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ACA
Newsletter n° 38 Academic Cooperation Association Rue d'Egmontstraat 15, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium CONTENTS
1. News from the ACA Secretariat and ACA Members ACA Conference ‘The International Campus’ –register now! The registrations for the next ACA conference ‘The International Campus’, to take place in Budapest (Hungary) on 20-22 June 2004 are now open. The early registration with a preferential fee is available until 21 May. For the conference programme and the on-line registration form, please
go to:
British Council and IDP: UK is not ready for the wave of foreign students Experts from the British Council, in collaboration with the IDP Australia, have warned that the UK is poorly prepared to meet the needs of the more than 800,000 international students that could potentially flood into its universities and colleges by 2018. The council is concerned that UK institutions have yet to develop the capacity in terms of physical space and facilities as well as of human resources to cope with such numbers without jeopardising academic standards. Neil Kemp, the council's marketing director, says that “the biggest selling point for us is still quality and the employability associated with our qualifications”. Anything that undermines these points will undermine UK’s position against the growing competition from new players such as Japan as well as established rivals America and Australia. Colin Gilligan, professor of marketing at Sheffield Hallam University, said his research had found few signs that UK institutions had adopted a significantly more professional approach to marketing themselves to overseas students since he produced a critical analysis of their activities for the British Council four years ago. He said that the fact that they had not developed a more professional approach left them exposed to the impact of events such as the row over immigration or a terror attack. In addition, Benson Osawe, the chair of the Council for International Students, said that the because of the introduction of visa extension charges in the UK many students had already decided to take up offers in the US or Canada instead. Source: THES, 09 April 2004
DAAD, Nuffic and EduFrance: European Higher Education Fair in Bangkok The PEER consortium (‘Promoting European Education and Research’) of three ACA members, DAAD (Germany), Nuffic (Netherlands) and EduFrance (France), is organising and implementing the European Higher Education Fair (EHEF), to take place in Bangkok on 20-21 November 2004. The fair will provide a platform for representatives of EU member states and Higher Education Institutions to inform the Asian visitors about Higher Education opportunities in their respective countries. Approximately 90 Higher Education Institutions and national representations will present their educational programmes and provide information on language requirements, living conditions and other related issues. Also some seminars will be held on relevant topics like study opportunities in Europe. EHEF Bangkok 2004 targets prospective students, young professionals and intermediaries (parents, companies and universities) interested in European Higher Education, from Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos. The organisers expect around 3.000 visitors for the fair. Many students will already have completed a first degree and are thus looking for a course leading to a Masters degree or a PhD. The focus will be on courses taught in English. The fair is co-financed by the European Union’s ASIA-Link Programme aiming at the promotion of European Higher Education in a number of Asian countries. The consortium has also launched a special web site
dedicated to the fair:
2. European PolicyAssessment of national reports shows that Erasmus success continues The Commission has just assessed the Socrates-Erasmus National Agency reports for 2002/03. The assessment shows details on the numbers and distribution of both Erasmus students and teachers across the participating countries. The numbers confirm that Erasmus has continued to increase its popularity and to gain more ground in countries where response to the programme has been weaker so far. The number of Erasmus students has risen in all participating countries. There were a total of 124,000 Erasmus students in 2002/03, of which 16,340 from the acceding and candidate countries. Compared to the previous year, this represents a total increase of 7,4%. That is a higher increase than in the previous year (4%). The majority of the countries experienced a growth in outgoing numbers. Countries such as Denmark, Finland and Norway that were either stagnant or in decline in 2001/02, show now signs of improvement. All the countries of Southern Europe continue their steady growth with outgoing student numbers, and Spain remains the favourite destination country. Incoming students to the acceding countries have increased by 25%. The total number of Erasmus students since the start of the programme exceeded 1 million in 2002/03. Also the number of Erasmus teachers, who give courses as part of the official curriculum of a partner university in another European country, has been steadily increasing over the last six years (from 7,800 in 1997/98 to 17,000 in 2002/03). In 2002/03 it grew by almost 7%. Of all the participating countries, Finland, Liechtenstein, the Czech Republic, Malta and Belgium have the highest ratio of outgoing teachers in proportion to their teacher population. The most popular host countries are Germany and France, receiving 25% of all teachers. Proportionally more teachers are mobile than students. From 1987 to 2000, nearly 750,000 university students completed a period abroad in the context of Erasmus and over 1,800 higher education establishments currently participate in the programme. For the period 2000 to 2006, the EU budget allocates around € 950 million to Socrates, with 160 million reserved for Erasmus action. In each country, the public authorities, universities and other organisations offer additional sources of funding. Sources: European Commission Press release, 29 March 2004; InfoBase Europe, 30 March 2004; Agence Europe, 1 April 2004
Common EU rules and easier access to third-country students and researchers During their Council meeting on 30 March 2004, the European justice and interior ministers reached a political agreement on the draft directive setting the conditions for entry and residence in the EU of students, trainees and volunteers coming from third countries. The ministers agreed to replace the different corresponding national legislations by common EU rules. This agreement comes at a time when the number of students on international exchanges is greater than ever and demand for student mobility is growing constantly. The EU wants to raise its profile on the world education stage and increase its attractiveness to international students, and this proposal is designed to help to achieve this goal. According to the new common rules, the students, unpaid trainees and volunteers from third countries must prove that they are admitted to an educational establishment, participate in an exchange programme or a voluntary service scheme, or have a vocational training contract in order to get a residence permit in an EU country. They must also prove to have adequate financial resources to cover their needs during the stay. Once admitted to the EU, these students will have the right to reside in another Member State to pursue part of the course they have started or to take a further course. They will have limited access to the employment market up to a maximum of 10-12 weekly hours, depending on each Member State. In the same meeting, the Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino briefed the Council on a package of measures aimed at facilitating the admission of third country researchers into the EU. This package has recently been submitted to the Council preparatory bodies that will examine the proposals with a view to adopting it as soon as possible. Promoting and facilitating the admission of third-country researchers by providing favourable conditions to enter the EU Member States could contribute to increasing Europe’ attractiveness for this category and thus help to achieve the objective of the Lisbon process, that is to make the EU the most dynamic and competitive knowledge based economy in the world. For further information, please see:
UK Royal Society calls for more centres of research excellence in the EU The UK's Royal Society added its voice to the debate surrounding fundamental research in Europe on 25 March. In its report, the Society states that ‘Europe’s aspiration to be the most competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy requires the development and maintenance of more centres of research excellence within Europe […] than are currently maintained by national funding bodies’. The report represents the society's response to the so-called Mayor report, the final recommendations of the European Research Council Expert Group (ERCEG) published in December 2003. The ERCEG concluded that a European fund for basic research of around €2 billion per year should be established, along with a European Research Council (ERC) to administer the fund. The Royal Society’s report describes the ERCEG proposals as 'significantly more focused' than some previous contributions to the debate, and expresses support for many of the group's key recommendations. The Royal Society's vice president, Sir John Enderby, said: 'We are generally supportive of the idea of creating a European Research Council, but in order to have a beneficial impact, it must use excellence as the primary criterion for assessing research proposals.' The report goes on to endorse the Expert Group's opinion that the distribution of funds by the ERC should be totally independent of the Commission, and that increasing EU support for basic research must not have a negative impact on national budgets for fundamental research. In conclusion, the Royal Society identifies several other issues that it says will need to be addressed in the near future. These include discussions on the basis for funding research expenses, clarifying relationships with national funding bodies and existing pan European research organisations, and deciding how to handle intellectual property rights resulting from ERC funding. Source: Cordis Rapidus Notification, 26 March 2004
European Council says work on the Lisbon targets must be sped up At their spring meeting held in Brussels on 25 and 26 March, the European Council (composed of the heads of state and government of EU member countries) focused very much on the implementation of their ambitious plan to turn Europe into “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy”. The Council had received an interim report on progress (or lack of it) so far, which formed the basis of their deliberations. It concluded that “the picture is a mixed one”, and that “the pace of reforms must be significantly stepped up if the 2010 targets are to be achieved.” In the area of research, which receives ample attention in the “Presidency’s Conclusions”, progress is to be accelerated through “strengthened business investment in R&D, more interaction between public research bodies and industry, and greater competition” in order to promote scientific excellence. The document further demands that the European Research and Development Framework be “simplified to maker it more user-friendly”, particularly for SMEs and start-ups, and that its future priorities should be “to promote cooperation between business and research, to boost future technologies, and to support basic and applied research.” The heads of state and government further showed themselves open to “enhanced support for basic research” and to “the possibility of setting up a Research Council.” Berti Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister and current Council President, was quoted as saying after the meeting that research and development were for him the top priorities for reaching the competitiveness goal. The European Council also reaffirmed the crucial role of education and training in the attempt to become the leading knowledge-based economy. However, with regard to education and training, the “Presidency’s Conclusions” are much more vague than concerning research. The document stresses “the need for reform and investment in the key areas for the knowledge society” and “it recognises that lifelong learning has positive effects on productivity and labour supply”. In 2005, at the midpoint on the way to the 2010 Lisbon deadline, an “in-depth review of delivery” will take place. Into this review will feed the results of a “high-level group” of “highly qualified individuals” headed by Wim Kok. For further information, please see:
EU needs more human resources in science and technology At a conference held in Brussels on 2 April, Research Commissioner Busquin presented the interim report of a “high-level group” that was to look into ways to increase the number of scientists and engineers in Europe. The report, entitled “Increasing Human Resources for Science and Technology in Europe”, had been produced since the middle of 2003 by the said group chaired by former Portuguese Science and Technology Minister José Mariano Gago based on a widespread consultation of key stakeholders in the field, in which ACA also took part. Europe currently lags very much behind its main competitors in the number of scientists and engineers. While the average number per 1 000 inhabitants in the US is 8.08 and even 9.14 in Japan, it is only 5.7 in the EU15. As part of the Lisbon Strategy in research, which aims raising R&D spending to 3% of GDP, it had therefore been regarded as necessary to increase the number of Europe’s researchers in this field by about half a million. The high-level group came up with the following recommendations:
For further information, please see:
New Director for European Training Foundation The European Training Foundation (ETF) has a new director: Muriel Dunbar, 52, (still) Deputy Director of the British Council in Indonesia, has been chosen to be the new Director of this EU agency based in Turin, Italy. Dunbar will succeed Peter de Rooij, whose mandate as Director comes to an end on 30 June 2004 and who has managed the ETF since it was established in 1994. The ETF is the EU agency active in the field of vocational education and training in the EU's neighbouring countries. Dr. Dunbar, who is British, has spent her entire 30-year career working in the field of vocational education and training. She is currently a senior consultant in education and training at the British Council in Indonesia working on a variety of education reform projects, and has advised on many donor-funded projects in vocational education and training in developing and transition countries. For further information, please see: http://www.etf.eu.int/
3. Public Tenders and Calls for Proposals in the EUCall for tenders EAC/17/04: Hosting, management, enhancement, promotion and maintenance of the European Commission's Internet portal on eLearning The contract aims to ensure the continuity of the www.elearningeuropa.info portal and to improve it with new features and upgraded tools. The services required include hosting, managing, enhancing, promoting and maintaining the portal, proactive search and gathering of information and content, editorial work and active encouragement of user participation. The contracting authority: European Commission Deadline: 14 May 2004 Further information: http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/elearning/call_en.html and eac-elearningportal-tender@cec.eu.int
Erasmus Mundus call for proposals 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 The Erasmus Mundus programme is a higher-education co-operation and mobility programme, which promotes the European Union as a centre of excellence in learning around the world. It supports European top-quality Masters Courses and enhances the visibility and attractiveness of European higher education in third countries. It also provides EU-funded scholarships for both third-country and EU-nationals. The Erasmus Mundus programme comprises four concrete actions:
Erasmus Mundus will support about 90 Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses of outstanding academic quality. It will provide grants for some 5,000 graduate students from third-countries to follow these Masters Courses in the EU, and for more than 4,000 EU graduate students to study in third-countries. The programme will also offer teaching or research scholarships in Europe for over 1,000 incoming third-country academics and for a similar number of outgoing EU scholars. The duration of the programme is five years (2004-2008) with a planned financial envelope of €230 million for the whole period. The programme will be implemented by the European Commission and applications for the entirety of the Actions are to be addressed to the Commission. Students and scholars who wish to submit their application to participate in an Erasmus Mundus Masters Course must apply directly to the selected Masters Consortium offering the Course in question. The contracting authority: European Commission Deadline: 31 May 2004 Further information: http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/mundus/call_en.html
4. Other SourcesFrance: New ministers for education and research Exciting times for French education and science: in the midst of a long campaign against the government research policy (see next article), the education and research community now has to cope with a couple of new ministers. After the heavy losses that the French conservative party experienced at the recent regional elections, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has reshuffled his cabinet. As part of the restructuring, Raffarin appointed the former minister of social affairs François Fillon new minister of higher education and research. His predecessor Luc Ferry left the government. François d'Aubert took over from Claudie Haigneré as delegated minister of research, reporting to Fillon. 50-year-old Fillon has a substantial political biography: He was minister for higher education and research for two years from 1993. His delegated minister for research, Francois d'Aubert was also a secretary of state for education and research from 1995 to 97. Fillon inherits his predecessor Luc Ferry's reform to give universities more autonomy and to formalise the introduction of the European higher education structure. The reform was delayed last year after unrelated teacher protests. Public-sector pension reforms introduced by Fillon when he was minister for social affairs, employment and solidarity, were among teachers' complaints. Before accepting his new post, Fillon insisted on sufficient resources to settle the dispute with French researchers – the first thing he would do in office (see next article). Sources: THES, 9 April 2004; The Scientist, 2 April 2004 For complete biographies of the new ministers, please
see:
New French ministers cede ground in dispute with researchers The three-month dispute between the French government and researchers seems to bear the first results: At request of president Jacques Chirac and prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the newly appointed French minister for higher education Francois Fillon has abandoned plans to cut 550 permanent positions from state research facilities and promised to create 1000 additional university research jobs. The government concession followed a fervent protest campaign by French researchers: Nearly 320,000 scientists and supporters had signed the internet petition of the protest platform “Sauvons la Recherche” (Save Research), and more than 3,500 laboratory directors and research team leaders had resigned from their administrative duties. The scientists' three initial main demands, outlined in the petition, were for the immediate payment of overdue funds from the 2002 national budget that had been allocated for scientific research, an increase in the number of positions for junior researchers, and the convocation of a national assembly on research. Fillon had insisted on sufficient resources to settle the dispute with French researchers before accepting his new post. Almost immediately after the government reshuffle, Fillon and his delegated minister for research François d'Aubert met key stakeholders of the French research community. President Jacques Chirac had asked the government to make concessions earlier on, as in his opinion the researchers' demands were "justified". In the follow-up of these talks, Prime Minister Raffarin promised a new strategic and financial framework for research. He said legislation would be introduced before the end of the year, and France would fulfil the European objective of devoting 3 per cent of its gross domestic product to research by 2010. After the concessions made by the government, Alain Trautmann, spokesman of the platform “Sauvons la Recherché”, said that, three months after its launch, the movement had achieved all the most urgent measures it had asked for. He said that this unexpected result was due to a powerful movement comprising the entire French science community, with the backing of tens of thousands of citizens. However, according to Trautman, lots of work still needs to be done. Two aspects might be worth underlining: France is a country with an indisputable tradition and tendency of strikes. However, unlike other sectors, the scientific community is not in the position to paralyse the entire country. It is remarkable that, nevertheless, the campaign has been successful. Secondly, and beyond the protest movement, there might be a feeling that France’s proud and once prestigious research community is losing its place at the forefront of European research. The French government has quite some time ago declared research to be a national priority, as most of its European neighbours did in the context of the Lisbon agenda. The future will show to what extent the government will live up to its declaration. Sources: Le Monde, 8 April 2004; THES, 9 April 2004; Financial Times, 10 April 2004; Chronicle of Higher Education, 14 April 2004
German universities were once regarded as a “world-wide reference”, to use the formulation of the much-quoted Barcelona summit of European heads of states and government. Alas, this is no longer so. Lack of funding and a good deal of overregulation have left their marks. To reflect on how to win back the lost territory had been the aim of a party retreat of the ruling Social Democrats. It produced the “Weimar Guidelines” (6 January), which called for innovation in all sectors of education, and particularly in the tertiary sector. One stated aim was to create a number of “elite universities” which would be able to compete with “Harvard and Stanford”. The document sparked off a heated public debate. Some accused the Social Democrats of abandoning their traditional egalitarian approach to education. Many universities remained sceptical, asking how excellence could spring from an undergrowth of an under-funded overall system. Others did not quite see how the federal government, which has hardly any mandate in education, could see any such reforms through. And no-one quite knew whether the “elite universities” were to be new creations or existing institutions. Federal education minister Edelgard Buhlmahn became a lot more precise at the end of February, when she announced her intention to launch, by the summer of 2004, a competition of the name “brain up”, which was to fund, for five years from 2006 onwards, about ten “elite universities”, with an annual amount of 50 million Euro each. Germany’s Länder, most of which are governed by the Christian Democrats, came up with an alternative plan. The Kultusministerkonferenz, the coordination body of the state education ministers, advocated in early March the creation of networks between the best faculties and departments, called “networks of excellence”. These would also be marketed abroad as a “German elite campus”. The country’s rectors’ conference had in the meantime also opted for a network solution. A joint commission of the federal and state education ministers is meanwhile looking for a compromise. A group of state secretaries was mandated on 29 March to work out an agreement “for the promotion of excellence by means of elite universities and a network of excellence”. Meanwhile, some states, among them Bavaria, are preparing their own initiatives. Bavaria has decided to fund individual programmes rather than a single university or networks. It takes an egalitarian approach to its own elite programme, since it wants every Bavarian university to offer such courses. They would differ from “normal” programmes in the quality of the student intake, the speed of completion, and the level at which they are taught. In a first round, 15 courses were selected by a commission of international researchers, from among 104 applications. All but two Bavarian universities are represented, and those not in the first time round – Passau and Bamberg, should join the club in the next round. Science subjects were in the majority in the first round, but Bavaria’s Ministerpräsident (PM) can well imagine that it will be another area in the future, such as engineering. For more information see: http://www.hrk.de/4007.htm
New game, new luck? Reforms on the Spanish research agenda The newly elected Spanish Government has announced that it will take specific steps to reform the country's science policy. On the agenda are for instance an increase in spending for research and development (R&D), the creation of new ministerial and funding bodies, and measures to improve the mobility and status of researchers. This announcement follows up on a pre-election public statement signed by renowned Spanish scientists. The scientists' petition stressed that, even though Spain had undergone major economic progress over the past 25 years, no proportional investment in research had taken place. “The victory of the socialists opens a new era of hope for scientists”, said Joan Guinovart, signatory of the State Pact for Science and first president of the Confederation of Spanish Scientific Societies, a new 20,000-member body. Is this so? The agenda, as announced by a spokesperson of the Socialists' Parliamentary Science Commission, is ambitious: The research budget is to be increased by 25% every year until 2008 so as to double investment in R&D, i.e. an increase to 2% of gross domestic product from today's 0,96%. An interesting detail: all R&D expenditure for military purposes will be excluded from the budget. The previous administration had been heavily criticised for including military expenses, sometimes up to 40%, within the research budget. Furthermore, the National Plan on Research and Development will be discussed in the parliament. The previous government did not ask for any parliamentary input before formulating the first National Plan (1998-2003). Also, for the first time in Spain, postgraduate students in the third and fourth years will be awarded contracts, possibly leading to permanent employment. Linked to any future European Research Council, the government will create a new Research Funding Agency that will be run by scientists. Last but not least, there are plans to create a new Science and Education Ministry, merging the now separate ministry for Science and Technology and the ministry for Education and Culture. As is characteristic for agendas, only the future will show up to what extent it will be put into practice. However, the calm but determined reform attitude of the Spanish government-to-be gives reason to hope. For further information, please see: http://dbs.cordis.lu/
UK: Money matters – places from home undergrads to international post-grads? British students face the prospect of increasingly tough competition for degree places in English elite academic institutions as universities try to boost private funds by enrolling more postgraduate and overseas (non-EU) students. The elite institutions have already complained that they lose money through teaching home and EU undergraduates. Imperial College London and Oxford and Cambridge universities have calculated that they would continue to lose money even if they were to charge these students the eventual top-up tuition fee of £3,000 (€4500) a year. How are the universities to create the needed revenue, then? The UK universities are free to generate as much money as they can from the course fees for postgraduates and students from outside the EU, as these fees are not regulated by the state. Professor Grant, provost of the University College London (UCL), calculated that if the College took 1,305 fewer UK-EU undergraduates, it would need to recruit only 132 international students in their place to draw the same income. In fact, UCL plans to rise the proportion of students from outside the European Union from 21% to more than 25% and the proportion of postgraduates, which is now 37%, to 50% by 2014, while keeping the total student numbers frozen. Also other top research institutions, such as Oxford and Cambridge, are preparing to increase postgraduate and international admissions at the expense of undergraduate enrolments from home and elsewhere in the EU. The London School of Economics has already started, over the past decade, to pursue a policy of reducing the number of home-student enrolments. At present the LSE has the highest proportion of postgraduate students of the Russell Group universities: in 2001 some 57% of its students were postgraduates. Source: THES, 26 March 2004
UK: Much debated Higher Education bill passes another crucial vote Prime Minister Tony Blair's government once again thwarted challenges to its controversial Higher Education Bill on Wednesday, as the House of Commons approved the measure by a far more comfortable margin than when it was voted on in January (see ACA Newsletter No. 36 at http://www.aca-secretariat.be/). Indeed, the bill passed its third reading in the Commons by 309 votes to 248. Rebel Labour MPs failed to muster enough support for an amendment to replace the government's plans for variable tuition fees of up to £3,000 a year with a fixed-rate charge for students to be paid after graduation. Ministers had warned that if their proposals for variable fees were voted down, they would withdraw the whole bill. Put to a vote, the amendment was defeated by 288 votes to 316. The debate now enters the Lords, where the government will rely on 182 Labour peers and the majority of the 180 crossbenchers (lords with no party-political allegiance) to get the bill through without amendments. As well as distinguished academics - such as Lords Parekh, Skidelsky and Desai - the House of Lords includes 35 university chancellors. The main student organisations have opposed the measure throughout, and the president of the National Union of Students has vowed that the battle against the bill will continue as it proceeds through the House of Lords. Mr. Blair has defended the principle of students' shouldering at least part of the cost of their higher education. "All we are saying," he said, "is that a small proportion of the overall investment in university education should be repaid by the graduate according to their ability to pay, and I think that's a fair system which people will support". But not everybody seems convinced. Sources: THES, 1 April 2004; Chronicle of Higher Education, 1 April 2004
India: True dedication to education 68-year-old Shyoram Yadav, from the village of Tasing in Rajasthan, in India, is preparing to take his secondary school exam for the 35th time. He has been trying to pass the exam since 1969. He has vowed to remain unmarried until he passes the exam, as he believes that "education is everything in life". "Education rules the world: education is supreme even among your own brothers, your own society, your government, and abroad”, says Mr. Yaday. So far, Mr Yadav has been unlucky, as he has failed a different subject each year: when he attempts to improve on a failed exam the following year, another subject trips him up. However, he remains determined to achieve his goal. Mr Yadav's fellow villagers are hopeful he will pass this year. "It was his wish to pass the grade 10 exam and then to get married, but so far God has not favoured him," said Hanuman Goyal, who took the same exam as Mr Yadav some years ago. Lekhraj, an old learning colleague who took exams with Mr Yadav in 1972, praises his dedication: "He wants to pass the exam on his own. He doesn't want help from anyone and he'd never copy anyone else's work," he says. "That's why we respect him." As we all should: this is real dedication! Source: BBC News, 15 April
5. PublicationsOECD Handbook for International Comparative Education Statistics: Concepts, Standards, Definitions and Classifications, OECD, 260 p. / ISBN 9264104100, Paperback €45 During the past decade, the OECD has developed and published a broad range of comparative indicators that provide insights into the functioning of education systems. Fundamental to the credibility and understanding of these comparisons are the concepts, definitions, classifications and methodologies that have been developed to underpin the statistics and indicators. This handbook draws these methodologies together in a single reference volume, providing an aid to both users and providers of OECD statistics on education. The handbook provides answers to questions such as “What is a teacher?”, “What do we mean by public education expenditure?” as well as questions concerning the use of the indicators: “How is expenditure per student being interpreted? What is it measuring?” In doing so, the handbook aims at facilitating a greater understanding of the OECD statistics and indicators produced and so allow for their more effective use in policy analysis. Equally, it provides a reference of international standards and conventions for others to follow in the collection and assimilation of educational data.
Retention and Student Success in Higher Education, Yorke, Mantz; Longden, Bernard, Open University Press, 2004, 212 p. / ISBN 0335212743, Paperback, £22.50 (€34.30) Retention and completion rates are important measures of the performance of institutions and higher education systems, and understanding the causes of student non-completion is important for an institution seeking to increase the chances of student success. The early chapters of this book discuss retention and student success from a public policy perspective. The later chapters concentrate on theory and research evidence, and on how these can inform institutional practices designed to enhance retention and success (particularly where students are enrolled from disadvantaged backgrounds). This book draws upon international experience, particularly from the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and the United States. Retention and Student Success in Higher Education targets lecturers, support staff, and senior managers in higher education institutions, and those with a wider policy interest in these matters.
The State of Change. Analysing Policy Change in Dutch and English Higher Education, Theisens, H., Enschede, Center for Higher Education and Policy Studies (CHEPS), 2004, 290 p. / ISBN 9036520185 The general claim in comparative politics that majoritarian democracies are capable of faster policy making than consensus democracies was only partly substantiated in this study. Looking at the short term, England has indeed been capable of swift policy making. On several occasions during the period from 1980 to 1995, it has designed policies and decided on them in a fast, centralised and isolated style that would be impossible in the Dutch consensus democracy. Paradoxically, when comparing the two systems over this longer period both countries have shown very comparable levels of policy change. The pdf-file can be downloaded from http://www.utwente.nl/cheps/documenten/thesistheisens.pdf.
Internationalization of Higher Education Practices and Priorities: 2003 IAU Survey Report, Knight, Jane, IAU 2003, ISBN 9290021713 This publication is the result of a first global survey carried out among member institutions of the International Association of Universities (IAU) on the practices and priorities of internationalisation at their institutions. A second survey will be undertaken in 2005 and published as well, allowing for review of developments over time and perhaps pushing the analysis further. The publication can be downloaded in English: http://www.unesco.org/iau/internationalization/Internationalisation-en.pdf and French: http://www.unesco.org/iau/internationalization/fr/Internationalisation-fr.pdf.
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