In lumina reflectoarelor Studioului BZI LIVE a continuat șirul producțiilor media proaspete, interactive, de atitudine și relevanță pentru pentru noile generații cu trei tineri ai Universității Cuza din Iași
Luni, 25 martie 2019, incepand cu ora 15.00, in lumina reflectoarelor Studioului BZI LIVE a continuat sirul productiilor media proaspete, interactive, de atitudine si relevante pentru intreaga societatea dar mai ales pentru noile generatii • Astfel, invitati speciali au fost trei dintre tinerii, activi si profesionisti reprezentanti ai celei mai vechi universitati moderne din Romania - Alexandru Ioan Cuza - UAIC din Iasi • Este vorba de Emanuel Ionut Zanoschi - doctorand la Facultatea de Filosofie si Stiinte Social-Politice, reprezentant al studentilor in Consiliul Facultatii, voluntar in Caravana UAIC, Serban Vornicu - sef birou - Biroul Alumni si Insertie pe Piata muncii la Cuza respectiv Alexandru Grigoras - specialist relatii publice - Serviciul Marketing Educational, Evenimente si Imagine Academica UAIC • Emisiunea completa cu acestia poate fi urmarita AICI:
Pe 25 martie 2019, incepand cu ora 15.00, in lumina reflectoarelor Studioului BZI LIVE a continuat sirul productiilor media proaspete, interactive, de atitudine si relevante pentru intreaga societatea dar mai ales pentru noile generatii. Astfel, invitati speciali au fost trei dintre tinerii, activi si profesionisti reprezentanti ai celei mai vechi universitati moderne din Romania - Alexandru Ioan Cuza (UAIC) din Iasi.
Este vorba de Emanuel Ionut Zanoschi - doctorand la Facultatea de Filosofie si Stiinte Social-Politice, reprezentant al studentilor in Consiliul Facultatii, voluntar in Caravana UAIC, Serban Vornicu - sef birou - Biroul Alumni si Insertie pe Piata muncii la Cuza respectiv Alexandru Grigoras - specialist relatii publice - Serviciul Marketing Educational, Evenimente si Imagine Academica UAIC.
Alaturi de cei trei au fost abordate aspecte ce tin de: campania de promovare si prezentare a ofertei educationale a Universitatii Cuza, intitulata "Caravana UAIC" in toata tara si in randul liceenilor, despre ce inseamna sa te perfectionezi, studiezi si sa reusesti in tara ta, relatia cu absolventii de la Cuza, insertia pe Piata muncii a absolventilor cuzisti, proiecte pe care le au in derulare, impactul pe care il are Caravana in unitatile educationale preuniversitare din diferite orase ale tarii unde ajunge, rolul activitatilor de voluntariat! De asemenea, au fost oferi detalii si aspecte relevante din propria experienta despre ceea ce inseamna sa-ti urmezi visul, sa-ti construiesti o cariera, sa intri in contact cu sisteme educationale si culturale din alte tari! Emisiunea completa cu acestia poate fi urmarita AICI:
Publicație: Bună Ziua Iași
Editie BZI LIVE despre tema care preocupa intreg orasul si Romania - poluarea! Profesorul care a inovat pe zona senzorilor destinati cantaririi masinilor in miscare si monitorizarii traficului va oferi detalii spectaculoase
Marti, 26 martie 2019, incepand cu ora 15.00 in lumina reflectoarelor Studioului BZI LIVE este invitat, la un dialog extrem de interesant, actual si inovativ legat de o problema de maxima actualitate, atat pentru Iasi dar si pentru intreaga Romanie: POLUAREA! Astfel, in prim plan va fi prof. univ. dr. ing. Paul - Doru Barsanescu de la Universitatea Tehnica (TUIASI) Gheorghe Asachi din Iasi! Acesta, una dintre figurile academice de marca ale invatamantului tehnic superior national si international este Director interimar al Scolii Doctorale a Facultatii de Mecanica, conducator de doctorat in domeniul: INGINERIE MECANICA, acesta are ca domenii de cercetare: REZISTENTA MATERIALELOR, ELASTICITATE, PLASTICITATE, SENZORI, STRUCTURI!
Una dintre temele abordate cu domnia sa va fi cea referitoare la cercetarea desfasurata in domeniul senzorilor destinati cantaririi autovehiculelor aflate in miscare si a monitorizarii traficului. In acest domeniu s-au finalizat urmatoarele proiecte de cercetare: 1) Program Cercetare de Excelenta CEEX post-doc 3309/24.10.2005, cod 13, Noi senzori pentru cantarirea in miscare a autovehiculelor si echipamente de testare complexa a acestora, in vederea cresterii sigurantei si securitatii rutiere, director de proiect Barsanescu Paul. La acest proiect au participat 3 cercetatori POST-DOC; 2) Proiectul european de cercetare ASSET-ROAD (tip FP 7, finalizat in 2011), la care colectivul TUIASI a obtinut rezultate notabile; 3) Grant PN II, Capacitati, Modul III (cofinantare FP7), nr. 308EU/27.04.2009, Cercetari privind siguranta avansata a transporturilor rutiere, director proiect Taranu Nicolae, responsabil stiintific Barsanescu Paul. Cercetarea continua cu o teza de doctorat (drd. ing. Dontu Andrei), aflata in curs de elaborare. S-a depus o aplicatie pentru proiectul de cercetare Compete, la care evaluarea este in curs de finalizare (colectivul este format din 2 doctoranzi si un post-doc). Tema aplicatiei se refera la utilizarea acestor senzori pentru scaderea poluarii in orase.
Toti cei care au intrebari pentru prof. univ. dr. ing. Paul - Doru Barsanescu de laUniversitatea Tehnica (TUIASI) Gheorghe Asachi din Iasi le pot adresa la rubrica de comentarii sau in direct, pe Facebook.
Publicație: Bună Ziua Iași
Se cauta voluntari pentru Centrul de Invatare al Universitatii "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" din Iasi
Centrul de Învatare al Universitatii "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" (UAIC) din Iasi este un proiect ROSE finantat cu fonduri de la Banca Mondiala. Astfel, in Casa "Miclescu" din spatele Corpului B al Universitatii (str. Pinului nr. 2) a fost creat un spatiu primitor si stimulativ, dedicat asigurarii unor conditii optime de studiu individual si asistat, cu precadere pentru studentii aflati în risc de abandon sau de nepromovare, dar si pentru cei care vizeaza obtinerea performantei în educatia universitara. Prin activitatile de pâna acum, Centrul de Învatare a dobândit recunoastere atât în spatiul comunitatii academice, cât si în rândul partenerilor.
"A fi voluntar în Centrul de Învatare înseamna a fi parte a unei echipe dinamice si creative, a dobândi experienta, echilibru si performanta în relatia cu ceilalti si chiar cu tine însuti. Tipuri de activitati pe care un voluntar le poate desfasura în Centru: prezentarea activitatilor din Centul de Invatare; indrumare si sprijin din partea studentilor din anii superiori ai ciclului de licenta/ master pentru studentii din primul an. Studentii voluntari înscrisi în programul de master «Psihologie educationala si consiliere» pot fi coach-assistant la desfasurarea sesiunilor de coaching si dezvoltare personala; implicarea în activitati precum: întâmpinare participanti, asigurarea completarii listelor de prezenta, scanare si copiere documente, introducere si prelucrare date în Excel. Implicarea în organizarea si desfasurarea unor evenimente la nivelul Centrului, respectiv posibilitatea de implicare în alte proiecte ale UAIC, precum Caravana UAIC, Marsul absolventilor, Bun venit la UAIC, au aratat cei de la Centrul de Invatare de la "Cuza". Studentii interesati sa devina voluntari sunt rugati sa trimita CV-ul la adresa de e-mail centruldeinvatare•uaic.ro, pana la data de 30 martie 2019.
Publicație: Bună Ziua Iași
Rectorul Academiei de Poliţie a plagiat peste două treimi din teza sa de doctorat
Rectorul Academiei de Poliţie Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Bucureşti şi-ar fi plagiat trei sferturi din teza de doctorat, pe care a susţinut-o în 2007.
Potrivit pressone.ro, lucrarea care i-a adus lui Adrian Iacob titlul ştiinţific de doctor în Ordine publică şi Siguranţă naţională − şi care i-a dat, deci, posibilitatea să urce în ierarhia Academiei − este o înşiruire de paragrafe, pasaje sau pagini copiate din alţi autori”, scrie jurnalista Emilia Şercan.
Sursa citată arată că lucrarea a fost coordonată de profesorul Costică Voicu, cel care în 2007 era rectorul Academiei de Poliţie. Teza cu care Adrian Iacob a obţinut titlul de doctor în 2007 se intitulează „Criminalitatea organizată şi cooperarea poliţienească între state”.
Potrivit jurnalistei Emilia Şercan, lucrarea are 277 de pagini, fără bibliografie. A fost publicată în volum tot în 2007, la editura Sitech din Craiova, dar sub titlul „Lupta împotriva criminalităţii organizate”.
Adrian Iacob a copiat inclusiv notele de subsol indicate în textele originale. Iacob ar fi preluat chiar şi grafia din textele originale − cuvinte şi propoziţii îngroşate, publicate cu italice sau subliniate, dar şi alte însemne.
Totodată, 50 dintre cei 63 de autori străini trecuţi în bibliografie sunt puşi „din burtă", ei nefiind menţionaţi în cuprinsul lucrării.
Publicație: Adevărul
One in six students say they have no ‘true friends’ at university, according to study
‘As universities get bigger, there is a real danger that many students get lost and lonely’
More than one in six students say they have no “true friends” among their peers, according to a survey that has raised concerns about mental health at universities.
Nearly a third of students feel lonely on a weekly basis, while 15.8 per cent feel that way every single day of term time, according to research published by higher education policy group Wonkhe.
Black and minority ethnic (Bame) students, international students and disabled students are more likely to feel lonely on campus, the survey suggests.
here is a risk that more students could become isolated and lost as universities expand, the group adds.
Experts are calling for institutions to increase mental health and wellbeing support following the lifting of the cap on student numbers and a more diverse intake.
Some 17 per cent of those asked by Trendence UK, which carried out the survey on behalf of Wonkhe, said they did not consider themselves to have any true friends at university – rising to 20 per cent for international students.
More involvement in student activities leads to better wellbeing and less loneliness, the report suggests.
Debbie McVitty, Wonkhe editor, said: “The acquisition of friendships and social capital is woven deeply into assumptions about university – but as universities get bigger there is a real danger that many get lost and lonely.
“It’s crucial that universities and student unions consider how students can be supported to develop friendships as a key part of the student mental health puzzle.”
The findings was released at Wonkhe’s conference in London on Monday, where universities minister Chris Skidmore called on rogue private landlords to stop exploiting vulnerable students.
He said: “Students’ time at university should be seen as some of the best days of their lives and yet I have heard appalling stories of students living in terrible conditions, which can affect their studies and even their mental health.”
Universities UK has been approached for comment by The Independent.
Publicație: The Independent
Universities to be fined for handing out too many top degrees, education secretary threatens
Damian Hinds attacks ‘unjustifiable’ surge in firsts and 2:1s – urging regulator to use ‘full range of powers’ to halt it
Universities will be fined if they hand out too many first and 2:1 degrees to be fair to “hard-working students”, the education secretary is threatening.
Damian Hinds said a big leap in the two top awards – to 78 per cent of degrees, up from 67 per cent at the start of the decade – amounted to “grade inflation”, rather than rising standards alone.
Branding it “unjustifiable”, he said new powers to fine universities up to two per cent of their income for failings should be extended to include baseless grades.
It cannot be right that students in one year are awarded higher grades for the same level of achievement than those in previous years,” Mr Hinds said.
“We owe it to the hardworking students who have earned those top grades to stamp out this unfair practice.
“I expect the Office for Students – when they have their full range of powers – to challenge those institutions that record an unjustifiable rise in the proportion of top degrees being awarded.”
The education secretary pointed to analysis published by the Office for Students (OfS) last December, showing that 27 per cent of students obtained a first-class honours degree in 2016-17, up from 16 per cent in 2010-11.
The proportion was strikingly higher at some institutions, including the University of Surrey (50.1 per cent) and the University of Huddersfield (37.9 per cent).
The department for education said the analysis had concluded a rise of that scale could not be attributed to higher attainment at school or changes in student demographics alone.
Mr Hinds said British universities enjoyed a global reputation for “quality and high standards”, adding: “Unjustifiable, artificial grade inflation threatens that.”
However, the president of Universities UK, which represents higher education institutions, insisted they were already “determined to tackle unexplained grade inflation”.
“We recognise it is crucial that we keep the confidence of students, employers and the public, in the value of a university qualification,” said Dame Janet Beer.
“It is important to draw a distinction between grade inflation and grade improvement, where increased investment in teaching and facilities, as well as students working harder than ever, are leading to legitimate increases in grades.”
The statutory powers of the OfS will be strengthened by new regulations to be laid in parliament later this year, allowing the body to levy fines of up to £500,000 or two per cent of a university’s income, whichever is higher.
Universities found to be damaging students’ interests face fines, extra conditions on their registration, or – in the worst-case scenario – the removal of the right to award degrees.
New standards to ensure all degree awards are consistent and fair are already being drawn up by a committee for quality assessment.
Publicație: The Independent
Working-class discrimination is the weed in Plato’s garden
Prejudice against working-class academics threatens the academic integrity of universities, argues Jack Adams
There is a major problem with writing about the pernicious prejudice in academia against people from working-class backgrounds; expressing such experience risks fatally damaging a career path governed by those conducting the prejudice.
Unconstrained by such chains, as I run my own business as a consultant to academics and institutions, I have the freedom to speak out about these biases that I have experienced first-hand. In working with universities, I regularly find that my cockney accent frames me long before my abilities are considered. As a mature student at Oxford and Cambridge, this prejudice was ever present as well. I can empathise with academics from working-class backgrounds, especially those working in Russell Group universities.
A criticism about any critical enquiry regarding this prejudice is that, as here, most consideration is anecdotal, allowing those in denial – and often the culprits– to dismiss any such claims as unreliable or insubstantial.
Prejudice against working-class people is a virulent weed whose extensive roots lie mostly unseen within the soil of society. In academia, its presence is a pernicious expression of middle-class power, sadly, sometimes consciously wielded. Maybe it is a tragedy but more likely a farce that those who, through their discipline, should know better are often the most disabled. When an eminent Marxist sociologist, for example, forcefully expressed to a junior colleague of working-class origins that it was unworthy of his status to engage with the cleaning staff and insisted that he cease being so friendly towards them, we can see the whole spectrum of this prejudice at work.
Prejudice can never be self-reflective because it is always about power and the defence of the status that power imparts. The roots of this power are deep, an essential element of our culture, fertilising the nature of our establishment. Academia would require a monumental act of confession, both institutionally and personally, to acknowledge the problem.
If such a spiritual cleansing were to occur how would one weed-free plot in the social garden be meaningful? Perhaps the point would be academic integrity. In denying chairs to worthy candidates because, as one academic of status, performance and outstanding REF delivery observed, “you are not really one of us are you?”, this prejudice, as with all prejudices, undermines the public good mission of our institutions.
People such as our Marxist sociologist in his prestigious chair instinctively act as threshold guardians to this hierarchy. Their defence is robustly, uncompromisingly, non-intellectual, as was the case when a powerful, established gate guardian told the author of a recent article that it would never be accepted for publication by any respectable journal because it was critical of research by “well-respected colleagues and friends” whom he had been with at Oxford.
Still, no matter how substantial this prejudice, those from working-class backgrounds develop our own fortitude. We are equally robust because we are used to being required to knock down the walls of prejudice. We constantly outperform mediocrity even though our recognition for such feats is usually less than if we were middle class. We know that in the eyes of most, we can only ever come from working-class backgrounds; there is no such thing as a “working-class academic”. To be an academic is to be middle-class.
While we may be allowed into the guild, we’ll never be considered a member of the club unless we lose that cockney accent. It’s an unworthy and inhumane strategy as damaging as the prejudice. The first step has to be recognition of this prejudice in action, not concealment. We need to be bold and forgiving together, in the interests of academic integrity and the purpose of higher education.
Publicație: The Times
Scientific outcry as Norway approves loans for astrology courses
Oslo-based programmes win accreditation after regulator rules astrologers have good job prospects
A row has erupted in Norway after the country’s higher education regulator agreed to accredit courses in astrology, meaning students will be able to use government loans to look for meaning in the stars.
Norwegian scientists have criticised the decision, but the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) said that in making the ruling it was only following the law and blamed the government for not heeding its calls for stricter academic criteria.
NOKUT accredited three courses at the Oslo branch of Herkules, an 18-year-old astrology school with sites in four cities across Norway, triggering a wave of criticism.
“Are we a knowledge nation or are we not?” asked an incredulous Svein Stølen, rector of the University of Oslo, on Twitter.
Herkules has fought a long-running battle to win accreditation, which was finally granted after the school argued successfully that astrologers had good employment prospects.
Gisle Henden, director and founder of the school, told Times Higher Education that there were about 300 full- and part-time professional astrologers in Norway. “If there is a field [of employment] for astrology – that’s enough. That’s the law today,” he said.
Terje Mørland, NOKUT’s managing director, said that the regulator understood the backlash. “But we have to apply the law as it currently stands,” he wrote in a blog post.
The problem for the regulator is that for vocational education, unlike for university courses, it cannot legally assess the “academic standards, objectivity and ethical consideration” of a programme, he explained. Instead, accreditation focused largely on areas such as governance, infrastructure, faculty qualifications and relevance to the workplace.
NOKUT had warned the government that a recently passed law governing vocational education should include rules around “academic standards” – but the agency was ignored, he wrote.
In the wake of the row, the government has set up a working group to define “what should be the knowledge basis for the vocational college sector”, according to Tom Erlend Skaug, state secretary at Norway’s Ministry of Education and Research.
“We want to establish criteria that can strengthen vocational education and ensure that it is primarily based on current knowledge and practice,” he said.
But Dr Henden said that the government would find it hard to settle on a new definition of a course’s “knowledge basis” that would shut out astrology but not also exclude religious schools currently accredited by NOKUT.
The astrology school had been discriminated against by the authorities for years, he claimed. “A few hundred years ago, astrologers were burned…and the people responsible believed in a flat earth,” he said.
Publicație : The Times
University-powered fact-checker aims to restore faith in science
Online platform boasting 11,500 academic experts answering public questions seeks backing for global expansion
As anyone who has ever googled their medical symptoms knows, online search engines can often act as a hindrance rather than a help in seeking out facts. Yet in an age of conflicting political narratives surrounding climate change, healthcare and other important policies, the ability to find trusted sources of information has arguably never been so important.
Enter Metafact: a crowdsourced fact-checking service bringing together more than 11,500 academic experts that could help end widespread public fears of “fake science and misinformation”, according to its founder.
The brainchild of Ben McNeil, a senior lecturer in oceanography at UNSW Sydney, Metafact works by allowing members of the public to pose a question. Academics can give a “likelihood rating” along with a more detailed explanation of the evidence, which generates a percentage score for each question to show the strength of scientific consensus on an issue.
“The result is a more trustworthy place for people to find quick and reliable answers for real-life problems from scientific experts,” Dr McNeil explained.
For example, one question states that “CNN reported that autism in the US is increasing”, and asks: “Is this true?” The 31 expert responses so far provide a mixed result, earning the post a label of “uncertain”. But readers are able to view in-depth responses from experts including Uta Frith, professor of neuroscience at UCL, who advises that “the observed increase in prevalence – that is, cases diagnosed as autistic – is a consequence of changes in public awareness and changes in the interpretation of diagnostic criteria, especially as they apply at milder levels”.
Since its beginnings in January 2018, the platform claims to have answered about 500 questions, with expertise across 350 scientific fields from some 500 institutions, among them universities and research centres including Nasa.
Although some fact-checking sites already exist (for instance, FullFact, Snopes and PolitiFact), Dr McNeil said little progress had been made in dispelling online misinformation. The group behind Metafact is now looking for public backing, with a view to expanding its reach using academic expertise from universities across the globe.
Asked how academics – who typically juggle very demanding timetables – might be incentivised to participate in such a project on top of their other engagement activities, Dr McNeil suggested that the interest already existed, in that scientists were keen to defend their work against the “fake news” narrative.
“Most academics are frustrated with the continuous stream of misinformation in the wider media and internet relating to their current fields,” he said. “They want to help do something about this and the widening disconnect between real science and the wider community.”
Answering questions on an open platform can also be “more efficient on their time” than writing a blog on the subject, he suggested, while at the same time reaching more readers.
“This way, the public is asking them to help [directly] which makes it easier for a more diverse array of experts to engage for the first time,” he said.
Currently, most of the activity on the platform involves the fields of science and medicine, he added, but it was hoped that the website could expand to include social sciences and humanities, hosting “discussions and debates” where no clear answer was known.
A study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last year suggested that false information spread six times faster than facts on social media platforms, fuelling expert concerns that average internet users had little in the way of trusted tools to verify information online.
With this in mind, Dr McNeil was sceptical about Metafact’s ability to eradicate the “fake news” culture, but said he was optimistic that the platform would restore public trust in expert opinion.
“I don’t think there will ever be a way for us to not receive bad or false information from the internet [but] what we hope to do is inspire a culture of critical thinking in everyone, so they can question what they read – not just consume it,” he said.
A crowdfunding page has so far generated about £12,000 out of a £26,750 target to support the maintenance and expansion of the website. While Dr McNeil said he had had conversations with government bodies, he added that “we are an open science platform without paywalls or ads, so need to find members interested to support us”.
“Government funding bodies and universities are moving heavily towards incentivising researchers to engage and drive wider impact than just publications. So we are working with universities and governments interested in collaborating with Metafact to help drive their impact/engagement agenda and incentivise a new way for researchers to drive real-world impact with the public.”
Publicație: The Times
Lee Elliot Major: university access heading for ‘perfect storm’
UK’s first professor of social mobility says institutions must focus on outreach activities that are proven to work
Now the UK’s first professor of social mobility, Lee Elliot Major said that “in some ways, I’ve always been an academic on the inside”. But his route to the post at the University of Exeter has taken him on a circuitous journey outside academia during the 23 years since he completed his PhD.
Professor Elliot Major worked as an education journalist – including at Times Higher Education – and in science policy before joining the Sutton Trust, eventually serving as the access charity’s chief executive for four years until last month.
In that time, he became one of the UK’s leading commentators on university access and the author, last year, of Social Mobility and its Enemies.
“People ask, ‘What’s the common link?’ For me, it’s about straddling the divide between evidence and communication. It’s taking the evidence then trying to make that into a simple message people can understand,” Professor Elliot Major told THE. “My Sutton Trust role became more administrative…what this role allows me to do is go back to my roots in some ways and just speak more about the actual issues themselves, and do some actual research on these issues.”
And his roots on the issue of social mobility go back a long way. Having “effectively dropped out of school and lived on my own aged 16”, he eventually returned to college and became the first person in his family to go to university. His PhD, in theoretical physics, is from the University of Sheffield. “Education did make a big impression on me and my life,” he said.
After his time at the Sutton Trust, which has been criticised for focusing mainly on getting disadvantaged students into the most exclusive universities, Professor Elliot Major said that he was looking forward to broadening his remit.
“The trust is obviously an amazing organisation, but while it’s important that background shouldn’t determine who gets into the most selective university…I think social mobility is much more than catapulting a few talented young people to the very top of society,” he said.
In his new role, Professor Elliot Major will advise Exeter on access policy, support trainee teachers on raising attainment, and work with local schools on widening participation. There are signs that the university needs his expertise. Exeter’s rise up the league tables in recent years has sometimes run in the opposite direction to its record on access: last year, the share of first-year students who were from state schools fell by 3.5 percentage points, to 65.9 per cent.
The solution, in his opinion, is to focus on outreach activities that actually work. There has been “a tendency in the community, and I class myself within that, to try to improve participation by doing more and more, rather than [focusing on] what actually works best and for whom, [and] that is a weakness I want to address”, Professor Elliot Major said. “We’ve spent a lot of money on widening access but with very little debate about which bits work and, honestly, which bits we should stop doing.”
This will be even more important because Professor Elliot Major believes that a “perfect storm” is about to hit university access in the UK. The attainment gap at school between the most and the least disadvantaged students is likely to remain stark for some time, he said, while at the other end the least privileged are priced out of postgraduate degrees, which are increasingly important in the job market.
Then there is the review of post-18 education in England, bringing with it the risk of a cap on student numbers and an effective bar on students with lower grades entering higher education, via limits on student loan eligibility. Social mobility would “become even harder” if a cap were imposed, and grades would be a “blunt instrument” with which to judge students’ potential, Professor Elliot Major said.
“There are all sorts of clouds gathering, and I think we need to be on the front foot to say, ‘In an evidence-led way, we are going to try new approaches,’” he said.
Some of these suggested new approaches are set out in Social Mobility and Its Enemies, including a proposal that admissions to the UK’s most selective universities should be determined by lotteries among students who pass a grade threshold.
For its part, England’s regulator, the Office for Students, has set an ambitious target for universities to eliminate the gap in entry rates between the most and the least advantaged students within 20 years.
However, Professor Elliot Major is sceptical. “It’s good to have high aspirations, but my worry is that they are incredibly bold statements. I think some of that rhetoric is not realistic,” he said. “I say that not to be pessimistic, but because if you really want to do something about social mobility you have to do something about inequality outside education.
“Inequality and social mobility are inextricably linked. So if you’re really serious about social mobility, you’ve got to tackle the issues outside the university gates.”
Publicație: The Times
Dauphine fête ses 50 ans et veut s’imposer à l’international
Ni école, ni université, le «grand établissement» continue d’attirer toujours plus de candidats, et commence à se positionner dans les classements internationaux. Son modèle: forte sélection, cours en petits effectifs et de plus en plus d’investissement en recherche.
«Hybride», «Ni fac ni école», «grand établissement»... Les termes qui définissent l’université Paris Dauphine (16ème arrondissement) sont souvent aussi nombreux que confus. Il faut dire que l’endroit, imaginé par le ministre de l’Éducation nationale Edgar Faure dans la foulée des évènements de mai 68 pour créer un lieu pédagogique innovant, n’est pas avare de paradoxes. À commencer par celui-ci: il est officiellement un «grand établissement», autorisé à sélectionner ses élèves à l’entrée et à faire payer des frais d’inscription, mais il garde également son statut d’établissement public nourri à 60 % par des fonds d’état.
Après avoir conquis en 50 ans une très bonne renommée sur le territoire national, notamment dans la formation aux métiers de la finance, Dauphine s’est allié depuis 2010 avec des établissements de recherche comme le CNRS ou l’École Normale Supérieur (ENS) au sein de l’université de recherche Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) pour rentrer dans le club fermé et très anglo-saxon des meilleures universités au monde avec un objectif: chiper les meilleurs étudiants de la planète au nez et à la barbe de Stanford ou d’Oxford.
Anciens bâtiments de l’OTAN
L’histoire de Dauphine se lit dans ses bâtiments. Dans le grand hall du deuxième étage de l’université Paris Dauphine tous les étudiants connaissent les lettres qui parent le mur principal: «Animus in consulendo liber», «l’esprit libre dans la consultation», la devise de l’Otan. Elles font partie des dernières reliques du temps où ce bâtiment, dont les deux ailes mangent la lisière du bois de Boulogne, était le siège de l’organisation internationale. Construit entre 1955 et 1957, il fut donc le Palais de l’Otan jusqu’en 1966, année où l’alliance de l’Atlantique nord a déménagé à Bruxelles.
En 1968, alors que les étudiants battaient le pavé dans le sillon du déjà sémillant Daniel Cohn-Bendit et qu’un
« Jusqu’en 2004 et l’obtention du statut de ‘Grand établissement’, la sélection n’était pas officiellement autorisée »Isabelle Huault, présidente de Dauphine
renouvellement des modèles pédagogiques était attendu, Dauphine vit le jour sous l’impulsion du ministre Edgar Faure. ««Dauphine a été initialement construite sur la base d’une expérimentation, rappelle sa présidente Isabelle Huault. Après les événements de 68, l’idée était de créer une université innovante sur le plan pédagogique, et pluridisciplinaire autour des sciences de l’organisation et de la décision».
C’est le caractère même des anciens bureaux de l’Otan, des salles aujourd’hui tapissés de vieux linoléum, qui a imposé l’idée principale de la pédagogie de Dauphine: de petites classes de travaux dirigés pour tous, et pas de grands amphithéâtres, pourtant très en vogue à l’époque. Depuis 50 ans, ces petites classes font la réputation de Dauphine. «Les petites salles de l’ancien siège de l’OTAN ont conduit à concevoir des cours en petits groupes, ce qui contrastait avec les grands amphis des autres universités», souligne Isabelle Huault.
Une sélection «sauvage»
Pluridisciplinaire, le «modèle» Dauphinois se voulait aussi sélectif. En effet, à l’inverse des universités publiques, accessibles à tous sous réserve d’obtention du baccalauréat, Dauphine fut la première à assumer une sélection à l’entrée. «Jusqu’en 2004 et l’obtention du statut de ‘Grand établissement’, la sélection n’était pas officiellement autorisée, raconte Isabelle Huault, et l’université faisait face à de très nombreux recours devant les tribunaux, de la part de candidats recalés».
Depuis 15 ans, donc, Dauphine, qui n’est pas encore sur Parcoursup, a le droit de sélectionner, et ne s’en prive pas. Il faut dire qu’en master, le nombre de candidats augmente de 5 % par an, et 2 à 5 % pour la première année de licence Science des organisations qui attire plus de 6000 candidats pour 700 places chaque année. «Nous attirons de plus en plus de candidats en raison de la qualité de notre formation, reconnue par les milieux professionnels. En outre, notre réputation s’accroît parce que notre réseau d’anciens s’agrandit et nous permet de rayonner. Les alumni sont 88 000 aujourd’hui, certains sont membres de comités exécutifs d’entreprise du Cac 40. Florent Menegaux, un de nos anciens, va par exemple prendre la direction du groupe Michelin dans quelques semaines».
« Nous ne cherchons pas être comparés avec les écoles françaises»Isabelle Huault
Avec son statut peu lisible, l’université n’a jamais pu paraître dans les classements d’écoles de commerce comme celui du Figaro , et donc se comparer avec ses vrais concurrents en France: les grandes écoles de commerce. «Nous ne cherchons pas être comparés avec les écoles de commerce en France, assure sa présidente, même si une partie de nos formations recouvre un périmètre comparable. Nous avons des spécificités dont la pluridisciplinarité, qui nous permet de couvrir de larges domaines: des mathématiques à l’informatique, en passant par la sociologie, le droit, les sciences politiques, l’économie et le management.» Isabelle Huault veut croire que cette absence-là (dans les classements des écoles de commerce) n’a «pas d’impact sur les candidatures, puisque celles-ci ne cessent d’augmenter».
Dauphine s’exporte
D’autres classements attisent bien davantage la convoitise de Dauphine: les palmarès internationaux, majoritairement axés sur la recherche. «PSL (Paris sciences et lettres), dont fait partie Dauphine, est en mesure de rivaliser avec des établissements comme Oxford, Cambridge ou Harvard», poursuit Isabelle Huault avec ambition. En s’alliant au sein de l‘université de recherche PSL, Dauphine a donc clairement pour objectif d’aller chercher ces premières places. «PSL veut chercher à se positionner dans les grands classements généralistes mondiaux, par exemple Time Higher Education aujourd’hui, Shanghaï demain. C’est aussi un levier pour attirer de bons étudiants internationaux». Cette quête des sommets commence bien: dans le dernier classement QS par discipline, PSL a déboulé en trombe, pour la première fois, à la vingtième position en mathématiques. Et pour celui de Shanghai, qui attend encore avant de valider la candidature de PSL, les projections la placent autour de la 25ème position.
En attendant, dans un clin d’œil financier avec son anniversaire des 50 ans, Dauphine lance une levée de fonds de 50 millions d’euros, notamment pour rénover ses vétustes bâtiments. Vivement le centenaire.
Publicație: Le Figaro
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