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Alan Gilbert, the president of the University of Manchester, believes that the teaching quality in elite universities is declining since academics favor research over interacting with students. Several proposals to reverse this situation of student neglect are discussed.

The career progression pathway offered to teaching staff by the Bristol University on par with researchers is presented.

A call by universities for increased funding and reduced bureaucracy to enable provision of internationally competitive higher education is discussed.

Academics associated with the universities formed in the 1960s speak of the erosion of the optimism and innovative spirit of the institutions over time.

Andrew Armour, lecturer in Physics, Nottingham University, values his academic career for affording him a meaningful opportunity after recovering from a life-threatening illness.

The success being achieved by the former polytechnics in the United Kingdom that were converted into universities in 1992 is discussed.

Experts predicted August 2007 that the urgent need to tackle climate change issues will create several new career opportunities across higher education over the next two decades.

Statistical data confirm a small rise in the number of students who have entered universities from disadvantaged backgrounds in 2005-06 after a decline in the previous year.

The Government warning to universities to provide degree-level qualifications in compliance with the Leitch report target or allow further education (FE) colleges to do so is presented.

The Commission of Disabled Staff in Lifelong Learning, launched May 2007, will conduct a comprehensive survey of the number of disabled staff in English and Welsh higher education and the challenges they face.

The dismissal of several U.K. academics for their use of online blogs, web forums and group e-mails to air their grievances about their employers is discussed. The issue also highlights concerns about academic freedom and the right to express unpopular opinions without fear of reprisal.

An increasing number of university lecturers and researchers in the U.K. are being dismissed for criticizing their managers through online activities such as blogs and web forums. Union leaders are calling for greater freedom for staff to criticize employers and to discuss their jobs without fear of retaliation.

The Birmingham University renders support to the overseas staff for settling and adjusting to the U.S. culture. In order to get the best performance from them the university also attempts to internationalize the campus environment.

The rapid rise in the number of professors in the U.K. due to growing competition is discussed. This could also lead to a devaluation of the honor.

A report of a steep increase in professorships in the decade till 2005-06 is presented. This rise is due to competitive efforts by universities to attract and retain the best academics.

The argument of Sir Christopher Frayling in favor of a major cultural and attitudinal change in higher education to benefit society is presented.

The article highlights the amount of stress that academics have to go through in the field of higher education. Their hectic schedule does not give them time for their families or with themselves.

The article highlights the research conducted by the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation (WISE) at the Hull University, U.K, to study the status of the modern slave trade.

The article reports the initiation of call center technology for students and managers to receive help in academics. The aim behind this effort is to lift the burden from the University staff and provide flexibility in work.

Candidates in the impending elections for the University and College Union (UCU) positions believe that voting patterns of members would be based on 'political grounds' rather than 'tribalism' and affiliations to former unions. Experiences of academics in different parts of the sector might impact their opinions on key issues such as handling of the 2006 pay dispute, resulting in voting across former union lines.

A national campaign for a 'creativity movement' is planned in order to defend academic creativity against red tape and confrontationist managers. Establishment of a national creativity network of academics backed by support and action groups is recommended to resist their helplessness against the prevalent audit culture, and to take free-thinking and intellectual risks in teaching and research.

Union leaders are critical of a redundancy list drafted by the University of Wales, Newport, as part of a suspect job-cutting process adopted in haste to rush through closures of courses. The list of redundant staff drawn up much earlier than any consultation began over proposals to close programs is questionable, since any institution is legally expected to consult with the University and College Union about who should be made redundant.

Universities are investing millions of pounds to create virtual working and learning environments that will enable academics to cut down on bureaucracy and paperwork. The modern IT working environment will help academics streamline administrative tasks, and provide them with powerful tools for teaching and research.

Ambitious young career-minded academics are embracing a performance-management business culture as opposed to their older colleagues who follow the traditional ideas of autonomy, collegiality and scholarship. Young academics enabled the change in academics' jobs and professional identity, viewing their profession more as a career than advancing knowledge.

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has been warned by college principals that it is in danger of recreating past 'funding nightmares' as further education enters the 10th anniversary of the council's incorporation. The Association of Colleges has stated that it does not believe that the LSC's plans to introduce a funding-and-performance monitoring regime in order to support the UK government's Success for All strategy for further education will be either efficient or workable, noting that it is unlikely to result in a reduction in red tape, will increase the risk of data manipulation and could result in some colleges being put into a downward financial spiral.

The war in Iraq is expected to hit efforts by universities and colleges in the United Kingdom to attract more overseas students, although higher education will be a key element in the rebuilding of diplomatic bridges once the conflict has come to an end, according to international recruitment experts. All education recruitment fairs which were due to take place in the Middle East have been cancelled, with a similar dip in recruitment figures as that experienced after the first Gulf war predicted by the British Council's and universities' international officers. The number of Middle Eastern students in the UK reached 10,830 in 2001-2002, accounting for 4.5% of all overseas students.

Vice-chancellors in the United Kingdom have warned the government not to create a two-tier higher education system by stripping some universities of their research degree-awarding powers and further concentrating research funding. In response to an higher education discussion paper put out by the Department for Education and Skills in late-November 2002, Universities UK, a lobby group, stated that all higher education institutions benefit from the interdependence of research and teaching and that to split these two elements would be highly damaging to the higher education sector.

The Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) has announced a wide-ranging review prompted by the recognition that devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is likely to necessitate a change in its structure. The review, announced in the week of Nov. 16, 1998, could lead to the CVCP's transformation into a body representing all higher education institutions in the UK. Leicester University vice-chancellor Kenneth Edwards, chair of the working party established to consider the options, has suggested that the American Council on Education would be a good model for such a body.

A survey report reveals that sixth-formers dislike universities' attempts to invade their online space to deliver online courses or to commercialize themselves on social networking websites.

The growing popularity of so-called soft subjects such as complementary medicine in U.K. universities is drawing criticism that many of the courses are only a result of the institutions' efforts to boost their income, with little regard for academic standards.

The consumption of stress-relieving drugs such as Modafinil is popular among the academicians. The risk factors associated with these drugs are discussed.

The research in clinical areas suffers as the National Health Service tightens its bureaucratic regulations.

Members of the University and College and Union (UCU) were disillusioned due to the confusing nature of the ballot papers with 176 candidates standing for 70 different positions. This confusion led to a very low turnover in the union's first elections, hence newly elected members are being questioned on the authenticity of ballot papers.

One of the U.K.'s greatest living novelists, Martin Amis, has been appointed as a professor of creative writing at Manchester University. The chance to teach at Manchester appealed him because it will help him discover 'what modernity had done to the young'; he is also keen to discover how much of creative writing could be really taught.

Only about forty people turned up at Manchester University January 2007 to hear the three University and College Union (UCU) general secretary candidates give their election speeches. Even the people present were unconvinced of the UCU's continued relevance to higher and further education staff.

Cardiff University is preparing to join a consortium of institutions from different nations providing 'academic stewards' on board a luxury liner to design and teach academic programs to undergraduate and postgraduate students. 'The Scholar Ship' will act as a floating campus on its semester-long maiden voyage beginning in September 2007 and visit eight countries and five continents.

The increasing number of female academics in higher education is likely to lead to a significant shift away from the male-dominated culture of the past. The introduction of more family-friendly policies and focus on equality issues at universities is expected to make the feminization of recruitment practices and working conditions permanent.

The government wants early notice of university plans to cut 'strategically important' subjects as it emerged that almost one quarter of the country's physics departments are vulnerable. Alan Johnson, Education Secreteray, has written to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) requesting early notification of any universities planning closures in subjects such as chemistry, physics and mathematics.

Teaching and learning have the strongest effect on students' levels of satisfaction with their university, according to an analysis of data from the National Student Survey. The most satisfied students in Britain are white, female, aged over 30, living at home and studying on a sandwich course in languages, physical sciences or philosophy.

Academics are being warned to protect their intellectual property rights after it was discovered that scholarly papers were on sale on Amazon.com without the author's knowledge or consent. Amazon in America has arrangements to sell academic articles via firms which secure the rights to journal content from publishers worldwide.

Academic recruitment and retention is suffering as staff struggle to balance the pressures of increased teaching, research and red tape, according to the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi). The warning comes as it is revealed that scholarly work is being distorted and academics polarised by pressure to teach more.

The ratio of students to academics at some universities is double the average pupil-to-teacher ratio is state schools, according to an analysis. The University and College Union (UCU) wants action following the analysis revealed that students outnumber academics by over 30:1 at some universities.

Rong Huang, international student tutor at Plymouth University's Business School, conducted a survey of problems faced by international students as one of her first moves in her role. The results confirmed that UK universities have not yet resolved even the most common problems encountered by international students.

Lawyers are using the academic pay dispute to show students how they could sue institutions for a 'breach of contract' if their degree courses are disrupted. Some legal firms plan visits to universities and others are leafleting students.

Vice-chancellors have predicted the collapse of national pay bargaining as several have admitted that they are ready to make local deals with lecturers' unions in an effort to end the dispute. Some v-cs have turned on the Universities and Colleges Employers' Association stating that the stalemate in negotiations will increase the move towatds local pay bargaining.

Loughborough University's students collectively won a total of 30 medals, including eight gold medals, at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. The students performed better at the games that those from 32 other countries.

Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) figures show a 2.7 percent rise in academic staff numbers from 2003-04 to 2004-05 and most of these are senior grades. This rise threatens to swallow any extra cash to meet pay demands.

Janet Ryder, education spokesman for political party Plaid Cymru, has warned that a radical overhaul of the University of Wales is needed if it is not to lose some of its biggest member institutions. Ryder noted that there is a 'significant risk, that Aberystwyth, Bangor and Swansea universities will leave the federal institution unless it modernised its operations.

Vice-chancellors at universities in England are calling for Higher Education Funding Council for England restrictions on student recruitment to be overhauled. The restrictions mean that universities are being forced to turn down thousands of qualified applicants that they could comfortably accommodate.

The number of cases of fraud, forgery and cheating being recorded in the global higher education market has grown rapidly, according to a report produced by the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education. Figures unearthed by the report show that the number of fake universities around the world grew to 800 in 2004, vs 200 in 2000, that there are an estimated 10,000 holders of fake US degrees in Malaysia, and that fake degrees are on sale from at least 40 sources in Australia.