Welcome back to the DailyDose of Higher Education from BreakDrink.com. This is the Tuesday, September 25th edition and I’m Shawn Brackett bringing you today’s news in colleges and universities.
“Russia Opens University Near Border With China”
http://chronicle.com/article/Russia-Unveils-a-2-Billion/134572/ [story]
http://dvfu.ru/en/ [university website; English]
The Russian Ministry of Education and Science has invested nearly 623 billion rubles (nearly USD$20 billion) in a new campus for the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU). The university is the result of a merger among several institutions of higher education in Vladivostok, a city on the Pacific coast of Russia near the country’s border with China. FEFU is an important symbol in the Russian government’s attempts to revitalize its higher education system; the ministry has set international prominence as FEFU’s top goal for the next decade. Historical government corruption and the isolation of the campus, coupled with harsh living conditions and lack of space for laboratories present key challenges for the university’s administrators in meeting that goal, however.
“Princeton’s First Woman President to Return to Faculty Ranks”
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/princetons-president-shirley-tilghman-to-step-down/49370 [story]
http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S34/82/84K11/index.xml [letter to campus]
Shirley Tilghman (Ph.D., Temple University) will step down from her position as president of Princeton University effective May 2013. Dr. Tilghman is noted for being the first woman to serve in that role for Princeton and for being among the first with a background in the sciences of any president. During her tenure, Princeton invested millions to promote women faculty members in the sciences, restored its Early Admission program, and completed a $2 billion fundraising campaign. A native of Canada, Dr. Tilghman is a member of the [US] National Academy of Sciences and specializes in molecular biology. Dr. Tilghman will return to the faculty ranks after stepping down next year.
“Rapid Changes in Quebec As Tuition Hikes Canceled, Bill 78 Repealed”
http://www.montrealgazette.com/CLASSE+sets+sights+free+tuition+latest+student+protest/7285597/story.html [CLASSE plan]
Pauline Marois has rolled back tuition hikes and restrictions on public demonstrations on her first day as Premier of Quebec. Ousted by an upset electorate charged by rampant student demonstrations, the Liberal government had implemented tuition hikes and increases in student financial aid in the spring. Bill 78, a controversial law aimed at curtailing violent demonstrations but widely thought to be anti-democratic, was passed in the summer. CLASSE, a group representing 100,000 Quebec students, has subsequently put forward its goal of making university education free.
That’s it for today–make tomorrow a good one. Join us on Thursday when Sue Caulfield joins the DailyDose team!
