OECD reviews of higher education in regional and city development, State of Victoria, Australia

With more than 5.3 million inhabitants Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Once a manufacturing economy, Victoria is now transforming itself into a service and innovation-based economy. Currently, the largest sectors are education services and tourism. In terms of social structure, Victoria is characterised by a large migrant population, 24% of population were born overseas and 44% were either born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas. About 70% of the population resides in Melbourne. Victoria faces a number of challenges, ranging from an ageing population and skills shortages to drought and climate change and increased risk of natural disasters. Rapid population growth, 2% annually, has implications for service delivery and uneven development as well as regional disparities. There are barriers to connectivity in terms of transport and infrastructure, and a high degree of inter-institutional competition in tertiary education sector. The business structure in Victoria includes some highly innovative activities such as in biotechnology, but other sectors, especially those with high number of small and medium-sized enterprises, are lagging behind. Most of the larger manufacturing enterprises are externally controlled and there is uncertainty over the long term investments they will make in the state, as well as the place of Victoria in the global production networks

Public Goods and Public Policy: what is Public Good, and who and what Decides?

Higher education is usually seen as serving the public good, especially when funded directly by the state, and because of the ‘social benefit efficiency gains and potential equity effects on opportunity and reduced inequality’ (McMahon, 2009, p. 255). Calhoun (2006, p. 19) argues that public support for higher education is only given and maintained according to its capacity, capability, and willingness, to ‘educate citizens in general, to share knowledge, to distribute it as widely as possible in accord with publically articulated purposes’

Institutional Mergers in Ireland

The importance of knowledge as a driver of social and economic growth and prosperity, and the increasingly competitive “global race for knowledge and talent” (Hazelkorn, Higher Educ Manage Policy 21(1):55–76, 2009) have combined to transform the higher education landscape, forcing national governments and higher education institutions (HEIs) to pursue new ways of addressing the challenges of a multi-polar world order. Rising demand for higher education (HE), as part of the broader shift from elite to mass to universal participation, has led to the emergence of new models of provision. At the same time, many governments face restrictions on public resources due to high levels of public and private debt; accordingly, system-level and institutional restructuring has been contemplated as a way to enhance quality, performance and efficiency

What Counts as ‘World Class’? : Global University Rankings and Shifts in Institutional Strategies

Global university rankings have emerged as a benchmark of institutional success, setting standards for higher education policymaking and institutional practices. Nevertheless, only a marginal share of higher education institutions (HEI) are in a realistic position to be ranked as a ‘world-class’ institutions. In the European context, the global rankings have been used to highlight a performance gap between European and North American institutions. Here the focus has been on the HEIs in the top-100 positions, causing concerns over European higher education. This has also become a marker of world-class university. We analyze the strategies of 27 Northern European universities in different tiers to learn how they have adjusted to the reality of ranking. We conclude that the references to global rankings have increased between 2014 and 2018. At the same time, the references to rankings have become more implicit in nature. Nevertheless, we find that the discourse of global comparison and excellence has become more common in the strategies. There are also emerging references to the regional role of universities, which are apparent in the strategies of universities that are clearly outside the top-100 ranked institutions. However, this is also a reflection of the discourse of world-class university.Peer reviewe

Total Tumor Load Assessed by One-Step Nucleic Acid Amplification Assay as an Intraoperative Predictor for Non-Sentinel Lymph Node Metastasis in Breast Cancer

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine the relationship between CK19 mRNA copy number in sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) assessed by one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) technique, and non-sentinel lymph nodes (NSLN) metastization in invasive breast cancer. A model using total tumor load (TTL) obtained by OSNA technique was also constructed to evaluate its predictability. METHODS: We conducted an observational retrospective study including 598 patients with clinically T1-T3 and node negative invasive breast cancer. Of the 88 patients with positive SLN, 58 patients fulfill the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: In the analyzed group 25.86% had at least one positive NSLN in axillary lymph node dissection. Univariate analysis showed that tumor size, TTL and number of SLN macrometastases were predictive factors for NSLN metastases. In multivariate analysis just the TTL was predictive for positive NSLN (OR 2.67; 95% CI 1.06-6.70; P = 0.036). The ROC curve for the model using TTL alone was obtained and an AUC of 0.805 (95% CI 0.69-0.92) was achieved. For TTL >1.9 × 105 copies/μL we got 73.3% sensitivity, 74.4% specificity and 88.9% negative predictive value to predict NSLN metastases. CONCLUSION: When using OSNA technique to evaluate SLN, NSLN metastases can be predicted intraoperatively. This prediction tool could help in decision for axillary lymph node dissection.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Higher education analytics: New trends in program assessments

© 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature. End of course evaluations technologies can provide critical analytics that can be used to improve the academic outcomes of almost any university. This paper presents key findings from a study conducted on more than twenty different academic degree-programs, regarding their use of end of course evaluation technology. Data was collected from an online survey instrument, in-depth interviews with academic administrators, and two case studies, one in the US and another in the UAE. The study reveals new trends including sectioning and categorization; questions standardization and benchmarking; alignment with key performance indicators and key learning outcomes; and grouping by course, program outcome, program, college, etc. in addition to those vertical structures, higher education institutions are vertically examining a specific question(s) across