Hedda Blog

Recently, a number of scandals in the student-loan industry have hit the front page in the United States. This controversy has led to some top university officials being fired, legal settlements, policy changes and the U.S. House of Representatives have passed the Student Loan Sunshine Act which would put an end to unethical lending practices.

The video is from the Ed Labor Democrats, "Rep. George Miller, chairman of the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, makes an opening statement at a committee hearing on unethical practices and conflicts of interest in the student loan industry and federal Reading First program on May 10, 2007."

Here are a few of the student loan violations:
1.) Preferred Lender Lists- Universities offered students a preferred lender list. In most cases, this list was not comprehensive but rather a short list of lenders that the University had "special" arrangements with.
2.) Revenue Sharing- A percentage of the loan revenue was given to the University.
3.) Inducements to Individual Financial Aid Officers- The loan companies offered expensive meals, trips, and honorarium for serving on advisory boards. In some cases, financial aid officers held stock in lending companies.

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Higher Education Reform in Ethiopia.
By: Emnet Tadesse, HEEM student

Ethiopia has a long tradition of recorded history and it has developed its own script over 2000 years ago. For many years, its traditional schools have fostered and enriched the development of literature, music and art. Although the introduction of modern education has made a profound change on this indigenous system there has not been much progress in educational development to date due to multitudes of factors. Since the introduction of modern educational system in Ethiopia, there have been a number of efforts made to improve the quality and access of education. However it is only starting from 2003 that Ethiopia declared formal and well structured higher education policy for the first time. This policy creates a profound foundation for higher education reform in the country. The foundation for major reform has been provided by ratification of a new Higher Education Proclamation by the Parliament in June 2003. The reform embraced all levels of higher education, at system level, institutional level and at the facility level. At the system level, to increase the enrolment rate of students at tertiary level, an aggressive expansion of new universities in all corners of the country become the target of the reform. At the institutional level the reform plan promised to provide substantial level of autonomy to universities. At facility level the reform has introduced new courses and programs that are considered to be vital for the development of the country. Cost sharing as a means of sharing the burden of the cost of higher education has also been introduced.

However, in my opinion, the reform masseurs that have been taken so far are a bit far from achieving the intended objective of the policy itself. Expanding access and achieving quality are among the missions of the policy. In order to check out these objectives the Ministry of Education established two semi-autonomous public agencies namely the Institute of Policy Guidance and Quality Assurance Agency. Despite all these progressive steps, however, the policy is not comprehensive. Even though new universities are constructed, they are suffering from lack of books and necessary laboratory equipments (especially in the field of Medicine), there are few PHD professors and most of them are teaching with only a Bachelor’s Degree. In terms of autonomy the new reform open a new positive opportunity in the history of Ethiopian higher education because it allows universities to use the block fund allocated by the ministry according to their preferences. Universities also have the power to elect their own leaders. But this freedom comes with unintended consequence of rampant corruptions and politicized leadership. At the facility level even though the reform encourages universities to propose new programs and studies for the immediate needs of socio-economic development of the country, shortage of experienced professors and the cost to subsidize equipments in natural science fields and some social science fields like Journalism and Communication, impede the progress of new fields and programs in universities. Therefore, considering all these problems, lead us to doubt the quality of the institutions.

Thus, in my opinion, expanding accesses in higher education in developing countries like Ethiopia, largely compromises quality. I would like to put two major factors as a core reason for this. First, the concept of “diversifying source of funding” in higher education has to be understood in different context in countries like Ethiopia. This is because unlike other developed countries, the private sector is extremely weak to cover the cost of higher education especially at the post-graduate level. Thus, higher education development in this case depends on the government’s treasury. Second, there are a lot of competing sectors and problems with higher education in terms of getting funds from the government. Among other things, there is a huge allocation of money every year for combating HIV/ADIS, Malaria, expanding primary education, military defense, basic infrastructures etc. This case is true in all countries but the extent still varies. Thus it is a big challenge for poor government’s like Ethiopia to fulfill one societal demand without compromising others.

Finally, in my observation, expanding access and maintaining quality in higher education reform are two antagonistic elements in poor countries like Ethiopia.

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

In an attempt to continue the economical development of the tiny Arab Gulf state of Dubai, the ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, has donated 10 billion U.S. dollars (one of the largest contributions to date) to start up a new endowment foundation. The foundation will be used to increase the educational standards in the Middle East with a special emphasis on illiteracy, unemployment and scholarly development and recognition. According to the Guardian, Sheikh Mohammed said, "The foundation's mission is to invest in knowledge and human development, focusing specifically on research, education and promoting equal opportunities for the personal growth and success of our youth."

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 07:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Blogging in the academic world is becoming a common trend. It's a way for academics to voice their discourse on certain topics, share their research, and encourage an international dialogue on specific topic areas. In addition, BBC reports that blogging is a way for professors to make more contact with students and nurture communication outside of the classroom.

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently published an article about the increasing popularity of scholar blogs and highlighted a list of 9 highly visited blogs.

Here are a few that you might be interested in checking out:

Instapundit (Law Professor at University of Tennessee)
Tama's elearning (Higher Education Professor at University of Western Australia)
Cranky Professor
Semi-Daily Journal (Economics Professor at UCLA)

Please note that the hedda administration does not endorse the content in any of these blogs.

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Reported by: Aliandra Barlete, HEEM graduate student

Around 150 students invaded the Administration building of the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, May 3rd. The crisis started when they were not allowed to get in the building to hand in a document containing 14 requests to Vice-Rector Franco Lajolo, then rector in charge. Those requests included: improvement in the student accommodation conditions, reform in the institution’s buildings, teacher’s appointments, as well as an official position from the Rector about the recent policy reforms brought by São Paulo State Governor José Serra. Revolted, they broke down the main doors to get in, destroyed furniture, and sent away the nearly 1,000 administrative staff who were working in the building.

After internal meetings, Rector Suely Vilela, in an official communicate last Thursday (10th) pointed out she is willing to discuss and negotiate the requests as long as the students leave the building immediately. In the contrary, there will be institutional and judicial measures.

The negotiations continue as the students refuse to leave. They keep the occupation in a 24-hour rotation basis. According to the students, nearly 350 students protest in front of the Reitoria daily.

The USP is a public institution governed by the State of São Paulo. Founded in 1934, it has over 80,000 students registered and is the biggest research university in Brazil.

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

A sociology professor at the University of Waterloo, in Canada, Kenneth Westhues, has researched a workplace bullying phenomenom called "mobbing."

Westhues defines "mobbing" as, "an impassioned, collective campaign by co-workers to exclude, punish, and humiliate a targeted worker." The term has gained international recognition, in Europe the term "mobbing" has become a common phrase and France has even passed anti-mobbing laws. Despite anti-mobbing/anti-bullying policies, Westhues' research shows that the phenomenom is still alive in academia today. A group of European academics host a mobbing blog for academics to discuss the issue as well as serve as a forum for academics who have personally experienced mobbing.

How does the academic culture and institutional practices allow mobbing to develop and persist in the world of higher education?

From The Unkindly Art of Mobbing, by Ken Westhues:

"At a practical level, every professor should be aware of conditions that increase vulnerability to mobbing in academe. Here are five:
• Foreign birth and upbringing, especially as signaled by a foreign accent
• Being different from most colleagues in an elemental way (by sex, for instance, sexual orientation, skin color, ethnicity, class origin, or credentials)
• Belonging to a discipline with ambiguous standards and objectives, especially those (like music or literature) most affected by post-modern scholarship
• Working under a dean or other administrator in whom, as Nietzsche put it, “the impulse to punish is powerful”
• An actual or contrived financial crunch in one’s academic unit (According to an African proverb, when the watering hole gets smaller, the animals get meaner)

Other conditions that heighten the risk of being mobbed are more directly under a prospective target’s control. Five major ones are:
• Having opposed the candidate who ends up winning appointmentas one’s dean or chair (thereby looking stupid, wicked, or crazy in the latter’s eyes)
• Being a rate buster—achieving so much success in teaching or research that colleagues’ envy is aroused
• Publicly dissenting from politically correct ideas (meaning those held sacred by campus elites)
• Defending a pariah in campus politics or the larger cultural arena
• Blowing the whistle on, or even having knowledge of serious wrongdoing by, locally powerful workmates"

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

European countries are currently experiencing a negative population growth, how will this effect higher education in the decades to come? A project paper released by UNESCO-CEPES, Demographics and Higher Education in Europe. An Institutional Perspective, highlights some of the demographic transitions:
-By 2030, the working age population will decrease by 20%.
-In 2050, many European countries will have over a third of their population in the retirement bracket, and more than half over the age of 50.
-With the shrinking youth population, it is projected that by 2050 European higher education will have a major setback with not enough domestic students in the 18-24 age bracket.

The report forecasts that higher education will be impacted in respect to the organization of their academic work, their
organizational cultures and institutional identities as well as types of student flows. UNESCO-CEPES will undergo various studies to look at how Europe can properly prepare/react to thIS "second demographic transition."

How do you think universities, governments, bologna process leaders and the european union will respond to this news?

The Boston College publication, International Higher Education (Number 47, spring 2007) printed an article, "Demographic Trends and Risks for European Higher Education":
"A typology of projected higher education in 2050 has been developed by Mizikaci (From Here to There: Mileposts in Higher Education, ed. B. Baumgartl and A. Glass. Vienna: Navreme Publications Series, 2007). According to this classification, by 2050 many countries—except for Denmark, Luxemburg, Sweden, and the United Kingdom—will hardly be enrolling only their domestic population in higher education. Due to labor migration, countries such as Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, and Ireland will continue to host second generations of migrants enrolled in tertiary education. Countries whose higher education systems are at risk include the former Eastern bloc countries, due to low birthrates and negative migration rates: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Croatia."

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Brazilian's First Experience in a Finnish Sauna
By: Aliandra Barlete, Brazil

“Dear me, This is warm!” There would be no other reaction when you open a glass door into this small wooden-made dark room for the first time in your life. I had never been in a sauna before. Even though in Brazil it is common to say “It’s 40°C outside, what a sauna,” going to a real sauna turned out to be a whole different experience. It is another chapter of our chronicles of Erasmus Mundus.

Now that I look back, the preparation was hilarious. Towel? check. On the door it said 50 minutes for each room. Not to feel bored, I got a book. People said it’s hot, so some water was also taken, just in case I would get thirsty. And to the sauna I went. First room, you have to strip off to feel the real Finnish experience, right? Second room, I had no idea why it was there. Opened the glass door, it smelled of coil. “A barbecue?”

I decided to sit opposite to the barbecue, at the top. It was a bad choice. I realised reading was unviable, but suddenly it became impossible to breath! My nose seemed to be burning. I instantly used the towel as a mask, and decided to breath through the mouth, instead. A little thermometer on my left side at the wall pointed to 80C degrees. I rushed my hand there to put it down to 60C, but then I realised it was just a lovely piece of decoration almost broken by my desperate finger.

In about 2 minutes I rushed out to breath. And then one understands why the second room is there: relief and salvation. After a while, I went back in, thinking something was wrong and the problem was with me. The question in my head was how could the sauna be so popular considering it is such a painful experience? Another 10 minutes of suffocation and it was time to say good-bye. Got my book, the almost melted water bottle and went home to read in my bed, frustrated.

Later, telling my dear classmates about my experiences, I found out all the secrets among the laughs. The basic one is that the higher you sit, the hotter it is. You should put some water (or snow, when available) in the barbecue to create steam, so you can breathe better. Finally, you definitely cannot stay for 50 minutes inside reading a book in an 80°C sauna.

Cultural experiences... how cool is that?

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 04:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

April 16, the UK House of Commons Education and Skills Committee released a report on the Bologna Process approximately one month before hosting the next Bologna meeting in London. The Education Guardian reported that the overarching message in the report was a general concern over the European Commission (EC) increased involvement in the process. The report sends a strong message; the UK is not impressed by the increased EC involvement because it is slowing down the process and increasing the bureacracy. In addition, the UK takes a stance on ensuring that the Bologna process encourages comparable degree programs but not conformity. As the UK prepares to host the 5th Bologna Process Ministerial Summit in London on May 16-18 their position statement reads, "The UK stresses the importance of the diversity of purpose and autonomous nature of European HE and welcomes the Bologna Process objective to make European HE more attractive in a global market to help HEIs compete internationally."

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 02:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Many Universities, especially in the U.S. and the U.K,. are becoming quite innovative with their recruiting tactics. Technology is changing the way university admissions traditionally operates. MySpace, the on-line, social network is a site where universities can host a profile and potential students can become "friends" of the university. Friends of the university get the latest news, can ask questions about the university, and even watch admissions videos. It is a way for universities to keep connected to the tech-saavy future student. MySpace and other social networks, such as Facebook are becoming the place to market products and universities to the younger generations.

According to the Education Guardian, Warwick University is one of the first in the U.K. to jump on this new admissions trend by posting a profile.

Posted by Hedda blog administrator at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)