“Deputy Brian Walsh asked the Minister for Education and Skills his position on proposals concerning the idea of a technological university comprised of Athlone, Dundalk, Letterkenny, Sligo and Galway-Mayo Institutes of Technology; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil Éireann Written Answers, 7 February]
“Remember all that talk of how the supporters of SOPA/PIPA were ‘humbled’ by the protests of January 18th, and how they had learned their lessons about trying to push through a bill without actually involving the stakeholders? Remember the talk of how they hoped a new tone could be found in the debate? Yeah …” (more)
[Mike Masnick, Techdirt, 8 February]
“Sources in the Higher Education Authority (HEA) have confirmed reports circulating that the process of setting up a technological university in the southeast, and potentially in other regions, is gathering pace …” (more)
[Carmel Doyle, Silicon Republic, 8 February]
“The academic publisher Elsevier is being boycotted by the online HE community due to the prohibitive costs of its journals. But is an open access model the right solution, asks Martin Paul Eve …” (more)
[Guardian, 8 February]
“Back in ancient times when I worked at esteemed weekly newsmagazine US News & World Report, I always loathed the annual college rankings report. Like all cash cows, however, the college guide was a sacred cow, so I just shut up about its obvious statistical absurdities and inherent mendacity …” (more)
[Stephen Budiansky's Liberal Curmudgeon Blog, 1 February]
“The Department of Graduate Business at WIT has completed the formal signing for its new Double Degree – involving the MBS Internationalisation (MBSI) degree at WIT and the Master in International Business (MIB) degree at the Ecole Superieure de Commerce, Brest, in France. The formal signing ceremony was hosted by the Brest Chamber of Commerce in its corporate offices in Brest …” (more)
[Waterford Today, 8 February]
“Last minute hopes for a controversial statutory instrument dubbed Ireland’s SOPA going back out to the public for consultation have been dashed. The instrument is due to be signed shortly …” (more)
[John Kennedy, Silicon Republic, 8 February]
“The Lib Dems have suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of their Conservative coalition partners after a powerful committee of MPs vetoed Vince Cable’s choice of new university access tsar …” (more)
[Jessica Shepherd, Guardian, 8 February]
“The recent lowering of the boundary walls at Mary Immaculate College is a clear statement, according to its newly elected president, that the third level institute is ‘open for business’. Speaking at his inaugural lecture, Prof Michael Hayes said it is time to: ‘Re-imagine what it means for Mary Immaculate College to be a Catholic College’ …” (more)
[Rebekah Commane, Limerick Post, 8 February]
“Modularised courses would give students more flexibility to change degree programmes or switch institutions. As tuition fees increase, is it time the UK took a serious look at this option? …” (more)
[Eliza Anyangwe, Guardian, 8 February]
“Seán Ó Foghlú has been appointed the new secretary general of the Department of Education and Skills. Mr Ó Foghlú has been an assistant secretary general in the department with responsibility for the planning and building unit in Tullamore …” (more)
[Seán Flynn, Irish Times, 8 February]
“The process which could lead to the establishment of a technological university in the south-east, and possibly elsewhere, is moving forward. Last week, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) agreed new rules governing the establishment of a TU …” (more)
[Irish Times, 8 February]
“Come September, up to 100 children attending a secondary school in Co Cork will no longer have to lug around backbreaking satchels. And Coláiste Treasa in Kanturk plans to phase out all books within five years …” (more)
[Sean O’Riordan, Irish Examiner, 8 February]
“It was a terrible shame that Irish internet service providers were more concerned with stopping the downloading of songs and other forms of entertainment than they were with awful images of children being abused, Jillian van Turnhout (Ind) said …” (more)
[Jimmy Walsh, Irish Times, 8 February]
“I have waded into the waters of e-publishing and believe I will have a result within 10 days of laying down my first cursor on text. The focus of my work involves taking products that are in one format and giving them a more compelling look for Kindle …” (more)
[Bernie Goldbach, Inside View from Ireland, 8 February]
“The radical candidate favoured as universities watchdog by the Government will today be rejected by a committee of MPs. The radical candidate favoured as universities watchdog by the Government will today be rejected by a committee of MPs. Professor Les Ebdon has threatened ‘nuclear’ penalties for vice-chancellors who fail to recruit enough working-class students …” (more)
[Tim Ross, Daily Telegraph, 8 February]
