UK, Russia, Australia: University News

The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest university news from around the world, on 23 July 2013.

UK: Students take more than £2,000 worth of possessions to university

According to a new survey, UK students are now estimated to take more than £2,000 (about US$3,000) worth of possessions with them to university, The Independent reports. The survey of more than 1,700 students found that 96% owned a laptop or netbook, and 90% had a smartphone. Intangible possessions also added to the overall value, with students owning music worth an average £715, online journals worth £98 and digital textbooks worth £125.

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Russia: Students visit the US to learn business the American way

A group of Russian university students have been spending three weeks of their summer vacation taking a business course at SUNY Canton, New York. The 14 students from Moscow State University are all interested in starting their own businesses, and said this course offered them new opportunities to learn about small businesses and start-ups. As well as attending lectures and classes, the students also spent time visiting local businesses to get more insights into the daily challenges involved, YNN reports.

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Australia: Student union urges an end to industrial dispute

A student union in Melbourne, Australia, has called for an end to an industrial dispute between university management and the National Tertiary Education Union, which has led to students’ course results being withheld, ABC New Australia reports. Monash Gippsland Student Union has demanded that negotiations over protected work bans be resolved immediately to prevent students being forced to drop out of subjects mid-semester, if they subsequently find out they hadn’t passed the previous part of the course.

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Canada: International students face visa delays

Canada’s McGill University is warning that a backlog in visa application processing, caused by Canadian foreign service workers striking, could mean some international students are unable to start courses on time, CBC News reports.  McGill has stated that any students delayed by more than two weeks will have to wait until the next semester – or even the next year. Jonathan Champagne, national director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, says he is concerned these delays could damage Canada’s reputation and lead to international students looking elsewhere.

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