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The importance of rhetoric 27 Aug 2013 | 04:36 am
As a young boy I had, I believe, a very bad stammer. I don’t really remember this – I was very young at the time – but I understand I received some treatment for it; in any case the problem was overco...
Spamming the blog fastidiously 21 Aug 2013 | 12:29 am
As I have mentioned before, this blog receives about a dozen or two spam comments every day, most of them filtered out by the spam service of WordPress. Occasionally I check the quarantine folder to m...
Own goals 20 Aug 2013 | 06:26 am
Long suffering readers of this blog know that every so often you get a post on Newcastle United FC. It’s one of those days. If you have absolutely no interest in football (soccer), just bear with me ...
Do keep an eye on students; but there are limits 13 Aug 2013 | 04:03 am
There is little doubt that one of the key tasks for universities these days is to minimise attrition and ensure as few students as possible drop out. Every time a university admits a student, this rep...
The view from the top 6 Aug 2013 | 06:13 am
One of the curiosities of the system of higher education in these islands is that we know relatively little about the views of its leaders. Individual university principals, presidents or vice-chancel...
Linguistic fog in the academy 30 Jul 2013 | 05:06 am
A couple of weeks ago I had a telephone call from an old friend, who works for a voluntary organisation that is currently trying to enter into a partnership with a small group of universities. He had ...
A MOOC reality check 23 Jul 2013 | 04:17 am
Two weeks ago I asked some questions in this blog about the hype surrounding MOOCs (massive open online courses), and wondered whether these courses really were the game changer that some of their sup...
University College Dublin 17 Jul 2013 | 07:15 pm
And from Wales to Ireland: University College Dublin today announced its new President. From January 2014, UCD will be led by Professor Andrew J. Deeks, currently Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Durham Univers...
Reforming higher education in Wales 17 Jul 2013 | 04:21 pm
For those (like me) who are not always aware of what is happening in the Welsh university system, there are some current developments worth noting. Yesterday the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones,...
Irish higher education: mind the funding gap 16 Jul 2013 | 05:25 am
Towards the end of my time as President of Dublin City University, I calculated that over my ten-year term of office the funding received for educating each Irish and EU undergraduate student (the uni...
