University Crisis Research Articles

The pandemic, race and the crisis of the neoliberal university: study notes from lockdown London

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into further crisis the contemporary global university. By focusing on the UK this article examines how this crisis has manifested itself in UK universities, with an increasingly problematic reliance on online teaching and learning. Further, simultaneously universities are being challenged by demands for racial justice and decolonisation following the Black Lives Matter global protests after the police killing of George Floyd. The article argues that the crisis is an opportunity to rework the relationship between pedagogy, technology, race, and cultural studies in local and transnational digital and cultural networks to resist the exploitation of global info-capitalism.

LIVING WITH COVID-19: A SCHOOL GOING CHILD'S PERSPECTIVE

Introduction: The world is experiencing unprecedented challenges from COVID-19, the coronavirus pandemic. Children are less susceptible, yet their lives have changed in profound ways. They are hit the hardest by psychosocial impact of this pandemic. This is a universal crisis and the impact will be lifelong for some children. Being quarantined in homes and institutions can impose greater psychological burden than the physical sufferings that may be caused by the virus. Closure of schools, lack of outdoor activity, etc. can potentially create monotony, distress, impatience, annoyance and varied neuropsychiatric manifestations. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to understand the perspectives of school going children towards COVID-19 pandemic in order to create child centric communication to address their most important concerns. Materials and Methods: A Cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted during the month of May & June 2020. The data was collected by Snowball sampling through a national level survey. The study population included all the school going children willing to participate in the study and this included children from private schools, government schools and schools for the specially abled. Results: Respondents - About 7,000 responses were obtained from almost all states and union territories. A few international responses from countries such as Indonesia, USA, Australia, Japan, UK etc were also received. Most of the respondents were of age 14 or below with almost equal gender distribution. The top 5 responding regions were Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan. Causes of spread - About half (50%) of the respondents felt that either meeting an infected person or touching something that they had touched would lead to the spread of the virus. Most children felt that they can avoid catching the virus by: 1. Maintaining a 6 feet distance between one another 2. Washing hands regularly 3. Avoiding crowded areas. Communication channels: The main channel of communication for information has been news channels for people in majority of the states, of all age groups as well as both genders. The second most used channel of communication has been social media for a few states and government advisories for others. Fears - Most of the respondents were scared of the fact that it is uncertain when COVID-19 will end while others were concerned over no cure being found as yet. This trend was similar between different age groups, genders and majority of the states. Hopes - Children in most states and of both genders are mostly looking forward to being able to go to normal school once again while children above the age of 17 are looking forward to going out once the pandemic ends. Conclusion: The children were aware of the basic facts about the virus, the mode of its spread, methods of prevention of the infection. They want to know when the pandemic would end, how to live with it, how an infected person could be cured and when the vaccine would be made availalbe.

Combination of SWOT Analysis, Analytic Hierarchy Process, and Monte Carlo Simulation to Identify the Strategic Positioning of Crisis Management at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran

INTRODUCTION: Iran has long been recognized as one of the most accident-prone areas in the world due to its special geographical location. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to devote special attention to crisis management in organizations and the identification of related strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. METHODS: The present study aimed to identify the strategic positioning of crisis management after natural disasters at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad as the center of excellence in the east of the country. To this end, the internal and external factors which militate against university crisis management were identified. Thereafter, the strategic positioning of this university was determined among four positions, namely offensive, defensive, adaptive, and contingency, using a combination of SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and Monte Carlo simulation, and strategies were presented. The statistical population were university facility experts and managers among whom 10 cases were selected by purposive sampling. FINDINGS: Based on the obtained results, the highest weights in different sub-criteria were as follows: compliance with the required technical and safety standards in new constructions of the university campus (strength), the absence of any specific plan for dealing with various types of crises in different buildings (weakness), the proximity of the fire station to the university campus (opportunity), and indecisiveness of organizations supervising building retrofitting, including provincial government and Roads and Urban Development Office (threat). CONCLUSION: The results of the present study demonstrated that strategic positioning can be identified by analyzing internal and external factors. Moreover, among the four strategic positions, it was found that the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad adopted an offensive crisis management strategy in 45.4% of the cases.

Evolution of university governance in Morocco: Which impacts?

The concept of governance has become ubiquitous since it is recognized as an important tool for improving quality in all aspects of higher education.In Morocco, few scientific articles have dealt with the subject of university governance. Therefore, we will present a general review of the evolution of governance through laws and reforms established by Moroccan Governments from 1975 to 2019. The purpose of the study is to detect the extent of the presence of university governance principles in these reforms.This study enriches the theoretical literature on the crisis of Moroccan university and opens the way to new empirical studies to better understand the perception of university governance concept in the Moroccan context and to improve the quality of higher education and subsequently the economic development of the country.The findings of this study show an increasing evolution of the presence of university governance principles in reforms and higher education laws.

Comment] The challenges of planetary mental health in the COVID-19 era.

As the focus of the COVID-19 crisis is gradually taken away from emergency healthcare needs, increased attention is warranted on the psychological impact of the pandemic on a global level. Existing guidance on managing the COVID-19 related distress needs to be better informed by upcoming larger-scale research. Applying e-Health can be useful in dealing with the immediate psychological needs, while developing strategies to identify vulnerable populations and shifting the provision of mental health and social care to community services need to be prioritised when looking at the future. Focusing on global mental health during this universal crisis is an opportunity for promoting a more compassionate and less discriminating society.

Krytyka współczesnego uniwersytetu według Ayn Rand i Allana Blooma

Ayn Rand and Allan Bloom are among the most well-known American critics of the contemporary universities. They both point out that the crisis of modern university is a reflection of a much broader crisis of contemporary culture. The purpose of this text is to present the arguments of both thinkers, which confirm the diagnosis of the university crisis. In Rand and Bloom’s work we can find the characteristics of a number of symptoms of this crisis. The most important are: 1) the political and ideological entanglement of the university environment; 2) all-encompassing skepticism; 3) the lack of a coherent vision of reality; 4) irrationality and departure from reason; 5) the postulate of neutrality and the avoidance of moral judgments; 6) retreat from philosophy and humanistic education.

La universidad como resistencia

Este artículo tiene como objetivo principal analizar la organicidad entre la crisis de la universidad pública y la de sus profesores, para entender su efecto sobre la función social de ambos. A partir del referencial teórico materialista histórico-dialéctico, los autores enfatizam que la opción epistemológica puede ser teóricamente asociada al mantenimiento del control social, o a la su resistencia, al justificar intenciones y objetivos colocados a la educación. Los autores asumen, dessa forma, la epistemología de la praxis como una categoría emancipatoria contra la hegemonía, cuyos principios son propositivos en el enfrentamiento de las fuerzas reguladoras actuales y en la resistencia a nuevos “estilos de vida” hegemónicos, insertados en sus funciones sociales.

Edukacja w epoce współczesnych kryzysów

Morbitzer Janusz, Edukacja w epoce współczesnych kryzysów [Education in the Era of Contemporary Crises]. Studia Edukacyjne nr 56, 2020, Poznań 2020, pp. 7-26. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. ISSN 1233-6688. DOI: 10.14746/se.2020.56.1The article shows that the educational process is always carried out in a complex, multidimensional world and its competent description requires consideration of many contexts, which also include numerous crises. The essence of a crisis is presented and such selected crises: ecological, socio-cultural, intellectual, and educational (including the crisis of universities) are described and briefly characterized. Their interpenetration and impact as well as influence on the educational process are demonstrated.

Sensitivity and Resistant Pattern of Commonly Used Drugs in UTI in Younger Children: A Study in a Tertiary Care Level Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common types of infections in children. Resistance to drug used in UTI is universal crisis in the present world. UTIs are usually caused by bacteria living on or in our bodies, and require treatment with antibiotics. A prospectively observational study was conducted in Kurmitola General Hospital (KGH) from January 2018 to December 2018. A total of 519 culture positive UTI children were considered for analysis. Colony counts for these samples were identified, and the profile of antibiotic resistance was identified. Here, samples with a colony count of ≥105 CFU/mL bacteria were considered positive. Among the children 416 children took antibiotics without prescription and among them 205 (49.2%) was culture positive. The most common pathogen was E-coli (74.31%) which prevailed that taking antibiotics without prescription is highly associated with the drug resistant UTI recurrent abdominal pain. Researcher took 19 antibiotics for susceptibility testing to identify the most resistant and safe drug for the UTI patients. According to the present study sensitive antibiotics were Cephradine 0%, Cefotaxim 0%, Imepenam 100%, Cotrimoxale 46%, amoxicillin and clavulanic acid 0%, Cefixime 36%, Cefuroxime 19%, Ceftriaxone 22%, Azithromycin 25%, Nitrofurantoin 66%, Ceftazidime 19%, Ciprofloxacin 47%, Nalidixic acid 36%, Levofloxacin 71% Colistin 79%, Gentamycin 80%, Netilmycin 80%, Amikacin 80% and Meropenam 40%. On the other hand, resistance was Cephradine 100%, Cefotaxim 100%, Imepenam 0%, Cotrimoxale 54%, Amoxicillin and clavulanic acid 100%, Cefixime 64%, Cefuroxime 81%, Ceftriaxone 78%, Azithromycin 75%, Nitrofurantoin 34%, Ceftazidime 81%, Ciprofloxacin 53%, Nalidixic acid 64%, Levofloxacin 29%, Colistin 21%, Gentamycin 20%, Netilmycin 20%, Amikacin 20% and Meropenam 60%. So, the most sensitive drug was Imepenam 100% and the most resistant drugs were Cephradine and Cefotaxim 100% resistance against urinary pathogens. Association between antibiotic use, drug resistance and use of with and without prescription in UTI patients was highly significant. We suggest that empirical antibiotic selection should be based on knowledge of the local prevalence of bacterial organism and their antibiotic resistance in a specific area rather than on universal or even national guidelines.

Home Quarantine Guidelines: COVID 19 Panorama

At present coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an outbreak, calls for an emergency concern for public health internationally reported by the Director-General of WHO [1]. Nowadays, it stands for a universal crisis because the adverse effect of coronavirus proceeds to advance and continuously evolve to all of the countries in the world. Affected countries are trying to stop the functioning of this outbreak to the regions within the affected country or to reduce human transmission. Public health measures may include quarantine to achieve these goals, including people movement restriction or keep separate from the community, with the goal of monitoring the symptoms of healthy individuals who have been exposed to the virus and ensuring early detection. With coronavirus (COVID-19) burning news, are beginning to toss around words “quarantine” with an anxious casualness. But what does the word exactly mean for life? The paper will outline the meaning of quarantine, lists of quarantinable diseases, to whom it is for, precautionary measures and necessary guidelines about quarantine.

Crise do conhecimento ou crise da universidade: uma abordagem a partir do pensamento de Álvaro Vieira Pinto

Este trabalho consiste na análise sobre a questão do conhecimento e a crise da universidade mostrando como os dois eixos estão interligados por um estreito vínculo epistemológico e ideológico. O objetivo visa abordar que as crises do conhecimento e da universidade favorece a classe minoritária em uma sociedade subdesenvolvida como é o Brasil de hoje. A estrutura do conteúdo dessa temática está distribuída em dois eixos centrais a crise do conhecimento e da universidade para manter a ideologia dominante, cuja preocupação é preservação dos privilégios de uma minoria social oriunda da péssima distribuição de renda e do conhecimento. Isto acaba favorecendo a classe dos ricos e deteriora as condições socioeconômica da classe mais pobre. Tanto o acesso ao conhecimento quanto à universidade é restrito a camada social mais rica da sociedade. Em contrapartida a dificuldade de acesso das camadas sociais mais pobres a universidade não consegue se apropriar de um conhecimento vinculado a realidade e, com isso não compreende o contexto em que se desenvolve a sua vida, produzindo a consciência ingênua que consolida a dominação e exploração sobre as massas dando origem ao fenômeno de desumanização do homem pobre. Enfim, esta temática foi organizada para que se acalente o debate em torna da crise social do conhecimento e da universidade enquanto fenômenos epistemológicos e ideológico instrumentalizados para a dominação e a exploração da minoria sobre a grande maior em sociedade.

Damage control: Canadian University crisis management responses to sexual assault

ABSTRACT The current study investigates media coverage of two cases of sexual assault allegations involving university athletes through a qualitative content analysis of newspaper reports of each case. The highly divergent coverage of university responses to the incidents are discussed within established organizational crisis management frameworks of Image Restoration Theory and Situational Crisis Communication Theory. Recommendations are made for handling of future cases.

De maio 68 a abril de 1969 imaginários de revoluções no cinema.

Fifty years ago, a movement in Paris unleashed a profound change in customs and left deep marks on society, despite its restraint by elections, changes in the university and factories. The ‘events’ of May 1968, because of their breadth, their role in young people and foreigners, the new forms of action and participation that gave rise to them, and certain qualitatively new aspects of the claims presented, not only revealed the political power of the labor movement (paralyzing power and blocking institutions), but they also constituted a “subversive” experience of incalculable theoretical and practical significance in the process of developing social struggles both in France and in other European countries. It also inaugurated a new stage which has come to mean a real “historical change”: “trade union power” gave way to the “workers’ power” that spread throughout Europe - France, Italy, Germany and Sweden itself. The echoes of May 1968 arrived in Portugal immediately, but it is mainly in April 1969 that in Coimbra there is a university crisis that can not fail to be referenced. These events also provoked changes in the cinema that occupied the rooms with dozens of films made in the years that followed and to this day the most recent film that resumes this movement is the film by João Moreira Salles No intenso agora (2017). In Portugal so far no film has plunged deeply into these events. Because? Why is it that after 50 years cinema resumes this theme? Why did Portuguese cinema forget the Coimbra crisis of 1969?

대학 위기에 대한 미디어 문화연구의 응답 : 미디어로서의 대학을 제안하며

해방 후 한국의 대학은 서구의 근대 학문 수용과 사회 권력 감시를 통해 한국 사회의 민주화와 근대화에 이바지하였다. 그러나 지금도 동일한 기여를 하고 있는가는 의문이다. 1990년대 이후 신자유주의적 사회 재편과 함께 대학 또한 신자유주의적 논리를 내면화하였으며 오히려 대학이 가장 주도적으로 신자유주의적 질서를 사회 속으로 확산시키는 중이다. 본 논문은 이를 대학과 사회를 잇는 지식 매개의 위기로 규정하며 문화연구의 궤적을 통해 대학 위기를 타개할 수 있는 방법은 무엇인지를 고민하였다. 일찍이 영국 문화연구는 비판적 지식의 생산과 유기적 지식인의 양성을 위한 정치적 개입의 장소로 대학을 활용한 바 있다. 문화연구에게 대학은 사회와 대중을 잇고, 비판적 지식을 가공하며, 사람들을 동원하는 미디어였다. 료타르가 포스트모던의 조건에서 통찰한 컴퓨터화된 사회의 도래는 오늘날 어디에나 실재하며 손쉽게 대중과 마주칠 수 있는 새로운 대학의 조건을 창출하였다. 대학의 미디어화는 한국의 문화연구자에게 보다 유기적이고 비판적인 지식을 생산해야 할 책무를 부과한다.

Are Slovak Universities Prepared to Create the Department of Geragogy and Train Future Geragogues?

Abstract Introduction: The authors of this paper base their research on the following assumption: the development of both geragogic education (older adult education) and profession is conditioned by the existence of a study program of geragogy provided by departments of geragogy created at universities (as public institutions of higher education). The fact remains that a qualified training of geragogues is absent in the Slovak conditions. Purpose: When compiling a graduate profile, inclusive of a list of competences that a geragogue should possess, a range of specific local circumstances needs to be taken into consideration. Subsequently, it is necessary to define a position of a geragogue. Geragogue is a professional working in the field of senior education, just like a pedagogue or an adult educator work in their fields. It is also important to identify and accentuate the philosophical and social context in which these professionals are confronted with the demands of today’s society, in a form of a society based on knowledge, questions of the ongoing social changes and defining the meaning of life. Results: The task of creating the department and program of geragogy is formulated as a social demand of the time, debunking the current myth of the crisis of universities. In history, a university was a vital place where the values serving social integration emerged. It was also a practice field for the educators to train so they could spread these values and transform them into social skills. Conclusion: In the conclusion, the authors propose key areas of undergraduate training of geragogues, including the definition of institutional anchoring, with the goal to contribute to ongoing professional discussion and to creation of the department and the program of geragogy.

A case for folletian interventions in public universities

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to illustrate the ideological impasses between educationally minded faculty and neoliberal oriented university administrators. To bridge and benefit from these two perspectives, Follettian integration is introduced. Specifically, the ensemble learning theory (ELT) and entrepreneurship centers are illustrated as Follettian interventions and their reasons for success are discussed.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is theoretical, but provides ethnographic anecdotes of the problems occurring during the rise of neoliberalism and academic capitalism in the public university. The successful use of the ELT and entrepreneurship centers is likewise explored anecdotally.FindingsThis paper illustrates the benefits of utilizing the ELT and entrepreneurship centers in two different university settings.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the sample sizes of this paper are small, the anecdotal examples provide the basis for reasoning by analogy.Practical implicationsThis work illustrates two possible Follettian interventions that serve as a guide to assist university administrators and faculty to find common ground and better serve students and university communities.Originality/valueThe rise of academic capitalism and neoliberalism has devalued education and resulted in poorer educational outcomes and a modern generation with less intellectual capital. This is one of the first papers to utilize Mary Parker Follett’s theories of education and apply them to the impending identity crisis of the public university. The result is a win-win for both neoliberal administrators and faculty in the face of an impending identity crisis for the public university.

“Every Breath You Take”: The University Crisis as Normalized Feminist Exclusion

“Every Breath You Take”: The University Crisis as Normalized Feminist Exclusion

Political marketing of activism in Russia: Causes, peculiarities and results

Civil and political activism is not a monolithic, “one-size-fits-all” phenomenon. It is rather viewed as nationally unique, segmented political attempts to engage different groups of citizens into a civil movement. The paper explores the specifics and effectiveness of some types of Russian civil and political activism—female, youth, unofficial, religious. Based on a political marketing communications framework, the author argues that paradoxical specifics of civil and political activism in Russia tend to avoid political slogans, demands as well as content, adhering to the principle of neutrality which is the main idea fn the contemporary Russian domestic policy. Despite the pronounced demand for activism and changes, people are unready to fight and revolt. Russians are not under a universal crisis of values and goals, which usually spurs negative political activism. Various analytical surveys, reports and official documents compiled by Russian official agencies and think-tanks in 2010–2018, support the author’s arguments.

Ensino e aprendizado na universidade: a percepção de estudantes em uma perspectiva fenomenológica

O crescimento do acesso ao ensino superior trouxe novas e importantes questões com as quais a universidade não estava preparada para lidar. A insatisfação manifestada por docentes e estudantes no âmbito universitário nos chama a olhar para a crise que se acentua. Para compreender tal questão, precisamos refletir sobre os diversos e diferentes elementos que constituem a sua problematização, destacando aqui os aspectos políticos, sociais, econômicos, mas, principalmente, os pedagógicos e psicológicos que podem nos ajudar a compreender tal problemática. Para tal, nos propusemos a perguntar aos alunos e alunas de uma universidade particular sobre essa experiência. Procuramos analisar a percepção destes acerca da instituição universitária (recursos e condições de funcionamento), das práticas pedagógicas (métodos de docência e relação com os docentes) e das suas expectativas pessoais e profissionais enquanto graduados. A investigação foi feita na perspectiva fenomenológica, que busca uma aproximação da experiência vivida e procura que a experiência se revele para conhecê-la. Assim, foram entrevistados oito estudantes de uma universidade particular, em dois grupos com quatro estudantes, com o intuito de conhecer suas percepções. A partir de seus relatos, identificamos três unidades de sentido que configuram existencialmente o fenômeno estudado: 1) “relação do aluno(a) com a universidade”; 2) “relação do aluno(a) com professores” e 3) “relação do aluno(a) com o aprendizado”. A relação do aluno com a universidade foi trazida pelos entrevistados(as) como uma relação muito importante, porém marcada por frustrações. Revelaram muita insatisfação com a estrutura da universidade, com as metodologias dos professores, com as exigências feitas por esses e com o sistema de avaliações a que estão submetidos. Um dos aspectos evidentes é a relação mercadológica com o ensino e o “novo” perfil de aluno que tem ingressado no ensino superior. A percepção dos estudantes acerca da universidade e seu processo de aprendizado toca em questões nevrálgicas da crise universitária e revela de modo explícito a necessidade de uma nova cultura universitária, atrelada ao contexto social de rápidas transformações e indeterminações a que os estudantes estão submetidos e com os quais não sabem lidar. Atrela-se a isso a necessidade de mudança no paradigma educacional de ensino dos docentes para que favoreçam uma aprendizagem dinâmica, significativa, e que possibilite a construção de projetos de futuro. Discutir sobre o sentido da universidade e refletir sobre o trabalho que enquanto docentes realizamos, constitui um processo imprescindível para melhorar o nível de conhecimento sobre nosso modo de ensinar, e o que ensinar, para que a universidade possa rever seu papel.

Exploring social media use in university crisis communication: An experiment to measure impact on perceived crisis severity and attitudes of key publics

This study seeks to investigate the impact of an exposure to a university's social media on publics’ perceptions during a crisis. Data from this study showed that participants (N = 269) expressed more favourable evaluations towards the university and their perceived severity was mitigated after viewing its official statement on university's Facebook posts. The results of this empirical research offer a meaningful suggestion to crisis communication scholars and practitioners interested in assessing the impact of universities’ statements in social media by providing ways to understand the importance of the organizational usage of social media during a crisis, why that is important, and why practitioners should make effective social media communication tactics a priority during a crisis.