Uighur intellectuals have been “interned, imprisoned or forcibly disappeared” since April 2017, in what it describes as the “Chinese state’s ‘cultural cleansing’ campaign”. The figure includes 96 students and 61 university lecturers, including 21 members of staff at Xinjiang University.
In total, at least 800,000 and possibly more than 2 million members of Muslim minorities are thought to be detained in internment camps, including re-education facilities, where, according to former detainees and other witnesses, they are subjected to political indoctrination and abuse. It is thought that China views its indigenous populations in Xinjiang as an obstacle to developing its Belt and Road Initiative.
The report calls on universities and researchers outside China to “suspend all cooperation with the Chinese Ministry of Education until the camps are closed, the victims compensated, and perpetrators brought to justice”.
Last month, a bipartisan group of 13 US lawmakers nominated the imprisoned Uighur academic Ilham Tohti for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize in a bid to pressure China to end its crackdown on the minority group. Professor Tohti has been serving a life sentence since 2014 on separatism-related charges.
More than 600 academics from 40 countries have signed a statement that calls on universities around the world that have formal partnerships with state-run Chinese institutions to “express their concern” and “consider suspending their partnerships”.
Meanwhile, more than 250 scholars, authors and artists have signed the Xinjiang Initiative, committing to raise awareness of the persecution at every public event in which they are a participant.
Rian Thum, senior research fellow at the University of Nottingham, whose research focuses on China and the Muslim world, said that universities should “apply the same level of scrutiny to their relationships with Chinese institutional partners that they did in their relationships with institutions in apartheid South Africa” and, at a minimum, raise concerns about what is happening in Xinjiang with their Chinese partners.
“Those of us who receive invitations to speak or otherwise interact with state-controlled educational programmes need to consider how much our participation lends legitimacy to a government that is engaged in a widespread purge of minority academics and the extralegal internment of Muslim-majority ethnic groups,” he said.
“I for one would be unwilling, for example, to participate in one of the state-funded conferences on the Belt and Road Initiative, a programme of international economic development and diplomatic expansion that is anchored in part in the homeland of the minorities targeted by the current internment and assimilation campaign.”
Rushan Abbas, director of the Campaign for Uyghurs organisation, said that China’s crackdown on Uighurs “must be protested by universities and academics outside China”.
Academics should “commit to raising awareness of the situation in Xinjiang at every public event in which they participate”, while universities must “arrange special speaking panels about the Xinjiang crisis”, she said.
Publicație : The Times
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