News Items from the Week of July 6, 2018

International

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2 million applicants for 750K places: Nigeria’s bid to tackle its capacity issue | Nigeria has a higher education crisis. Between 2010 and 2015, only 26 per cent of the 10 million applicants to Nigerian tertiary institutions gained admission. Put simply, demand isn’t just higher than supply – it is dwarfing it.

Transforming university education in Nigeria – Part 2 | As things currently stand, our tertiary institutions are not likely to midwife, the socio-political, economic and technological transformation so badly required after over five decades of independence and self-governance, unless the sector is appropriately funded.

Corporate tax excess ‘should fund universities’ | Ibec, the nation’s biggest business lobby group, has called on the government to abandon plans to park “excess” corporation tax in a rainy-day fund and said that the money should instead be used to tackle the “crisis” in Ireland’s third-level education system.

Improving higher education outcomes in Africa | he importance of human capital development in Africa’s growth trajectory cannot be understated. Many believe quality education at the tertiary level holds the key to unlock the potential of Africa’s economic growth. Gary Fernandes, Vice President Marketing and Student Recruitment at the Transnational Academic Group joins CNBC Africa to explore ways to improve the outcomes of higher education in Africa. [VIDEO]

U.S. National

College Transparency Act Builds Momentum | Senator John Cornyn last week quietly signed on to a bill that would overturn the ban on a federal postsecondary student-level data system.

Legislation to allow access to more student success data likely to advance | Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who sponsored the bill with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and two others, says it will provide “actionable and customizable” information for students as they choose colleges.

U.S. States

Wisconsin Court Sides With Professor Who Was Suspended After Blogging About a Student | McAdams in November 2014 wrote a blog post in which he criticized a graduate-student instructor who he believed was intolerant of an undergraduate’s opposition to gay marriage during a class discussion. He linked to the graduate student’s personal blog and sent the post to Campus Reform, a conservative website that highlights perceived liberal bias in higher education. The graduate student received hateful messages and ended up leaving the university.

Institutional

Western Illinois Will Lay Off 24 Faculty Members, Including 7 With Tenure | In making the decision at a special meeting on Thursday, the university’s Board of Trustees cited dips in enrollment and state funding. Two academic-affairs positions are also among the cuts. An additional 62 teaching positions — which either are vacant or will be vacated due to retirements or resignations — won’t be filled, according to the news release.

Ousters on President’s First Day | The University of Oklahoma’s new president waited out the weekend before shaking up the leadership team he inherited. Six top administrators were laid off or retired Monday, the first workday Jim Gallogly was on the job as president. The university also announced a reorganization cutting the number of administrators reporting directly to the president from 25 to 17.

Students Call to #DisarmPSU | Portland State campus police shot and killed Jason Washington Friday. Sunday students marched from Pioneer Park to the campus public safety office to demand they disarm their officers.