“The President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, this week used the occasion of a speech delivered at the London School of Economics to develop a little more his theme of a society that has lost its way, and of an academic profession that should accept the responsibility of restoring it to intellectual health …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 22 February]
“As readers of The Irish Times know, there have been serious differences of opinion recently about the structure of Irish higher education. Put briefly, a number of institutes of technology – possibly all of them, by the time you read this – have declared in clusters that they are seeking a new status, that of a ‘technological university’ …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, Irish Times, 21 February]
“… The concept of ‘learning outcomes’ is a good example: a concept that completely misunderstands the process of learning by assuming that when you dress inputs as outputs something profound will happen. Learning should engage and stimulate the learner, and the result may (and in an ideal world will) be something unexpected …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 21 February]
“You may not have been aware of this, but one of the key dangers facing higher education, at least in America, is that it has come to the attention of Satan, and may indeed have already been taken over by him …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 20 February]
“The Irish Federation of University Teachers IFUT has welcomed a new report recommending all third-level colleges in Scotland to ‘adopt and incorporate the definition of Academic Freedom which is contained in Ireland’s Universities Act, 1997′ …” (more)
[Irish Federation of University Teachers, 16 February]
“The European Union publishes an annual report entitled Key Data on Education in Europe. In the 2012 issue there is some interesting statistical analysis of the structure and nature of Europe’s education systems …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 16 February]
“The Higher Education Authority (HEA), since the appointment of chairman, John Hennessy, is largely seen as a kind of attack dog that has been set loose on Irish higher education, in order to force ‘efficiencies’ and an industry focus upon institutes of technology (IoTs) and universities, and generally, in the words of the great and fictitious prime minister, Francis Urquhart, to put a bit of stick about …” (more)
[The Norman Wyse Commentary, 14 February]
“The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has, as part of its programme for implementing the national higher education strategy in Ireland (the Hunt report), has issued a paper setting out how it hopes to develop the structure of the system from its present state …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 14 February]
“Universities in Ireland have been slow to respond to public concerns about the workload of academics and their pay levels, according to the former president of DCU …” (more)
[Seán Flynn, Irish Times, 11 February]
“One of the key features of higher education across the developed world in recent years has been the growth of student migration. Students have increasingly been encouraged to consider universities in other countries when making their study choices …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 7 February]
“… But perhaps the most important aspect of our report, at least in my view, is the contrast between the model of higher education that we put forward and that which has come into being south of the border. We recommend that higher education should be seen as something deserving sustained public interest, requiring accountability and public confidence in order to succeed …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 1 February]
“In the age of the internet, the aristocracy of commentary has been deposed. You can, if you are so minded, turn to the leader writers of the old newspapers to get a perspective on what is happening at home and abroad, but you could just as easily turn to an interactive website …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 31 January]
“For an academic community, there is always something uplifting about the arrival of one of its respected members in high office. In Ireland this happened last year with the election of Michael D Higgins as President …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 26 January]
“A quarter century ago neither the university for which I now work, nor the one for which I worked until last spring, had university status. And yet, over the years since they were given this status, both have thrived …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 24 January]
“So here we go, then. Trinity College Dublin is looking for some junior law lecturers. But that’s not what the College is saying: its announcement suggests they are looking for two ‘Assistant Professors’ …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 20 January]
“Last year I was asked to deliver a lecture to a group of students. As I began my talk, displaying my usual skills of eloquence and persuasiveness, I couldn’t help noticing that a young person in the front row was wearing those little white earphones we have come to see everywhere …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 17 January]
“I was talking recently to a consultant whose job it is to analyse and advise on labour market trends, and what he told me might look worrying to some. The jobs of the future, he said, will go to graduates whose studies prepared them most closely for the work they are hoping to get …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 12 January]
“Those working in universities regularly come up against the question whether it is possible to balance teaching and research so that both are valued and neither undermines the other …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 27 December]
“Throughout my time as President of Dublin City University the annual statement of public expenditure – the so-called Book of Estimates – was a nail biting event …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 6 December]
“In the United Kingdom the Universities and College Admissions Service (UCAS), which handles student applications to higher education institutions, yesterday released the current applications figures for the coming academic year, and the numbers are significantly down on the comparable figures for last year …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 29 November]
