World Universities Forum Newsletter, May 2012

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The Stanford Education Experiment Could Change Higher Learning Forever Steven Leckart | Wired.com | Original Article Stanford doesn’t want me. I can say that because it’s a documented fact: I was once denied admission in writing. I took my last math class back in high school. Which probably explains why this quiz on how to get a computer to calculate an ideal itinerary is making my brain hurt. I’m staring at a crude map of Romania on my MacBook. Twenty cities are connected in a network of straight black lines. My goal is to determine the best route from Arad to Bucharest. A handful of search algorithms with names like breadth-first, depth-first, uniform-cost, and A* can be used. Each employs a different strategy for scanning the map and considering various paths. I’ve never heard of these algorithms or considered how a computer determines a route. But I’ll learn, because despite the utter lack of qualifications I just mentioned, I’m enrolled in CS221: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, a graduate- level course taught by Stanford professors Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig. Last fall, the university in the heart of Silicon Valley did something it had never done before: It opened up three classes, including CS221, to anyone with a web connection. Lectures and assignments—the same ones administered in the regular on-campus class—would be posted and auto-graded online each week. Midterms and finals would have strict deadlines. Stanford wouldn’t issue course credit to the non-matriculated students. But at the end of the term, students who completed a course would be awarded an official Statement of Accomplishment. People around the world have gone crazy for this opportunity. Fully two-thirds of my 160,000 classmates live outside the US. There are students in 190 countries—from India and South Korea to New Zealand and the Republic of Azerbaijan. More than 100 volunteers have signed up to translate the lectures into 44 languages, including Bengali. In Iran, where YouTube is blocked, one student cloned the CS221 class website and—with the professors’ permission—began reposting the video files for 1,000 students. More… Image via wired.com Emerging Countries Need World-Class Universities Simon Marginson | University World News | Original Article All tertiary education systems face the problem of breadth and depth. More specifically, where should they strike the balance between extending tertiary participation across more of the population in good institutions (breadth), and building the scientific firepower of a small number of outstanding research universities so that they rise in the global rankings (depth)? Naturally everyone wants both. Equally naturally, resources are scarce and at any given time governments must determine the next investment. Strategies vary. Nations might try to go broad and deep at the same time, like China. Or system building might alternate between a breadth phase – in which many new institutions are built and overall rates of participation are pushed sharply upwards; and a depth phase – in which priority is given to world-class science. The dilemma is especially acute in developing countries. Resource shortages and other urgent priorities force them into an ‘either-or’ rather than a ‘both and more’ approach. More… Image: jscreationzs Harvard is Now Cheaper than San Jose State Richard Anderson | The Nation | Original Article This article was originally published by the Daily Titan. Public universities in California may have been dethroned as being cheaper than private schools for middle-income students. According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, schools like Harvard and Princeton provide a cheaper alternative to schools like San Jose State and University of California, Berkeley. Private schools are generally even cheaper than Cal State Fullerton. To go to Harvard, it costs $4,000 for a family with an annual income of $30,000. At CSUF, it costs $16,331 for a full-time student. According to the Bay Area News Group, a family of four making $130,000 a year would have to pay $24,000 for tuition, room, board and other expenses to send one child to a CSU. Harvard costs $36,000, but financial aid makes it the cheaper option. Financial aid drops Harvard tuition costs down to $17,000 a year, under San Jose State’s $23,557 and even under the $19,500 it costs to go to UC Berkeley. While Princeton may be slightly more expensive ($19,830) than UC Berkeley, it is still considerably cheaper than San Jose State. Private schools used to be considered more expensive than public, but that trend has changed for a couple of reasons. More… Image: cooldesign

Also This Month... MIT Tops ‘Most Buzzed About’ List on Internet American Universities Infected by Foreign Spies Detected by FBI Insecure in the Knowledge

Conference News

Sixth Annual World Universities Forum We are pleased to announce the Sixth Annual World Universities Forum. 10-11 January, 2013 UBC – Robson Square Vancouver, Canada For more information, please visit our website. Call for Papers The Forum examines the role and future of the University in a changing world. It is ambitious in its intellectual and practical, agenda-setting scope, and broad in its themes. Paper presentations begin with the submission of an abstract. For information on current deadlines, proposals, presentation types, and other options please follow this link. If your proposal is accepted, you will then need to fully register for the conference in order to be scheduled into the program. Registration Those who submit paper proposals should register following the acceptance of the proposal. Conference delegates who do not intend to present may register at any time. For registration options, or to register for the 2013 World Universities Forum, please see this website Themes Theme 1: In the Interest of the Academy: Perspectives on the Nature, Purpose and Working of the University Knowledge Designs Learning Designs Organisational Designs Designs on the World Theme 2: Academic Interests: Setting Intellectual and Practical Agendas Sciences Technologies Cultures, Identities, Humanisms Resources and Welfare Governance For more information on our overall themes, please click here.

Publishing News

World Universities Journal Submissions Open We are accepting submissions for The Journal of the World Universities Forum. The Journal of the World Universities Forum seek to explore the meaning and purpose of the academy in times of striking social transformation. The Journal brings together university administrators, teachers and researchers to discuss the prospects of the academy and to exemplify or imagine ways in which the university can take a leading and constructive role in the transformations of our times. Today, universities face significant challenges to their traditional position in society—contemporary knowledge systems are becoming more distributed and learning ubiquitous. Where does this leave the university – as an historically specialised and privileged place for certain kinds of knowledge and learning, as an institutionally bounded space? What do these changes mean for the mission and structures of the renewed university? What are emerging as principal areas of the academic interest? Refereeing of submitted papers will commence shortly so start the submission process early by submitting your proposal. Paper submission guidelines and timelines are available online.

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