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Cambridge University Press has announced a new open access initiative that aims to support authors in low-and middle-income countries.

The Cambridge Open Equity Initiative, in which over 100 countries are represented, will help those “who wish to publish their research open access but do not have access to funding”.

50% of Cambridge University Press’ articles were published with open access in 2022 – however, they are working towards majority open access publications by 2025.

“This pilot period allows us to listen to scholars, editors, librarians and universities as we refine the model and ensure we can make it sustainable for the whole community,” a spokesperson from Cambridge University Press told The PIE News.

Through “financial support from Cambridge” and collaboration with its institutional partners, over 5,000 institutions will benefit from the initiative.

It will be available to authors from July 1, 2023 until December 31, 2024.

From June 2023, institutional partners can contribute and choose to do the program “as a part of their existing or upcoming transformative agreement”.

Open access can often associated with stereotypes, such as the idea that “open access means low quality”.

Cambridge University Press addresses some of these concerns by verifying that the OA submissions to Cambridge go through the same exact “peer review and publication process as non-OA submissions”, among other endeavours.

In addition, some misconceptions with open access include giving up copyrights – something Cambridge insists it protects against.

“Fully Gold OA and hybrid journals are published under Creative Commons (CC) licenses,” Cambridge’s policy says, allowing authors to retain the original copyright to their work while allowing readers to access the article or book.

Open access, according to Cambridge, has many benefits for all stakeholders within the publication process.

“It’s a step in the right direction”

In particular, authors benefit through increased visibility and more public engagement, many of whom may not usually experience this reach due to lack of funding at their respective institutions.

“The Cambridge Open Equity Initiative aligns with our mission to unlock people’s potential with the best learning and research solutions.

“This fund alone won’t fix wider inequities: academics in low-income countries have plenty of other obstacles beyond article processing charges,” they said.

“It’s a step in the right direction, and we are working with similar minded organisations to identity further steps we can take,” they added.

Without waivers or such initiatives, articles processing charges for gold open access publications are typically priced at around £2,000 or $3,000, “varying by journal”.

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India’s National Forensic Sciences University has become the first state institution to launch a campus abroad in the East African country of Uganda.

It comes just a month after it was announced that India was drafting regulations for universities on setting up overseas campuses in Africa and Asia.

The university has partnered with the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) to open the branch in Lake Victoria city of Jinja, in response to what it says is high demand for forensic science programmes by African students.

It marks a major step forward in India’s quest for using TNE as part of its internationalisation strategy.

The programs were in particularly high demand from African students on Indian government scholarships, indicating a high chance of acceptance of the university on the continent, officials from both countries have stated.

In what seems to be government-to-government deal, India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar presided over the inauguration of the campus on April 12, in an event attended by high level delegations.

“This is the first foreign campus of the NFSU. Even more important, it is actually the first time a government university of India is opening a campus anywhere abroad in the world,” Indian media quotes the minister saying.

NFSU’s decision is a milestone for Uganda and for the India-Uganda relationship, and example of “practical cooperation between the two nations”.

It was also a fulfilment of “a personal vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, and its international footprint is a matter of “particular satisfaction”, the minister explained.

The actualisation of the Ugandan campus is the culmination of months of lobbying and negotiations, that was reportedly hastened by a letter by Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni to Modi.

“This is the first foreign campus of the NFSU”

Last month, India’s University Grants Commission said it was encouraging institutions to set up campuses abroad, identifying African countries, the Gulf region and Asian countries of Thailand and Vietnam as fertile grounds.

The venture into TNE is part of the country’s internationalisation strategy that is attempting to diversify from recruiting students in strategic foreign markets.

The UGC has expressed confidence that TNE would work owing to the huge presence of the Indian diaspora population in Africa and Asia.

Around 15,000 African students were enrolled in Indian universities in 2021, according to the Association of African Students in India, with 4300 of them coming from Sudan, Nigeria and Tanzania.

On the other hand, the number of overseas students enrolled in Indian higher education institutions fell by 2.6% in the last two years from 49,348 in 2019/20 to 48,035 in 2020/21 according to The Indian Express, quoting data by All India Survey on Higher Education.

India has been stepping up efforts to internationalise its education, especially since the launch of the National Education Policy in 2020. The January release of draft regulations to allow international universities to set up in the country is the latest.

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Tuari Potiki is using his lived experience to enhance the lives of Indigenous students in Otago and beyond, through the Indigenous student exchange program at the University of Otago. Despite the program being young in age, its impact is palpable, providing its students with authentic, tailored experiences and inspiring other institutions to follow suit.

For Māori students, the impact of a positive educational experience runs deep, and a degree can hold unique value. This not only benefits the individual, but “lifts up the whole family”, says Potiki, who is director of Māori development at Otago University.

Over half of the Māori students at Otago are the first in their family to go to university.

“For every Māori student who graduates, it’s not only setting up their future but their family’s too. It provides role modelling for the younger ones in their families,” says Potiki.

“If we get this right, it can be life changing and not just for individuals.”

Education is one of the pathways out of poverty and other negative social indicators caused by colonisation, Potiki tells The PIE.

In New Zealand, the Māori life expectancy is around seven years shorter than that of the non-Māori population.

Meanwhile, the university qualification completion and course completion rates are also lower for Māori and Pacific students.

Potiki is of Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe and Waitaha descent, and prior to joining Otago in 2012, worked extensively in Māori alcohol, drug and mental health services.

Over 30 years ago he underwent treatment for drug addiction, and continues to use his lived experience to help others in his current roles as chair of the New Zealand Drug Foundation and chair of the National Needle Exchange Services Trust.

When Potiki and his colleagues realised Indigenous students were being excluded from exchange opportunities due to their GPA not meeting the university’s threshold, they “challenged the university to do better” and so the Indigenous exchange program at Otago was founded.

“Our Indigenous students really wanted to travel, they wanted to go and explore the world but they wanted it to be an indigenous experience,” says Potiki.

“There’s so many universities who have a long history of really strong engagement with their local indigenous community going back decades. So that’s fantastic – that’s a starting place.

“We have a lot of universities asking us about the program and our first question back is ‘what is your relationship like to the local people where you are?’”

The Tūrangawaewae, Pōkai Whenua program is culturally-driven, semester-long exchange experience tailored to the individual student, and where possible, students are sent in pairs.

It is based on a-kanohi  – face to face connection – between the indigenous communities of the land that participating universities occupy.

“We have a lot of universities asking us about the program”

The exchanges for Indigenous students are always community to community, facilitated by the university, rather than the traditional university to university exchange.

According to Potiki, the parents of Indigenous students are especially interested in who is going to be looking after their child, rather than a faceless institution.

The program aims to creates the platform not only for progressing academic studies, but creating future careers in indigenous advancement.

Up to 12 universities are expected to participate in the future of the Tūrangawaewae, Pōkai Whenua program across Australia, Canada and the US, on a rotational basis of four per year, sending one student each to Otago in the second semester.

There is further interest from Taiwanese institutions, where Indigenous communities share many similar customs to Māori, even down to some of the same words – Potiki recently learned through the process.

“There is an expectation on the Indigenous community of whatever university it is to look after our students when they go, just as we do when they come to us.

“I think it’s always about the community. The universities are great, but it’s always about the community, about the things [the student] experiences.”

The feedback from students has been “overwhelmingly positive”, says Potiki.

The program’s first outbound student left Otago’s Dunedin campus during the height of summer and found himself in -24°C conditions in Newfoundland, at Memorial University.

“He loved it. The local people really took to him.

“When [students] come to us, we take them to our gatherings. We want it to be authentic engagement.”

Incoming indigenous students are brought along to events, such as tribal meetings, and though many of the experiences are ‘amazing’, Potiki sees the importance in showing the ‘mundane’ too.

“The universities are great, but it’s always about the community”

“Some of it is administrative. We have to engage with all of these government departments and local councils that want a relationship with us. We really show the full experience. 

“It could even be attending a Māori funeral. They grab a tea-towel and they start in the kitchen – because that’s what you do. You work your way up.”

Potiki says it’s not about sitting back and watching and writing, “you get in there – authenticity is really important.”

“We always want them to leave with their stomachs full and their mind and spirit, so that they leave positively and that responsibility is taken really seriously.”

Although Potiki wouldn’t admit it, he and his team at Otago have become somewhat of a trailblazer in this area, with institutions such as Memorial University and Western University following in its footsteps and incorporating similar programs in their Indigenous strategies, with the guidance of Otago.

“That makes us really happy. It’s not saying ‘we’re clever’, it’s just saying that we had something that was valuable and it may be that next time around we learn from theirs.”

“There’s a lot of cross-pollination, we’re learning from each other. It’s incredibly helpful.”

The success of the program for students has sparked interest in Indigenous staff members too, particularly for support and professional staff, who perhaps don’t have the same collaborative opportunities than that of academic staff, says Potiki.

“We are looking at expanding the relationships to include staff exchange. There’s a lot of interest.”

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The government in Western Australia has announced it will inject $13.1m into the province’s international education sector.

The funding will aim to build on last year’s $41.2m investment in last year’s State Budget.

$6m of the revealed budget will be spread over two years to help showcase “the State’s world class education and training providers”, as well as job opportunities and the state’s “strong” economy.

Crucially, in the midst of an accommodation crisis, part of another $5.5m for international student support will extend existing subsidies for one-off $1,500 payments assisting with accommodation, under the International Student Accommodation Subsidy. 

It will also extend funds for the existing ELICOS Bursary.

The rest of that $5.5m will be put towards grants for international students who are commencing their studies in Western Australia. 

“As Western Australia is on track with the recovery of international student enrolments, the State Government is focusing on delivering student support, while sustainably growing the student pipeline.

 “It is important we provide international students arriving in our State with a safe and welcoming environment for them to flourish in,” said international education minister David Templeman. 

The news comes as Mark McGowan, the state’s premier, conducts a trade mission to China to discuss exchanges in various sectors, including in international education. 

“The State Government is focusing on delivering student support”

“The potential of the Chinese market for Western Australia’s international education sector and economy is significant and we need to ensure our State is well positioned among its competitors,” McGowan said prior to leaving for the official trip on April 16. 

Chinese students make up 12% of the state’s international student enrolment numbers, making it the state’s second largest market for international students.

“I look forward to sharing what sets Western Australia apart as a study destination, including our sector’s strong signs of recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic,” McGowan added.

Western Australia’s international student numbers were up 10% at the end of the 2022 compared to 2021, but have yet to reach the height of 2019 numbers, according to Austrade’s recently released Year in Review. 

The remaining $1.5m that the state budget is allocating to international education efforts will be provided over four years to “support implementation” of the state’s international education initiatives. 

Australia as a whole welcomed more than 620,000 international students in 2022.

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The way in which international students are afforded uncapped work rights in Australia has “become a bit of a Ponzi scheme”, a leading international education executive has said.

A joint standing subcommittee on foreign affairs, defence, and trade commenced a public hearing between April 18-19 to hear evidence from universities, student accommodation, education agents, and professional bodies about sector recovery and future growth.

Addressing the committee, Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association of Australia said changes to work rights were fuelling current migration behaviour.

“The former federal government announced out of the blue, not long after they opened the borders, that they are going to allow full fee paying international students to work full time while they were meant to be studying full time, concurrently.

“Clearly in a global community coming out of Covid, this was manna from heaven for a lot of families doing it tough in countries, particularly in our region, where Mum and Dad’s family business in the Punjab or in Kathmandu may have been suffering.

“Suddenly we have this situation in which a Western country is offering Australian dollars with unlimited work rights.

“It’s become a bit of a Ponzi scheme which is attracting the wrong motivation for young people,” Honeywood told the committee.

There have been widespread media reports in recent days of five Australian universities implementing bans of student applications from specific states in India.

The subcommittee hearing comes ahead of an expected crackdown to be announced by the Department of Home Affairs.

Since the re-opening of Australian borders to international students in the wake of the pandemic, the sector is reporting greater abuse of the visa system with significant amounts of students never enrolling or switching to private institutions on arrival.

“Coming out of Covid, this was manna from heaven for a lot of families”

The Department of Home Affairs has cited an increase in fraudulent documents and incomplete visa applications specifically from Indians, resulting in over 94% of applications from India being rejected in February 2023.

“More importantly, many genuine students have also come under mental health pressure from family back home who say,  ‘if you can work 100 hours a week while you study 120 hours a week, then we want you to jump out of the university course and go into it cheaper [with a lower cost institution]’,” Honeywood pointed out.

The issues have been plaguing Australian HE for some time – The PIE recently reported on the trend of students switching courses to vocational or private colleges in order to access unlimited work rights.

Canada has also experienced similar issues of late, with an agent being arrested for forging acceptance letters resulting in many students facing deportation – the real number affected is still unclear.

Genuine education agents in Australia have expressed concerns about the exploitation of vulnerable students by immigration consultants seeking to abuse the Australian visa system.

“There is potential rorting and unethical practices occurring principally overseas”

The subcommittee also discussed the role of agents, and the wider exploitation of workers and dependents in migration trends.

Peter Hendy, who leads Independent Higher Education Australia, discussed how more regulation of agents would be welcome in the sector.

“Our membership collectively have a view that there is potential rorting and unethical practices occurring principally overseas.

“It may not be limited to that, but we do see an issue specifically on the subcontinent with respect to agents that we’re very concerned about,” Hendy asserted.

Honeywood explained that exploitation often happens when international students do not successfully integrate with wider society, instead remaining in shared accommodation, word-of-mouth jobs roles, and with support from advisers who have ulterior motives.

He also noted that another danger lies in swinging from one end of the spectrum to the other through a possible overzealous response from the government.

“If we go from black to white, from uncapped to suddenly capped work rights, it’s going to create a whole range of issues, such as students not being able to afford their tuition fees,” he explained.

Victoria University, Edith Cowan University, the University of Wollongong, Torrens University, and Southern Cross University are all reported to be among the institutions now imposing bans by perceived regional visa risk.

Communications previously seen by The PIE reveal that the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana were seen as the highest risk by Edith Cowan University and subject to an institutional ban from application. 

Australian media has also focused on the alleged abuse of the immigration system in recent days, with the Financial Review calling it “a mockery of the system” and The Sydney Morning Herald signalling a ‘crackdown on bogus applicants”.

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French president Emmanuel Macron made a fresh welcome appeal to Chinese students considering studying in France during his three-day state visit to China.

During the speech where he delivered the remarks at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, he also said that France hopes to send more scholars and students to China.

Crowds of excited students gathered outside of the university to welcome Macron on April 7.

In the university gymnasium, Macron urged the younger generation to embrace a “critical spirit” that would allow them to be “free, rational individuals” in his speech, before taking questions from select students in French.

“The international order is now weakened and we have a responsibility, China and France, to preserve it and at the same time to reinvent it in the light of the realities of the 21st century,” Macron told students.

“There is so much for us to do together”

“From Beijing to Guangzhou, I have met students who are learning our language, enthusiastic and dynamic young people, entrepreneurs keen to innovate, and artists inspired by France. There is so much for us to do together. Long live the friendship between China and France!” Macron wrote in a tweet following the visit.

Mathilde Mallet, head of Asia division, Campus France, described Macron’s visit as a “clear message of openness” towards the Chinese students, who already represent the third country of origin of international students in France.

Chinese mobility to France suffered as a result of the pandemic (-4% in five years), according to Campus France.

However, Chinese students are the most represented nationality in France’s business schools, growing by 84% over five years.

“The desire for mobility is very present, with the reopening of the borders two months ago,” Mallet told The PIE News.

“Student mobility between our two countries is well established. There is no doubt that it will increase in the future because it reflects the desire of students to benefit from better mutual knowledge of our higher education and research environments.”

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The University of Kent has indicated it will be closing its satellite campus, known as the Brussels School of International Studies, leaving many students without a clear plan for the completion of their courses.

The student body at BSIS have been campaigning on social media for clarity from Vice Chancellor Karen Cox, believing the process has been grossly mishandled with no prior consultation with concerned staff, students and local administration.

The vice-chancellor and senior management from the University of Kent were due to visit the campus on April 17 and provide further information on the ongoing situation.

It has been reported that an email communication was sent to staff and students on March 30, stating the intention to wind-down teaching from September 2023 with full closure by May 2024. 

A statement released from the student body reads, “the closure of the campus has left us with significant concerns about the status and value of our degrees, job prospects, and even the legal situation in Europe for those students on student visas.

“With the university providing no plans regarding the promised completion of our degree, tensions are high.

Find here some of the conclusions of today’s visit from top @UniKent officers.

3 weeks after their original email, we still don’t know how are classes going to be delivered. pic.twitter.com/XAMR6Hl8HL

— BSIS-SOS (@bsis_sos) April 17, 2023

“In addition, we have received reports from students who were to begin this September that their offers have suddenly been cancelled, leaving them with potentially no school to attend and insufficient time for alternative academic planning,” the statement continued.

Overseas campuses have long been seen as the hallmark of a globalised university and can significantly boost the reputation and pipeline of students to the main institution.

There are many in the sector, however, who have questioned the financial viability of overseas campuses – in 2019, the University of Reading was forced to release a statement defending the financial viability of its Malaysia campus.

The BSIS has been in operation since 1998 and acted as a hub for another satellite campus based in Paris.

In 2017 a report from the Observatory On Borderless Higher Education praised BSIS as a blueprint for how branch campuses should operate in Europe, successfully securing research and university partnerships in Belgium and northern France. It is now unclear how that network will be managed moving forward and if the Paris campus will also be affected. 

UK institutions have seen a significant decline in interest from European students since Brexit, coupled with increased competition across the continent as many private universities have sought to secure the newly available market share.

In response to the PIE’s request for comment, the University of Kent said after “extensive reviews and internal discussions, we have taken the difficult and regretful decision to wind down our postgraduate Brussels School of International Studies from next year”.

The University of Kent told the PIE that its presence in Brussels is an “important part” of the institution’s history, but running the establishment at “increasing cost” – and other wider pressures have resulted in the campus “no longer being sustainable” for Kent.

“Our intention is for this year’s cohort to be our final Brussels graduates, with no new cohorts next academic year. Teaching will continue as normal until Summer 2024, with all current applicants being contacted personally to explore alternative study options at Kent.

We understand this news has been unsettling for staff and students at the School, as well as for our alumni from what has been a remarkable 25 years, and we are fully committed to doing all we can to support and accommodate them,” a spokesperson said.

They also mentioned the vice-chancellor’s visit to Brussels on April 17 to “discuss plans and answer questions directly” on ongoing support.

“We have and will continue to listen to our students during what we know to be a very challenging time for them.”

Do you work or study at BSIS and have been affected by the closure? Have your say in the comments below or by emailing editorial@thepienews.com

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