Ei-iE

For the first time, EI higher education affiliates in the Latin American region have met in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia on 25-26 July 2013.

The EU high-level group on modernisation of higher education published its first report on improving the quality of teaching and learning in universities.

The European University Association released the latest edition of its Public Funding Observatory report which monitors the impact of the economic crisis on universities and identifies trends in public funding to higher education institutions across Europe since 2008. The report is launched in tandem with a new interactive online tool...

The organization representing Canada’s academic staff is calling for an overhaul of the federal government’s science policy, following renewed concerns about the impact of recent decisions on the integrity and independence of scientific research.

At its recent Congress, the University and College Union (UK) unveiled a new toolkit for members to campaign against the growing pressures of privatisation.

Professors at San Jose State University in California are refusing to use a Harvard-produced philosophy course developed by edX, one of the major providers of the controversial Massive On-Line Open Courses (MOOCs), out of concern the intention is to replace faculty with cheaper on-line education.

A new report by the University and College Union (UK) warns that at the current pace of change it will take almost 40 years for the proportion of female professors to reach the same level as the proportion of female staff in universities and almost 16 years for black and...

A new report by the University and College Union (UK) warns that at the current pace of change it will take almost 40 years for the proportion of female professors to reach the same level as the proportion of female staff in universities and almost 16 years for black and...

Student success and learning outcomes have become the focus of higher education policy around the world. In most cases, the emphasis is on holding institutions and teachers accountable for achieving measurable outputs – like graduation rates and standardized test scores – with some significant implications.

EI affiliates have pledged to work more closely together to defend and promote the professional, academic, trade union, and human rights of the higher education community. The commitment was made at EI’s 8th Higher Education and Research Conference, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 25-27 September.

U-Multirank, a new university ranking system, was launched last month under the Irish EU Presidency at a conference in Dublin. Proponents say the new system marks a radical departure from the traditional methods of ranking higher education institutions which tend to focus mainly on research performance.

University tuition fees have been eliminated in Germany as the last two remaining states to charge students have change course.

The OECD has released the first two volumes of the Feasibility Study of the Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO). The first report focuses on the development and implementation of the study while the second provides information about data analysis and national experiences.

A number of EI’s higher education and research affiliates are joining forces to foster capacity building initiatives with sister unions in developing countries. The EI consortium is being established to pool resources to better support the strengthening of trade unions in the sector.

At its meeting last October, the EI Executive Board unanimously adopted a new policy statement on tuition fees.

Defending higher education in an age of austerity - a view from the University and College Union (United Kingdom) By Kathy Taylor, President, University and College Union, United Kingdom