Ninth Level Ireland

“The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has slammed the Fine Gael/Labour Government for setting the polling day for the upcoming Presidential Election & Referenda on a Thursday. Yesterday, Minister for Environment Phil Hogan TD signed the Polling Day Order unfairly scheduling polling to take place on a Thursday, on October 27th, which will prevent thousands of students from being able to cast their vote …” (more)

[USI, 31 August]

“Lenny Cassuto defends comments made in our live chat on academic publishing and explains why he thinks print still trumps blogging for academics trying to establish themselves …” (more)

[Guardian Professional, 31 August]

“NUI Galway has announced the establishment of a Rugby Youth Academy to cater for teenagers in Galway. The Youth Academy is an integral part of the existing University Rugby club, which was formed in 1874, and is a founder member of the IRFU …” (more)

[Galway Independent, 31 August]

“Libya’s new government, the National Transitional Council (NTC), has said it plans to restart higher education this coming month. But the country’s universities remain unsure when doors will actually reopen for students. Many universities across the country have been closed or operating shoestring services, since Libya’s rebellion started in February …” (more)

[Megan Detrie, University World News, 31 August]

“A major survey of online marketing to prospective international students has found that a ‘one size fits all’ approach is unlikely to succeed, and that, for universities, a web presence is not a substitute for face to face interaction …” (more)

[Andy Wright, Times Higher Education, 31 August]

“… But as author and academic George Monbiot points out in a recent piece in The Guardian, there is one large publishing market that not only remains undisrupted but continues to produce huge returns for those who control it: the publishing of academic journals. Why has this market been able to resist the tide of change sweeping through the rest of the industry, and what will it take to finally disrupt it? …” (more)

[Mathew Ingram, Gigaom, 30 August]

“Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has admitted for the first time he doesn’t know the number of unqualified second-level maths teachers – five months after asking experts to find out …” (more)

[Louise Hogan and Breda Heffernan, Independent, 31 August]

“Trinity College Dublin has been told the town of Kells in Co Meath ‘wants the Book of Kells back’. A new forum comprising local people from the medieval town yesterday started a campaign to have TCD release one of the four volumes of the Book of Kells and allow it to go on display in Kells …” (more)

[Elaine Keogh, Irish Times, 31 August]

“At the close of round one at 5.15pm on Monday last, the CAO reported that it had received a total of 37,171 acceptances in that round. This represents around 75.23% of the 49,408 applicants who received an offer in round one …” (more)

[Independent, 31 August]

“I spent yesterday at the annual conference of CASE Europe – the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. I was invited to take part in a panel discussion on blogging and tweeting by university heads. That, I might say, is a space I am used to being in on my own …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 31 August]

“According to its website, the functions of the Department of Education include the ‘key elements of policy planning, quality assurance, resourcing, regulation and evaluation’. It would seem obvious that, to carry out these key functions, the department would need comprehensive information from the schools …” (more)

[Independent, 31 August]

“The death has taken place of prominent historian, author and Trinity College Dublin academic Robert Brendan (RB) McDowell at the age of 97. He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and in 1932 went to Trinity …” (more)

[Irish Times, 31 August]

“A major €20m library is the next project in Mary Immaculate College’s ambitious capital budget plan, president Peadar Cremin said this week. The college’s library is ‘completely inadequate’ for the college’s needs and is an ‘irritant’ to the student body, he said …” (more)

[Anne Sheridan, Limerick Leader, 30 August]