5 June 2002
Copyright © 2002 World Expertise LLC – All rights
reserved
A periodic electronic newsletter for engineering education leaders,
edited by Russel C. Jones, PhD., P.E.
_____________________________________________________________________
International developments
1)
The University of Nouakchott, Mauritania’s sole institution of higher
education, is trying to deliver high-quality education from North America via
the Internet and videoconferencing. As reported by Daniel del Castro in the Chronicle
of Higher Education, the university is in the first year of a 10-year plan
that seeks to train a generation of Mauritanians with the scientific,
technological and entrepreneurial skills to double its current $540 per year per
capita income. The university, founded in 1981, now serves 8700 students – in
the country of 2.5 million people. The new distance education program are being
delivered through a branch of the African Virtual University. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i38/38a03801.htm
2)
There is a “culture of copying” in China – plagiarism among
professors and cheating among students – according to an article in the Chronicle
by Jiang Xueqin. This situation has been highlighted in recent weeks as a
renowned professor at Peking University has been demoted, accused of
plagiarizing the work of an American academic. China’s academic community is
reportedly divided on the issue of what is appropriate. Peking has added a new
clause to its academic handbook: “Anyone who plagiarizes a published or
unpublished work or idea will be warned, reprimanded, or demoted depending on
the severity of the offense”. This is the first time a Chinese university has
adopted a written rule in this area, and many academics hope that other
universities will follow. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i36/36a04501.htm
3)
Europe is beginning work on a modest new agency to manage grantmaking
across the European Union, according to an article by Richard Stone in the 3 May
2002 issue of Science. The continent’s top R&D managers are
fleshing out a proposal for a European Research Council, which would develop a
basic European research strategy and provide grants to pursue it. One major
concern is that European governments spend only 2% of their budgets on R&D,
compared with 4.2% in the United States – and the gap is widening. Most
research funding in Europe, about 96%, comes from national agencies – with
most of the rest coming from a $4-billion a year Framework program administered
by the EU. The current effort at establishing a new mechanism is intended to
broaden EU support to more areas (beyond the hot fields of genomics and
nanotechnology which get the bulk of current funds), and increase the level of
funding at the EU level. See http://www.sciencemag.org
4)
The National Open University of Nigeria is scheduled to open this fall,
after having been shelved for two decades by political changes in the country.
It will use traditional media -- particularly radio and television – rather
than the Internet, according to a note in the Chronicle by Kate
Galbraith. The more traditional media have been chosen to allow broader access,
and to allow local programming – rather than relying on higher technology
courses imported from the West. Several other African countries already have
open universities operating, including Egypt, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania,
Uganda, and Zimbabwe. See http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002052202u.htm
5)
The government of Jordan has announced plans to introduce distance
learning throughout the country’s public and private colleges, according to a
note in the Chronicle by Daniel del Castillo. Beginning this fall,
distance-learning programs will be operated by both Jordan University and by the
new Jordanian branch of the multinational Arab Open University. The
distance-learning infrastructure will utilize a large Internet component, plus
satellite teleconferencing. Courses will be offered at both undergraduate and
graduate levels, with working professionals expected to comprise the initial
student body. The Arab Open University was founded in Kuwait last year as the
Middle East’s first pan-Arab university. See http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002050701u.htm
6)
The Russian Academy of Sciences is apparently undergoing a sweeping
overhaul, according to an article in the 24 May 2002 issue of Science by
Vladimir Pokrovsky and Andrei Allakhverdov. The proposed changes, recently
approved at an RAS general membership meeting, would merge several of the
disciplinary fiefdoms and strip power from top officials on the RAS’s
governing board. The academy’s leaders portray the reorganization – creating
9 divisions out of the current 18 -- as a way to steer more funding to the cream
of its some 400 institutes. President Vladimir Putin has apparently said that
the state would no longer distribute research funding as welfare, but would
instead focus on several as yet unnamed priority areas. That would be a major
change for the RAS, which has typically distributed crumbs to each scientist
rather than conducting merit-based competitions. See http://www.sciencemag.org
7)
A private university for women has been established in Kenya, according
to a note in the Chronicle by Wachira Kigotho. Kiriri Women’s
University of Science and Technology, a first for East Africa, will soon start
admitting students for undergraduate and graduate programs. The university is
currently at a temporary site in Nairobi. It will offer degrees in
sciences, mathematics, computer studies, languages, business administration, and
gender studies. A consortium of business executives created the university, in
response to a perception that the public higher education system is not doing
enough to educate women. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/05/2002051605n.htm
8)
Canadian higher education institutions in British Columbia have unveiled
a new service for transferring student transcripts over the Internet, according
to a note by Karen Birchard in the Chronicle. Aimed at saving time and
money, the Electronic Data Exchange involves 7 of the 27 institutions in the
province, with the rest expected to join by the end of the year. There are about
250,000 requests for transcripts each year in the province, because many
students take courses at more than one institution through an articulation
agreement. See http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002053001t.htm
9)
The US National Science Foundation’s biennial Science and
Engineering Indicators has been released, containing 1100 pages of data of
interest to scientific and technical leaders worldwide. According to a report in
the 3 May 2002 issue of Science by Jeffrey Mervis, this year’s issue
offers fresh insights on worldwide trends. For example, it shows a shift in the
worldwide flow of scientific talent and an increase in capacity within the
developing world. China’s domestic universities have overtaken Japan, and are
now the fifth-leading producer of science and engineering doctorates; they are
poised to surpass France and the United Kingdom for third place, behind the US
and Germany. See http://www.sciencemag.org.
The report itself is available online at http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind02/start.htm
10)
Britain’s Open University is closing its US Open University this
summer, according to a note by Michael Arnone in the Chronicle. But it is
building a new relationship with one of its American partners, the University of
Maryland – Baltimore County. Through an agreement between the Open University
Worldwide and the Maryland school, the Open University will keep a toehold in
the large American market. See http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002052201u.htm
11)
The Nigerian government has forbidden its public universities from
charging tuition fees even after they are freed from its control, according to a
note in the Chronicle by Wachira Kigotho. The move appears to be in
response to cries from students who fear that universities will impose fees on
them as the government gives universities more autonomy. The universities have
started asking students to help defray the cost of education through “cost
sharing” to cover admission costs and for the use of libraries, computers,
sports facilities and laboratories. President Obasanjo has stated that the
government has a duty to give qualified Nigerians a free university education,
but universities have suffered from gross underfunding for many years. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/05/2002052806n.htm
12)
Japanese government officials are puzzling over statistics that show a
simultaneous increase in research spending and a decline in global
competitiveness. According to an article in the 17 May 2002 issue of Science by
Dennis Normile, officials concerned with a sluggish economy are trying to
understand why R&D spending has not translated into greater success in the
marketplace. Japan’s R&D investment in 2000 was a world-leading 3.18% of
gross domestic product, well ahead of the 2.66 ratio in the US. But the Japanese
economy has slipped into its second recession in 5 years, and many of the
companies with the largest R&D expenditures are announcing losses for the
past year. It appears that the fruits of research efforts are not going into
commercial products, and that research is out of touch with corporate goals.
Companies are trying new mechanisms to channel research results into their
commercial enterprises, but such reforms will take time. See http://www.sciencemag.org
13)
A University of Michigan distance education program in China has failed
to draw students due to its price, according to an article in the Chronicle by
Jen Lin-Liu. The master’s degree program in engineering, offered in
partnership with Shanghi Jiao Tong University, attracted only two students for
its beginning in March – where at least 20 were expected. The three-year
program in manufacturing engineering costs $30,000, with 40% of the courses
delivered by distance education. By comparison, the average tuition for a
master’s program in engineering in China costs less than $2000 for an entire
program, and many students are on full scholarship. It was thought that
multinational companies would send their employees to the program, but
apparently even they balked at the price tag. The University of Michigan still
hopes that the program will grow. See http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002051501u.htm
14)
Funding priorities for the US government are explored by Bruce Auster in
the May-June 2002 issue of ASEE’s Prism. The author states that the war
on terrorism will mean a dramatic increase in federal spending in the fields of
science and engineering, but that much of the new money is slotted for weapons
development and biomedical research. White House Science Advisor John Marburger
is quoted as saying: “The nation’s highest priorities – the war against
terrorism, homeland security, and economic revival – are all served by
investing in science, education, and education”. The author also states that
the return of deficit budgets, and the rationale of responding to the events of
9/11, have made it easier for the President to open the federal wallet – with
spending for research and development getting its share. Se http://www.asee.org/prism
15)
Legislation moving through the US Senate would eliminate a Defense
Department program that helps pay for American undergraduates to study languages
and cultures in several parts of the world, according to a note in the Chronicle
by Sara Hebel. Supporters of the National Security Education Program argue
that closing it would be shortsighted, especially as the nation responds to the
events of 9/11. The proposed legislation would shift these funds to new,
specialized language centers at some US universities which would offer training
in certain foreign languages deemed critical to national security. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/05/2002052202n.htm
16)
In the face of growing evidence of fraud in student visas and disarray in
the nation’s immigration service since 9/11, Bush administration officials are
pressing for the startup of a vast computerized system for tracking foreign
students attending thousands of US educational institutions. According to an
article by Diana Jean Schemo in the May 11th issue of the New York
Times, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System will require
institutions to report to the government the addresses of foreign students,
their majors, and whether they leave school or are expelled. The system will be
used to monitor more than one million foreign students attending US educational
institutions, and is expected to be a model for monitoring other classes of
foreign visitors. The system is to be up and running by this July, with
institutions required to enter their data on foreign students by the end of next
January. See http://www.nytimes.com
17)
The White House has proposed creation of a panel to screen foreign
graduate students, postdocs, and scientists who apply for visas to study
sensitive topics uniquely available on U.S. campuses. According to an article by
Jeffrey Mervis in the 17 May 2002 issue of Science, the proposal intends
to prevent foreign terrorists from masquerading as researchers. The Interagency
Panel on Advanced Science Security, to be created by a presidential order, will
evaluate candidates whose courses of study might give them information or skills
that could be used against the U.S. The proposal comes as a relief to higher
education officials, who had feared a more intrusive policy that would dampen
the flow of foreign students and scholars. Roughly 17,500 students or scholars
enter the country each year to carry out scientific work, and as many as 2,000
of those may be reviewed by the panel. See http://www.sciencemag.org
18)
The National Science Foundation plans to push for bigger, longer running
grants, according to a note in the Chronicle by Ron Southwick. The
change, proposed by NSF director Rita Colwell, is aimed at ensuring that
researchers spend more time in the laboratory rather than in seeking funds for
their work. NSF is supporting 21,590 grants in 2002, and hopes to maintain that
number under the proposed new pattern due to increased funding levels from the
federal budget. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/05/2002051001n.htm
19)
Three years ago, the National Science Foundation set out to change how
mathematicians are trained in the U.S., according to an article by Dana
Mackenzie in the 24 May 2002 issue of Science. Responding to a drop in
the number of mathematics majors in graduate programs, NSF launched a Grants for
Vertical Integration of Research and Education (VIGRE) program to stimulate
innovation in mathematics and related disciplines. Heavy emphasis is placed on
mentoring of graduate students, including advising them of nontraditional
careers. A dozen universities received the first round of VIGRE grants in 1999,
and 19 more have been added in subsequent rounds. This spring a first set of
evaluations was delivered by NSF, with some originally funded programs not
continued. The message seems to be that the culture of math departments is
changing, but even the most prestigious departments will find themselves out in
the cold in they don’t do it the NSF’s way. See http://www.sciencemag.org
20)
Education and civil rights leaders are trying to persuade Congress not to
eliminate spending on two federal programs designed to bridge the “digital
divide”, according to an article by Dan Carnevale in the Chronicle. President
Bush has proposed eliminating $47.5-million for Community Technology Centers run
by the Department of Education, and the Technology Opportunities Program run by
the Department of Commerce. The programs offer people living in inner cities and
rural areas access to computers and technology training. A coalition of
interested groups is planning a campaign to persuade Congress to keep the
programs funded. See http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002052903t.htm
21)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving to clean up power
plants through a plan to target several pollutants at once, using a market-based
trading scheme that makes pollution control cheaper. According to an article by
Jocelyn Kaiser in the 10 May 2002 issue of Science, the “clean skies”
initiative has a feature that previous policies have lacked – a research
program to collect data on how these pollutants move through the environment.
The inclusion of this research component appears to be intended to prove that
EPA is injecting more science into the agency’s activities. EPA Administrator
Christie Todd Whitman has recently stressed that she is taking steps to better
integrate science and policy, including beefing up the science team that helps
develop regulations. See http://www.sciencemag.org
22)
After sharp criticism from researchers, the Department of Defense is
revising proposed rules that would have required academic scientists doing
military research to obtain approval before publishing or discussing their work.
According to an article in the Chronicle by Ron Southwick, university
lobbyists had expressed concern that the tight regulations originally proposed
would have caused many institutions to stop working with the military. Review of
the proposed rules is ongoing, with no indication yet as to what specific
protections may be retained. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/05/2002051503n.htm
23)
President Bush, as part of a White House speech about a “new Cuba”
described a proposal to grant scholarships to Cuban students, professionals, and
relatives of political prisoners. According to a note in the Chronicle by
Richard Morgan, the scholarships would be offered to Cubans “who try to build
independent civil institutions in Cuba” .The White House has released no
details on the proposed scholarships. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/05/2002052102n.htm
24)
A major article on the causes of collapses of the World Trade Center
buildings is featured in the May 2002 issue of Civil Engineering. “Dissecting
the Collapses” is a distillation of a report prepared by the building
performance assessment team that examined the collapses. The report analyzes the
impact caused by planes traveling at extraordinary speed, fire burns at
extremely high temperatures, and the resulting global collapse. While commenting
on areas of building design and construction that may need to be reevaluated,
the committee concluded that “Resources should be directed to airplane
security rather than to hardening buildings against airplane impact”. See http://www.pubs.asce.org
Distance education, technology
25)
An organization of accreditors has released a report saying that
accrediting agencies could effectively judge the quality of distance-education
programs even if the government relaxed regulations aimed at keeping them
honest. According to an article by Dan Carnevale in the Chronicle, a
report written by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation describes how
its 17 regional and national accreditation bodies are adapting to the growth of
online accreditation. In addition to applying current standards to evaluate
virtual institutions, the accrediting bodies are developing new standards
applicable to distance education. The report is meant to answer critics who are
afraid of easing two federal financial-aid regulations that affect distance
education. One rule requires programs to provide 12 hours a week in order to
give federal financial aid, and the other prevents institutions that enroll more
than 50% of their students at a distance from providing the student aid. See http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002050901u.htm
26)
An initiative spearheaded by
the Department of Defense to make various online training technologies work
together has quickly produced an unofficial set of standards for the industry,
according to an article by Ellen McCarthy in the 14 May 2002 issue of The
Washington Post. Once there is a first big buyer in any industry, a standard
emerges – and DOD is the largest single trainer in the world. A collaborative
effort by government agencies, private companies, and academic institutions –
the Advanced Distributed Learning initiative -- has developed standards for not
only the military but also all e-learning systems. To a large extent, the
initiative is more a compilation of existing specifications than creation of new
standards. A Pentagon spokesman says that the advantage of the standards is a
digital knowledge environment where chunks of knowledge are going to be
shareable and reusable. See http://www.washtech.com
27)
A major article in the Chronicle by Jeffrey Young reviews how
online teaching redefines faculty member’s schedules, duties and relationships
with students. While critics of distance education have worried that virtual
classrooms mean less contact between professors and students, many professors
say that the opposite is true – due to intense, personalized electronic
communications. Response time is an issue, with some professors promising to
answer each e-mail within 24 hours. Some distance education courses have
specified electronic ‘office hours’ where faculty members or teaching
assistants are on line to handle student questions. See http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i38/38a03101.htm
28)
Dell Computer, the world’s number 2 PC vendor, is providing a program
to help staunch the flow of electronic waste containing toxic substances that
can leak into the environment. According to a note in ZDNet by Jonathan
Skillings, the new program provides for consumers to trade in old computers or
monitors, auction them off, or donate them to nonprofits. Other electronic
vendors, such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard, charge fees to consumers who want to
exercise their recycling option. A National Electronic Product Stewardship
Initiative – in which Dell is not participating – is trying to set up a
national electronics recycling infrastructure which might embed the cost of
recycling in the purchase of new PCs, televisions, and similar equipment. See http://zdnet.com/2100-1103-916187.html
29)
In the midst of a general downturn in new spending on technology,
officials at several technology companies say that colleges and universities
have been the exception. According to an article by Florence Olsen in the Chronicle,
colleges have continued to invest in new information systems and networks.
In some cases the money for such expenditures was allocated before the recession
hit, and there is doubt that it will continue at current levels – particularly
at public institutions. See http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002052001t.htm
30) By next fall, Ball State University intends to link its students and those at 10 other universities worldwide through an Internet-based videoconferencing network. According to an article in the Chronicle by Michael Arnone, the Global Media Network will allow students at distant institutions to take seminar courses together and to gain an international perspective on their studies. The 10 institutions involved are located in South Korea, Brazil, Hong Kong, Australia, China, Thailand, and Germany. Courses to be offered include English literature, landscape architecture, and nanotechnology. Funding for the project comes from a major grant from the Lilly Foundation. See http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002053001u.htm
31)
The Labor Department has released a report indicating that companies
are hiring more engineers, according to a story by Siobhan Hughes in the 16 May
2002 issue of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Engineering jobs grew to
796,400 in March 2002, compared to 784,400 a year earlier, according to the
Labor Department. Corporate spending on engineering projects also grew in March
and April 2002. These trends may be in response to orders for defense capital
goods which rose by 24% this year, through March. A surplus of highly skilled,
experienced engineers and declining salaries may be making engineers even more
attractive to firms. See http://www.post-gazette.com
32)
Higher education groups are urging the U.S. to make teaching of global
affairs a priority, according to an article in the Chronicle by Sara
Hebel. The American Council on Education and 33 other higher education groups
have released a plan to put the goal of improving American’s knowledge of
foreign languages, policy, and culture near the top of the national agenda. The
education groups argue that the events of 9/11 and its aftermath have
highlighted U.S. shortfalls in making enough of its citizens proficient in world
affairs, and that the government has long underfunded programs that foster
international education. They say that the federal government should provide
greater increases than President Bush has proposed for Education Department
programs that support the study of foreign languages and cultures. The report
also urges that the U.S. rejoin UNESCO as a way to give scholars more
opportunities to collaborate with their colleagues around the world. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/05/2002051393n.htm
33)
In 2001, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in engineering in the
U.S. increased to 65,195, according to the Engineering Workforce Commission. As
reported in the Winter 2001 issue of Engineers, this increase continued
the growth that began in 2000 after the number of bachelor’s degrees had
reached a 19 year low of 62,500 in 1999. In looking at the distribution of
degrees among technical fields, civil engineering has decreased significantly
– down an average of 6.5% per year since 1997. Computer engineering is growing
most rapidly, and could have the largest number of degrees in 2002. These
statistics are from “Engineering and Technology Degrees, 2001”, the
Engineering Workforce Commission’s annual survey. See http://www.aaes.org
34)
An online course is teaching students to use libraries and the Internet
while avoiding plagiarism, according to a note in the Chronicle by Brock
Read. The University of Maryland University College is offering an online course
entitled “Information Literacy and Research Methods” in attempting to reduce
unintentional plagiarism – most of which comes from the Internet. In the
seven-week course, students learn strategies for forming and researching theses,
using electronic resources like Internet sites and e-books, citing documents,
and searching for information at libraries. See http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002051701u.htm
35) Carnegie Mellon University has announced the formation of a group of businesses and government agencies to develop higher technical standards for software that would make it more dependable and less prone to problems such as crashing. According to a note in the Chronicle by Dan Carnevale, the Sustainable Computing Consortium will conduct research on software design, dependability, and governance. Software defects cost businesses around the world $175-billion in 2001, according to the consortium. The consortium hopes to announce new technical standards within a year. See http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002051701t.htm
36)
A federal appeals court has ruled that the constitution permits colleges
and graduate schools to seek a ‘critical mass’ of black and Hispanic
students in assembling their entering classes each year, as long as those rough
targets do not harden into precise quotas. As reported by Jacques Steinberg in
the 15 May 2002 issue of the New York Times, voting was close, 5 to 4, in
the closely watched case which centered on the University of Michigan Law
School. In its decision, the court subscribed to a 24-year-old Supreme Court
opinion in the landmark Baake case, which has been used to justify
race-conscious admissions policies at both public and private
universities. In recent years, federal courts in several states have issued
often-contradictory rulings on the issue of affirmative action. It is expected
that the U.S Supreme Court will address this issue soon to clarify such
disparities. The Michigan case may be the one to be heard by the top court. See http://www.nytimes.com
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