A third of the international intake has gone
A survey by the British Universities International Liaison Association finds international enrolments across UK universities down 30 per cent year on year. That is far steeper than the visa application figures suggested, and it is the number behind every redundancy programme announced this term — including the 450 posts going at Ulster. For home students the effect is felt as course closures rather than as anything about international recruitment.
Universities need to show value, not describe it
Two public engagement specialists argue universities keep trying to communicate their way out of a legitimacy problem when what is needed is felt outcomes in the places they sit — jobs, health, local infrastructure. It is the argument that decides whether the sector gets public money in the next spending review.
The lecturer writing James Bond
An Edinburgh academic is the author of the latest James Bond trilogy, which is a reminder that the person marking your essays may have another career entirely. Worth knowing before you dismiss office hours: the people teaching you are usually doing something in the field you want to enter. Lectures and seminars covers using contact time.