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30 November 2004 n°44

ACA Newsletter

November

Academic Cooperation Association
Rue d'Egmontstraat 15, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium

In November ACA received the official answer from the European Commission for the founding of two projects.

The first study is about the Perception of European Higher education in third countries. ACA, working with its member organisations from across EU member states, answered an invitation to tender from the European Commission for a study which will explore the different “perceptions” of Higher education in Europe, before deciding on a European higher education “brand”. To devise a marketing campaign for the entirety of Europe’s universities and colleges is a challenge in a number of ways. But one thing is certain. Any successful action in this field requires a thorough knowledge of how European higher education is being perceived by those Europe seeks to attract.

The second project (EURODATA - European Higher Education Mobility Monitor) aims at producing data on student mobility into and between 32 European countries (EU-25 plus) of a quality and degree of differentiation at present not available from any other source. These data are needed by national governments and the European Union to measure progress towards the mobility-related objectives of European higher education innovation agendas (such as “Lisbon” and “Bologna”). Eurodata will produce a student mobility data report containing, in easy overview form, data on students mobility. If the pilot report should be successful, Eurodata is to become a regular publication (to come out every year or every second year).

In 2003, the Dutch Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) started the HEIGLO (Higher Education Institutions’ Responses to Europeanisation, Internationalisation and Globalisation) project, with the support of the Directorate for Research of the European Commission. In a first phase, the project undertook an analysis of governmental policies for internationalisation in seven European countries (Austria, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom) and of the policies of the European Commission. The project’s results were published under the title “On Cooperation and Competition” (edited by Professor Marijk van der Wende and Jeroen Huisman) in the ACA Papers on International Cooperation in Education. The one-day seminar concerned the second part of the project and looked at the implementation of internationalisation in a number of universities and other higher education institutions in the seven countries mentioned above. The 80 participants were presented case studies on higher education institutions’ internationalisation strategies. The different institutional strategies were then compared and discussed.

The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. It was founded in 1934 by the British Government to counter foreign organisations promoting fascism, the British Council is the UK’s international expert on cultural relations. It was originally called ‘The British Council for Relations with Other Countries’. It wins recognition abroad for the UK’s values and achievements in education, the arts, sport and science, taking a lead in governance and human rights issues. The BC was granted a Royal Charter by Parliament in 1940. Its purpose is to build mutually beneficial relationships between people in the UK and other countries, and to increase appreciation of the UK's creative ideas and achievements. It operates independently from the UK Government. With 7,000 staff working in 110 countries worldwide, the British Council operates in three broad areas: Learning, creativity, and society.

Global Knowledge is a new magazine focused on cooperation in research and higher education between Norway and countries in the South and East.

The aim of the interdisciplinary magazine is to present education and research which have had a positive impact on societies as well as individuals.

Academics and students from the North, South and East get equal say in the columns of the magazine. Highly competent journalists and photographers from both North and South/East are also involved.

The first edition of Global Knowledge focuses on democracy and includes material about or from Malawi, Uganda, South-Africa, Zambia, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan, Palestine, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Norway.

The magazine is published in English, and distributed free of charge (contact siu@siu.no)

The European Parliament has approved José Manuel Barroso’s new team of EU commissioners. Ján Figel from Slovakia will take office on Monday 22 November as the new Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilinguism.

The Committee on Culture and Education met on October 4th and discussed the proposal “An Integrated Program in the Field of Lifelong Learning”. The goal of the proposal is to gather under one structure the four major internal programs concentrating on school education (Comenius), higher education (Erasmus), vocational training (Leonardo) and adult education (Grundtvig). A hearing 29th November The next meeting of the Committee will take place the 25th November in Brussels.

Pending the opinion of the European Parliament, the Council held a policy debate on the programme in the field of lifelong learning proposed by the Commission. The debate focused essentially on transversal programme, second foreign language, and quality of mobility and European charter for mobility. As proposed by the Commission (11587/04) the integrated programme will comprise four existing programmes: Comenius (general education); Erasmus (higher education level); Leonardo da Vinci, (vocational education and training); Grundtvig (adult education). It will also include a “transversal” programme incorporating four key activities (policy development, language learning, innovative approaches and dissemination of project results), plus a Jean Monnet programme to support action related to European integration and European institutions and associations.

A few weeks ago, outgoing European Commission President Romano Prodi surprised everyone by labeling the Lisbon Strategy, one of his Commission’s prime projects, “a failure” so far. Prodi based his assessment on a report on the Lisbon record to date, produced by a “high level group” headed by former Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok. Kok’s verdict is sobering, to say the least. Instead of coming closer to the objective of turning Europe into the “most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world”, Europe has, since the Lisbon summit which set this aim, “lost ground to both the US and Asia”. Kok blames the EU member states of not taking the execution and delivery of the agreed measures seriously enough and he warns that “much needs to be done in order to prevent Lisbon from becoming a synonym for missed objectives and failed promises”.

Kok spots many, if not the most important, shortcomings in the field of education and research. A particularly disappointing finding is that only two countries currently fulfil the R&D target of spending at or above 3% of GDP. Together with failings in the lifelong learning sector, “an indifferent capacity to transform research into marketable products and processes, and the lower productivity performance in European ICT-producing industries”, this is identified as one of the chief reasons for the Lisbon malaise.

Kok reaffirms the validity and relevance of the Lisbon priorities and delivers recommendations how to still lead the process to success. But he leaves no one in doubt that time is running out. Therefore, he concludes, “if Europe is to achieve its goals, it must act single-mindedly and with focus; and it must act now”.

In October the European Students Forum AEGEE organised in Turkey two remarkable events. At the beginning of the month, students gathered in Ankara for a conference to build understanding between the European and Muslim worlds. The "Islam and Europe: Eye Contact" conference took place in the Middle East Technical University. The 60 participants were hosted by AEGEE-Ankara (the European Students' Forum in Ankara), with the support of Council of Europe, the European Commission, the Secretariat General for EU Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Over six intensive days, the students outlined their common values, and set out a range of projects for building dialogue and understanding between their communities. Proposals included: further dialogue on women and the Hijab, on the compatibility of Muslim and European identity, and on Turkey's accession to the EU; media projects to reach a wider audience and overcome popular prejudices; work with the socially excluded in both communities; the developement of an NGO network to cooperate on these and other projects. Professor John Esposito warned the students "to compare real with real, ideal with ideal," and not to compare the best of their own culture with the worst of the other.

Then, on the 21-24th of October, in Izmir, they gathered in a discussion over Turkey and its EU accession chances, opportunities and threats. The highlight of this second event was the students-performed simulation of the Council of Europe November meeting, having to decide on the Turkish candidature to the European Union.

As Bologna structures become reality across Europe, the implications of the reforms are being even more widely discussed. In particular, the duration of the different tiers is high on the agendas. Three-year or four-year Bachelor’s, one-year or two-year Master’s programmes - this seems to be one of the most important concerns of higher education institutions. The reason? An ever more competitive environment.

What is the background to these discussions? The Bologna Process establishes a single, Europe-wide degree structure for Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD programmes. A Bachelor’s programme may have between 180 and 240 (ECTS) credits. With 60 credits equalling to approximately one year of study, this corresponds to an overall duration of three to four years. For the Master’s, 60 to 120 credits are foreseen, in other words, one to two years. However, most countries are interpreting Bologna structures as three years for a first degree, two years for a Master’s, and another three years for a doctorate (see for instance The Independent, 11 November 2004, http://education.independent.co.uk/). This interpretation has created different kinds of worries.

For example in Britain. In the same article, titled “Harmony in Europe”, The Independent reports on the worries of British academics about the effects Bologna might have on the lucrative British one-year Master’s programme. The major part of the overseas student “market” of British universities, and the substantial financial income linked to it, depend on this one-year degree. The concern is that, if a two-year Master’s becomes standard across Europe, the UK Master’s may be considered as “rather lightweight and inferior” and looking “substandard” in a competitive situation. Other voices quoted in the article state that “Britain cannot afford to ignore what is going on in Europe”, and express hopes that Bologna “will result in less arrogance towards Europe”. For the most part, the rumours and worries are attributed to a lack of information and action by the government, which did not even mention Bologna in the last White Paper on higher education: “the fact that the government has chosen to say so little has meant that misunderstandings and rumours have flourished”. But the rumours are also evidence for the fear that Britain may lose its competitive advantage to a stronger continental Europe.

In Germany, the academic world is worried about the implications of the duration of the Bologna cycles, too. In this case, the emphasis lies on the three-year Bachelor’s programmes. The fear is that these will not meet international standards beyond European borders, e.g. that they will not be recognised by higher education institutions in the United States. At the origin of the discussion is a survey on the admission of European students at US and Canadian institutions, conducted by Educational Credential Evaluators and the Institute of International Education (for a summary see http://www.iienetwork.org). The survey shows a concern about the evaluation of three-year degrees for graduate admissions: 74 percent of the surveyed defined a Bachelor’s degree as a four-year degree. On top, two third of the surveyed were either not at all familiar with the Bologna Process (30 percent), or had heard of it but did not know much about it (35 percent). The German press used the results of the survey to criticise the introduction of the Bologna reforms – and brought about a fervent discussion in the academic world.

The debate revealed one of the actual reasons behind the US institutions’ reluctance to accept the Bologna Bachelor’s: fear of competition. This was confirmed by stakeholders from US institutions and associations, as well as by organisations like the Fulbright Commission, all quoted in an article published by the German Süddeutsche Zeitung (2 November 2004, http://www.sueddeutsche.de/). The concern is that the shorter European Bachelor may be more attractive, and that US institutions lose part of their market share – and financial income.

Conclusion: rumours and competitive thinking make the world spin round. Nothing new, really.

2004 EU Marie Curie Awards announced: European Excellence in Research rewarded The European Commission announced 7th November in Warsaw the winners of the 2004 Marie Curie Awards, with grants of up to €50,000 going to five outstanding European researchers. The Marie Curie Awards are given in recognition of the excellence achieved by researchers who have benefited from EU support schemes and to boost their careers by contributing to their international exposure. This year’s graduates include two Germans, two Italians and an Israeli. They made scientific breakthroughs on issues such as the creation of galaxies, the roots of human empathy, quantum physics, new catalysts and the science of materials. (Source: Euractiv)

On 18 and 19 November 2004, the European Commission held a European Seminar for 200 Bologna Promoters selected by their National Authorities to act as advisers to their colleagues in the implementation of the reforms carried out in the 40 countries participating in the Bologna process. The aim was to allow the participants to meet and to discuss a strategy for raising awareness on the reforms. In conjunction with this meeting, the Commission awarded the first ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) Label to the 11 institutions which have completed the introduction of ECTS in all degree programmes. Label Holding Institutions will receive funding to extend the use of ECTS to Lifelong Learning. Rewarded Institutions: Technische Universität Graz (AT), Faculté Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Gembloux (BE), Universiteit Antwerpen (BE), Universtiteit Gent (BE), Universidad de Deusto (ES), Arcada - Nylands Svenska Yrkeshogskola (FI), Lappeenranta University of Technology (FI), Agricultural University of Wroclaw (PL), University of Aveiro (PT), Universidad de Minho (PT), Hoskolen i Agder (NO).

Hundreds of European Union students living in the UK could qualify for maintenance grants and loans following a preliminary ruling by the European Court. The ruling emerged last week in the case of a French student, Dany Bidar, who applied to Ealing Borough Council for funding when he enrolled at University College London in 1998. Mr Bidar was refused a maintenance loan because he was not "settled" in the UK, despite completing his secondary schooling in London. He claimed the council had breached his rights as an EU citizen. Ruling in favour of Mr Bidar, Leendert Geelhoed, an advocate general at the European Court of Justice, said that "assistance with maintenance costs for students attending university courses either in the form of subsidised loans or grants" is now covered by rights banning discrimination on grounds of nationality. Mr Geelhoed said that national rules on such grants and loans must be "unrelated to the nationality of EU citizens", although there must be a "real link between an EU citizen applying for such assistance and the national education system and society". Catherine Fawlk, a public law expert at specialist education law firm Mills and Reeve, said that the decision is likely to lead only to a small proportion of grants and loans being awarded to the estimated 50,000 EU students in UK universities. The Department for Education and Skills stressed that the latest opinion was "not binding" and it would await the definitive judgement next year.

The European Community and the United States of America agreed to extend their agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation for a period of five years. Cooperative activities between the EU and the USA may take the form of coordinated research projects and joint research projects, task forces and studies. The sectors covered include environment (including climate research), biomedicine and health (including research on AIDS, infectious diseases and drug abuse), non-nuclear energy, telematics and science and technology policy, and management, training and mobility of scientists. (Source: Press Releases Council of the European Union)

The programmes aim primarily at promoting understanding between the peoples of the European Community and each the United States of America and Canada To reach these objectives the programmes support innovative, multilateral, student-centred projects with the potential to stimulate substantive and long-lasting structural and transatlantic co-operation in higher education and vocational training.

The contracting authority: European Commission (EuropeAid Co-operation Office)

4. Other Sources

New research carried out by IDP shows that Britain has the highest living costs among the main English-speaking nations for foreign students, sparking fears that British universities could lose out in the lucrative market for overseas students.

An investigation into the living and study expenses of overseas students reveals that it is cheaper to live in America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia than in Britain.

Although studying in Australia is cheaper than in UK, the report indicates that the cost of studying in Australia has more than doubled since 2001.

The research was released on 7th October at the 18th IDP Australian International Conference in Sydney and compared the five main English speaking destination countries - the UK, Australia, the US, Canada and New Zealand - with the emerging Asian study destinations - Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Thailand and India.

The researchers reviewed tuition costs for nearly 600 courses in business, information technology and engineering - the most popular among foreign students -along with living expenses. The cost of studying in each country was calculated by adding average tuition fees, health cover and expenses such as study materials to the cost of living.

The report says the cost of living in Britain is equivalent to $11,150 (£6,060) a year, while in Australia it exceeded $9,500 for the first time this year. Living expenses in the US and Canada are lower, at $9,000 a year each, while New Zealand is least expensive at $8,700.

Of six Asian countries, the annual cost of living ranges from $7,080 in Hong Kong to $1,515 in India. Singapore is the second most expensive place to live for foreign students, requiring a yearly outlay of $6,410 compared with $5,220 in China, $3,785 in Malaysia and $2,900 in Thailand.

The international student market is big business in Australia, contributing 14% to its universities' revenues in 2003, up from 6% in 1995. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, education is now the country's ninth largest export and third largest service export. But the sector is already starting to suffer, said the IDP, with the first half of 2004 witnessing a year-on-year fall of 8% in international student applications.

Launched in September 2004 and designed to enhance the art of governance, the program offers students an interdisciplinary grounding in public policy analysis. The program will be an opportunity to apply contemporary theories of public policy to real life problems, especially those confronting post-socialist countries and other emerging democracies. The MPP is designed for those embarking on a career in policy work or those already working in the public sector, international organizations, non-governmental bodies, or the private sector. The MPP offers a truly international learning environment with students from Europe, Africa, North America and Asia. The program has both a taught and practical component. The program's core course address economic, political, legal and ethical aspects of public policy. In addition, through its fiscal decentralization and international policy practice streams the program allows for further specialization. Academic training is complemented by an internship program. Applications are now invited from candidates who have a humanities or social science background. Application materials should reach the CEU Admissions Office by January 6, 2005 to be considered for a fellowship. Full fee paying applicants may submit their applications till the end of June 2005.

For further information please send an email to mpp@ceu.hu and consult the program's website at http://www.ceu.hu/cps/mpp.

Last year thousands of researchers claimed for a new framework law on research. As a consequence, the Academy of Science created the EGR (Etats Généraux de la Recherche), a national debate to investigate the crisis in French research and put forward proposals for the reform promised by President Chirac. The EGR culminated in a two-day conference in Grenoble in October, attended by researchers, academics, heads of research organisations, politicians and other policy makers. Edouard Brézin, vice-chairman of the Academy of Sciences presented the EGR 24 recommendations, among them a full government ministry for Higher education, research and technology, an elected high-level scientific council, and a stronger research role for universities. The ideas of evaluation and quality are also a core element of the reform, even the concept still need to be precised. He also stressed the links between research and civil society. The problem between Universities and Grandes Ecoles was pointed out, especially in the Bologna context. These reforms will be manageable with a grant of one billion Euros.

At the same time, the OST (Observatoire des Sciences et Techniques) indicated that France is losing good image in terms of science and research.

Good news for French students: They can buy a computer for one Euro a day with 50% off. This initiative between the Government, banks and IT companies, started at the end of October.

(Sources: Times Higher Education Supplement, Le Monde, Comité d’Initiative et de Proposition des EGR, OST)

In January of this year, Germany’s governing Social Democrats had demanded, in their “Weimar Guidelines”, the creation of German world-class universities, able to compete with “Harvard and Stanford”. As readers of the ACA Newsletter will recall, the rapid implementation of the ambitious project was much impeded by the fact that the federal government cannot decide alone on higher education matters, but needs the agreement of the Länder. The Länder had come up with their own plan, which concentrated on the creation of “network of excellence”, composed of consortia of the country’s best faculties and departments.

On 15 November, the liaison body for educational affairs of the federal state and the Länder (BLK) finally reached a compromise. There are to be between five and ten “elite universities” (Spitzenuniversitäten), as well as the “clusters of excellence” and graduate schools the Länder advocated. The programme will become operational in 2006 and run until 2011. The funding, overall 1.9 million Euro, will mainly come from the federal level (75%). The average funding per university and year is to be around 25 million. If the heads of the Länder and the federal government finally approve the compromise, the deal could be finalized by January 2005.

Opening themselves to different cultures and languages is one of the most valuable learning experiences – if not the best learning experience students can have. Thanks to the Erasmus scheme, this has been possible for over a million students since 1987, the year of its creation.

Italy, a country that has always been rather inward looking in relation to other EU members, has seen a growing number of home students taking part in the Erasmus scheme, going from 220 students going abroad in 1987 to 15.225 in 2003. However, compared to France and Spain, that are approximately the same size as Italy in terms of population, Italy is lagging behind.

According to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Italian students should take more advantage of such EU mobility schemes. The national newspaper Corriere della Sera has recently written about the President’s declaration about the important role of young people in the making of Europe and indicated university exchanges as one of the best tools to make students more ‘European’. He further suggested that the Erasmus scheme should not stop at higher education level, but that it should also be applied to high schools.

As of now, there are not any real exchange schemes at EU level for high school students, at least not EU-funded ones. However, every year a number of students leave Italy to study in a high school abroad for one year. These exchanges are being arranged by a non-profit association called Intercultura, which collect grants and scholarships from private companies. Last year, 800 students took part in this scheme. There are 40 countries available, and while most of the places are located in the United States (290), 32 are in Germany, 13 in France and 20 in China.

Of course 800 high school students going abroad is not a high number in a country of about 58 million people – hence the need for a recognised scheme which would allow more students, of all economic backgrounds (because financial support is essential when studying abroad), to participate.

As of January 1, 2005, Stavanger University College becomes The University of Stavanger. The Norwegian government has recently announced that it accepts the endorsement from the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) for granting the long awaited university status to the university college. Norway’s first university was established in 1811 in Oslo, since then there has been founded three more universities in Bergen, Trondheim and Tromsø. The last university founded was Tromsø over 30 years ago. The realisation of the University of Stavanger is therefore the first major development within the university sector in over 30 years, and it is an historic event.

Stavanger University College, its predecessor, was founded in 1994 when seven local colleges were joined together. Since then staff, politicians, local and regional business has worked together to build a foundation for a change of status from University College to the University of Stavanger.

The University College of Stavanger was scrutinised and evaluated by The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education on those standards set out by the Mjøs Commission, the Norwegian parliament`s specially appointed commission. The committee that was appointed for this task was unanimous in its recommendation, that Stavanger University College had fulfilled the criteria and standards set out enabling it to become a university. "The new university will not be a blueprint of the existing universities in Norway, but have an alternative academic profile," said Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik at a press conference in Stavanger. At first, the new university will offer four Ph.D. programmes in the following areas: Offshore Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Resilience and Risk Management, and Special Needs Education. Today, Stavanger University College has about 7,700 students, and offers 24 Bachelor programmes and 12 Master programmes.

A new network is being developed for European researchers in the US. It will provide web based and other services for researchers who are interested in strengthening their contacts with other European researchers in the US and Europe. This project has been conceived by the European Commission in collaboration with Embassies of the EU Member States in Washington. It will be fully operational by the end of 2005.

5. Publications

Nearly 100 degree programmes taught in English in Finnish universities, introduction to the Finnish higher education, system of study and various practicalities. The brochure is published now for the first time.
68 pages, 2004. Available on the web.

The international student data and study abroad data from IIE's Open Doors 2004 report have been released to the public as of today, November 15, 2004. The Open Doors report, funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, includes extensive data and analyses on foreign student enrollment and American students studying abroad, the economic impact of foreign students on the U.S. economy, and more.

To see all the Open Doors and online survey information, including press releases, data tables and comprehensive background material, visit.

The Financial Times publishes rankings of four types of business school programmes. The tables are all available in pdf format files. Starting with the EMBA rankings for 2003, interactive tables introduced to enable to rank schools according to various criteria.

EDEN, the European Distance and E-Learning Network announces that the European ODL Liaison Committee, with the major contribution of Claudio Dondi, Vice-President of EDEN, have elaborated a new Policy Paper, entitled: "Distance Learning and eLearning in European Policy and Practice: The Vision and the Reality", commenting the status of eLearning in Europe.

The paper gives a review of the approach that European institutions have adopted towards eLearning in recent years and concludes its strengths and weaknesses. It provides survey on the perspective of eLearning in the light of the next generation of EU educational programmes and formulates recommendations for re-establishing the policy momentum for the eLearning Initiative and its being integrated, together with the use of ICT for learning, in the lifelong learning agenda.

Stefanie Schwarz and Don F. Westerheijden (Eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers 2004, 493 pages

The book presents a rich account of the development of accreditation and evaluation in 20 European countries, and shows how accreditation is becoming a main mechanism in the steering of higher education all over Europe.

6. Upcoming Conferences

Organised by European Association for Education Law and Policy in cooperation with the SAELPA, ANZELA, ELA (USA) and regional ELAs in Europe

"Knowledge, Access and Governance: Strategies for Change"
UNESCO Headquarters, Paris

1^st Meeting of the Working Group of the Project on Higher Education Ranking Systems: How They Work, What They Do,

organized by UNESCO-CEPES, jointly with the Institute for Higher Education Policy, Washington DC, USA

Bologna seminar “Strengthening European co-operation in vocational education and training: The Way Forward ”

Bologna Seminar "The Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area"

Bologna-seminar: "The social dimension of higher education facing world-wide competition." (27^th January)

OC 2005 takes place in a LearningTimes Online Conference Community - an online environment in which groups of participants, both small and large, gather electronically to learn, collaborate and network.

Bologna Conference "Student Mobility in the European Higher Education Area 2010"

· May 19-20

Impacts of mobility: The lasting effects of international mobility on individuals

Conference organized by ACA, in cooperation with Högskoleverket, the Internationella Programkontoret and the Svenska Institutet.

CONTENTS

4. Other Sources

5. Publications

6. Upcoming Conferences

· May 19-20