Other senior management

The Netherlands’ cautious, common approach to teaching during the pandemic contrasts with the full reopenings planned by many UK and US universities. But what will students get out of it? And is even 20 per cent campus capacity sustainable? David Matthews travels to the Netherlands to talk to the key players

Lecturers are being denied the flexibility they are compelled to offer students, despite being more vulnerable to the virus, says an anonymous academic

As Australia pivots to local concerns, university leaders flag importance of international students beyond just their fees 

Recent attacks on high-profile scholars by government and by a university executive should give us pause, say Christopher Vaughan and Daniel Ncayiyana

The pandemic’s demolition of barriers and bureaucracy clears the way for a better higher education sector, says Pat Tissington 

It makes no sense to oblige students to risk their own and others’ health by travelling long distances and converging on campus, says Brian Wong

A large ongoing survey at King’s College London is informing the institution’s approach to Covid-19, say Gabriella Bergin-Cartwright and Sharon Stevelink

History reminds us that freedom of speech also implies the right to vocally object to and demonstrate against speakers, says Evan Smith

Ransomware victims must either line the pockets of criminals or face the financial penalties and PR disaster of a data breach, says Chris Cobb

The UK, in particular, could find itself gasping for breath by 2024 if it does not take the currents into account, warns Louise Nicol

We must move away from small-scale mitigation efforts and think on a larger scale about how to radically revamp teaching and research, says Joy Carter

The modern university should be an honest broker who sets self-interest aside and works for the common good across all areas of its activity, says Sally Kift

The readers’ editors employed by some quality newspapers offer a model for how to protect and promote universities’ core values, argues Priya Rajasekar

To deflect political attacks, universities should emphasise the transformative effects of engaging with structured bodies of knowledge, says Paul Ashwin

It’s been 26 years since apartheid ended, yet South African campuses were convulsed by protests against racism and inequitable university access as recently as four years ago. Much progress has clearly been made – but is it enough? Ellie Bothwell reports

With infection rates increasing and online teaching well established, why risk everyone’s health by reopening, asks Richard Watermeyer 

Job security, research funding and work-life balance for young academics have all been worsened by the pandemic, say four academics  

Cost transparency isn’t in universities’ DNA, but those who teach and design modules must be able to apply a clear budgetary model, says Terry Young

To navigate the pandemic, organisations need a frank review of their competencies, at both senior management and board level, says Michael Hartmann

Students from low-income backgrounds must not suffer from the unavoidable shortage of places, says David Katz

It makes no economic sense for job-retention schemes to postpone the inevitable, says Paul Oslington

Admonishments from student leaders will ring louder than punishments for non-adherents, say Sheldon Jacobson and Janet Jokela

Universities should capitalise on their students as an asset, says UN environment expert

A Pakistan-based institution saw a new generation of leaders emerge during Covid-19

Those planning new universities might think that a good institution will attract top staff wherever it is located. But is the quality of the environment beyond the ivory tower really so insignificant – and has the pandemic changed the calculus? Paul Jump runs through our survey results

Brick-and-mortar foreign universities not viable without further details, conference hears

The loss of international income makes the improvement of universities’ online offerings all the more urgent

With the Covid-19 pandemic likely to prolong the need for mass online learning for some time, we seek the experts’ advice on how to do it well – from designing courses and maintaining engagement to choosing applications and carrying out experiments remotely

Obliging women to adopt ‘male’ characteristics is not just unfair – it also impoverishes university management, says Corinne Houart

Even with a rock-star border collie on side, allowing students to flock back takes careful planning, says Neil Quigley

India’s National Education Policy aims to establish a seamless connectivity between humanities and science, says Rup Narayan Das

System consolidation, regulatory simplification and undergraduate flexibility are positive steps, says Pushkar

Assessing doctoral candidates’ published papers instead would teach more useful skills and improve morale, says Noam Schimmel

Sustainable changes in digital learning will result from best practice alongside bold experimentation, say Friedrich Hesse, Volker Meyer-Guckel, Bitange Ndemo, Alexandros Papaspyridis, Rahim Rajan and Suzanne Walsh

Academics may wish we weren’t here, but burying heads in the sand about the depth of the deficit is no longer viable, says Bernard Casey

Despite Auckland’s lockdown, the country’s handling of Covid-19 is increasing its attractiveness to students, says Roger Smyth

Academic endorsements cast little light while entrenching privilege, says Vincent Hiribarren

Universities and colleges are having to promise physical classes to protect enrolments, says Joseph Guarneri

Administrators must stop asking faculty of colour to do more than our fair share and then punishing us for it, says Josh Hiller

The Research Australia report has exposed the fault lines in health research funding, says Ross Coppel 

But in the new normal, the situation for female academics with children is even worse, says Enrica Maria Ferrara

Failure to act robustly risks legal, reputational and financial consequences for universities, says Susan Matthews

It is wrong for UK ministers to set up higher and further education in opposition to one another, says former education secretary Justine Greening

Male security guards are the workers most at risk of dying from Covid, but George Bass is happy to be one of the ‘expendables’

Falling staff-student ratios and low quality in some graduate programmes are prompting concern that more will mean worse, says Zhang Ruomei

Sexual violence at the student level is being addressed, but what about when the perpetrator is a member of staff, asks Heather Savigny

Higher education is no panacea, but critical thinking is the best antidote to inequality, say Chris Cunningham and Colin Samson

Artists are not empty dissemination vessels and must be respected and fairly paid for the expertise they bring, says Aoife Monks

Appointing Sir Steve Smith to spearhead the UK’s strategy could see Australia lose ground, warns Tim Dunne

Continuation of policy stokes fears that entry rules could damage internationalisation efforts

The recent lockdowns highlighted the strains in student housing provision in several countries. As students puzzle over why their universities have so little power to extract refunds from private providers for unused accommodation, Anna McKie asks whether it is time for some rewiring of the system   

Daily tweets, cake baking and discussion of James Bond film titles have all helped keep Anthony Smith sane

Still on mute? Then let’s begin, says Emma Rees

Widening eligibility for the new round of the initiative would accelerate the balanced development of global higher education in China, says Li Qingquan

Incentives draw students wary of Covid-19 and overseas visa hassles 

Two years ago, universities claimed to be selling the student experience. So where are our lockdown refunds, asks Maria Magdalena Gajewska

Academic research is not having any significant impact on the national economy or health of society, laments Tahir Shah

An oft-overlooked component of the research process is that simple little thing called leadership, says Matthew Flinders

Simplistic performance measures hold research back, says Jim McCluskey, as Melbourne becomes the first Australian university to sign up to Dora

A string of anti-immigration moves has already made the US significantly less attractive to international students, says Rajika Bhandari