Sciences Po Management Criticized

The management of Sciences Po during the era of Richard Descoings's directorship, has been harshly criticized by the Cour des Comptes.

The OECD Looks at Higher Ed

Here:

England's tuition-fee reforms of 2006 produced the most "advanced" student-support system of any developed nation and have not deterred poorer students, while low-fee nations such as France, Spain and Italy are performing poorly.
Those were the among the messages from analysis by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, accompanying its latest survey of educational statistics in its 34 member states.
The annual report, Education at a Glance 2012, which mainly looks back to data from 2009, shows that the US lost its lead as the biggest spender on higher education.
The US spent 2.6 per cent of its gross domestic product on higher education institutions in 2009, down from 2.8 per cent in 2005. Drawing level was South Korea, which also spent 2.6 per cent, up from 2.3 per cent in 2005. Close behind was Chile, spending 2.5 per cent (2010 figures), up from 1.8 per cent in 2005.

University Reform: Ça continue!

Behind a paywall, Philippe Aghion discusses university reform. Consulted by Pécresse under the ancien régime, Aghion is now consulted by Geneviève Fioraso under the new. Exactly how the reform process may (or may not) be inflected does not emerge clearly from this interview, which is nevertheless worth reading.

Financial Management of Sciences Po Questioned

By the Cour des Comptes.

OMG! A Touted French University!

A new survey ranks relatively young universities (under 50 years old). Too bad it didn't happen before the election. Sarkozy could have claimed credit for a French success story (if there is any more reason to believe this ranking scheme than the others):

Also highly ranked were the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland; the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST); the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST); Université Pierre et Marie Curie in France; and the Irvine and Santa Cruz campuses of the University of California. Three British institutions — the University of York, Lancaster University and the University of East Anglia — rounded out the top 10.

And meanwhile, in Quebec ...

University reform is contentious in France (see earlier post). Apparently, it's also contentious in la Nouvelle France, Québec. Vive le Québec libre! (h/t GR)

Reforming the University Reform

Was I wrong? I fairly confidently predicted that the Hollande administration would let stand the changes in French higher ed wrought by the LRU, better known as la Loi Pécresse, which shifted power from the Ministry of Ed to university presidents. Or so it was said. Pécresse's replacement, Geneviève Fioraso, about whom I know nothing, claims that in fact this ostensible transfer of power was "a fake," and that university presidents who tried to act on their own were soon shot down by the ministry.

This wouldn't entirely surprise me. Indeed, this is the historical pattern of decentralization reforms in France. In any case, Fioraso says that the new government will file a bill proposing a new reform. But--and the nuance is worth noting--the new reform will be based on the same principle as the old, that power should be shifted away from the center. But this time, she says, there will by no "hyperpresidentialization" and "more coordination" with faculty, staff, and other interested stakeholders. Could even be true. So was I wrong or right? The principle of the old reform will remain, but the implementation will be different, so I was right. On the other hand, the implementation may be so different that the principle itself is changed. That is the hope of opponents of the LRU. So I was wrong. Or, then again, the new implementation may be thwarted by ministerial reflex, as the old one allegedly was, in which case, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Harvard: A French Obsession

The French seem to have become rather obsessed with Harvard all of a sudden, or perhaps I should say yet again. The immediate pretext seems to be the book published by Stéphanie Grousset-Charrière, which I mentioned here a while ago. This was followed by two articles in Le Monde.

Inevitably, I suppose, things will look quite different from the perspective of Cambridge, Mass., than that of Paris, France. But even superficial observers of Harvard must have noticed that the university seems lately to have been gripped by a certain anxiety, which these French commentators seem to miss entirely. Take two recent initiatives: the creation of a Harvard Innovation Center and an agreement with MIT to produce on-line courseware that will be distributed free of charge. Both are signs that Harvard authorities are nervous about the future role of the private liberal arts college in a world where the function of higher education is increasingly seen as advanced vocational training and entrepreneurial incubation. In short, Harvard is suffering from Stanford- and MIT-envy, while France seems to be suffering from envy for a Harvard it has taken from the pages of The Education of Henry Adams.

Hollande and the Universities

Another prediction of mine seems to me coming true. I said that Hollande would not reverse the Law on the Reform of the Universities, better known as the Pécresse Law, if elected. The nomination of Lionel Collet, president of the U. of Lyon I and of the Council of University Presidents, as chief of staff under higher ed minister Geneviève Fioraso, seems to confirm this. Collet was not an opponent of LRU. Nor was I, although the details of implementation must be monitored carefully.

A French Professor Looks at Harvard

Stéphanie Grousset-Charrière has wrriten a book based on her year as an assistant professor in Harvard's sociology department: La Face cachée de Harvard 

"A Harvard, on ne forme pas que les étudiants, on forme aussi leurs enseignants, les façonnant à l'image qu'ils se doivent de dégager. On n'a pas le droit d'être malade et, même avec 39 °C de fièvre, on assure ses cours ; on doit être bien habillé, souriant, avenant, et montrer l'exemple. Ponctualité, amabilité, serviabilité, compréhension, efficacité, disponibilité, compétences, performance, rigueur sont autant de qualités attribuées au personnage de l'enseignant."

This makes Harvard sound a bit like China. I put in my time across the street from the Sociology Department, at the Center for European Studies, where one does have the right to be sick and where work is less regimented than work at Foxconn. Dress ranges from slovenly (me) to elegant. There are frowns as well as smiles. Friendliness is valued but not required. I hope that Prof. Grousset-Charrière's work demonstrates the rigueur she acquired at Harvard, but the superficiality of these observations makes me less than confident.