Ninth Level Ireland

“Free university education for EU students studying in Scotland will be scrapped after Brexit. Holyrood’s higher education minister Richard Lochhead said the Government will end free education for EU citizens starting their studies next year, with the money saved going towards encouraging more Scottish students into university …” (more)

[Tom Eden, Belfast Telegraph, 9 July]

“A new ‘Celtic Connection’ of higher education institutions across Ireland – north and south – and Scotland and Wales is being forged to help protect the sector from the fallout of Brexit. It aims to strengthen links between individual colleges to allow for ease of movement for staff and students and to ensure institutions are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to research funding handouts …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 6 March]

“Former President Mary McAleese is to become a Professor of Children, Law and Religion at the University of Glasgow. The post is a joint appointment between the College of Arts and College of Social Sciences at the university. She will take up her position during the 2018/2019 academic year …” (more)

[RTÉ News, 1 October]

“A union has called on the Scottish Funding Council to investigate the appointment of Robert Gordon University’s (RGU) new principal. Prof John Harper was chosen to lead the Aberdeen university after the departure of Prof Ferdinand von Prondzynski …” (more)

[BBC News, 11 August]

“The Scottish government has extended its pledge of free university tuition for European Union students to the cohort arriving in 2019-20, covering the period immediately after the UK’s exit from the bloc. The move, announced on 1 February, increases the pressure on the UK government to extend the offer of student loan funding to EU students enrolling in English higher education institutions in 2019-20 …” (more)

[Jack Grove, Times Higher Education, 1 February]

“The aim of widening access to higher education has been a public policy priority in a number of countries for some time. The intention is to ensure that a university degree is not seen as a privilege to be claimed primarily by the wealthy, but as an entitlement based on intellectual attainment and ability …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 27 March]

“Anton Muscatelli remembers his shock on the morning of the EU referendum result. He felt upset, shaken by its implications and by the forces that drove the vote to leave …” (more)

[Severin Carrell, Guardian, 21 February]

“Disabled lecturers and researchers are facing restricted opportunities for promotion in Scottish universities, an academic has warned. Dr Kate Sang, associate professor in management at Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, said current barriers included a culture of long hours unsuitable for some disabled staff …” (more)

[Andrew Denholm, Herald Scotland, 6 February]

“The potential impact of Brexit on higher education ‘ranges from bad, to awful, to catastrophic’, the principal of Edinburgh University has warned. Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea told MPs on the Scottish affairs committee that while the outcome of leaving the European Union is as yet unknown, ‘however you parameterise it, things get worse …'” (more)

[Katrine Bussey, The Scotsman, 24 October]

“Holyrood ministers are being urged to give European citizens who plan to study at a Scottish university next year a guarantee that they can still benefit from free tuition. University leaders, staff and students have united to call on the Scottish Government to provide ‘certainty’ to those planning to start a course in the 2017-18 academic year …” (more)

[The Scotsman, 11 October]

“I guess that not everyone can say that they prompted a piece of legislation. In fairness I cannot myself make that claim entirely, since I was merely one of five people who were the panel commissioned by the Scottish Government to review higher education governance …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 15 March]

“Across Britain, in a great many of our universities, a battle is taking place over free speech. Every month brings some new revelation of a university or students union where something has been censored or someone has been ‘no platformed’ – the term for banning speakers …” (more)

[Vicky Allan, Herald Scotland, 24 January]

“A Scottish university is ‘considering the position’ of the honorary degree it bestowed on American presidential candidate Donald Trump, after the businessman called for Muslims to be barred from entering the US …” (more)

[Chris Havergal, Times Higher Education, 9 December]

“Jewish students at universities are ‘denying or hiding’ their identity because of discrimination, according to new claims. The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (Scojec) said it had evidence university staff had criticised student work on Israel because they did not agree with the point of view being expressed …” (more)

[Andrew Denholm, Herald Scotland, 23 November]

“Turmoil in Scotland’s college sector has come a step closer after lecturers backed moves to hold a ballot on industrial action in a row over pay. The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union, which represents lecturers, said the offer of one per cent from management was unacceptable …” (more)

[Andrew Denholm, Herald Scotland, 13 November]

“All Scottish universities should consider accepting poorer pupils with significantly lower grades than middle class applicants to address a ‘fundamental unfairness” in the system, according to a new government-backed commission …” (more)

[Andrew Denholm, Herald Scotland, 13 November]

“An open debate is needed over whether the State can afford free fees for third-level education, according to the Irish head of one of Scotland’s oldest universities. Prof Louise Richardson, the Waterford-born principal of St Andrews, takes over as vice-chancellor of Oxford University in January, the first woman to hold the post in the university’s history …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 5 November]

“Whistleblower Edward Snowden has accused SNP ministers of ‘threatening’ the autonomy of Scotland’s universities by ­pursuing controversial changes to the way institutions are governed. The former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, currently in exile in Russia …” (more)

[Andrew Whitaker, The Scotsman, 27 October]

“University leaders in Scotland are afraid that politicians are about to stage a power grab. New legislation, they say, will give the Scottish government too much influence over how universities are run …” (more)

[Helen Lock, Guardian, 21 October]

“Nicola Sturgeon has been forced to defend Scotland’s bill on university governance against claims that the legislation would ‘demolish’ universities’ autonomy and charitable status. Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, pressed Ms Sturgeon on the bill at First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood yesterday, telling her that universities ‘hate’ the Scottish National Party government’s legislation …” (more)

[John Morgan, Times Higher Education, 8 October]