Latest news with #UniversityCouncil
The Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald
Walter Sisulu University VC's contract won't be renewed, says council
The council of the Walter Sisulu University has decided not to renew the employment contract of its vice-chancellor, Prof Rushiella Nolundi Songca, which will end on March 31 2026. 'In this regard, the council will commence the recruitment process to appoint a suitable candidate to the position of vice-chancellor before the end of 2025 academic year,' said council chair Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC in a letter to the university community on Wednesday. Ngcukaitobi said he was in discussion with Songca regarding transitional arrangements and any potential role she may assume within the university after the conclusion of her term. 'The council will later announce arrangements to mark its appreciation of the role Prof Songca has played and will continue to play in the life and evolution of the institution.' TimesLIVE
Rudaw Net
26-07-2025
- Business
- Rudaw Net
Erbil university offers scholarship for international students
Also in Kurdistan Dutch photojournalist recording Kurdish history re-visits Kurdistan Halabja tomato farmers face mounting losses as prices fall TNT blast kills shepherd in Duhok KRG receives May salaries from Baghdad A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Salahaddin University in Erbil is offering 425 scholarships for international students as part of a broader effort to promote Kurdish culture globally and improve the school's standing in international rankings. 'For the new academic year, under the directive of Prof. Dr. Kamaran Younis, president of the university, the University Council has allocated 425 scholarships for international students at Salahaddin University for bachelors degree programs in the academic year 2025-2026,' the university's director of communications Saman Abdullah told Rudaw. The goal of the initiative is to promote the Kurdistan Region and Kurdish culture internationally, while simultaneously elevating the university's standing in global rankings, Abdullah said. The scholarship program has not yet been finalized and it remains unclear whether it will be fully funded, but tuition fees and dormitory accommodations will be covered for students who receive the scholarship. 'We have had international students at our university before, but now we have significantly increased their number,' Abdullah said. Two international students have already applied for the scholarship. Founded in 1968, Salahaddin is the oldest university in the Kurdistan Region. It has 16 colleges and 95 academic departments, with an enrollment of approximately 25,000 undergraduate students and 2,000 graduate students. Times Higher Education puts the school among the top 1,200 to 1,500 in its ranking of world universities.
ITV News
27-05-2025
- General
- ITV News
Cardiff University set to scale down music and languages degrees but scrap two others
Cardiff University has announced it plans to close its ancient history and religion and theology degrees, and scale down its music and modern languages courses. The university announced plans to make 400 staff – around 7% of the workforce – redundant and reduce a number of degree courses, initially including nursing, in January, with that number then reduced to a proposed 286 in April, after a number of staff had already opted for voluntary redundancy. In an update sent to staff on Tuesday, Cardiff University's vice-chancellor, Professor Wendy Larner, said it now proposes to retain its offerings of modern languages and music research and education but with revised structures and a smaller staff base, within a new School of Global Humanities. That new school would continue to offer undergraduate and postgraduate music degree programmes, but with revised entry targets and content, while also continuing its offering of modern languages programmes, but to smaller cohorts and primarily in French, Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese. But degrees in ancient history, and religion and theology, would come to an end after students enrolling this September for 2025-26 complete their courses. Professor Larner said: "Having considered the case very carefully, we have decided not to revisit the proposal to cease named single and joint honours degrees in ancient history, and religion and theology. I do understand that this will be very disappointing news for all academics who are deeply committed to these disciplines. "We will of course continue to offer our current set of degree programmes for 2025-26 and are committed to teaching all students entering next September until the completion of their degree in these subjects." Addressing staff, the vice-chancellor acknowledged the "anxiety that the Academic Future project has created for many of you, and I hope that today's announcement brings some reassurance. There is much work yet to be done to realise the ambitions of this new School, and I hope you will feel able to play a part in this." Professor Larner added that the new School of Global Humanities would seek to expand the university's translation degree provision, continue to offer Languages for All "with the languages offered there shaped by student demand", and develop a "new suite of degree programmes to fulfil the ambitions of the new School – challenge-oriented, inclusive, co-created and committed to advancing the Public Humanities agenda". The new proposal will now be put to University Council on 17 June for its approval. In April, the university announced that an 'alternative proposal' had been put forward which would see the university retain adult, child and mental health nursing, with a smaller number of undergraduates being recruited.
Otago Daily Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Budget 2025: Diversified revenue key for uni
The University of Otago still has to find an extra $23.5 million in savings and its situation could be made worse if the government does not come to the party on Budget day. It comes after a turbulent couple of years for the university after it reported significant deficits due to lower than projected enrollments and revenue. Vice-chancellor Grant Robertson's commentary in the university's annual report, released this week, said there had been significant work done to find savings in the budget — in order to address permanent savings of $61.5m and return to the surplus required by the Tertiary Education Commission. "We have made significant savings since 2023, achieving $38m of the $61.5m target set by the University Council." Its deficit of $21.8m last year was $6.3m better than budget, but Mr Robertson acknowledged "finding the final $23.5m of savings will be challenging". Rather than trying to find those savings all at once, the university had agreed to spread out its efforts. "We have worked with the University Council on a plan to spread it over two years, giving us time to find savings and develop new revenue sources." In 2023, the government propped up universities by an extra $64m per year after several institutions, including Otago, had undergone waves of restructuring and change management processes. However, it is not known whether this funding increase will be continued for another year in tomorrow's Budget. Mr Robertson told the Otago Daily Times he preferred not to comment ahead of the Budget. "But clearly government funding is a significant factor in our financial approach." Increasing student numbers was "one key way we can increase our revenue, and we are pleased with our progress this year". "We will also seek to maximise our income from other sources — including research, commercial activities and other partnerships. "This includes the work that we are doing in Queenstown to support the development of its technology and innovation aspirations." The total number of equivalent fulltime students for the year-ending 2024 was 18,690; the university's strategic document Pae Tata aspires for this to increase to 24,000 by 2030. In the international rankings, Otago ranked 214th globally and second nationally (behind University of Auckland) in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rankings. The year 2024 saw records broken for the number of Pacific enrolments at Otago, which now comprise a record 7.2% of total domestic enrolments, while Māori now account for a record 14% of Otago's domestic enrolments. Tertiary Education Union co-president Craig Marshall, of Otago University, said many were still coming to terms with the "brutal" cuts in 2022 and 2023 — which led to hundreds of job losses — but there had been a feeling of "resigned optimism" of late. "But it's not all bread and roses; the effects of the cuts still linger. "I think perhaps there is the sense of a few green shoots. Certainly, there hasn't been the same tempo of redundancies and job losses. There have been some reorganisations. "There are some signs that there's more consultation occurring between decision makers and the staff." Mr Marshall said he did not expect the government to come to the party for universities in the Budget — he expected any increase not to be in line with inflation or increased student numbers. Mr Robertson said work was continuing on many initiatives to find efficiencies, savings and new sources of revenue. "Each division of the university has identified potential areas for this to happen and these are being worked through. "These include reviewing programmes and papers, looking for efficiencies in our support functions and working closely with other tertiary institutions. "There are also new papers and courses under development where we see an opportunity to enhance our academic offering."
