Last week saw Asia enter the top ten in a major international study of HE institutions, the Universitas 21 annual survey. Singapore jumped into 9th place ahead of the UK, due in part to its focus on research, resources (this includes government spending per student), and its connectivity.
An impressive essay on the changes hitting the higher education sector globally should send a chill through anyone involved in the sector today. Entitled ‘An Avalanche in Coming‘, and published by the UK-based Institute for Public Policy Research, it sums up powerfully the wide range of challenges facing education institutions, and the new ones to come.
UniversitiesThe cultural difficulties of the increasing partnerships between universities across the globe
We’ve been talking for the past few months about the increasing globalisation of universities across the globe. Many institutions are setting up campuses and creating partnerships with their counterparts on the other side of the world, to much success.
Recently UNIT4 sponsored the EUNIS conference in Portugal. The aim of the annual event is to bring together international specialists, users, researchers, decision-makers, and teaching staff to share research and developments in IT, and work together to further advance higher education institutions through software innovation.
Higher Education has had a bit of a hard time recently, with cuts to its funding, increased student expectation, and pressure to deliver on research and innovation. The last thing that they need is an outdated ERP system that can’t meet the demands made on them.
Many universities struggle with outdated processes when what they need is a single solution covering finance to procurement, and HR to student management. It’s essential that they have a comprehensive system that is flexible enough to adapt to changing demands.
