Other senior management

Based on interviews with university presidents over the past year, Jon McNaughtan identifies three areas that all campus leaders should focus on during any crisis

Biden must unravel the whole sordid mass of restrictive laws and venomous vitriol that drove down overseas enrolments, says Aditya Sharma

Freshly inaugurated US president Joe Biden owes his election victory to swing states in America’s Rust Belt. But is his plan to revitalise them by creating ‘millions of new manufacturing and innovation’ jobs realistic? And how best can universities play their part? John Morgan reports

My student is right to wonder out loud why learning in college must be a forced march rather than a playful adventure, says Gregory Skutches

Russia may still have no universities in the world’s top 100, but its 5-100 Project has made progress, says Philip Altbach

The way US graduation figures are calculated misses out those with a non-traditional path through higher education, says Corey S. Bradford

Institutions emerge from a nearly year-long lockdown with greater knowledge of digital education and public health

It is often forgotten that this group suffers from even worse educational outcomes than white, working-class boys, says Nick Braisby 

The new coronavirus variant means that the costs to public health outweigh any pedagogic benefits of reopening campuses sooner, says Simon Williams

Senior administrators should serve the greater good, not pander to their most powerful stakeholders, says Kathy Johnson Bowles

The European programme’s globe-spanning successor, the Turing scheme, is more suited to meeting today’s challenges, says Louise Nicol

The Turing scheme’s focus on outbound mobility will take the UK off the map for most European exchange students, laments Barbara Lorber

Nurturing talent via teaching and research is a well-established pathway to building an innovative, prosperous society, says Dawn Freshwater

EduCity initiative could let students stay closer to home until Covid eases

The proposed Turing scheme will be hard to set up – especially given its lack of reciprocity, says Martin Paul

The country’s universities have shot up global rankings on the back of huge investment and a ruthless focus on publication. But as the country gears up for its next five-year plan, Joyce Lau asks whether stratospheric ambitions for a ‘Chinese Harvard’ can be met

A huge endowment could help draw the talent and capital to counterbalance the golden triangle, say Neil Lee and Javier Terrero Dávila

It makes no sense for universities to control all pre-specialism, hospital-based training, says Fistra Janrio Tandirerung

Essay mills’ opportunism, preying on student anxiety about online assessment methods, strengthens the case for legislation, says Douglas Blackstock

Mass reliance on the traditional 50-minute lecture format will soon be a thing of the past, says David Maguire

Two decades of Bologna-driven programme accreditation has proved that universities can be trusted to assure their quality, says Michèle Wera 

A rationalisation of transnational delivery was already in the offing, but post-pandemic austerity will hasten it, say Matt Durnin and Jazreel Goh 

In the new world order, leadership is about collaboration and coordination. Higher education networks are an obvious forum, says Annelise Riles  

Academics have long grappled with the strains that job scarcity and the mobility imperative impose on their families. But might the experience of mass remote working finally offer a viable solution, asks Jack Grove

Distributing financial aid based on identity or academic attainment leaves many poor people excluded from the academy, says Ryan Coogan

In handling cases, UK universities must clarify the burden of evidence, better train adjudicators and publish incidence statistics, says one survivor

Gavin Williamson’s directive will embolden other groups to demand the enforcement of their interests by ministerial fiat, says Geoffrey Alderman

Inevitable examples of jargon or poor research are no reason to reject an entire discipline, say Debby Cotton, Elizabeth Cleaver and Dilly Fung

The ‘Tasmania Model’ of addressing social need offers lessons for the wider sector, say Rufus Black and Nick Fowler

With global warming a priority for the next US president, the International Universities Climate Alliance can lead the academic response, says Ian Jacobs

Until they have their allotted departure time, no one is meant to travel home. So, asks George Bass, should security guards dive on anyone pulling a suitcase? 

A high level of public information literacy will minimise the spread and influence of falsehood, says Tim Blackman

Republican office holders will walk a fine line of supporting their local college while decrying higher education in general, says Anthony Carnevale

This week’s spending review could see commitments revisited and important policy documents released, predicts Nick Hillman

Pledged support for equality must be put into practice on multiple fronts, from syllabi and curricula to advising and recommending, say Chisomo Selemani and Anna Young

Regulation of international branch campuses can be onerous, but China has begun to show flexibility in areas of national strategy, says Hongqing Yang

Young researchers have been locked out of labs and clinics for 10 months because of Covid

University careers attract intellectually curious people who want to make a difference. But Donna Swarthout has been disillusioned once too often

It is crucial to adapt teaching methodology to students’ specific cultures and traditions of learning, says Bashir Makhoul

Experts urge universities to see Covid disruption as an opportunity to broaden access

Pre-arrival checks and continuous monitoring of student health are replicable elements of China’s successful approach, say Yingru Li and Jane Duckett

The experience of Monash University suggests that staff members’ greatest mental health needs are not necessarily obvious, says Kim Cornish

The potential involvement of the UK, Australia and Canada requires a fair payments mechanism between the EU and associate countries, says Jan Palmowski

Rationalising online and in-person offerings and establishing mutually beneficial partnerships will be crucial, say Michael Braun and Scott Latham

But unlike in the spring, not all countries are taking a blanket approach, and there are louder concerns about the mental impact on students

Universities urged to take opportunity to modernise, as government’s next strategic plan set to boost research and technology

Appointments at Hong Kong’s most prestigious university come despite critics’ call for more consultation

With many students still obliged to learn from their bedrooms, focusing on their well-being and social development is vital, says Benjamin Tak Yuen Chan

Digitising classes was the first part – the next challenge is to make materials engaging and personalised, experts say

Online courses should be easily adaptable to post-Covid circumstances – whatever they may be, says An Jacobs

Done properly, teaching in front of a webcam is more effective than teaching from behind a visor, says an anonymous academic

An honest national conversation about the murky origins of Greek life is a prerequisite for a better future, says Taulby Edmondson

The government’s illogical restrictions deny the country a potential source of post-Brexit growth, argues Dylan Jones-Evans

Neoliberal administrators’ policing of institutional reputations and academic colleagues’ condemnation of dissenting voices on issues such as race and gender have led to claims that scholars are losing their ability to engage in free enquiry and open debate. But is academic freedom really the operative concept in the controversies that arise? John Ross probes a highly contested debate

As students fret about being refused service at McDonald’s, George Bass fears having to refuse them exit from their dormitories

Living in a parallel universe of perfect systems and obedient citizens could blow up in vice-chancellors’ faces like Chernobyl, warns Craig Brandist 

No matter how hard they work, thousands will be dumped out of the labour market during the pandemic, say Harry Pettit and Alexandra Dales

The economics are murky but the damage that closing departments will do to universities’ missions is crystal clear, says Peter Tregear

Chinese universities’ pursuit of excellence with socialist characteristics aims to put them in the company of Harvard and Oxford, says Futao Huang

Universities must accept a level of risk and implement measures to minimise the transmission of infections, says Andrew Lee