Hedda Blog

Alicia reigns from Barcelona, Spain and is currently in her first semester of the HEEM master's programme. She holds a Graduado Superior degree (graduate degree) in International and Intercultural Studies (specialising in Latin America) and a Licenciatura (undergraduate degree) in Audiovisual Communication, at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain with a sócrates-erasmus stay at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands.

What is your professional background?
I worked at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona for the past two years. The first year at the Postgraduate School of Studies (Escola de Postgrau) in the national and international calls unit. We worked with international scholarship holders and took international phone calls for funding HE programmes, such as the Erasmus Mundus and Tempus programmes. The second year I worked at the newly created International Welcome Point office, where we welcomed, assessed, helped, introduced, etc. all the international students studying at the university.

Why did you apply for and choose the HEEM program?
Because of my work, I was familiar with the Erasmus Mundus programmes, and more than once had dreamt that I would someday be able to participate in one. The HEEM programme, was, by far, the most interesting one for me. I really enjoyed working in Higher Education but felt that I wanted to go more in depth, to understand the "whys" of everything that was happening around me, get to know better where the Bologna Process comes from, what it means, where it is leading us to, and why each year we are receiving more international students. But since the EU only offers scholarships for non-europeans, it was merely a dream. One day, I received an email from a colleague informing about scholarships for Europeans for this particular programme! The deadline was just a few days away, but, I did my best and submitted everything, and... got it!

What is your personal goal for the next 2 years?
Learn, learn and learn a lot. I also want to keep on being very active in every sense so as to live this experience as intensively as I can. It is a dream come true and I don't want to miss out on anything.

Continue reading "Student Spotlight" »

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Many of us are in need of higher education data, whether it be for a paper, thesis, dissertation or simply intellectual enhancement. Here are a few noteable websites that are good resources for higher education data. Please add any other websites containing higher education data that you find helpful in the comments section.

International Higher Education Clearinghouse
"The IHEC website directs scholars, administrators, and other professionals to current resources to support research and practice in international higher education."

Atlas of Student Mobility
"Project Atlas tracks migration trends of the millions of students who pursue education outside of their home countries each year. Data are collected on global student mobility patterns, country of origin, as well as leading destinations for trans-national higher education."

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
"A special review is examining the organisation, management and delivery of tertiary education in 23 countries, while OECD has also worked on guidelines for cross-border education."

UNESCO Institute for Statistics
"Global and internationally comparable statistics on education, science, technology, culture and communication."

United Nations Development Programme
"You can access statistical data from the Human Development Report (HDR) and resources to help you better understand these data. You will also find helpful information about the human development index (HDI) and other indices, links to other background materials, data resources and on-going debates and discussions on human development statistics."

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The Erasmus Mundus Student and Alumni Association has launched a website to provide a forum for current and prospective students, as well as for graduates of the 80 European joint master courses. For registered users, there is a message board, database to find other students, newsletters, and information about Erasmus Mundus conferences and news. For visitors to the site, information about the Erasmus Mundus programmes is available. Check it out!

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A new report published by UNESCO, Global Education Digest 2007, finds major disparities among the education budgets in wealthy countries and developing countries. This edition highlights the spending patterns, using a variety of indicators, from primary to higher education in 200 countries. Here is an overview of some of the findings:

"Governments in sub-Saharan Africa spend only 2.4% of the world’s public education resources. Yet about 15% of the school-age population lives in these countries, according to the Digest. In contrast, the United States, which is home to just 4% of the world’s children and young people, spends 28% of the global education budget. This is mainly due to the large numbers of university students and the relatively high costs associated with this level of education."

"East Asia and the Pacific has the second-highest share of global public spending on education at 18% (after the North American and Western European region). Yet governments in the region are investing considerably less than their share of global wealth at 28% of GDP and the school-age population (29%). "

"The opposite scenario is found in South and West Asia, where 7% of the world’s public education resources are spent on 28% of children and young people. A more balanced situation emerges in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region which accounts for 8% to 9% of global education spending, the school-age population and global wealth. "

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're back...in Aveiro, Portugal!
By: Leasa Weimer, HEEM Student

It's our second year in the HEEM master's programme and we have moved to Portugal to finish up our final semester of coursework before we hunker down and write our thesis in January. After a three month summer break, life (as we know it) is back to normal. We have all moved to Portugal with stories of our summer experiences; traveling through Eastern Europe, interning in South Africa, studying in Japan, working at the night market in Thailand, celebrating the new millennium in Ethiopia, traveling in Australia, and living in Portugal. Some have been changed by their summer experience, while others had another commute in the organic self-discovery of life. Yet, we have come back together as if no time has passed. We had our first week of classes (in the Economics of Higher Education) and our human capital is on the rise again as we are now in paper-writing mode as well as preparing for our final thesis presentation due in 4 weeks. Life is back to normal! The routines have started to form; same supermercado, the walk to campus, skype dates with friends and families, the favorite cafes, reading about the Economics of higher education, text messages from classmates, and caffeine breaks during classes. Here is a glimpse of life in Aveiro...

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Second Life is an internet-based, 3-D, virtual world that is created by its 6 million users from around the globe. It is a digital continent, where you (as an avatar) can experience everything from entertainment, to a marketplace (where real buying and selling transactions occur), to classroom lectures. Higher Education Institutions in the United States and the UK are joining this trend and hosting Second Life virtual campuses as a tool for learning, teaching, research, and recruiting. The Guardian reports that over 15 universities in the UK have spent several thousand pounds on purchasing Second Life "virtual land" to build their virtual campuses, among those are Edinburgh and Oxford. Below is a promotional video about the University of Ohio virtual campus in Second Life:

Harvard Law School has built a virtual courtroom for students to practice their skills, and in August 2006 a Harvard professor held its first class in Second Life. Case Western Reserve University has bought a virtual campus to recruit new students by giving online virtual campus tours. Texas State University has built an island, Bobcat Island, where anyone can meet up and socialize with others in the sandbox cafe, visit the on-line exhibits of the gallery, or attend an on-line conference in the Bobcat Den.

What do you think about Universities using Second Life as a tool for learning, teaching, research, and recruiting?

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The annual flagship publication of OECD "Education at a Glance" has just been released. This publication enables the 30 member countries to see its performance in light of others' through current and comparable indicators. The main areas of focus in the publication are:
-Participation and achievement in education
-Public and private spending on education
-The state of lifelong learning
-Conditions for pupils and teachers.

This year, the overarching conclusion that can be extrapolated from the publication, according to the executive summary, is that higher education systems continue to grow and expand. On average, over 50 per cent of high school/upper secondary graduates are entering higher education at some point in their lifetime. Just 40 years ago, only 1 in 10 graduates entered higher education. With the findings in "Education at a Glance", OECD concludes that the expansion of higher education has had a positive effect on individuals and national economies.

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In the United States, one of the important funding sources for higher education is donor money. In 2006, U.S. colleges and universities touted over $28 billion U.S. dollars in donor funding, approximately 10% of the $300 billion price tag of higher education last year. With the continued influction of the cost of higher education, exceeding the annual rate of inflation, donors are starting to feel like they need a stronger voice to demand excellence, quality, and accountability. A new nonprofit organization, Center for Excellence in Higher Education (CEHE), will work to represent donor interests. There are four main areas CEHE will work to change:

Accountability: CEHE wants college and university administrators to be more accountable for their successes and failures with more management responsibility.
Governance: CEHE wants college and university trustees to understand their moral and fudiciary responsibility, rather than hold the view that the college/university they serve is infallible.
Effective Giving: CEHE will help donors structure gifts to actualize specific goals and obtain a visible return on the investment.
Oversight: CEHE will also help donors monitor and evaluate the results of their gifts.

CEHE Executive Director Frederic J. Fransen said, "The Center for Excellence in Higher Education is convinced that any serious effort to transform higher education must come from the outside. It won't happen from within. Those who support higher education with their voluntary contributions are uniquely qualified to bring about these needed changes."

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Venezuela’s President Chavez announced in May a new initiative to increase higher education in his country, "Mission Alma Mater". The first phase of this new program is to contruct 28 national universities in various areas around the country from 2007 to 2012. "There will be 11 new national universities, in addition to 13 regional ones, and 4 new technical institutes," explained Chavez. But the reform doesn't stop at building new universities, Chavez also announced that university staff will receive a pay raise and backpay from the last 15 years and retirement benefits. Additional funds will be allocated to increase scholarships, renovate cafeterias, and to purchase more computers. Furthermore, the university entrance exams will be eliminated and only a highschool diploma will be needed to enter higher education.

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The Fiji government recently approved the formation of the Higher Education Advisory Commission, an independent advisory board for the Minister of Education. The Commission will be responsible for regulating higher education in Fiji through an accreditation and approval process. The Minister of Education, Netani Sukanaivalu said, “The establishment or recognition of a university in Fiji, a non-university post-secondary tertiary education institution, an overseas university, and an overseas post-secondary education tertiary institution, will be done in accordance with the criteria and standards set out and approved by the Higher Education Commission."

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, due to the increase of unemployment (for master degree holders) in China, the government will limit the growth of graduate school enrollment to 5 per cent this year. This follows an undergraduate enrollment cap last year. The vice minister of education, Wu Qidi, "Advised universities to pay more attention to educational quality than quantity."

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According to the Yomiuri Shinbun Japanese newspaper, the education ministry will allow university presidents to change their academic calendar to synchronize with the U.S. & European academic years. This was a recommendation from the Government's Education Rebuilidng Council, a council formed to reform public education. Currently, universities in Japan start their academic year in April and end in March causing many challenges for foreign faculty and students who want to work or study in Japan. This change will go into affect April 2008.

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 09:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A committee of students and staff at the University of Oslo have selected the winners for the first hedda blog competition.
The Winning blog, "Once upon a time in Europe," was submitted by Kreangchai Rungfamai, a second year HEEM student, from Thailand.

There was a tie for second place:
Muhammad Adnan Mughul, a second year HEEM student, from Pakistan, "A Journey of a Newlywed Couple in Europe!"

Jacquiline Kiyemba from Uganda, a 2007 HEEM graduate, submitted "Memoirs of the Bridge."

Watch out for the next HEEM student blog competition in January!

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The University Network of the European Capitals of Culture (UNeECC) will hold its first Annual Conference in Sibiu, Romania hosted by the Lucian Blaga University, one of Romania's distinguished universities, October 25-26, 2007. The Conference will thus be held in a 2007 European Capital of Culture, where a city and its university are in the process of running a European Capital of Culture programme.

The central theme of this year's UNeECC Conference will be 'Town and Gown'. A variety of presentations about the European Capital of Culture programme from the point of view of the universities and Institutes of Higher Education, the relationship between the city and its universities and Institutes of Higher Education, the benefits for the city and Local community of being a European Capital of Culture will be presented.

The University Network of the European Capitals of Culture (UNEECC), an international non-profit association, was founded in Pécs Hungary in December 2006, by 40 founding members. The creation of UNeECC originates from the idea that it would be useful for Universities and establishments of Higher Education based in European
Capitals of Culture to use this well known and prestigious European institution to stimulate new forms of academic and educational institutional collaboration.

Continue reading "The University Network of the European Capitals of Culture (UNEECC) Annual Conference" »

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The Banff Strategic Leaders Global Summit on Graduate Education was the first global meeting focused on graduate education. 27 participants representing over 1,280 graduate institutions from the Australian government, the Association of Chinese Graduate Schools, the European University Association, the Canadian province of Alberta, and the U.S. Council of Graduate Schools convened in Banff, Canada. At the end of the gathering, the participants produced nine guiding principles for graduate education, named the Banff Principles. The purpose of these principles are to shape “future collective and collaborative work to advance and improve graduate education.”

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported,
Noting that “graduate education is in transition globally,” participants agreed to “promote the quality of graduate programs,” “clarify and strengthen the role of the master’s degree,” and “establish an inclusive global platform for discussion of best practices in graduate education.”

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Despite recent reform initiatives in the German system of higher education, Germany's federal statistics office recently reported that there has been a significant decrease in the number of professors at German universities from 1995-2005. According to the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers, 663 faculty positions in the linguistics and cultural studies fields have been left vacant over the 10-year period, resulting in a 10 per cent decrease. Yet, the most extreme decline of professors was in the humanities fields; classical philology and education decreased the number of professors by approximately 35 per cent over this 10-year period. Law, economics, social sciences and art history departments were the only fields of study to see an increase in the number of professors. The average student to teacher ratio is now 60 to 1.


According to DW-World.DE, "Improvement in the quality of our higher education system and study conditions isn't possible without a noticeable change in the proportion of 60 students per lecturer, which cannot compete internationally," DHV president Bernhard Kempen, a professor of law at the University of Cologne, said in a press statement.

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Marginson, S. and Wende, M.C. van der recently released an OECD/CERI Education Working Paper, "Globalisation and Higher Education".
From the CHEPS website,
"This working paper explores the issues for national policy and for individual institutions. Part I provides an overview of globalisation and higher education and the global responses of national systems and individual institutions of higher education. Part II is focused on certain areas of policy with a strong multilateral dimension: Europeanisation, institutional rankings and typologies and cross-border mobility."

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) has several on-going projects related to Higher Education. Here are a few projects that might interest you:

- E-learning in Post-secondary Education and Training
- The Future of Higher Education
- Guidelines for Quality Provision in Cross-border Higher Education
- Higher Education and Regions
- Internationalisation and Trade in Higher Education
- Thematic Review of Tertiary Education

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As public funding declines and the cost of higher education increases, funding higher education continues to be a growing concern around the world. According to a report, The Global State of Higher Education and the Rise of
Private Finance, released in August 2007 by the U.S. based Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) private funding of higher education around the globe has grown significantly. Between 1995 and 2003, private financing of higher education has grown by 5 per cent, including tuition fees, philanthropy, and industry collaborations. IHEP has found that the prime reasons for the rise in private funding is that more people are obtaining higher education degrees (an increase in private demand) and more people are willing to invest in higher education (economic private returns).

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According to China Daily, Peking University recently published the results of a one-year study of 76 Chinese public universities and colleges. The results of the study showed that public universities and colleges have encumbered large debts and depend heavily on bank loans and government funds. Most of the income these institutions bring in goes directly to pay the interest of the loans. In March, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released a report that combined the debt of China's public higher education institutions and unveiled the combined sum of 15-20 billion yuan (1.4-1.9 billion Euro) in 2005. China Daily reported that the Chinese university mergers, initiated by the government to make "supersize" higher education institutions, have caused the debt to increase rapidly as there is more need to expand the infrastructure to acommodate the growing number of students.

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A new publication edited by Peter Maassen and Johan P. Olsen, European Integration and the Knowledge Institution, was released in June 2007. The book explores the political momentum, reform pressure, and the vision of European higher education through the Lisbon Strategy and the Bologna Process.

The book is a result of an international cooperation, and in addition to the two editors, Peter Maassen and Johan P. Olsen, Harry de Boer, Åse Gornitzka, Guy Neave, Thorsten Nybom, Carlo Salerno and Bjørn Stensaker, have contributed.

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Once Upon a Time in Europe
By: Kreangchai Rungfamai, HEEM student

Being an Erasmus Mundus student in the Higher Education Programme has been one of the greatest opportunities in my life. I have learned so many things, not only academically but also socially and culturally, from studying in three different countries and three different universities. I made lots of friends from various nationalities. It was not easy for me to understand how people from other cultures perceive things around them., as I come from a strong Thai background. Anyway, I finally do more understand how people from different backgrounds. Socially, I learn how to adjust and adapt myself with my new friends and new cultures. Of course, this is quite difficult for a stubborn person like me. And this is the first time in my life to cook for myself. Well, I had to bear to eat my cooking. Academically, I studied with lecturers from different academic backgrounds and nationalities. I like it a lot even though sometimes I do not agree what they say, but this is not a big deal. This is because there is no a right or wrong answer. It is just a different perspective. Personally, European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), has been one of the successful projects for European Union in term of higher education. I really like this idea and am impressed how they put it into practice. Finally, but not the last, with my financial background, I would not have been here in Europe. I am lucky to have received a scholarship to study in three countries and, more importantly, have lots of friends from all over the world is something that I will never forget.

Continue reading "Blog Competition Entry #3" »

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Memoirs of the Bridge
By: Jacquiline Kiyemba, HEEM Alumna

The joy of studying abroad in three different countries in Europe was overwhelming and a dream come true, but quite an awakening experience about realities of life far away from home. Standing in the middle of a bridge, on a rainy day, with no map, and not a clue which direction to go was quite an unpleasant situation yet an awakening experience and memorable on my arrival in Norway as an Erasmus Mundus student. Those who have lived at Sogn student village in Oslo or been at Ullevål stadion must be familiar with the peculiar red bridge. Many of us are also familiar with the famous bridge at University of Oslo at Blindern which no one could, even if they wanted to, miss to use back and forth in a semester. A journey begun at University of Oslo through University of Tampere and University of Aveiro seemed like crossing different bridges in my academic career as a HEEM student.

Continue reading "Blog Competition Entry #2" »

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A Journey of a Newlywed Couple in Europe!
By: Muhammad Adnan Mughul, HEEM Student

My life changed with a blink of an eye! I didn't even realize how quickly it all happened. In May 2006, I received the news that I have been awarded the Erasmus Mundus scholarship and, soon after this, on 21st of July, I got married to Kiran. We exchanged our vows in front of over 600 delighted relatives and family friends in a beautiful garden of our home town in Hyderabad, Pakistan. It was a day to remember - a day of pampering and a touch of class! Within 20 days of our marriage we arrived in Oslo, the famous greenest town in Europe. For us it was like a fairy tale, a dream come true. As a newly wedded couple, everything was new and green to us! I never thought that I would be spending my unforgettable and a never ending "honeymoon" in Europe.

Continue reading "Blog Competition Entry #1" »

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

France's 85 public universities will be granted greater autonomy over the next five years. In late July, the French National Assembly approved a bill, "For a New University," allowing universities more control over finances and personnel hiring decisions. The bill went through various amendments before passing, after austere criticism from students and opposition Nicolas Sarkozy postponed introducing the bill until acceptable amendments were made. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that the Conference of University Presidents released a statement endorsing the bill's passage,"[It will] allow all universities and higher-education institutions to acquire new powers for the benefit of students, research, and the development of our country."

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The new European Institute of Technology (EIT), to be launched in 2008 by the European Commission, has put out a call for proposals. According to the website, "This call for proposals aims at establishing pilot networks that will design, implement and test new models of integrated partnerships between the actors involved in technological innovation and transfer (such as universities, research organisations, small, medium-sized and large companies, innovation centres, etc.)" The deadline for proposals is August 31, 2007.

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With the increase of foreign students studying in China, comes an influx of foreign education providers. In April 2007, the Chinese Ministry of Education released a memorandum, "The Notice on Regulating the Standard of Cooperation of Chinese and Foreign Educational Programs." In this publication the Chinese Ministry censures some foreign degree programs due to what the Chronicle of Higher Education reports as, "poor quality, high cost, and lack of oversight." The Chinese Ministry will become more involved by reviewing foreign institution requests to ensure they meet government's standards. In addition, the Ministry will conduct evaluations of existing programs and become more involved in the oversight of these programs.

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