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The article discusses key issues facing university museums in Great Britain. In 2009, the Higher Education Funding Council for England will alter the way university museums and galleries receive money. Thus, there are fears among curators that the council will lump funding into institutional core grants. The article also explains the role of art collection in universities. INSET: TEN OF THE BEST..

Explains that Great Britain Education Secretary Ruth Kelly spoke to vice-chancellors of universities and colleges demanding that they identify and confront extremism among college students on campus. Duty to inform the police of unacceptable behavior or criminal acts; Lecturers' concerns that they may be expected to police academic debates and spy on students.

Reports on the assertion of the University of East Anglia that academics and students have been barred from their favorite canteen to make way for conference delegates in England. Designation of the Zest Caf&#00E9; to use by conference visitors and summer schools; Concerns of the postgraduates on the availability of hot cheap food on the campus in the evenings; Impact of the conferences and other summer activities on the income of the university.

Reports on findings of a survey of undergraduates in Great Britain, conducted by Opinionpanel. Rating of the university's approach to admissions, the location and campus facilities; Undergraduates' impressions of the university's academic reputation; Quality of the course and teaching; Perception of the university's position in league tables.

Reports on university officials' views on the ability of the revised fee and bursary regime to attract working-class students to higher education or generate additional income to prevent course closures in Great Britain. Additional income expected from variable tuition fees, grants and bursaries; Insights on the development of the market for bursaries.

Reveals that teenagers born in September are 20 percent more likely to go to university than youngsters born in August. Research finding published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England; Gap in the performance of the sexes, with teenage girls more likely to study for a degree than their male peers; Challenge of improving participation rates for those from poorer backgrounds.

Reports on the plan of British universities to offer financial aid rather than lower fees to students to attract a higher number of enrollees. Amount of tuitions fees that will be charged by the universities in 2006; Types of financial aid packages being offered by universities to students; Number of universities that have filed financial plans to the Office for Fair Access; Implication of the tuition fee trends on higher education.

This article reports that universities are considering putting part of the income from top-up fees into cash awards to attract bright students, rather than restricting their bursary programmes to applicants from poor backgrounds. Conventry and Middlesex universities have pioneered performance-linked scholarships this year by offering 1,000 pound a year to undergraduates who achieved a higher A-level score than the institution's average, regardless of their family income. Mike Goldstein, former Conevntry vice-chancellor, said Conventry's scholarship scheme was "designed to get a little more commitment from students but also to move away from modern universities being just second-choice institutions."

Reports on the deployment of calendaring and scheduling (C&S) services at colleges and universities. Software vendors in the C&S market niche; Problems with most event publishing systems; Issues to consider when adopting C&S.

The article reports on the changes to the immigration rules for overseas students and additional funding to foster British-China University Partnership Scheme. The British government intends to spend £1.3 million on the marketing and promotion of British universities outside the European Union. Uksoca CEO Dominic Scott commends the employment entitlements for overseas students. Shadow Higher Education spokesman Stephen O'Brien questioned the sufficiency of funds committed to the project.

The article reports on the decision of the British government not to give post-92 universities the share of Higher Education Innovation Fund for applied research and knowledge-transfer work according to Michael Driscoll, chairman of the Campaigning for Mainstream Universities. Old universities will receive up to £3 million each. He states that the influence of Russell Group universities affected the decision. A Department of Trade and Industry spokesman said that the move is aimed at achieving a better funding distribution.

Reports on the implications of the provisions of the British government's Terrorism Bill for the universities' efforts to deal with hate crimes and intolerance. Guidelines for universities in responding to protests; Responsibility of universities to report unacceptable behavior or suspicions about criminal acts; Concerns over the bill. INSET: COULD YOU FALL FOUL OF THE LAW?.

Reports on the dispute between Tory leadership candidates David Davis and David Cameron over the policies on tuition fees for universities in Great Britain. Suggestion from Davis on the delay in the expansion of universities; Encouragement for endowments and charitable donations to universities by Cameron.

The article reports that the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Economic and Social Research Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council have agreed to commit funds to support area studies relating to the Arabic-speaking world, China, Japan and Eastern Europe. The money will be used to support collaborative projects between universities. Meanwhile, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, the London Mathematical Society, the Royal Statistical Society, the Heads of Departments of Mathematical Sciences and the Higher Education Academy have received funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England to carry out their own study of how to increase the number of graduates in the subject.

The article reports on changes to the funding system for university museums and galleries in Great Britain. Starting 2009, they will receive funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) rather than direct grants from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Meanwhile, curators fear that the change will see their funding absorbed into universities' core grant from Hefce.

Reports that university courses feared to be vulnerable to closure such as mathematics and the sciences saw a rise in the number of undergraduates admitted in 2005 in Great Britain. Data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service; Rise of number of students accepted for higher education.

Reports that the closure of a major university in Great Britain would erode the public's confidence in higher education. Efforts of the government to prevent university closure; Financial assistance given to universities.

Reports on the efforts to promote British universities to foreign students. Number of foreign students targeted by the initiative; Government's move to relax visa restriction; Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell's views about the initiative; Rammell's reaction to the decline in the proportion of state-school students entering research universities.

Reports on results of a research showing that student dropout rates are falling in institutions with the worst retention records in Great Britain. Schemes that help to retain more students in a university; University with the highest projected dropout rate for students entering in 2002-2003; Use of more general Universities and Colleges Admissions Service tariff points rather than A-level grades to set benchmarks for institutions' performance.

Reports on educational policy ideas being considered by the Liberal Democrats in Great Britain. Possible changes to the way degrees are taught and the traditional relationship between students and institutions; Review of the party's anti-tuition fees stance; Factors that will attract students and academic voters away from the Labour Party.

Reports that Lieutenant-General John Kiszely, director of Great Britain's Defence Academy, urged universities to set up more undergraduate courses in cultural studies, languages and conflict prevention. Call for closer links between the academe and the Armed Forces; Emphasis on the role of the Armed Forces in peace support operations; Recommendation of the Higher Education Funding Council for England for the retention of expertise in minority languages or area studies in one or two centers of excellence.

Reports on outcomes of a survey conducted by the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (Fosis) in Great Britain. Criticism of reports of Islamic extremism on British campuses; Evidence showing that one in ten Muslim students would not inform the police if they discovered a fellow Muslim was planning an attack; Prevalence of Islamophobia on campus; Call for universities to remove barriers that stand in the way of Muslim student integration; Recommendations of Fosis.

Reports that a deal to encourage more collaboration between British and Indian universities was due to be signed by Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh. Deal to include measures to encourage more Indian students to study in Great Britain and more British students to spend time at Indian institutions; Plan to set up a research fund that would finance collaborative projects.

Profiles Drummond Bone, vice-chancellor at Liverpool University and president of the vice-chancellors' club Universities UK (UUK). Teacher of undergraduate courses on the Romantic poet Byron; Educational background; Career background; Challenges of the higher education sector.

Reports on the complaints about a staff ballot over a proposed pay deal for tutors at the Open University in Milton Keys England who are members of the Association of University Teachers. Call of majority of lecturers for the ballot to be suspended the pay talks with OU authorities to reopen; Starting salaries of associate lecturers of the OU under the pay deal; Argument that the deal discriminated against associate lecturers.

Reports that a project to replace paper notes with digitally stored data about experiments has been awarded additional funding by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in Great Britain. CombeChem project at Southampton University; Amount of the grant; Facility to have computes instead of lab books.

Reports that hundreds of tutors at the Open University in Great Britain voted on increases for starting salaries of associate lecturers. One year of negotiation by members of the Association of University Teachers; Addition of a point to the pay scale to recognize long service.

Reports that the scope for arts and humanities departments to improve their research assessment exercise (RAE) rating by demonstrating how they help sustain subjects was welcomed by academics in British universities and colleges. Comment by Philip Davies, chairman of the United Kingdom Council for Area Studies Associations; Statement by Roger Woods, chairman of the University Council of Modern Languages.

Points out that arts and humanities departments in British universities and colleges will need to demonstrate how they foster the careers of young academics in the 2008 research assessment exercise (RAE). Each panel to take a subtly different approach to how it assesses a department's overall performance; Different weightings to be applied to the three key measures of research quality.

Reports that British universities could be forced to hand information on academic and student applicants to the security services and will be expected to monitor academic debates on campus under a series of moves by the Government following the London terrorist attacks. Voluntary vetting scheme; Foreign and Commonwealth Office to be alerted to overseas research applicants suspected of planning to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Reports that an upbeat first report to British Parliament by the university access regulator was met with a downbeat response amid calls for universities to do more outreach work. Total amount of bursaries in 2006, according to Martin Harris, director of the Office for Fair Access; Report that the regulator has spent less than its budget.

Reports that universities and colleges have signed up to trial a national training program and qualification for admissions staff being developed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). Background of the trial; Benefits of the continuing professional development programs of UCAS.

Reports that most universities look set to resist the temptation to increase tuition fees for part-time students in 2006. Impact of increasing part-time fees in line with the full-time fee on the future of part-time study; Higher education reforms of the government.

Reports on results of a research showing that the British government will not meet its manifesto target of sending half of all 18 to 30-year-olds to university by 2010. Concerns about a sudden step change in the number of boys and students from poor backgrounds entering higher education; Need for boys to catch up with the performance of girls at school and close the gap in A-level results; Rise in the number of working-class undergraduates; Impact of tuition fees and bursary regime.

Reports on a guidance for universities on how to deal with extremism in Great Britain. Identification of radical Islamist groups that are highly active on university campuses; Concerns that Muslim university staff and students could become innocent targets for anti-Muslim feeling or a backlash from the far right; Revision of the draft of the guidance which will be issued by Universities UK and the Standing Conference of Principals.

Reports that Universities UK and the Standing Conference of Principals will publish guidelines that refer to an increased level of reported instances of extremist and intolerance activity in a higher education institution context. Impact of September 11 and the Madrid bombings on increasing tensions; Mechanism for universities to communicate concerns about extremist activity via the Home and Foreign Offices to the Secret Services.

Reports that students will be banned from living on a housing development near Loughborough University under a legal agreement being negotiated by council planners in England. Terms of the agreement; Expression of concerns about the area's growing student population; Disapproval of building a student residence on the same site.

Reports on the warning of Birmingham University registrar, Jonathan Nicholls, about the probable financial pressure of the universities that fail to focus on their strengths in Great Britain. Difficulty of colleges to forge strategic alliances; Prediction of a trend of increasing stratification of higher education in the next five years; Hint of the scale of the financial problems some face.

Reveals that reducing university bureaucracy could save enough money to pay for extra academics in every institution in Great Britain, according to the Higher Education Regulation Review Group. Predicted amount that could be saved by a more coordinated approach to data-gathering and the inspection regime; Amount saved by universities and colleges from the reform of the Quality Assurance Agency's approach to auditing in 2002-03.

Reports on the Higher Education Funding Council for England's plan to present statistical evidence showing that some subjects may not be as vulnerable as first thought. Response of funding council chiefs to the subjects in crisis in Great Britain; Concerns over the course closures at Exeter and Swansea universities, Queen Mary, University of London, and King's College London.

Reports on Open University in England's launch of a project to help train teachers in Africa. Helping African universities offer free teacher training across Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa; Estimated number of primary school-age children in sub-Saharan Africa who do not have access to formal education; Open University's sharing of its expertise in distance learning to help improve the skills of unqualified or underqualified teachers.

Reports on findings of a survey of perceptions and preferences of undergraduate students in Great Britain. Students' view of how universities performed during the application process; Views about universities' academic reputation, teaching quality, campus facilities and location; Student-rated institutions.

Reports that a staff survey has revealed Manchester University academics' doubts about the management skills of their senior colleagues. Problems of teachers in managing their workload; Evaluation of the confidence of teachers in the management of their own school; Assessment of the performance of the teachers' immediate line manager.

Focuses on the budget of the government in Great Britain for its universities and colleges. Increase cost pressures confronted by vice-chancellors; Impact of the pressure to spend more on early-years education on the budget; Argument for the expansion of higher education.

Reports that Cambridge University's ruling body of academics, Regent House in England will debate a revised draft of rules on intellectual property rights. Background on the intellectual property rights debate; Provisions under the draft of rules proposed by the university council led by Alison Richard.

Reports that Great Britain's Higher Education Minister, Bill Rammell, has downplayed the threat of university course closures. Rammell's declaration that he was not convinced that a number of subjects deemed by the government to be of national importance were vulnerable to disproportionate cuts; His rejection of the idea that graduates might be asked to work to the age of 70; His vision for higher education in Great Britain.

Reports on the appointment of college professor, Colin Wheeler to the position of marketing chairman at Portsmouth University in England. Career achievements; Expertise in international marketing; Contributions in the internationalization of small and medium-sized high-technology firms.

Reports on the opposition of research universities in Great Britain to the government's plan to allow students to apply to university after they receive their A-level grades. Proposals for the implementation of a system of post-qualification applications; Pros and cons to the proposals; Education policy.

Reports on the results of voting in universities and among government officials concerning the proposals to lift cap on tuition fees in higher education in Great Britain. Views of government officials on tuition fee proposals; Indications of higher education policy.

Looks at political party manifestos of student groups in Great Britain for the 2005 election. Common issues among higher education lobby groups; National Union of Students' call for the abolition of tuition fees and the bursary scheme; Universities UK's emphasis on university autonomy over admissions; Russell Group's call for parties to commit to filling the funding gap faced by its members.