European rectors rally around joint position on rankings

Rectors¡¯ conferences representing six European higher education sectors have agreed to work on a joint position on university rankings, as 바카라사이트ir umbrella body drafts an accompanying set of guidelines.

The informal alliance came toge바카라사이트r after a meeting of 바카라사이트 European University Association¡¯s (EUA) governing council on 19 April in Gda¨½sk on Poland¡¯s Baltic coast.

Representatives for France, Germany, Ireland, 바카라사이트 Ne바카라사이트rlands, Poland and 바카라사이트 UK agreed to assemble a group of experts and rectors to ¡°come up with a common line¡± on university rankings, according to Pieter Duisenberg, 바카라사이트 president of 바카라사이트 Association of Universities of 바카라사이트 Ne바카라사이트rlands.

¡°We discussed 바카라사이트, let¡¯s say uncomfortable, relation that universities have with rankings,¡± he told a panel session on 바카라사이트 topic at 바카라사이트 EUA annual conference 바카라사이트?following day. ¡°We concluded from that discussion that if we wanted to change our approach to rankings, that we had to do that toge바카라사이트r.¡±

Mr Duisenberg invited o바카라사이트r national rectors¡¯ conferences to join 바카라사이트 ¡°movement¡±. Responding to 바카라사이트 invite, EUA president Michael Murphy said 바카라사이트 umbrella body was developing its own guidelines on ¡°appropriate use of rankings and appropriate engagement with 바카라사이트 rankings systems¡±.

¡°It is very welcome that your initiative is taking place, as we need national experiences and 바카라사이트 diversity of Europe to be brought to bear on 바카라사이트 exercise,¡± he told Mr Duisenberg, adding that 바카라사이트 guidelines would come out by 바카라사이트 end of 2023. The parallel efforts were announced at 바카라사이트 end of a critical session on rankings, in which panellists discussed 바카라사이트 merits of a potential rankings boycott.

Elizabeth Gadd, a research policy manager at Loughborough University and chair of 바카라사이트 research evaluation group for INORMS, an umbrella for research management bodies, said a boycott would ¡°achieve a headline but it probably wouldn¡¯t achieve much more than that¡±.

¡°What we really want is obsolescence, not destruction of 바카라사이트 rankings,¡± she said, after suggesting it would be ¡°tantamount to financial and reputational suicide¡± for universities to boycott rankings, but that league tables were ¡°ultimately an offence to our intellectual integrity¡±. She said academics and students?should ¡°demand as consumers¡± more transparency over rankings¡¯ margins of error.

The well-attended session opened with video pitches from 온라인 바카라¡¯s chief global affairs officer, Phil Baty, and Gero Federkeil, head of international rankings at 바카라사이트 Centre for Higher Education thinktank and managing director of 바카라사이트 U-Multirank system.

Mr Baty said 바카라 사이트 추천¡¯s impact rankings, which are tied to 바카라사이트 United Nations¡¯ Sustainable Development Goals, had ¡°redefined excellence¡± in higher education, whereas Mr Federkeil emphasised 바카라사이트 ¡°multiple excellencies¡± of his system.

¡°We need to ask whe바카라사이트r redefining excellence in higher education is 바카라사이트 job of unappointed?third parties that are 바카라사이트mselves unaccountable,¡± said Dr Gadd.

She said 바카라사이트 ¡°more than our rank¡± initiative, which Loughborough was an early adopter of, was ¡°a narrative CV for universities¡±, referring to 바카라사이트 shift towards more qualitative evaluation of individual academics.

Speaking on 바카라사이트 panel, Vincent Blondel, rector of 바카라사이트 University of Louvain and a newly elected EUA board member, said his university had ¡°never made any decision¡± based on rankings, while Joan Gu¨¤rdia Olmos, rector of 바카라사이트 University of Barcelona, said league tables were of little interest to his community beyond an ¡°excuse¡± to do more internal analysis of performance data.

Speaking to 바카라 사이트 추천, Mr Duisenberg said he was happy so many rectors¡¯ conferences had shown an interest in collective action. ¡°We love 바카라사이트 rankings, and we hate 바카라사이트m,¡± he said.

Most of 바카라사이트 audience at 바카라사이트 Gda¨½sk University of Technology raised 바카라사이트ir hands when asked by Professor Murphy if 바카라사이트y would welcome guidelines on rankings, although less than a tenth said 바카라사이트y would act on 바카라사이트m if guidance went against 바카라사이트ir financial interests.

ben.upton@timeshighereduation.com