“An immunologist who pleaded guilty to grant fraud in court has avoided jail after several prominent scientists wrote letters begging for clemency on his behalf. His sentence of home detention, community service and financial restitution, finalized on 15 June, suggests that coming clean promptly can be a good strategy …” (more)
[Eugenie Samuel Reich, The Great Beyond, 28 June]
“The British government has now issued its long-expected and somewhat delayed White Paper on the future of England’s system of higher education. The title - Higher Education: Students at the Heart of the System – gives a clue as to how the government wants to present its new educational order …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 29 June]
“The artist at the centre of the controversy surrounding an exhibition at University College Cork has said that she’s offended by the offence caused by her work …” (more)
[TheJournal.ie, 28 June]
“Politicians, vice-chancellors and lobby groups have all given their initial responses to the publication of today’s White Paper on higher education. Here are a selection …” (more)
[Times Higher Education, 28 June]
“The union that represents Irish academics has defended salaries of €100,000 or more for 1,000 university lecturers. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that Ireland’s seven universities and Dublin Institute of Technology have more than 1,000 lecturers who earn six-figure sums …” (more)
[Ronan McGreevy, Irish Times, 28 June]
“The race for a place to study medicine will be tougher this year. Scores achieved by students in the HPAT aptitude test have risen for the third year in a row. It means that competition for each place in the five medical schools will be even stiffer than before …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 28 June]
“… What’s rather unfortunate about this whole rather strange incident (the offending portrait was a tiny A3 piece of digital art nestled unassumingly amongst a number of other exhibits on display at the college) is that the people of Ireland deserve a definitive answer as to whether or not University College Cork (UCC) is going to be investigated for this exhibition, but such an answer has, now four days after exhibition began, not been forthcoming …” (more)
[Daniel O'Carroll, 27 June]
“Universities will be ranked by graduate employment rates and salaries under a wide-ranging overhaul of higher education, it has emerged …” (more)
[Graeme Paton, Daily Telegraph, 28 June]
“Teagasc officials are optimistic that changes in the make-up of the certificate in agriculture course will allow graduates to continue to qualify for the stamp duty exemption on farm transfers. Details of the proposed changes to the course, commonly called the Green Cert, will be discussed at a meeting between Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture on Thursday …” (more)
[Martin Ryan, Independent, 28 June]
“When I was a law student in the 1970s, we had one lecturer whose teaching was simply appalling. He sat while lecturing (with no physical reasons for doing so). He never looked at the class. He never asked questions, rhetorical or otherwise. He never encouraged analysis …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 27 June]
“When two young graduates became besotted by an emerging Galway Arts Festival, little did they know that they would become bosses of a prestigious international event. Now the festival’s chief executive John Crumlish and artistic director Paul Fahy have secured the support of NUI Galway for a partnership which will give students the sort of opportunity that the pair once had to seize for themselves …” (more)
[Lorna Siggins, Irish Times, 28 June]
“I find myself at a loss regarding how the problem of blasphemy is being discussed in Cork. There has been no art-historical analysis of queer art, there has been little media reference to the issue of the 2006-2009 Defamation Bill, and discussion on one political site is limited to the idea that art should be subject to market-force and consumer popularity …” (more)
[poethead, 26 June]
“A final decision on student tuition fees must be made by September, the Employment and Learning Minister said. One option is for charges to be increased to £4,500 a year, Stephen Farry added. Another would be a reduction in funding of up to £100 million a year – the equivalent to running a university …” (more)
[Independent, 27 June]
“When new lists categorising European arts and humanities journals were first published in 2007, UK academics were – to put in politely – incensed. We want ‘no part’ in such a ‘dangerous and misguided exercise’, said a plethora of journal editors. A special arts and humanities user group was even formed by UK subject associations to provide a co‑ordinated opposition …” (more)
[Zoë Corbyn, Guardian, 27 June]
“There has been a lot of noise in the US and elsewhere in recent years about the rising cost of a college education and whether the returns justify the investment. This article in the NYT, referencing a new study conducted at Georgetown University, shows why it is still worth it …” (more)
[Sandeep Gopalan, Irish Law Forum, 27 June]
“Senior academics have carried out their threat to resign from the Arts and Humanities Research Councils peer review college in a dispute over ‘Big Society’ research – and are now calling on colleagues to join them. The 42 academics announced last week that they would resign on 27 June unless the council took ‘clear steps’ to remove the five references to David Cameron’s core policy in its latest delivery plan …” (more)
[Paul Jump, Times Higher Education, 27 June]
“Alison Wolf tells Tim Black that the now orthodox view of universities as engines of economic growth is making us lose sight of their primary purpose: the pursuit of knowledge …” (more)
[Sp!ked review of books, June issue]
“The Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said a new series of cuts being considered by the Government for next year will go outside of the terms of the Croke Park Agreement. Government departments have been written to and asked to consider ‘bold and unpalatable’ measures to save money …” (more)
[BreakingNews.ie, 27 June]
“Academics have today defended salary levels in the third-level sector after an investigation revealed high wages for some university staff. The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT), which represents two-thirds of third-level academic staff, said the majority of lecturers are not high earners …” (more)
[Charlie Taylor, Irish Times, 27 June]
“Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said today that he was not aware that more than a thousand staff in the third-level sector are paid more than €100,000. The figures were revealed in a Sunday newspaper report during the weekend …” (more)
[BreakingNews.ie, 27 June]
