magazine - Strathmore University

ImpactIssue 6 

December 2009 

The magazine of the ACU PR, Marketing and 

Communications Network 

Welcome to the 

sixth edition of 

Impact! 

The articles in this issue focus on crisis planning 

on campus, the role of photography in univ er - 

sity marketing, and how best to build relation - 

ships between academic researchers and the wider 

community. In our regular Profile section, Eric Kath - 

enya of Strathmore University shares his experiences 

of developing his university’s website. 

Once again, the content of our magazine reflects 

the diverse communications challenges faced by our 

Network members across the Commonwealth. We 

hope to pick up these, amongst many other issues, at 

our forthcoming ACU PR, Marketing and Comm un - 

ications Conference. This, the Network’s next biennial 

conference, will be held in Melbourne, Australia, from 

25-26 November 2010 and is entitled ‘Changing 

Times, Changing Markets and Changing Priorities’. 

For further details, please see our news section. 

However, full information will soon be sent out via our 

email list and will be available on the ACU website. In 

the meantime, please keep the dates in your diary! 

I hope that you enjoy the magazine – as ever, 

please do get in touch if you wish to contribute to 

future editions or have any news, suggestions or 

feedback. 

Selina Hannaford 

Programme Officer 

The Association of Commonwealth Universities

In this issue... 

2-3 Crisis planning. It works 

Crisis 

Jacqui Tam on developing, 

testing and utilising an action 

plan in the event of a crisis 

4-5 Reaching students through 

photography 

Phillip Spears considers the 

role of photography in 

university marketing materials 

6-7 Enhancing communications 

between academia and the 

outside world 

Zuraidah Mohd Don discusses 

how institutions can better 

communicate their research 

externally 

8-9 Profile: Strathmore 

University 

Eric Kathenya reflects on the 

development of his institution’s 

website and newsletter into a 

community hub 

10-11 News 

12 Publications 

Jacqui Tam on 

the role of 

communications in 

a crisis. 

At 8.35 a.m. on November 26 2008, Wilfrid Laurier 

University’s weekly senior administrative meeting 

was interrupted by a call from the director of 

campus security. Reports were coming in of a gunman (an 

‘active shooter’) in one of the university’s residences. 

Shots had been fired, one student was thought to be 

injured, and hostages had been taken. 

Fortunately, the scenario being reported was part of an 

exercise designed to test the institution’s Emergency 

Lockdown Procedures and Emergency Response Plan 

(ERP). Laurier’s ERP was immediately activated, and an 

intense morning of real-time role-play ensued, involving 

the university, regional police, emergency medical services, 

and a number of other outside agencies. By the time the 

exercise wrapped up near midday, it had demonstrated 

what worked about the plan, what areas or processes 

needed refinement, and where the critical weak spots 

existed. 

Less than six months later, another call was received – 

this time at about 6.05 p.m. – while members of senior 

adm in istration were attending a Senate meeting at Laurier’s 

satellite campus, some 50 kilometres away. A residence 

was on fire at the university’s 

main campus in Waterloo. The 

fire was extremely serious and 

the number of student injuries 

was unclear. Unfortunately, this 

late-day interruption was not 

part of an exercise, but one of 

the many crises a university 

hopes never to confront. 

The real emergency was 

entirely different from the 

scenario used in the Nov em ber 

exercise, but the ess ential 

emergency response principles 

were the same. The university’s 

ability to respond was greatly 

en han ced by the fact that a plan 

had been established and the 

earlier exercise had taken place. 

People knew their roles and 

moved into them seamlessly. 

Comm uni cations staff quickly 

iden tified audiences that needed 

immediate attention and moved 

to meet those needs. 

That, of course, could not 

change the fact that in this 

particular reality, 400 stud ents 

2 Impact December 2009

planning 

It works 

would be displaced just as their exam period was starting, 

or that the building would not be safe to reoccupy until the 

following autumn, or, most tragically, that a student would 

lose his life as a result of injuries sustained in the fire. But 

it did mean the university could do its best to manage the 

situation and communicate appropriately with everyone – 

from students and parents, to the media and alumni. It also 

reminded the public affairs and commun ic ations team on 

campus that, when it comes to crisis communications, 

being prepared for the unthinkable is not only advisable, 

it’s absolutely imperative. 

Preparing for the unthinkable 

Develop your plan The first step in being prepared is to 

ensure your organisation has a crisis or emergency comm - 

unications plan that deals with a wide range of possible 

scenarios. You also need to formalise a process for 

ensuring it is updated regularly. Without this, the plan stays 

on the shelf gathering dust and, when it is needed, the 

information is out-of-date. 

Test your plan Having a plan is important, but taking the 

time to test it for weak spots enhances its value immeas - 

urably and will ensure key individuals get a chance to 

practice their roles in real-time scenarios. Even when the 

emergency faced in an exercise is different to the real one 

you’re confronting, the communications principles will be 

the same. And the fact that you have ‘practiced’ gives 

everyone involved a much better chance of managing the 

unthinkable in a way that minimises both short-term and 

long-term negative fallout. 

Fine-tune your plan Once you have tested the plan, take 

the time to debrief and fine-tune. Involve outside agencies 

such as law enforcement and emergency services, since 

these are the groups that will live through many crises with 

you. Make sure you understand what information you can 

release, and what information must go through them. 

Clarify roles that are unclear; change processes that do 

not work as smoothly as anticipated; add documents and 

templates for media statements that you can access at a 

moment’s notice. Ensure contact lists for everyone, from 

your internal staff to the media, are up-to-date and 

available in both print and electronic format. 

Take care of logistics Some emergencies will require that 

communications staff must work off campus, so having 

one or two readily accessible emergency kits is important. 

These should include internet ready laptop computers with 

both the software and data files that will be required, as 

well as staff contact lists, media contact lists, and more. 

When the unthinkable happens 

Activate the plan While it may seem unnecessary, formally 

acknowledging that you have activated the crisis comm - 

un ications plan is an important step. It immediately shifts 

mindsets, helps people understand that it’s no longer ‘bus- 

iness as usual’, and allows them to focus fully on the crisis. 

Communicate quickly and frequently In a world of 

citizen journalism, social and 24-7 media, information about 

a crisis at your institution is undoubtedly being shared within 

seconds of the occurrence, and not in an official capacity. 

While getting information out ‘first’ is really no longer likely, 

getting it out as quickly as possible (and ensuring accurate 

information is relayed), is absolutely critical. Provide up - 

dates on your website, by email, etc., as soon as you can. 

Always be certain that the information you are providing is 

accurate, and know what information you can and can’t 

release. Also, establish a communic ations schedule and 

share it. Letting people know when they can expect the 

next update, even if that update confirms there is little new 

information available at this time, helps reassure people. 

Identify the appropriate spokespersons Different sit - 

uations will require different spokespersons, but the key is 

to ensure the most knowledgeable people are available to 

the audiences that need to see and hear from them. Most 

significant emergencies do require that the executive head 

also play a front and centre role. 

Media If the crisis you are dealing with focuses on a 

particular location (such as a residence or building on campus), 

it is important to establish a staging area for media which 

provides them access to the people and pictures they need, 

but also keeps them out of harm’s way. A number of 

possible locations should be included in your plan, with the 

final selection being made based on the particulars of the 

emergency. 

Social media If your organisation is active in the social 

media sphere, re-orienting your regular channels to convey 

crisis related information is advisable. It is also important 

to monitor what is being said on Facebook, Twitter, or 

whatever the preferred networks are in your region. 

Misinformation or rumours from these sites can be clarified 

in the official university statements. 

Activity log Keep logs of what you are doing, the calls 

and emails you are receiving, and the answers or activities 

resulting from these. The logs will be helpful in compiling 

lists of frequently asked questions for the duration of the 

crisis; they also help in the de-briefing, after things have 

begun to return to normal. 

When it comes 

to crisis comm - 

unications, 

being prepared 

for the 

unthink able is 

not only 

advisable, 

it’s absolutely 

imperative. 

Jacqui Tam is 

Director of Public 

Affairs & Publications 

at Wilfrid Laurier 

University, Canada. 

Email: jtam@wlu.ca 

December 2009 Impact 3

Phillip Spears 

provides advice 

on how best to 

use photography 

to market your 

institution. 

Universities all over the world are facing new 

demographics in recruiting and retaining 

students. Cross-cultural and cross-regional 

student recruiting are on the rise and institutions are 

increasingly courting students from outside their 

normal market base. It sets up a delicate scenario – if 

students can find the institutions where they will truly 

thrive, everyone benefits. But how to get the attention 

of those students in the flurry of media that washes 

over them in today’s market And how to express to 

them that they will be welcome, and accepted by their 

peers, at your university 

Although we may be biased – we are photographers 

after all – I feel that nothing communicates to students 

and prospective students like the visual image. Students 

can read page upon page of description, details of 

programmes, teachers and campus facilities, but one 

photograph will often make a bigger, more permanent 

impression, simply because the image reaches across 

cultural barriers without words. It often seems that when 

prospective students see the first pictures of their future 

campus, they begin to picture themselves there – espec - 

ially if the photos include other students, the people they 

will be living and growing beside for the next few years. If 

a university cannot make that connection, they stand to 

lose a number of students who would be an enormous 

asset to their institution. 

Students today are awash in media – almost from birth, 

it seems – and they are incredibly media savvy, even by 

their late teens. They can sense ‘spin’ and artificiality much 

more quickly than previous generations, and when they 

sense it, they are immediately put off – whether the 

product is a movie, a clothing line, or a university. The key, 

then, is to reach out to them with authenticity, while you 

translate your institution’s mission into an immediate, 

tangible form. 

After nearly 20 years of photography on university 

campuses, we have learned which images resonate with 

students and which do not. In the latter category is what 

we have learned to dread as ‘the token photo’, which is 

often used by institutions with a very low minority or foreign 

population. You know you’ve seen it – the photo of a group 

of smiling, happy Anglo students, with one minority student 

off to one side. The inclusion looks stiff and forced, and 

the impression of being ‘on the fringes’ always comes 

through in the final image. 

We coined the term ‘the token photo’ after speaking 

with a student at an American university who (sadly) 

personified the practice. One of a very few African students 

at a small private university, he came through a missionary 

program in his home country. The university insisted on 

using him in virtually every group photo, not realising that 

anyone looking at the photos in a set – in a prospectus, 

for example, or on the website – would begin to recognise 

him after just a few photos, and form the impression that 

he was the only foreign student on campus. How isolating 

an image to project to prospective students! 

At the opposite extreme, thankfully, is a shoot we did 

recently where our contact at the university found us two 

young women to photograph who had been roommates 

the year before and were just beginning their second year 

at this institution. One was an African-American volleyball 


player, standing over six feet tall. The other was a white 

gymnast who stood barely five feet. In addition to the 

natural humour of their Mutt-and-Jeff appearance, the two 

girls were best friends and their warmth and affection 

showed through in every frame. It was the best description 

possible of the welcoming atmosphere this campus 

radiated. 

Catching students in their unguarded, animated 

moments is key to this approach. We often bring a diverse 

group of students outside in the afternoon, giving them 

time to talk, relax, make jokes – and then photograph them 

in this casual setting. After a few minutes, the students 

seem to barely notice the photography and their genuine 

enjoyment illuminates the images. Even though we spend 

a great deal of time photographing facilities, illustrious 

professors and events, these gentle, relaxed images are 

always a huge success because they show the students 

unposed, undirected – and being themselves. 

Watching students interact with each other always 

makes for great photos but what of student-faculty 

interaction Here, too, there are ways to make a photo 

jump of the page, and ways to make a sadly static image. 

With many institutions, the temptation is to use the most 

high-profile professors – department heads, doctoral prog - 

ramme instructors – or to tread carefully on department 

‘territory’, using the most senior instructors, whether they 

have good rapport with the students or not. Unfortunately, 

many senior instructors have limited relations with the 

student body because so much of their time is devoted to 

writing, administration, and research. When these teachers 

are photographed with students – even students in their 

own programme – this unfamiliarity translates into stiff, 

hesitant body language and poor photos. 

Put the students with a new, younger professor – one 

who is still primarily teaching – and the dynamic suddenly 

changes. The students in the photo are comfortable asking 

the instructor questions, discussing class notes – they 

become actually engaged in the conversation, not making 

stilted conversation with someone they barely know. The 

instructor supplies an answer and the discussion 

continues. Curiosity and excitement light the student’s 

eyes. The photos become irresistible. Who would not want 

to study in such an environment 

There is one statement that we hear again and again 

when we are on campus, from all sorts of students. They 

learn about colleges and universities in a thousand 

different ways. They tell us that they enquired about an 

institution because a teacher recommended it, or someone 

at their church suggested it, or they came across it when 

researching courses on the web. But, again and again, we 

hear, ‘I saw the pictures of the campus and the students, 

and I knew this was the place for me. I felt like I belonged 

here. I saw myself.’ Which is really what we are always 

trying to say. 

photography 

Reaching students through 

Phillip Spears has 

specialised in 

educational 

photography for the 

last 20 years and 

publishes a monthly 

newsletter on 

admissions 

photography. 

Email: 

ps@phillipspears.com 


Enhancing 

communications between 

academia and the outside world 

Zuraidah Mohd 

Don on the key 

challenges facing 

institutions in 

communicating 

their research with 

external bodies. 

University 

research 

should not 

be deter - 

mined by 

what will get 

published, 

but by what 

will have 

the greatest 

beneficial 

impact in 

the world 

outside. 

Universities have an important role to play in 

national development, especially, perhaps, in dev - 

el oping countries such as my own, Malaysia. 

Development, of course, depends on raising standards of 

education in the workforce. In order for the nation to 

succeed, universities need not only to be in close contact 

with those who create the national wealth, but also to carry 

out the research and provide the training that is needed. 

The control of national growth is, of course, in the hands 

of the government. As in other countries, the growth of 

small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is the key to 

Malaysian economic development, and higher education 

institutions, working closely together with government, 

possess the means to stimulate SMEs in different sectors. 

Among the most important channels of communication for 

universities are those linking them with SMEs and govern - 

ment. 

My own faculty is involved in the study of languages 

and, in practice, deals mainly with English. Although English 

language teaching has developed into a massive global 

industry since 1945, we still have elementary questions to 

investigate, such as what kind of English we ought to be 

teaching, how to teach most effectively, and how to deliver 

our courses. For many people, learning English can 

provide access to the education and training they need, 

and can give them a way out of poverty. At grassroots 

level, if we can provide the education to enable more 

people to set up businesses of their own, or to double the 

size of existing enterprises, we can make a very significant 

contribution to national development. We do not traditionally 

think of working with SMEs, but perhaps we should. 

What is actually happening is completely different. Univ - 

ersities are locked into a struggle to improve their position 

in international league tables. This involves increasing their 

publications output, particularly in leading inter nat ional 

journals indexed in the ISI (www.isiwebofknowledge.com). 

Even though my own university has just shot up 50 places 

in the last ranking exercise back into the top 200 (due, in 

no small measure, to the vice-chancellor’s deter mination to 

drive up publication in ISI journals), the new international 

university culture more often works to the disadvantage of 

developing countries. 

What we teach in universities depends on what is 

known, essentially from research. What research we do 

depends on what is publishable and acceptable to leading 

journals, typically owned by international publishers. The 

success of journals depends on being included in 

important indexing databases such as Scopus, which is 

owned by Elsevier, and ISI, which is owned by Thomson 

Reuters. Academics all over the world are required (often 

explicitly through their key performance indicators) to write 

up their research and then make their intellectual property 

available for free to journals and the owners of indexing 

databases. This is a remarkable one-way comm unication 

and knowledge transfer system. 

One does not need much imagination to see the 

consequences of concentrating global academic knowledge 

in the hands of a few powerful commercial organisations. 

Improved semantic search engines and data-mining 

techniques will give them truly formidable power. If Mal - 

aysian academics find a better way of growing rice in 

Kedah or of teaching English in Kelantan, one can be 

certain that the benefit will not go to the academics who do 

the research, to their university or even their country, but 

to the commercial organisations at the top of the know - 

ledge chain. 

The question is what we can do about it. What we 

clearly cannot do is to ignore the real world of league 

tables and ISI journals, for that would be professional 

suicide for all academics from junior lecturer to vicechancellor. 

Besides, the fact is that we do want to raise 

the standards of our universities, and the quantity and 

quality of our publications is a genuine and important 

measure. The point is that what constitutes academic 

quality is not necessarily or most appropriately determined 

by universities in Europe and North America. 

The problems we face in Malaysia are by no means 

unique and we share most or all of them with colleagues 

in other Commonwealth countries. These problems are so 

deep and widespread that they are not going to be solved 

by instant solutions, but require careful thought and 

planning. We also need new goals. Since the beginning of 

the agricultural and industrial revolutions of the last 250 

years, the focus of mainstream economic development 

has been to improve still further the living standards of 

those who are already reasonably well off. The problem 

for the majority of humankind in the present century will 

be how to survive in the face of disappearing resources at 

a time of possibly catastrophic climate change. 

Academics will still need to maintain good contacts with 


their editors and publishers, but that is not enough. 

Universities need to see each other not as comp et - 

itors in league tables, but as colleagues and 

collaborators with similar goals. University research 

should not be determined by what will get published, 

but by what will have the greatest beneficial impact 

in the world outside. Significant real world problems 

do not correspond neatly to conventional academic 

subjects, and collaboration is required across dis - 

ciplines. To develop improved ways of teaching 

English, for example – and even to formulate inter - 

esting questions – requires collaboration between 

linguists, researchers in education, computer 

scien tists, sociologists, psychologists, and engineers. 

Communications professionals in Common - 

wealth institutions have the potential to play 

an important role in setting a new direction. 

Nothing is to be gained by attacking 

head-on the commercial domin - 

ation of the knowledge chain, 

and countries like Malaysia 

are too small to follow the 

lead of India and simply opt 

out. What we need is a new rel - 

ationship between universities and 

the world outside, particularly our 

relationship with the national econ - 

omy and the government that prov - 

ides our funding. Commun ic ations 

professionals must work hard to 

develop these networks and gen - 

er ate new ideas that are good 

enough to make the ideology of 

league tables, and the exist - 

ing knowledge chain, 

obsolete. 

Professor Zuraidah 

Mohd Don is Dean of 

the Faculty of 

Languages and 

Linguistics at the 

University of Malaya, 

Malaysia. 

Email: 

zuraida@um.edu.my 


Profile: 

Eric Kathenya shares 

his insights into the 

development of a 

community through 

his university’s 

website and 

newsletter. 

Eric Kathenya (right) 

attends a press 

conference 

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have 

trimmed the twin tyrannies of space and time more than 

any other technologies before them. They have changed, 

and continue to change, institutional comm unication in 

many ways, and Strathmore University is using these 

technologies to achieve its communication strategies. 

Strathmore University’s mission is to provide an allround 

education in an atmosphere of freedom and resp - 

onsibility, creating a culture of continuous improvement, 

fostering high moral standards, and developing a spirit of 

service and respect for others. The university wanted to 

adopt a communication strategy that would embody and 

communicate this mission. ‘The university was already 

striving very hard to deliver on its mission but information 

on what it was doing was scant’, says Luis Borrallo, Strath - 

more’s Director of Advancement. ‘It was as though the 

right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing. 

Everybody knew that a lot was happening at the university 

but no one could say exactly what it was. There was a 

seminar here, a workshop there, a sports team getting 

promoted to a major league, a staff member being 

honoured. But all this was not being captured. 

‘This information is important to development partners 

– those who are already supporting the university and 

those who want to come aboard. You can tell your partners 

that you are offering an all-round education until you are 

blue in the face but without documented evidence, you 

cannot go far. It was important that we capture the goingson 

in the university,’ Borrallo says. 

Vice-Chancellor Professor John Odhiambo adds that, 

‘universities teach, research, and have now embraced 

entrepreneurship. But at the heart of these activities is a 

community made of students, faculty, and other stake - 

holders such as alumni, neighbours, suppliers, and emp - 

loyers. With this in mind, the university situated its comm - 

unication function within the wider University Relations 

department (UR)’. Under UR, the comm un ic ation function 

supports initiatives designed to increase public awareness 

of Strathmore’s reputation and achieve ments. It also 

manages the contents of the university website and its 

publications. 

With many needs, and limited resources, Strathmore 

decided to utilise its website to profile its activities. 

Although we already had a website, its news section was 

limited, with the occasional news article posted maybe 

once a month. Clearly, it needed to use this facility to 

greater effect. 

When I started writing and editing articles for the 

website in February 2007, I thought we might aim for ten 

articles a month, at most. It was then suggested we do 

profiles of a few students from the graduating class. The 

hockey team subsequently won the East Africa Club 

Championships and the head of research began to alert 

me to faculty research activities. As an aspiring journalist, 

I wanted to cultivate sources – people who give you 

information – so I followed all the leads. 

At the beginning, there was the danger of getting 

contributions only from the most active departments and 

having other departments left out. To be inclusive, the 

more reticent departments had to be drawn out. It took a 

bit of work but, as the idea was to profile the whole 

university, they too had to be captured. 

To make it easy for readers, a light conversational tone 

and flow was adopted in presentation of the articles. Also, 

every article had to have a photograph that commun icated 

the university’s values, utilising images that were cheerful, 

local and, most importantly, action shots. 

Enhancing interaction 

In mid-2009, a feature that enables readers to comment on 

website articles was introduced. This development has 

been very revealing; most of the articles commented on 

were stories of individuals. This was further proof, if any 

were needed, that people are interested in stories about 

people. 

Members of the university community are happy to 

know that their institution values (and has an interest in) 

their contributions to its activities, and that we want to share 

their achievements with the world. The Dean of Students 

once asked me to change a student’s name on a caption, 

as he had been indentified incorrectly. The student’s father 

had spotted his son’s face in the photograph and had been 

disappointed to find that the name was incorrect. It might 

sound trite but that caption meant a lot to that boy. His 

team had, after all, won the East Africa University cham - 


pion ships and his photo was the only one accompanying 

the article. Correcting the caption demonstrated that the 

university valued his contribution. 

The predominately positive comments on our website 

have also revealed that the university community is proud 

of its achievements. Of course, the website is our window 

to the international online world and the webmaster does 

screen comments for taste. We do not want visitors to our 

website reading expletives – that would be irresponsible. 

Interestingly though, the challenge we have faced with 

comments so far has been an encouraging one. When we 

introduced the comments feature, I was a bit disconcerted 

because only positive comments were coming through. 

Accustomed as I was to the explosive comments in the 

blog world, I asked the webmaster to post critical comm - 

ents as well. But there were none. Very few actually come 

through, although this could be a reflection of the wider 

culture in which the university operates. 

This article cannot end without mentioning the supp - 

ortive role of the university management in this endeavour. 

One of the ironies of my work is that I’m more inclined to 

write about a student than a member of senior manage - 

ment. Perhaps this is taking democracy too far. But at 

Strathmore, we have somehow inverted the prominent 

strategies and, in a small way, achieved what my pre - 

decessor Chaacha Mwita, in his 2009 book, calls citizen 

journalism – ‘citizen power: a different kind of politics, a 

different kind of journalism’. 

Eric Kathenya is 

Communications 

Officer at Strathmore 

University, Kenya. 

Email: ekathenya@ 

strathmore.edu 


Nick Mulhern, the ACU Librarian, rounds 

up the latest news and upcoming events, 

including the ACU’s PR, Marketing and 

Communications Network conference. 

International 

The ACU has announced dates for 

its forthcoming PR, Marketing and 

Communications Network Confer en ce 

in Melbourne, Australia. For the first 

time, the PR Network will join forces 

with the ACU’s Human Resource 

Manage ment Network for a one day 

conference on internal communic - 

ations, set to take place the day before 

the PR confer ence. This event will 

be preceded by the fourth conference 

of the HRM Network. The themes 

and dates for the conferences, which 

will all be held at The Sebel Albert 

Park, Melbourne are: 

HRM Network Conference: ‘Con- 

tributing HR: Developing a Great 

University’, 22-23 November 2010 

Internal Communications Conference: 

‘Analysing and Enhancing Internal 

Communications’, 24 November 2010 

PR, Marketing and Communications 

Conference: ‘Changing Times, 

Changing Markets and Changing 

Priorities’, 25-26 November 2010 

The Commonwealth Broadcasting 

Association (CBA) makes available 

several grants/awards for employees of 

its member organisations. These include: 

a joint-sponsored MA bursary scheme for 

UK study (City University – Inter nat ional 

Journalism; Westminster – broadcastrelated 

subjects) and travel bursaries of 

up to £1500 for international travel. 

www.cba.org.uk/training_and_bursaries/ 

index.php 

The list of the 2009 Council for 

Advancement and Support of 

Education (CASE) award winners were 

announced in May this year, with the chosen 

institutions being formally recog nised at 

the annual CASE summit in July. Although 

the majority rewarded were US-based 

institutions, some were in Common wealth 

countries: Australia, Canada, and the 

UK. 

www.case.org/Award_Programs/Circle_ 

of_Excellence/2009_Winners. html 

CASE also recently organised a training 

day in Accra, Ghana, focusing on 

educational fundraising; the first of its kind in 

Africa. A wider two-day conference – 

‘Educational Advancement in Africa’ – again 

held in Accra, succeeded this. Over 200 

representatives working in public and private 

HEIs throughout Africa, attended. 

www.case.org/Conferences_and_Training/ 

EdAdv_Africa.html 

Increased support for international 

education links with the EU has been 

realised with the development of the second 

phase (2009-13) of Erasmus Mundus. This 

was also the first year in which non-EU 

countries could be included in its Masters 

courses programme. Meanwhile, the number 

of students to have benefited from the 

Erasmus scheme as a whole, since its 

introduction in 1987, is now estimated to be 

over two million. This year also saw further 

EU/North America links, both through its 

established Atlantis programme and several 

new EU-Canada projects. 

The first EU-US Education Policy Dialogue 

was also held in Washington in October, the 

aim being to ‘strengthen education cooperation 

across the Atlantic and exchange 

ideas on challenges and trends in the areas of 

higher education reforms - for example the 

Bologna process for university reform - and 

university-business co-operation.’ 

http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/ 

news1591_en.htm 

European Universities Public Relations 

and Information Officers (EUPRIO) has 

both a new Charter (it is now formally a nonprofit 

association under Belgian law), and a 

new registered office (c/o the Katholieke 

Universiteit Leuven, Belgium). These changes 

were confirmed at the latest General Assembly 

(Aveiro, Portugal), in June. EUPRIO’s new 

website was also launched in March this year. 

www.euprio.org/news/euprio-has-a-newcharter-and-a-new-registered-officearticle126-110.html 

Prior to its autumn conference, the 

European University Association 

(EUA) organised a workshop in October 2009 

– ‘Europe and Transnational Higher 

Education’ – which considered the various 

roles of joint and off-shore programmes, 

branch campuses, and corporate universities. 

Among issues raised was the impact of 

increasing commercialisation in the sector. 

Papers from the workshop are available on 

the EUA site. 

www.eua.be/eua-news/view-item/article/929 

With effect from 1 December 2009, the 

International Association of 

Universities (IAU) website has a new 

address: www.iau-aiu.net. (IAU staff e-mail 

addresses change likewise.). The IAU has 

also made available some key findings from 

its latest ‘Global Survey on the Internation al - 

ization of Higher Education’ – the most 

comprehensive such study undertaken – 

since completing data collection in June. The 

reasons, benefits, and institutional priorities of 

internationalisation are briefly summarised. 

The final report is due for publication early 

next year. 

www.unesco.org/iau/internationalization/ 

pdf/Key_results_2009.pdf 

An Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) 

Education Secretariat has been 

established (with effect from September 

2009), hosted for the first four-year term by 

the German Academic Exchange Service 

(DAAD), on behalf of the German Federal 

Ministry of Education and Research. The 

Secretariat aims to ‘further intensify [the] 

Asian-European dialogue in education, to 

organise and coordinate ASEM educational 

activities, to summarize and disseminate their 

outcomes, and make ASEM more visible in 

the field of education’. 

http://eu.daad.de/eu/asem/11695.html 

The Partnership for Higher Education in 

Africa (PHEA), a project bringing together 

several major foundations to focus regional 

support in terms of publications, grants, and 

networking information, is due to close its 

coordinating (US-based) office early next year. 

The PHEA was established in 2000 with 

funding for five years, receiving a further grant 

to continue its work for a similar term in 2005. 


With effect from 31 January 2010 the PHEA 

site will not be updated, and enquiries should 

therefore be directed to its individual 

foundations (Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller, etc.). 

www.foundation-partnership.org 

Rankings of university institutions 

worldwide have been issued recently by 

Times Higher Education and, independently, 

by Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Centre for 

World-Class Universities (Academic Rankings 

of World Universities (ARWU)). Although con - 

tentious and reductive, such rankings remain 

influential, particularly given the internation al - 

isation of higher education and increased 

opportunities for studying and working abroad. 

www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/ 

WorldUniversityRankings2009.html 

www.arwu.org/NOTICE.htm 

As context for such analyses, the Institute 

for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) 

has an invaluable Ranking Systems 

Clearinghouse/ database. More recently, it has 

also issued a related study in its issue brief 

series (‘The Role and Relevance of Rankings 

in Higher Education Policymaking’). 

www.ihep.org 

An India-US Education Council has been 

proposed to promote ‘bilateral relations 

in education between the two countries’ 

(26/10/09). Research, faculty exchange, 

public-private funding models, and advice on 

the setting up of universities are among the 

areas where collaboration would be sought. 

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp 

relid=53216&kwd 

Pakistan’s Higher Education Comm iss - 

ion (HEC) launched a new website in 

August 2009. Included are links to the HEC’s 

useful monthly ‘News and Views’ magazine, 

as well as information on the reforms which 

the HEC is introducing to the sector, such as 

those in ICT, for example. 

www.hec.gov.pk 

Australasia 

Next year’s Association of Development 

and Alumni Professionals in Education 

(ADAPE) International Conference programme 

is set to include marketing and communications 

among its topics, under a general conference 

theme of ‘People, Promotion and Philanthropy’. 

(ADAPE International Conference, Adelaide 

Convention Centre, 8-10 September 2010). 

www.adape.org.au/Page.aspxpid=281 

Among several initiatives in Australia 

addressing the quality of education for 

international students, there is a review of the 

Education Services for Overseas Students Act 

2000, and an Inquiry into the Welfare of 

International Students. Both relate to quality in 

terms of education provision and how the 

sector is regulated, but also ’quality and 

adequacy in information [and] advice’. A new 

Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education and 

Employment (MCTEE) and an International 

Students Roundtable are other measures, 

complementing the development earlier this 

year of an international student strategy and 

support for improving student safety. 

www.deewr.gov.au/HigherEducation/ 

Pages/news_ReleaseofESOSreview.aspx 

www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/ 

eet_ctte/international_students/info.htm 

Massey University and Academic Colleges 

Group (ACG) were joint winners of 

Educ ation New Zealand’s International 

Education Excellence Award (Marketing), 

given at this year’s International Education 

Conference in August. Massey’s twinning 

programmes, particularly with China and 

Vietnam, exemplified the institution’s recent 

marketing strategy. Victoria University of 

Wellington was also recognised for its inn ov - 

ation in an international programme, 

specifically its development last year of the 

Victoria International Leadership Programme 

(VILP). Education New Zealand’s student 

portal – www.newzealandeducated.com – has 

also been updated recently. 

www.educationnz.org.nz/comm/enews/ 

enews_090818.html 

As with other agencies which promote and 

represent national education, Education 

New Zealand also issues occasional market 

profiles summarising education systems and 

statistics elsewhere and how they relate to the 

New Zealand sector. Among those included 

most recently are reports for Russia and France. 

http://educationnz.org.nz/home 

Europe 

Going Global 4, the international education 

conference, will take place in London, 

24-26 March 2010. Under the general 

conference theme, ‘World Potential: Making 

Education Meet the Challenge’, prospects for 

staff/student mobility and global partnership 

models are among issues to be discussed, 

particularly in the context of changing national 

responses to the economic crisis. 

www.britishcouncil.org/ 

goingglobal-gg4-themes.htm 

Asia 

In Hong Kong, work on the UGC-comm iss - 

ioned ‘Higher Education Review 2010’ 

continues, with the aim of developing a 

strategy in response both to expectations of 

education locally and global trends. The 

ambition to further internationalise the sector 

has also been confirmed by a recent national 

policy address (2009/10) which, among other 

proposals, aims to ‘enhance Hong Kong’s 

status as a regional education hub’. The UGC’s 

support for higher education institutions in 

promoting a ‘more international environment’ 

for students is also reflected in a recent 

seminar on internationalisation. 

www.policyaddress.gov.hk/ 09- 

10/eng/docs/policy.pdf 

North America 

Among those shortlisted in the first 

Canadian Online Publishing Awards 

(26/10/09) – aimed at recognising editorial 

content and innovation – was the web version 

of the Association of Universities and Colleges 

of Canada (AUCC)’s ‘University Affairs’. Its 

‘Margin Notes’ (by Léo Charbonneau) won in 

the ‘best blog’ category. Included in recent 

blogs was a note on the ‘uncertain future of 

alumni magazines’ (4/8/09), as well as 

discussions on brand redesign. 

The University of British Columbia was 

also acknowledged for its Canadian 

Literature: CanLit Poets site. 

www.universityaffairs.ca/university-affairsscores-four-award-nods.aspx 

www.canadianonlinepublishingawards.com 

www.canlit.ca/canlitpoets.php 

The Canadian Council for the 

Advancement of Education (CCAE) has 

made available on its website presentations 

from its Annual National Conference, held in 

June this year. Several focus on commun ic - 

ations, marketing, and alumni affairs. 

www.ccaecanada.org/index.php/ 

publisher/articleview/frmArticleID/95 

The US-based National Association for 

College Admission Counselling 

(NACAC) issued earlier this year a discussion 

paper on the use and impact of social media 

on the college admissions process. ‘Wired 

Generation: How Social Media is Changing 

College Admission’ suggest that of the US 

colleges surveyed, a quarter ‘indicated that 

they used Web search or social networking 

technology to locate information about prosp - 

ective students’. In addition, colleges made 

use of social media in promotion, in recruiting 

students, and in tracking their institutional 

profile - with over half monitoring ‘social media 

for ‘buzz’ about their institution.’ 

www.nacacnet.org/AboutNACAC/PressRoom/ 

2009/Pages/SocialNetworking.aspx 


Nick Mulhern, the ACU 

Librarian, sums up. 

Education at Glance: OECD Indicators 

The OECD’s annual comparative statistical 

guide, which includes levels of resources 

invest ed in education as well as enrolment, 

student mobility, graduation, and employment 

rates. It also analyses the economic benefits 

and ‘social outcomes’ (health, political interest, 

trust, etc.) of education. Education at a Glance 

now represents a valuable source of inform - 

ation on education trends over many years, and 

therefore implications for future planning in the 

tertiary sector. 

[OECD; 2009] 

www.oecd.org/dataoecd/41/25/43636332.pdf 

Education Indicators in Canada: 

An International Perspective 

An example of a national statistical report 

presenting indicators to be studied in parallel 

with the OECD’s Education at a Glance. This 

new analysis, prepared by the Canadian Educ - 

at ion Statistics Council (CESC), includes grad - 

uation, labour-market, and expenditure figures. 

[CESC; 2009] 

www.cmec.ca/Press/2009/Pages/2009-09- 

08.aspx 

Key Data on Education in 

Europe 

A detailed report which collates 

and analyses comparative educ - 

ation indicators. It gives evid - 

ence for the overall rise in 

stud ent numbers (by 25% between 1998 and 

2006), as well as figures for funding levels, 

male/female enrol ment and employment rates, 

and changing patt erns of subject choice. 

Although focused on Europe, it represents 

wider trends in student and workforce mobility, 

professionalisation in careers, tertiary education 

funding, and comp eting education markets. 

[EACEA; Eurydice; Eurostat; 978-92-9201- 

033-1; 2009] 

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/ 

eurydice/index_en.php 

International Branch Campuses: Markets 

and Strategies 

Updates an earlier Observatory on Borderless 

Higher Education (OBHE) report (2006) show - 

ing a significant increase since then in such 

campuses, both in number and the range of 

participating host countries. It analyses the 

factors influencing their development, with rel - 

ated institutional, and practical, planning issues. 

It also includes a comprehensive list of 

international branch campuses known to be 

currently operating. 

[Becker, R; OBHE; 2009] 

www.obhe.ac.uk/documents/ 

view_detailsid=770 

International Organisations and Higher 

Education Policy: Thinking Globally, 

Acting Locally (International Studies in 

Higher Education series) 

Confirms the role of international organisations 

(specifically the OECD, UNESCO, the World 

Bank, and the WTO) in determining higher 

education policy, and so the development of 

university systems and institutions worldwide. 

It shows the global pressures to which national 

education sectors are subject. 

[Bassett, R.M.; Maldonado-Maldonado, A.; 

(eds.); 978-0-415-99043-1; Routledge; 2009] 

www.routledge.com/books/International- 

Organizations-and-Higher-Education-Policyisbn9780415990431 

The Global Competition for Talent: 

the Rapidly Changing Market for 

International Students and the Need for a 

Strategic Approach in the US 

A Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) 

occasional paper prepared as part of the authors’ 

wider study – ‘Universities Going Global’. It 

considers the factors affecting shifts in student 

recruitment, the vulnerability of the US’s market 

share, and outlines linked national, state, and 

institutional objectives to expand enrolment 

levels. 

[Douglass, J.; Edelstein, R.; CSHE, University 

of California-Berkeley; 2009] 

http://cshe.berkeley.edu/publications/ 

publications.phpid=341 

Department for Business 

Innovation and Skills 

(BIS) 

Several studies focusing on 

access and participation 

have been issued recently 

in the UK’s Department for Business Inn - 

ovation and Skills (BIS) ‘research reports’ 

series. They are prepared and written by 

various researchers and consultants and are 

based on and analyse the UK HE sector. 

They are never theless useful more widely in 

reviewing factors which influ en ce student 

app lications, subject and univ er sity choice, 

and so indirectly have implications for how 

universities plan, imple ment, and represent 

both their institutions and courses. 

Alternative Routes into and Pathways 

through Higher Education 

(BIS Research Report 9/09) 

www.dius.gov.uk/~/media/ 

publications/B/BIS-RP-004 

Applications, Offers and Admissions 

to Res earch Led Universities: a joint 

report by the Sutton Trust and the 

Department for Bus iness Innovation 

and Skills (BIS Research Report 8/09) 

www.dius.gov.uk/~/media/publications/B/ 

BIS-RP-005 

The Role of Finance in the Decision- 

Making of HE Applicants and Students: 

Findings from the Going into HE Study 

(forthcoming) 

www.employment-studies.co.uk/pubs/ 

ailist.phpid=going_he#going_he 

Who is Heading for HE: 

Young People’s Perceptions of, and 

Decisions About, Higher Education 


www.dius.gov.uk/~/media 

/publications/B/BIS-RP-003 

Widening Participation: 

Synthesis of International Evidence 


www.dius.gov.uk/~/media/publications/ 

B/BIS-RP-002 

Editorial Team 

Dr John Kirkland, Selina Hannaford, James Ransom, 

Emily de Peyer 

prnetwork@acu.ac.uk 

Design Chris Monk 

Printers Trident Printing, London 

Impact is the magazine of the ACU PR, Marketing and 

Communications Network, published by the Association of 

Commonwealth Universities. 

© The Association of Commonwealth Universities 2009 

Woburn House 

20-24 Tavistock Square 

London WC1H 9HF, UK 

Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7380 6700 

Fax: +44 (0) 20 7387 2655 

Impact is published for information purposes only and no 

liability is accepted for its contents by the ACU or by any 

contributor to it. While all reasonable efforts have been 

made to ensure that the information contained in Impact 

was correct at the time of compilation, it should not be 

regarded as definitive and no responsibility is accepted 

for the inclusion or omission of any particular item or for 

the views expressed therein.

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