Links ...

1. Tara Brabazon in Times Higher Education: Universities' use of YouTube. Discusses many models of use, with caveats such as this one:

   Watching academics lecture is as exciting as changing the time on a microwave oven. The idea that underprepared PowerPoint lectures are uploaded so that even more people can feel their higher intellectual functions leak through their nose with boredom is a decision worthy of some attention.

2. Inside Higher Ed interviews John C. Knapp and David J. Siegel, editors of The Business of Higher Education.

3. Alan Osborne in University World News: European Universities Still Lack Autonomy:

   The study looked at four key areas of autonomy: organisational autonomy (academic and administrative structures leadership, governance); academic autonomy (defining study fields, student numbers, student selection, and structure/content of degrees); financial autonomy (the ability to raise funds, own buildings, borrow money); and staffing autonomy (the ability to independently recruit, promote and develop academic and non academic staff).

   In only half the countries do universities have the right to own their buildings, and even those with ownership are not always free to sell without government supervision. Most systems (22) allowed universities to borrow money but legislation could restrict the amounts.

4. Robert Frank in NYTimes: How To Run Up A Deficit, Without Fear.

5. Jared Diamond in NYTimes: Will Big Business Save the Earth?