Pan-European early switch/early discharge opportunities exist for hospitalised patients with methicillin-resistant <em>Staphylococcus</em> <em>aureus</em> complicated skin and soft-tissue infections

AbstractThe objective of this study was to document pan-European real-world treatment patterns and healthcare resource use and estimate opportunities for early switch (ES) from intravenous (IV) to oral antibiotics and early discharge (ED) in hospitalized patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTIs). This retrospective observational medical chart review study enrolled 342 physicians across 12 European countries who collected data from 1542 patients with documented MRSA cSSTI who were hospitalized (July 2010 to June 2011) and discharged alive (by July 2011). Data included clinical characteristics and outcomes, hospital length of stay (LOS), MRSA-targeted IV and oral antibiotic use, and ES and ED eligibility according to literature-based and expert-validated criteria. The most frequent initial MRSA-active antibiotics were vancomycin (50.2%), linezolid (15.1%), clindamycin (10.8%), and teicoplanin (10.4%). Patients discharged with MRSA-active antibiotics (n = 480) were most frequently prescribed linezolid (42.1%) and clindamycin (19.8%). IV treatment duration (9.3 ± 6.5 vs. 14.6 ± 9.9 days; p <0.001) and hospital LOS (19.1 ± 12.9 vs. 21.0 ± 18.2 days; p 0.162) tended to be shorter for patients switched from IV to oral treatment than for patients who received IV treatment only. Of the patients, 33.6% met ES criteria and could have discontinued IV treatment 6.0 ± 5.5 days earlier, and 37.9% met ED criteria and could have been discharged 6.2 ± 8.2 days earlier. More than one-third of European patients hospitalized for MRSA cSSTI could be eligible for ES and ED, resulting in substantial reductions in IV days and bed-days, with potential savings of €2000 per ED-eligible patient

EU–originated MOOCs, with focus on multi- and single-institution platforms

No abstract available

Review of the demand driven funding system

In 2012, the Australian Government lifted previously imposed limits on the funding of bachelor-degree students at public universities. This new system was called ‘demand driven’ because it allowed universities to respond to student demand and allowed more students to benefit from higher education. On 12 November 2013 Minister for Education, the Hon Christopher Pyne, appointed a review panel to look at and make recommendations in relation to the demand driven funding arrangements. The review panel comprised the Hon Dr David Kemp and Mr Andrew Norton and is known as the Norton-Kemp review. The panel looked at the impacts of the demand driven system and whether it is increasing participation, improving access to students from poorer backgrounds and rural and regional areas, and meeting the skill needs of the economy. It explored whether there were any adverse impacts on quality and considered the long term sustainability of the system. The report found that public universities have responded well to changes under the demand driven system and improved access for all students. It found the new system has allowed universities to be more responsive to student needs, driven innovation and lifted quality. The reviewers made 19 findings and 17 recommendations, including extending the demand driven system to diplomas, advanced diplomas and associate degrees, and to private universities and non-university higher education providers such as TAFEs. The reviewers believe that extending the demand driven system will expand opportunities for students, and lead to further innovation in courses and modes of delivery, and in the quality of teaching and graduates

Using Customer Knowledge Surveys to Explain Sales of Postgraduate Programs: A Machine Learning Approach

Universities collect information from each customer that contacts them through their websites and social media profiles. Customer knowledge surveys are the main information-gathering tool used to obtain this information about potential students. In this paper, we propose using the information gained via surveys along with enrolment databases, to group customers into homogeneous clusters in order to identify target customers who are more likely to enroll. The use of such a cluster strategy will increase the probability of converting contacts into customers and will allow the marketing and admission departments to focus on those customers with a greater probability of enrolling, thereby increasing efficiency. The specific characteristics of each cluster and those postgraduate programs that are more likely to be selected are identified. In addition, better insight into customers regarding their enrolment choices thanks to our cluster strategy, will allow universities to personalize their services resulting in greater satisfaction and, consequently, in increased future enrolment

Out of care, into university: raising higher education access and achievement of care leavers

Around 40,000 children are estimated to require out-of-home care in Australia and this number has risen every year over the past decade (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2014a). Young people up to 18 years who are unable to live with their birth families are placed in different forms of out-of-home care, including kinship care, foster care, residential care, family group homes, and independent living. People who spent time in out-of-home care before the age of 18 are subsequently referred to as care leavers when they transition out of the system. Care leavers rarely transition to higher education. They are largely excluded from the level of education that brings the highest wage premiums and lifetime rewards. Despite their extremely low university participation rates, there is no national agenda for improvement. This research project was conducted by La Trobe University and funded through an external research grant provided by the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) at Curtin University. This report aims to provide the basis for such an agenda by highlighting the nature and extent of the problem, and suggesting practical solutions within both the education and community service sectors. Our research adopted a mixed methods approach and included: a literature review; an examination of national data sets; an online survey of public universities in Australia; and interviews with senior representatives from major out-of-home care service providers. We provide recommendations targeted to the Australian Government, state and territory governments, higher education institutions, and community service organisations. Three reforms are required to improve the access and achievement of care leavers in higher education: The collection of nationally consistent data on higher education access and outcomes for care leavers. Policy reform within the education and community service sectors including greater recognition of this under-represented student cohort and support for the transition of young people from out-of-home care to adulthood. An over-arching need for cultural change that challenges the often low expectations for care leavers

Open Universities: the next phase

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to report on research on the views of Presidents and Vice Chancellors of Open Universities of current threats and opportunities for their institutions as the author approaches the 50th anniversary of the first Open University in the UK in 1969. The paper offers a historical account of the development of the Open University model, and assesses the extent to which it remains in the key position as owner of innovation in the higher education sector. Design/methodology/approach - Interviews were conducted with leaders of Open Universities or distance teaching universities. They covered a total of 14 universities. Findings - The replies from institutional leaders reveal the current developments, opportunities and strategic challenges of the universities. It is suggested that the digital revolution along with a wider range of environmental changes for higher education have substantially eroded the first-mover advantage that Open Universities had undoubtedly enjoyed in the first 25 years. Originality/value - The paper concludes that there are significant concerns that innovation in Open Universities is not sufficiently embedded to ensure that their contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals will be maximised, or even in some cases their survival, and that a key but undervalued element is leadership development for innovation and change

The management of student success in extended curriculum programmes: A case study of the University of Pretoria’s Mamelodi Campus, South Africa

For three decades, numerous South African scholars have researched the efficacy of access programmes in providing alternative pathways to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics through foundation provisioning. In light of this, Extended Curriculum Programmes (ECPs) were designed for talented Black students who could not gain access to tertiary studies due to poor schooling conditions caused by apartheid. As scarce skills programmes that receive dedicated funding from government, ECPs are indispensable for redress, transformation, and socio-economic development. Consequently, they could be characterized as high stakes programmes that require a rigorous, evidence-led student success management approach to ensure effectiveness. This article argues for a customized approach to the management of student success for ECPs based on the Institutional Student Academic Development and Excellence Model. Using specific examples, the customized system, dubbed the Mamelodi Referral System, is discussed as well as the circumstances that led to its development. The article concludes with future areas for development and refinement

SUPERNOVA Application-to-Approval: A BPM Approach

Project Work presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Information Systems and Technologies ManagementUniversities, like most organizations today, have digital transformation programmes in their strategic plans so as not to lose competitive advantage over their competitors. In parallel, universities have been adopting various corporate tools, adapting them to the university environment, usually in the form of digital technologies. This Master's project was born from the combination of the innate desire to improve processes with the commissioning of a CRM in the University, a digital technology from the corporate world increasingly adopted by universities to focus on a student-centric education approach. Digital Transformation is a process that originates changes in organizations induced by digital technologies. Two relevant success criteria of digital transformation and process digitalization projects (PDP) in organizations are efficient and effective business processes. Business Process Management (BPM) is a management discipline that looks at the business processes as the most important asset of an organization and enables organizations to leverage Digital Transformation and Digital Technologies for process improvement and innovation, which is considered the most value-adding phase of the BPM lifecycle. This Master's project focuses on SUPERNOVA's Application-to-Approval (A2A) process with the main goal of overseeing how the work is performed to take advantage of improvement opportunities, leveraging digital technologies (CRM) and supporting NOVA's digital transformation