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An increasing number of countries are grappling with their schools temporarily closing, due to the increasing numbers of coronavirus cases. And in other countries, total bans on study abroad activity are being enacted, or postponements are being suggested.

South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Bahrain and the UAE have joined the list of nations who have suspended in-school studies.

According to several news sources, Italy is the latest country to join the Asian shutdown, as the outbreak grows rapidly in the country.

Japanese PM Shinzō Abe has asked all schools to close for two weeks, although he said some could choose to remain open.

In Vietnam, as of late February, schools remain closed in most cities and provinces; around 56 out of 63. Ho Chi Minh City plans to keep all schools closed until the end of March.

In other parts of Asia, schools have been closed in Mongolia (where the president has been under quarantine since February 28), South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, with the latter having shut down schools until at least April 20th.

In the UAE, all schools and colleges ÔÇô private and public ÔÇô are being instructed to close for four weeks from Sunday March 8.

“[Schools] have had to adapt and respond to a situation that is changing on a daily basis”

ÔÇ£Member schools have been placed in a situation where they have had to adapt and respond to a situation that is changing on a daily basis,ÔÇØ said a spokesperson for FOBISIA, which represents 70 British-style education providers in Asia across 14 countries.

ÔÇ£Some schools, particularly those located in countries or hotspots considered high-risk, have been directed to close, which has resulted in them utilising their home-school learning platforms.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Although some very tough decisions have had to be made, the amount of goodwill and understanding to work together to safeguard students and staff has been extremely effective and impressiveÔÇØ added FOBISIAÔÇÖs CEO, John Gwyn Jones.

From March 22, government schools in the UAE are expected to run a home-learning program called Learn From Afar, which is undergoing testing this week.

Speaking from Bahrain, Amanda Gregory, COO and co-founder of recruitment platform Univer, told The PIE News that a wider impact was on international recruitment activity.

ÔÇ£The biggest impact here in MENA is on the student recruitment side,” she said. “Multiple events have been cancelled, many due to government restrictions, including school visits all across the region and larger recruitment events.”

“Students in MENA apply to university late in the cycle and so the usual engagement with school counsellors, parents and students face-to-face is hugely restricted.ÔÇØ

Meanwhile, France and Italy have put a ban on school trips overseas, with reports of coach parties of students being prevented from leaving France after a ban was suddenly enacted at the weekend.

In the USA, the Center for Disease Control & Prevention has published guidance urging higher education institutions to consider postponing or cancelling foreign exchange programs for Americans.

“Given the global outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) institutes of higher education (IHE) should┬áconsider┬ápostponing or canceling upcoming student foreign exchange programs. IHE should┬áconsider┬áasking current program participants to return to their home country,” it states.

NAFSA’s president, Ravi Shankar, urged members to work with state and local public health officials to determine a course of action, as many already were.

One study abroad provider, FIE, emailed its customer base to confirm that programs to the UK, Ireland and Jordan were presently still running. “FIE has always taken a sensible, pragmatic view regarding critical incidents, and I encourage the FIE family to let common sense prevail and to maintain a sense of calm,” said┬áJohn M Pearson, senior vice president operations.

“As I write, there are no travel restrictions against, or cautionary advisories for [those three countries].”

In China, as official numbers in the country suggest a slowdown in the spread of the virus, parents are optimistic that the return to school could happen before the end of the next month.

Schoolchildren in China wonÔÇÖt be happy to learn that several provinces are considering shortening summer vacations to make up for the time lost at school since the beginning of February.

Education regulations in China are decided at a provincial level, meaning different areas will have different approaches to returning students to school, with some planning to take a staggered approach by year group.

Areas less affected by the coronavirus will likely return to school first. This follows the loosening of restrictions in some areas and more people returning to work, as evidenced by the pollution levels beginning to creep back up to their normal abnormal levels.

The post Growing list of countries close schools while foreign exchange trips under question appeared first on The PIE News.

Turkey-based private education provider BAU Global has been involved in the purchase of a majority share of a British basketball club, The Plymouth Raiders. President of BAU Global, Enver Yücel, will be made club president of the team.  

UK-based MLA College, which is part of BAU Global, has bought the share of The Plymouth Raiders from owners Richard Mollard and Ross Mackenzie. 

ÔÇ£Through this partnership, we will help to encourage participation in sport for all ages and abilitiesÔÇØ

The deal comes at a time where BAU Global are trying to increase operations in the UK by partnering with HE institutions.  

ÔÇ£We are delighted to be involved with Plymouth in general, and with the Raiders in particular,ÔÇØ Y├╝cel said.┬á┬á

ÔÇ£Through this partnership, we will help to encourage participation in sport for all ages and abilities, promote basketball as a great participation activity and also as a family-friendly event to attend.┬á┬á

ÔÇ£We are particularly enthusiastic to encourage the linking of sport and education and of course we want to develop the Raiders into a BBL winning team,” Y├╝cel added.

BAU Global already own the Bahcesehir College, one of TurkeyÔÇÖs top Super League basketball teams.┬á

The new partnership will provide the Raiders with significant additional resources to develop the business far beyond its current means. 

It will also see close ties being forged between the Raiders and Bahcesehir College Basketball Club. 

ÔÇ£Ross and I always knew that to grow this club to where we wanted it to be, which we hope will eventually include owning and playing in our own arena, it would always require additional inward investment,ÔÇØ said Raiders’ director, Richard Mollard.┬á

ÔÇ£Like the Raiders, BAU Global are a family run business, who are passionate about education, madly passionate about basketball and totally committed to using both together in developing the youth of today into the achievers of tomorrow, and weÔÇÖve been humbled in their desire to come on board,ÔÇØ he added.┬á

BAU Global universities offer nearly 200 undergraduate, graduate and PhD programs.

Earlier this month, BAU GlobalÔÇÖs VP Coskun Ince spoke┬áto┬áThe PIE about the groupÔÇÖs plans to increase its operations in the UK, saying that ÔÇ£the heart of the world is not the United States, it is in the UKÔÇØ.┬á

ÔÇ£We found three possible partners that are willing to get the benefits of our know-how and experience which we have created over fifty years and they want to open up schools and partner with us,ÔÇØ he said.

The post BAU Global invests in British basketball club appeared first on The PIE News.

A career of teaching and leadership with the Central European University ultimately led Italian Renaissance studies expert Sophia Howlett to bucolic Brattleboro, Vermont. Today Howlett is the president of┬áSchool for International Training, a pioneer in experiential, field-based programs that offers more than 90 undergraduate and master’s degree programs on all seven continents. She spoke to The PIE about her journey into intled, and her vision for the future of SIT.

 

The PIE: How did you get introduced to the field of international education?

Sophia Howlett: As it so happens, I started off with a very typical academic career. As you can probably tell from my accent, IÔÇÖm from Britain. I went to Cambridge University and then did my doctorate at the University of York. I was lucky enough to get an early permanent position in my field, which is Renaissance studies.

“I was, at the point, already hooked on international education development”

When I was about 27 years old [and] still wondering what would come next in my career, the war broke out in Bosnia. It was the first time thereÔÇÖd been a war in Europe since World War II.┬á Everybody grows up wondering what they would do in a crisis or conflict situation, so I looked into getting a sabbatical in the hopes of going to the Balkans to be supportive in some way.

Of course, I didnÔÇÖt really know what being supportive meant – and being a teacher of Renaissance studies was not immensely valuable for time or situation – but I found an organisation called Civic Education Project that was funded at the time by George Soros. The organization was taking academics on as volunteers on a volunteer wage to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

They didnÔÇÖt send me to Bosnia. Instead, they sent me to Kyiv. At the end of a year there, they asked me if I would stay on to run the Ukraine program and start a program in Moldova. I said yes, absolutely. I was, at the point, already hooked on international education development and change management.

The PIE: And the rest was history, as they say. What brought you to SIT?

SH: After being a dean and teaching gender studies at CEU for over a decade, I began thinking about looking for opportunities to run my own institution. My husband is American, and we came to the United States seven years ago. I started out as a dean at Kean University, and after a few years there, I saw the job with SIT.

It was everything that I felt my career had been working towards: an international school that looked globally but was US-based and had a strong social justice mission. All those elements were really important to me.

The PIE: YouÔÇÖve been with SIT since 2017. At the time you joined the institution, the SIT Graduate Institute faced some financial difficulties, which resulted in a transformation of the graduate school model, pivoting from Vermont-based to global programming. How did this shift come about?

SH: We were facing some financial difficulties when I joined ÔÇô a US$2.9 million deficit, approximately. Everybody knew that we needed to make some big changes.

At the time, the Graduate Institute was primarily Vermont-based, campus-based programming, whereas the undergraduate programs were situated all over the world in about 50 different countries.

Given the challenges, we sat down and got creative. We developed the idea for global master’s degrees that would make use of the learning centres we had across the world.

“We wanted to keep both the campus-based opportunities while expanding our global opportunities”

The idea was that we would keep the Graduate Institute spirit and values, but marry them with the extraordinary venues that our undergraduate global campus locations provide to bring graduate students to study issues such as climate change or humanitarian assistance in crisis management in situ.

At the time, we wanted to keep both the campus-based opportunities while expanding our global opportunities. Unfortunately, after a year, we realised that campus-based programming was no longer financially viable. We had to make the shift at that point.

The PIE: How have all these changes played out on the ground? 

SH: Over the past two years since we made that shift to off-campus programming, we now have, as of the fall, 11 masterÔÇÖs degrees out there, of which six are global masters and five are done in a low residency hybrid format. The nice thing about those is that even they are able to take advantage of our global footprint.

So for instance, our new low residency program in peace and justice has a residency in Vermont, and the next year they have a residency at our base in South Africa. The same with our sustainable development low residency program. It starts in Vermont, and ends up going to Oaxaca, Mexico. WeÔÇÖre trying to bring a global dynamic into everything we do.

The PIE: And how has this affected enrollments and future growth?

SH: The idea with all these new programs was simple. We said, ÔÇ£okay, letÔÇÖs regroup, letÔÇÖs get the finances right, letÔÇÖs get the model right and then weÔÇÖll launch back upwards againÔÇØ. As of now, we have 108 full-time equivalent students, so about 199 students annually.

Now that weÔÇÖre now in the positive [financially] again, weÔÇÖre working towards increasing enrollment year by year, but in a way where weÔÇÖre not panicking.

“Our sustainable development low residency program starts in Vermont, and ends up going to Oaxaca, Mexico”

During the difficult times at the Graduate Institute, there was a lot of pressure on everybody. People were concerned about not meeting enrollments targets, whether we were marketing appropriately. Everyone was doing everything they possibly could but going through all those changes is very stressful for everyone involved.

So I wanted to make sure that moving forward that we had a model where we could aim to increase every year but not go for impossible targets, so that we could give ourselves the time to build something that was high quality, that was genuine, that was from the ground up.

The PIE: Are there any kind of articulation agreements between your programs and other institutions?

SH:┬áIÔÇÖm glad you asked because that’s something weÔÇÖre aiming to put into the portfolio for next year.

We have a group of about six prospective schools that would like to develop articulation agreements with us. The idea is that weÔÇÖd build that in right from the beginning and the program would result in a BA from the studentsÔÇÖ home institution and an MA from the SIT Graduate Institute.

The PIE: And these are US-based schools?

SH: Yes, they are, but we do have very good relationships with a number of schools overseas, so that is something that I can see emerging in the future too.

The PIE: And most of your current students are Americans?

Yes, they are. This is something that weÔÇÖve been thinking about, whether we should internationalise more in the future.

The PIE: If your footprint is global, it makes total sense.

SH: Absolutely. For instance, weÔÇÖve had a lot of students through US accredited schools based overseas. For instance, we have really been successful in connecting with Yale-NUS College in Singapore. Many students that come on to our program come from there.

WeÔÇÖve been able to expand outreach through these different American liberal arts schools and schools that are connected to US schools overseas. But weÔÇÖd like to be more intentional.

“WeÔÇÖre also interested in working with schools in the UK”

WeÔÇÖre also interested in working with schools in the UK. ThatÔÇÖs something that I personally would love to engage with, especially as I see the needs and know the system and the interests that some schools would have with some of our programs.

Many language programs, for instance, require immersive studies. To date, theyÔÇÖre very much relying on Erasmus and those sorts of connections. Depending on what happens with those relationships post-Brexit, there may be opportunities there.

For instance, why study French in Paris, when you can study it in Senegal with SIT? WeÔÇÖre very intrigued by those possibilities. But at the same time, we try to remain very cautious. By which I mean, we want to remain very respectful to the student groups that we already have.

Our partnership group, the colleges and universities we work with, they work with us because ÔÇô I believe ÔÇô they trust us. We want to be sure that whatever we do is performed appropriately and in partnership with the people who have worked with us for such a long time.

The post Sophia Howlett, President, SIT, US appeared first on The PIE News.

Readers share some ideas for making the most of consultants — one of several challenges Fort Lewis College faces as it tries to reverse the effects of falling enrollments.

Readers share some ideas for making the most of consultants — one of several challenges Fort Lewis College faces as it tries to reverse the effects of falling enrollments.

Canada’s Simon Fraser University in British Columbia has extended its partnership with Navitas until 2030 to continue to┬áincrease the quantity and diversity of the institution’s international cohort.

SFU began working with the Australian-based company in 2006 when it launched the on-campus pathway program, Fraser International College.

“Fraser International College continues to produce engaged and ambitious learners”

FIC has consistently achieved outstanding student outcomes and produced award-winning alumni, the partners said.

The pathway has also been recognised by the┬áBritish Columbia Council for International Education┬áand the Canadian Bureau for International Education for “excellence in programming, marketing and student leadership”.

SFU provostÔÇï Jon Driver, Navitas UPNA CEO Brian Stevenson, SFU president Andrew Petter and Navitas Group CEP Scott Jones. Photo: Navitas

 

In a statement,┬áSFU vice-president, academic and provost┬áJonathan Driver said the partnership with the global education provider is┬áa “testament to our shared vision, commitment to collaboration and dedication to fostering the success of international students”.

“Fraser International College continues to produce engaged and ambitious learners who, as global citizens, contribute greatly to our campus community and enhance SFUÔÇÖs ability to provide all of our students with diverse and transformative learning opportunities,”┬áDriver added.

President and CEO of Navitas North America┬áBrian J.R. Stevenson said the company looks forward to the “shared success of Fraser International College for many years to come”.

“ItÔÇÖs a privilege for Navitas to partner with Simon Fraser University, a forward-thinking institution with a long-standing commitment to internationalisation,ÔÇØ said Stevenson concluded.

The post Canada: SFU & Navitas extend p’ship to 2030 appeared first on The PIE News.

France has become the latest European country to introduce travel restrictions and has banned school trips abroad and to areas of France with a high number of coronavirus cases.

As of February 29, France had seen more than 200 cases of COVID-19, which have been particularly concentrated in the regions of Oise in Hauts-de-France, Morbihan in Brittany and Haute-Savoie in Auvergne-Rh├┤ne-Alpes.

ÔÇ£People started 2020 thinking it would be a bumper year”

The move is the latest blow the English language training sector in countries like the UK, Ireland and Malta, which have already seen numerous cancellations, particularly from China and Italy.

ÔÇ£People started 2020 thinking it would be a bumper year,” explained David OÔÇÖGrady, CEO of Marketing English in Ireland, which is Ireland’s leading industry association and represents around 90% of its ELT schools.

WeÔÇÖd had a good few years, with a good amount of bookings in January and February, and good feedback from agents.

ÔÇ£Schools have resigned to taking a bit of a hit in March and April, but the worry is that it will continue into the summer and that some will fold,”┬áOÔÇÖGrady added.

He told The PIE that March is the second busiest time of the year and that a continuation in restrictions could have a huge knock-on effect if they last into the summer.

When ItalyÔÇÖs travel restrictions for student groups were announced earlier, O’Grady said one group of students had been en route to the airport before having to turn around.

For schools in both Ireland and the UK, dips in student numbers mean cash-strapped institutions may struggle to rent buildings and hire staff in the summer. It’s also had an effect on companies supporting schools.

ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖve got families that are cautious about accommodating students, students who canÔÇÖt travel even if they want to, and agents who depend on bookings for their livelihood,ÔÇØ Harsha Shivdasani, operations manager at accommodation provider┬áHosts International.

“We’ve had 30 to 40 [Italian] young learner groups cancel.”

While Shivdasani explained that the French school groups they have tend to be adults, who arenÔÇÖt as affected, the number of available host families is decreasing.

Nous travaillons, acad├®mie par acad├®mie, ├á la continuit├® p├®dagogique avec le @cned au service des ├®l├¿ves oblig├®s de rester chez eux.#coronavirus

Ces dispositifs dÔÇÖenseignement ├á distance ont ├®t├® pr├®par├®s pour faire face ├á ce type de situation: https://t.co/lx2zT09eli

— Jean-Michel Blanquer (@jmblanquer) March 2, 2020

But while those who The PIE spoke to agreed that the coronavirus is having a huge impact on the industry, groups remain divided about how justified precautionary measures are, with accusations of the situation being hyped up and over-exaggerated on one side, and not been prepared for well enough on the other.

ÔÇ£Coronavirus is a major and evolving issue for our members and for agents. We are supporting them with a dedicated webpage where we are posting advice and updates from the government, TIER [the Tourism Industry Emergency Response Group], agent associations and more,”┬ásaid a spokesperson for English UK.

We are also taking calls from members, attending group meetings about the issue, and giving access to a business support helpline.

ÔÇ£At present the situation is fast-moving and we believe agents and members are looking at flexible solutions for now. We have had many positive conversations with members and fruitful discussions with agent groups,” the spokesperson added.

The post France restricts school trips abroad appeared first on The PIE News.

A controversial and roundly criticized fashion show at the Fashion Institute of Technology is raising larger questions about how much oversight faculty members in fashion design programs should have over students’ work and whether or how students should be directed to consider racial and societal factors in their creative expressions.

The show, which was held on Feb. 7, featured the work of recent graduates of FIT's master's program in fashion design. One of the graduates, Junkai Huang, dressed models in oversize plastic ears and lips and bushy glue-on eyebrows, which many people thought resembled racist caricatures of black people. Amy Lefevre, a black model who was in the show, was the first to call attention to the “clearly racist” accessories she said the director of the show attempted to push her to wear despite her refusal to do so after telling him the accessories made her uncomfortable, according to The New York Times.

Richard Thornn, a London-based creative director hired by FIT to produce the show, told her she would “only be uncomfortable for 45 seconds,” the Times reported.

Lefevre's comments and the pictures of other models wearing the controversial accessories promptly made the rounds on social media, attracting significant media coverage and causing an internal rift at the college.

Much of the criticism for the show was initially directed at Huang, but Joyce Brown, president of FIT, ÔÇïplaced the blame squarely on two administrators who, she said in a statement, “failed to recognize or anticipate the racist references and cultural insensitivities that were obvious to almost everybody else.”ÔÇï

Jonathan Kyle Farmer, the chair of the master’s program for fashion designÔÇï, and Mary Davis, dean of graduate studies, were placed on administrative leave as a result. Brown described their leadership as "inexcusable and irresponsible" and apologized "to those who participated in the show, to students, and to anybody who has been offended by what they saw. Let me be clear: no person should be made to feel uncomfortable -- particularly about race -- in service of their work, job, livelihood, or course of study."

Huang did not select the accessories himself, Brown said in her statement. The Times reported they were recommended by Farmer, who did not respond to requests for comment.

While the imagery implicit in the accessories may have been obvious to many people, So Young Song, a professor of fashion design and merchandising at Illinois State University, wondered if the uproar it caused might stifle student creativity and independence going forward.

“That incident really made me think in terms of students’ activity, like fashion shows, and how we can present this issue but still encourage creative fashion design and fashion show activity from students,” Song said.

Lefevre did not respond to requests for comment. The Black Student Union at FIT issued a statement on Twitter supporting Lefevre and calling the incident “offensive and racist.”

“We request that those who align with our vision, intention and mission -- to explore and celebrate black pride while promoting intellectual, political, social and cultural awareness -- to use their voices to continually support and advocate for justice,” the statement said.

While other models in the show, including another black model, wore the accessories, Lefevre walked the runway without them.

Bethann Hardison, a pioneer and advocate for women of color in the fashion industry, said Lefevre had every right to refuse to wear the offensive accessories. Hardison, who is the founder of the Diversity Coalition, which promotes racial diversity in the fashion industry, saw the accessories as just plain “ugly” rather than a malicious act of racism, but she questioned the motives of those who selected the accessories.

“I don’t blame FIT -- who I blame is any production company and stylist on the job,” she said. “I looked at it like, what are they thinking -- it’s just bad taste. I don’t know what the need was, how the accessory enhanced the garment … What does the designer gain, the controversy? It doesn’t seem to be coming off to his advantage.”

Huang, the designer, claimed ignorance of the insulting symbolism associated with the accessories. He moved from eastern China to New York City in 2017 and is still developing an understanding of American racial and cultural references and intended for the accessories to be “reflections of my own body features and perceptions of their enlarged proportions, which should be celebrated and embraced,” according to the Times.

He also expressed surprise at the allegations of racism in his work. He told CNN he was "sad and shocked" by the allegations. "The saddest part is I am not a racist, and as an Asian person I had bad experiences here, too," he said.

The accessories certainly had the “shock value” that some designers seek, but in all the wrong ways, said Lisa Hayes, director of the fashion design program at Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts and Design. She found it hard to believe that supervisors, faculty members or peers did not sound an alarm to the show’s directors and the designer.

“It’s unfortunate because it’s a graduate of the program representing the program,” Hayes said. “We would absolutely not allow anything that we had any question about.”

Hayes said first-year students in Drexel's undergraduate fashion design program are required to take "foundation of fashion" courses, which cover issues such as "inclusive design,” history of “Western dress” and adaptation of clothing for people with disabilities and the LGBTQ community.

“It is an issue that students from other countries are not aware of various terminology that might be offensive,” Hayes said. “That’s absolutely true, and that can be an issue that we deal with … The more diverse the student body is, the better. When you have diverse students and faculty and you become this tight-knit group of close friends, it’s easier to talk about these things.”

Hardison said Huang's acknowledged lack of cultural competency reflects a still-persistent problem of the fashion industry.

“Designers in the international industry find themselves looking down a line of all-white models,” Hardison said. “Their ignorance is bliss … I’m not giving him an out, but I do think it’s possible.”

Hardison related the incident to ongoing discussions of cultural appropriation in the fashion industry and how designers now have to “double think” about whether their work could be offensive.

“It’s gotten kind of rough out there for creative people,” she said.

Farmer, the chairman of the master's fashion design program, has since posted a statement on the Instagram account of the graduate fashion design program, saying he now understands why the accessories were interpreted as racist.

"It was never our intent for the show's styling to be interpreted as racist or to make people feel uncomfortable but I now fully understand why this has happened," Farmer said in the statement. "I take full responsibility and am committed to learning from this situation and taking steps to do better."

Davis, the dean who was also put on leave, said in a written statement issued by her attorney that she did not bear responsibility for the content of the fashion show.

“My responsibilities at FIT do not include providing direct oversight or approval of students’ creative work,” Davis's statement said. “Not only would this be very difficult as a practical matter … it would breach FIT’s policies designed to protect the creative freedom of faculty and students from interference by administrators.”ÔÇï The decision to place her on leave was “premature and unnecessarily damaging” to her "stellar reputation," her lawyer, Marjorie Berman, said in a separate statement.

Davis said she received complaints about the accessories four days after the show from two graduate students in the fashion design program. Davis then met with Farmer and several students and sent a memo to institute officials detailing these meetings, which she used to gather more information about the incident and "express support" for fashion design students, her statement said.

"Racism in any form is antithetical to the mission of FIT and to my personal values," Davis said. "Providing an inclusive, supportive environment in which all students can learn, be creative and thrive is essential to all education. I have always taken full responsibility for those matters that are my responsibility, however, I should not be held accountable or blamed for not stopping activity that I did not know existed."

FIT declined to comment on Davis’s claims or say whether or when she and Farmer might return. The two officials' employment status is pending based on the results of an ongoing investigation into the incident, Brown said in her statement.

In the interim, FIT will likely continue trying to find the right balance between encouraging creativity and fostering sensitivity in students' work.

“It is my position that all students must be afforded the safe space and freedom to learn and develop their voice, even if the voice is provocative to some,” Brown said. “At the same time, I am deeply committed to creating a teaching and learning environment in which people are not offended or intimidated. There is a balance that must be struck between these two imperatives, one that is not always easy to find, but it is the college’s responsibility to find it.”

Editorial Tags: RaceRacial groupsImage Source: Bennett Raglin via Getty ImagesIs this diversity newsletter?: Newsletter Order: 0Disable left side advertisement?: Is this Career Advice newsletter?: Magazine treatment: Trending: College: Fashion Institute of TechnologyDisplay Promo Box: 

Last week the Texas Southern University Board of Regents reached a separation agreement with former president Austin Lane, following a lengthy mediation meeting. The decision to terminate Lane was made in early February, after the president was abruptly suspended a month prior.

The board’s decision to terminate Lane -- and a vague explanation as to why -- has sparked outrage among TSU students, alumni and staff. It also drew criticism from a fellow president of a historically black university: Walter Kimbrough.

Kimbrough, who has helmed Dillard University since 2012, slammed the board’s decision in an op-ed published in Diverse Education.

“The entire board must be replaced. Immediately. All Texas Southern supporters should pressure [Texas governor Greg Abbott] to make this happen,” Kimbrough wrote.

He recalled reports of an October board meeting, during which one regent, Ron Price, reportedly complained of being dropped off a block away from the university during homecoming. He also recounted reports of complaints that some board members sat in the back row at TSU’s Democratic presidential debate in September. Another regent, Wesley G. Terrell, said the regents “can terminate everybody, even down to the janitor, if it’s the will of the board.” Shortly after, the board approved new bylaws giving them the power to do just that.

Little information is public about Lane’s termination. Last week, the Texas attorney general ruled that TSU should release documents related to the admissions probe and Lane’s ouster, which were sought by the Houston Chronicle under the Texas Public Information Act. While the battle between the campus community and TSU’s board continues, Kimbrough has a message for aspiring TSU presidents looking to apply: don’t.

“Let me issue this public warning to anyone who would consider being president at Texas Southern. Stay away until they clean the board,” he wrote. “Don’t get caught up in the idea of wanting to be a president, because any president working under this board is asking for a tenure filled with micromanaged misery.”

Kimbrough's fiery op-ed, which has been widely circulated and praised on Twitter, was significant, according to Susan Resneck Pierce, president emerita of the University of Puget Sound and a consultant for colleges and presidentsÔÇï. She could only recall one other president, current or former, "speaking out in this way": former Cornell University president Hunter R. Rawlings III, in response to Teresa Sullivan's departure at the University of Virginia. ÔÇï

For his part, Kimbrough thinks presidents should be willing to make bold statementsÔÇï.

"I think presidents are too timid -- we don’t comment on anything," Kimbrough said.

He described two motivations for writing his op-ed. First, he wanted to serve as a defense for a president who otherwise had none. Faculty, he argued, can turn to the American Association of University Professors when they believe they’re being treated unfairly. There is no similar organization to support college presidents.

“Someone has to speak up for the presidents when these kinds of things happen,” he said. “This was just another situation where all of the reports that came out, all the news reports suggested that this wasn’t fair. Someone needed to step up and say, ‘This was wrong.’”

Pierce agrees the board is acting out of step with best practices.

“Based on the media reports about this, the board is behaving in an unusual -- if not inappropriate -- way that is not consistent with best practices,” she said. “They did not discuss with the president what their concerns were, and if they’re doing an investigation, the president needs to know that that’s happening.”

Among the board’s errors, Pierce highlighted the fact it failed to collaborate with the president on a statement about his termination and did not keep personnel matters confidential in the statement it did release.

Texas Southern did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. In its public statement on Lane's termination, the board wrote that Lane's "actions relate in part to failure to report to the board information relating to improper payments for admissions to the Thurgood Marshall School of Law and for the improper awarding of scholarships to students, which led in part to the initiation of a comprehensive investigation." Lane has denied these allegations.

Kimbrough also wanted to put pressure on the state to reexamine TSU’s board before a new president is selected, and he believes a dismal applicant pool would do the trick.

“They should be left with a pool that’s so bad, they realize they have to change,” Kimbrough said.

Whether his message will actually deter applicants is up for debate. Jim Lyons is a senior consultant at the Association of Governing Boards and member of Dillard University's Board of Trustees who has also served as interim president at Dillard and at the University of the District of Columbia. Lyons said that aspiring presidents will often prioritize opportunities over a good fit and blow past potential red flags from the board with which they’ll have to work closely.

“We see a lot of people that are so eager to be a president that they don't stop to look at whether it’s a good match,” Lyons said. “Sometimes during the search process, the candidate is so eager to become a president and the board is so eager to complete the search that some things may go unsaid.”

Lyons interpreted Kimbrough’s message as exactly that.

“One of the things in President Kimbrough’s comments is he’s saying to other presidents, ‘Don’t be so eager to be a president that you fail to look at how the president is onboarded, whether the school is a good match for you,’ etc., etc.,” Lyons said.

But Pierce noted that Kimbrough is a well-respected president. She believes that his op-ed could have “major impact on the applicant pool.” She went on to say that while some applicants will seek and accept any presidency, many candidates are highly selective in where they choose to apply -- and only apply to places they perceive to be a good fit.

“The board is every president's most important constituency, and without board support, presidents will not be able to be successful,” she said.ÔÇï

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The Modern Language Association clarified Tuesday that a pair of 2021 meeting panels “designated” for people of color and white people, respectively, are open to everyone.

“We shouldn't have used the word ‘designated’ and we'll revise the wording” of the calls for papers, said Paula Krebs, the MLA’s executive director. “All sessions at the convention are open to all members, of course.”

The roundtables in question, planned for next January, are both on decentering whiteness in academe. Whiteness studies examines topics such as structural racism and the white supremacist underpinnings of society.

“This session will acknowledge the role of and consider strategies and tactics to decenter whiteness and white supremacy in the university,” reads one of the MLA’s calls for papers. “This space is designated for scholars of color to speak with each other.”

The second session’s call says essentially the same but notes, “This space is designated for white scholars to do the work of decentering whiteness.”

The new session descriptions will say they aim "to bring together scholars of color to acknowledge the role of and consider strategies and tactics to decenter whiteness and white supremacy in the university," and "to bring together white scholars" to do the same.

Krebs said she hadn’t heard direct criticism of the panels. But they did attract the attention of some association members.

Peter Herman, professor of literature at San Diego State University, called the sessions as first proposed “racial segregation. It’s restricting the panel to one ethnic group. I thought we were all against that.”

Herman said he’d been a member for MLA for 30 years and had “never seen anything like this before.”

Krebs explained that the association was trying to accommodate members who have expressed “how important it is for them to be able to gather together to address issues they might be confronting as scholars of color specifically, and how important it is when associations like the MLA make that type of gathering possible.”

Herman said he understood that motivation but the MLA should have told members that it can't “bar people on the basis of race from attending or speaking at any session. That’s what they could have done.”

Designating space for someone or some group doesn’t mean that others will be blocked from it. But Herman said the call for papers read as a restriction on certain groups all the same.

Roopika Risam, an associate professor of education and English at Salem State University, is helping the MLA gather papers for the scholars of color panel. She said white scholars frequently “center themselves in conversations about white supremacy.” And so the roundtable is intended to “center the voices and lived experiences of scholars of color.”

What Risam described might be called "whitesplaining," similar to "mansplaining." Even well-intentioned allies are capable of it. And the work of decentering whiteness is arguably different based on who you are. The slight wording differences in the two calls for papers hint at this: scholars of color are invited to speak with each other, and white scholars are invited to "do" this work.

Some student activists have held similarly exclusive gatherings during their protests, to privilege nonwhite voices in campus cultures that historically privilege white ones. The tactic is sometimes criticized.

Other academics, including some who study whiteness, argue that what’s been called “reverse racism” isn’t a real thing, because white people still enjoy race-based privileges even if they stand individually against racism.

There is some precedent for identity-based gatherings at disciplinary meetings (including the act of meeting as a discipline). Krebs noted that the MLA dedicates certain events to department chairs, for example, but that these sessions are still open to anyone.

Groups such as the American Historical Association also offer meeting receptions for scholars who identify as LGBTQ or as minorities, among other groups. These are understood to be social events, however, and all are welcome to attend.

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Universities across the country are part of the urgent effort to research the virus SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, COVID-19, together colloquially called the coronavirus. Globally, the virus has infected over 90,000 people and resulted in over 3,000 deaths, including nine in the United States.

After receiving approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have received vials of the virus for study. The Center for Vaccine Research at the university, where Dr. Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine, will be working on a potential vaccine candidate.

Paul Duprex, director for Pitt’s Center for Vaccine Research, told the Pittsburgh Business Times that the research may require hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding.

“Making vaccines [is] not cheap,” he said.

A team at the University of Texas at Austin also is working on new coronavirus research. Last month those researchers created the first molecular map of the virus’s spike protein, the part that attaches to and infects human cells. This map will be essential in creating vaccines and drugs for the disease, the university has said. The research was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health and supervised by staff members from the institute’s Vaccine Research Center. The associated paper was published in the journal Science.

News outlets have reported that researchers at the Washington University in St. Louis, Colorado State University and Baylor College of Medicine also are working on vaccine development, often building off research that already has been conducted at those institutions.

Vaccine candidates must go through rigorous testing before they can be deployed to the general population. Any vaccine that is developed likely will be manufactured by large pharmaceutical firms. Those companies are similarly racing to develop a candidate. If a university patents a viable vaccine, it potentially could yield substantial revenue.

The drug company Moderna delivered the first batch of its vaccine candidate to government researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases late last month, The Wall Street Journal reported. The institute expects a small-scale clinical trial on healthy adults to start before the end of April. Even if the study yields promising results, NIAID officials have said the vaccine would not be available until next year because further studies and regulatory hoops will need to be cleared.

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In response to the outbreak of Covid-19, colleges are canceling study-abroad programs, academic associations are postponing conferences, and administrators are planning for long-term disruption.

Over the past decade, student-loan debt has ballooned to an unprecedented size. What does the data say about who holds America’s $1.5-trillion student-loan debt?

Rather than talking about who is more overwhelmed, students are trying new resources to figure out — and share — what wellness means to them.

A new book challenges professors to see their students — and colleges to see teaching — with new eyes.

College debt in the U.S. doubled to $1.5 trillion in the decade following the Great Recession. Whether that’s a problem depends on your perspective.

Languages Canada, the association for English and French language teaching institutions in the country, has unveiled a new five-year strategic plan which focuses on diversification, adaptability and sustained profitability at its member centres.

Its new direction came as the immigration division of the Canadian government confirmed in a presentation that despite significant growth overall for Canada’s international education system, there was a decline in the volume of study permits issued for language study of 5% for 2019 on 2018.

“Languages Canada will continue to advocate for the right for language students to be able to work and experience the labour market”

Study permits are required for durations of six months or more, with many nationalities able to enrol while on a tourist visa for shorter durations of language learning.

Overall, Languages Canada revealed a 2% growth in market performance across its members in 2019, but this was after a 2018 report which saw all of the growth that year concentrated among its public sector membership.

Canada’s well-known appeal is in part because of post-study work rights, which are available for graduates of public sector institutions.

Gonzalo Peralta, executive director of the association, impressed upon members that Languages Canada will continue to advocate for the right for language students to be able to work and experience the labour market, as an important part of a language learning immersion experience.

Canada’s language teaching sector was heavily impacted in 2014 when regulations were changed to forbid work as part of a language program.

Many language teaching companies with the scale to do so since pivoted to also offer career college programs which can include a work placement.

The association’s annual conference in Vancouver saw the launch of the new strategic plan, which, Peralta explained, took a lot of work to scan the industry horizon and focus on what is needed for members to succeed in the future.

“The executive committee reviewed the history of the association, asked hard questions, and challenged one another,” he said.

One of its plans is to oversee a Teaching Assistant program, similar to the UK’s British Council program which sees 2,500 language assistants placed in 14 countries annually.

The global ELT market is a mature sector, the new strategic plan details.

 

The strategy details a plan to work with Canadian and international partners to develop and roll-out a government-funded Canadian Language Teaching Assistant mobility program; create and offer a language teaching assistant certificate and TA toolkit; and leverage outbound learners as Canadian brand ambassadors.

This fits into the broader national international education strategy to foster far greater outbound engagement in studying abroad as well as diversifying source countries of inbound international students.

Other goals include establishment of a multi-year ÔÇ£pathwayÔÇØ visa

Other goals ÔÇô as well as working with IRCC to establish a language-and-work program ÔÇô include the establishment of a multi-year ÔÇ£pathwayÔÇØ visa established: one permit that will allow students to learn English/French and then continue onto post-secondary studies.

The association has identified five clear goals and action plans for each:

• Showcase Canada and LC member programs as top choice English and French language education providers and partners.
• Influence legislation, regulations, and policies that support members, protect students, and enable innovation and growth within the language education sector.
• Drive quality across all aspects of CanadaÔÇÖs language education sector.
• Support and accelerate the ability of the association and our members to innovate.
• Create a stable, sustainable, vibrant organizational foundation for LC.

 

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The UK should seek full association to the┬áHorizon Europe research program and commit a minimum ┬ú1 billion per year to “stimulate global research and innovation collaboration and attract the worldÔÇÖs best researchers” following Brexit, the┬áRussell Group has urged.

In its┬ásubmission to the 2020 budget, the association that represents┬á24 UK universities said the government should “make a commitment to ring-fence sufficient funding” for the country’s continued participation in the world’s┬álargest program for multi-country collaborative R&D and research excellence.

If full Horizon Europe participation is not deemed acceptable by the UK government, it should create a back-up plan that can be developed and delivered at pace, the Russell Group explained.

“The UK should be ambitious, not cut corners”

At a minimum, it said the UK should participate in the program as a ‘third country’ on a “pay as you go basis”.

“As we look ahead, the UK will need to make tough choices about its future relationship with the EU, but one of the most important choices it should make is to negotiate an association agreement for full access to the new Horizon Europe,” the Russell Group stated in its submission.

The Horizon Europe program, starting in 2021, will bring together researchers from Europe, but also countries such as Australia, Canada and Japan.

UK Research and Innovation announced on March 3 that┬áUK participants could┬ácontinue to receive EU grant funding for the lifetime of individual Horizon 2020 projects ÔÇô including projects finishing after 31 December 2020 when the transition period ends.

Universities should also be “actively involved” in┬áfuture trade deal┬ánegotiations with the EU and globally, the Russell Group added.

It pointed out that along with the nearly ┬ú5 billion international students at Russell Group universities contribute to the UK economy each year, member institutions also have “extensive links” with international businesses that could be the source of even more valuable foreign direct investment.

The government should also strive to make the UK the best place for postgraduate research training, the Russell Group contended, as it would┬á“strengthen the UK’s position as a research power”, and lay foundations for future┬áR&D-led growth.

“The UK will need a significant new pool of research talent in business, universities, the public and third sectors and the UK should be ambitious, not cut corners.

“The full economic costs of this training should be met from public funds,” the association continued.

By ensuring┬ávisa and associated fees for highly skilled migrants are “internationally competitive”,┬á the government will further enhance the country┬áas a place for innovation and enterprise.

“The UK is in a good position to make the most of future opportunities”

Additionally, the group pointed out that the newly proposed┬ápoints-based system┬ámust allow the UK to “attract the best and most exciting talent from around the world and at all career stages”.

“We hope the government shares our ambition for this system to provide a warm welcome to potential international students, to researchers… and transform our economy for the future,” the submission read.

The Russell Group also called on the government to continue to work with universities to┬ádesign and implement elements of the UKÔÇÖs new visa system.

These include the proposed new post-study work offer and Global Talent visa.

“The UK is in a good position to make the most of future opportunities by drawing on the networks and connections our universities have made internationally,” the submission concluded.

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Young people around the world are deeply concerned about global issues such as climate change and want to learn more about them in school, a study by Cambridge International has revealed. However, almost a third (31%) arenÔÇÖt getting the opportunity to do so.

More than 11,000 students aged 13 to 19 took part in the exam board’s first-ever ‘Global Perspectives’ survey.┬á┬áThey were asked to share their views on global issues, how they learn about them, and how their awareness of these issues might impact their future career choices.

“It is important that students…develop the skills to research, discuss and evaluate the facts”

Environmental issues took centre stage, with students in the US, Spain, India, the UAE, South Africa, China, India, Indonesia, and the UK all expressing concerns about climate change and pollution. 

Globally, a quarter (26%) of all the students who responded to the survey said they felt climate change was the biggest issue facing the world today.

Christine ├ûzden, chief executive at Cambridge International said that there are “huge” global challenges ahead in our constantly evolving world.┬á┬á

“We feel that it is even more important that students not only engage with key global issues but develop the skills to research, discuss and evaluate the facts, and work with others to understand different perspectives around the world,” she said.┬á

Concern about the climate crisis was widespread; 46% of Spanish students chose climate change as their biggest issue of concern, which was the most out of any other country.

In the UK, climate change was also named as the biggest issue by 45% of respondents.

In the US, 39% said that climate change was the biggest global issue, with pollution ÔÇô including plastic waste ÔÇô viewed as the second biggest issue by this cohort.

A quarter (24%)of students in the UAE voted climate change as the single biggest issue, followed by pollution (16%).

In India and Malaysia, 26% of students named climate change as the world’s biggest issue.

“The results of the survey… show that young people are increasingly concerned about world problems such as climate change, and pollution and plastic waste,” said┬áNick Mazur, senior manager Europe for Cambridge International.

“It is vital that schools equip students with the skills to help understand the breadth of information available on these topics.”

However, while almost all students who took part in the survey (96%) believe it is important to learn about global issues in school, almost a third (31%) say they do not currently get the opportunity to do so.

As a result, the survey found many students are turning to other sources for their information.

A quarter of students surveyed said their most trusted source of information is produced by charities and organisations which are dedicated to particular global issues, one in five turn to the internet and 17% to social media.

“With the impacts of climate change and poverty dominating headlines, global issues have never felt more local,” said Peter Monteath, regional director Europe at Cambridge International.

Monteath said schools should offer an opportunity to learn about such issues, by helping to “direct keen minds to become engaged global citizens who want to find the innovative solutions to the complex problems we face”.

“Students are aware of the impact these [issues] could have on their futures… so it makes sense that they want to learn about this issue in the classroom, as well as the chance to debate with other students,” he added.

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A four year “read and publish” deal has been struck between 138 UK universities and US-based publisher Wiley.┬á

Seen as an alternative to a traditional subscription model between universities and publishers, “read and publish” deals involve both┬ásubscriptions and funding for ‘open access’, where researchers publish articles that are┬áfreely available to read, download, cite, share and build upon.

“This new agreement is a step-change in the transition to open access to UK research”

As part of the deal, the universities will gain access to Wiley’s subscription content. They will also be able to publish openly in Wiley’s journals without paying the article processing charges that are normally required.

Instead, the 138 institutions will convert some of their Wiley subscription expenditure into an Open Access fund, which will be used to support a financially sustainable route to open access.

The deal was brokered by Jisc, a research and education not-for-profit that negotiates licences and digital content agreements on behalf of UK universities. 

Under the new deal, the proportion of open access articles published by UK researchers is set to increase from 27% to an estimated 85% in year one, with the potential to reach 100% by 2022. 

Jisc told The PIE News that it is the second-largest journal agreement by spend in the UK and is the result of a two-year consultation with the participating institutions. 

“This new agreement is a step-change in the transition to open access to UK research,” said Liam Earney, executive director for digital resources at Jisc.┬á┬á

“[It] offers all universities within the consortium, regardless of how much or little they publish, an opportunity to rapidly transition toward full and immediate open access in a financially sustainable way.”

Earney explained that it also recognises the importance of access to research materials for students and researchers generally, enabling all universities to access more Wiley content than before. 

Judy Verses, executive vice president at Wiley Research added:“By reaching this agreement, Wiley will further accelerate open access in the UK, reinforcing our commitment to keeping our customers at the centre of what we do.”

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