Ninth Level Ireland

“As the various reports about and proposals for universities in Ireland have emerged in recent years, one of the regular points of concern expressed by those commenting on them has been that all our higher education strategy seems to be focused on science and engineering. Certainly the funding for the national research agenda has been particularly generous to those fields that are covered by Science Foundation Ireland …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 25 August]

“I suppose if we are honest, we like them when we do well and we pour scorn on them when we don’t …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 23 August]

“We still have to work out a sensible and fair system of financing higher education …” (more)

[Garret Fitzgerald, Irish Times, 23 August]

“Immigrants and students seeking to study in Ireland have been hit with a 50% increase in the cost of registration with the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB).” (more)

[Claire O’Sullivan, Irish Examiner, 23 August]

“I doubt there will be many people giving university lectures this academic year in Dublin wearing gowns. And yet, there is still something curiously formal and old-fashioned (in a pre-1960s sort of way) about academic life …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 21 August ]

“The gloomy prospect of empty college desks grew yesterday as an unprecedented one in five third-level courses advertised vacancies. Universities and other third-level institutions are struggling to fill places as never before …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 21 August]

“One of the questionable effects of the introduction of managerial models in many UK universities has been the use of academics by some managers in some universities to inform on their colleagues …” (more)

[Times Higher Education, 21 August]

“A professor who resigned in protest after his university overruled his decision to fail more than a dozen of his students has won an Employment Tribunal case for unfair dismissal. Times Higher Education reported exclusively in March 2007 that Paul Buckland, professor of archaeology at Bournemouth University, had judged that 14 BSc students should fail a resit exam …” (more)

[Phil Baty, Times Higher Education, 21 August]

“For much of this decade there has been a growing call for universities to reform, or be reformed …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 20 August]

“Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe should be applauded for putting this important issue back on the agenda …” (more)

[Michael Casey, Irish Times, 20 August]

“In an exclusive interview with the Irish Times, Michael Ryan of budget airline Leeryjet explains how he would tackle the issue of third-level fees. “What I’d do, right, is reintroduce the fees but not tell the students until they arrived. ‘Welcome to Snooty University,’ I’d say. ‘Tuition is free but there’s a €5,000 surcharge for your rucksack.’” (more)

[Newton Emerson, Irish Times, 20 August]

“A decision by the board of An Bord Pleanála not to confer voluntary status on the University of Limerick (UL) has cost the university more than €150,000 …” (more)

[Gordon Deegan, Irish Times, 19 August]

“It seems Ireland is not alone in creating new barriers to international student recruitment. Recent news in the Guardian states that the Home Office in the UK will require potential international students to provide evidence that they have access to at least €9,600 a year before entering the UK …” (more)

[Kelly Coate, Summa cum laude, 19 August]

“Another day, another bout of media coverage on tuition fees. On the whole, this is a good debate for the sector, but there are also some red herrings. For my own part, I am increasingly of the view that we need to emphasise and re-emphasise the two most important points in this debate: (a) that the Irish higher education system is horribly under-resourced; and (b) that the current ‘free fees’ framework is actually preventing money from being directed effectively to the lower income groups so that they too can properly access the university sector …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 18 August]

“The Progressive Democrats will make a proposal to Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe, to give tax write-offs in return for personal or corporate donations to colleges … ” (more)

[Irish Examiner, 18 August]

“Before demanding more funding from the government, the heads of third-level institutions must deal with their own problem of wasting resources …” (more)

[Joe MacDonagh, Sunday Business Post, 17 August]

“The reason the return of third-level fees keeps surfacing as a story – admittedly during August – is that the current situation is inequitable and wrong. The benefits of a third-level education accrue primarily to the degree holder, whose economic prospects are greatly enhanced by his or her education. Their education costs the state a lot of money. They are squeezed through a sector that is badly in need of more funding (and significant reform). That the state should fund the advantageous choices of a certain segment of the community from the proceeds of general taxation makes for bad economics and deeply inequitable social policy …” (more)

[Sunday Business Post, 17 August]

“Reintroducing university fees for higher income families will ensure help goes to those who need it most …” (more)

[Marc Coleman, Independent, 17 August]

“College fees could return as early as 2010 if Minister Batt O’Keeffe’s plan is accepted by his Cabinet colleagues, he has told the Sunday Independent … ” (more)

[Daniel McConnell, Independent, 17 August]

“Third-level students may soon be faced with fees or student loans. Students starting third-level courses this autumn may yet face college fees before the end of their degrees, with one university president describing fees as ‘‘inevitable’’ in the short-term …” (more)

[Nicola Cooke, Sunday Business Post, 17 August]