Vice-chancellor/principal

Mahidol University is focusing on nurturing academic talent and introducing more flexible education in a bid to attract a wider pool of students, says its president Banchong Mahaisavariya

The president of Dillard University says that historically black colleges and universities do a better job than the Ivy League

The REF may no longer be the only game in town, but it remains a dominant force in UK research. So as the REF 2021 results are released, is it still fit for purpose?

Dealing with the death of a family member is never easy, but does academic life present further complications and difficulties? Three academics at different stages of their careers tell their stories

The vice-chancellor of McGill University reflects on her nine years leading one of Canada’s top universities as she prepares to step down

The King’s College London president says universities are ‘not in any way toxic places’

The president of Seoul National University discusses the existential crisis facing higher education in South Korea

The new 43-year-old head of Sciences Po discusses how he is helping Ukrainian students, institutional change and his classmate Emmanuel Macron

The University of Leeds vice-chancellor discusses why UK higher education should go Dutch and the national scandal that drew her to academia

War has helped to fan inflation and wither universities’ resources. With scant prospect of let-up, all eyes are watching the horizon for hopeful signs

The president of Harvey Mudd College discusses smashing glass ceilings and how to get more women into STEM subjects 

The Great Resignation, remote working and rapid changes in the graduate employment market are all forcing US higher education institutions to evolve – fast. But are institutions that have spent two years managing Covid-19 ready to take up another challenge? Paul Basken reports

The president of Macau University of Science and Technology discusses overhauling engineering education and the differences between Macao and Hong Kong 

Despite incremental reforms throughout Emmanuel Macron’s first term as president, France still has one of the most centralised higher education systems in Europe. As the election looms, Ben Upton examines attitudes towards institutional autonomy and asks whether its supposed effects on equality and academic freedom are limiting appetite for more

If universities were mainstream businesses they would be in the category of bloated, oligopolistic conglomerates, says Timothy Devinney

It is doubtful that a management consulting firm could avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater, says Grahame R. Dowling

The PSL president discusses bringing staff on board and not over-centralising services

The pandemic underlined the value of international university alliances for sharing problems – and solutions, says David Eastwood

The default mode of human problem-solving is to add complexity. But we must try harder to resist, say Leidy Klotz and Robert Sutton

Universities’ oligarchic control of degree provision and metrics’ misguided focus are shortchanging both students and academics, says Murdoch Gabbay

The Tohoku University president discusses the legacy of the 2011 earthquake and making his institution more friendly to foreigners 

Boycotting Russia will hinder research, punish the innocent and damage the prospects of a peaceful future, says Binoy Kampmark

Three decades after the abolition of the binary divide between universities and polytechnics, some commentators still lament the supposed loss of locally focused vocational education. But even as the political winds buffet them, do post-92s offer the solution to the UK’s skills problem? John Morgan reports

The KAUST president discusses the treatment of women and academic freedom

Any attempt to address regional inequalities must recognise the role of post-92 universities as anchor institutions, says Ian Campbell

Newly elected Sorbonne president Nathalie Drach-Temam says scholars will not back away from controversial subjects and that she has no desire to profit from British academia’s Brexit woes

The 10-year Idex process to reconfigure French universities and make them more internationally visible has reached its conclusion, writes John Ludden

Students need help to make better course choices and lifelong learners need a flexible application system, says Graeme Atherton

Transparency, institutional accountability and continual change are all essential, says Georgina Randsley de Moura

Vice-chancellors and presidents must deliver fully inclusive environments from which female leaders will emerge, says Lucy Meredith

The president of KTH Royal Institute of Technology discusses the fallout of a scientific scandal and immigration rules in Sweden

Share of female vice-chancellors at high-ranking institutions surpasses 20 per cent for first time based on THE World University Rankings data 

Frozen fee levels must rise eventually, but universities need to deliver efficiency gains through hybrid learning, says David Willetts

Universities have a duty to protect students from the power imbalance inherent in a personal relationship with a staff member, says Cara Aitchison

The president of Penn State discusses its business hub model and leading in the aftermath of a sexual abuse scandal 

An unsustainable strategic choice has been made to worsen the university offer for future students and graduates, says Chris Husbands

Senior university staff must take responsibility for improving organisational approaches to and understandings of harassment, says Liz Jackson

The president of Northwestern University discusses the conflict between being a higher education economist and a university leader and changing career 

A joint EU-AU document places universities in the vanguard of increased intercontinental collaboration, says Jan Palmowski

Every college-university relationship should be viewed as the mutually beneficial arrangement it genuinely is, says Sam Parrett

The teaching philosophy at the long-awaited institution is based on interdisciplinary programmes and experiential instruction, says its president Pierre Ouellette

Time is running out to strike a deal that will cement the continent’s scientific strength, says Jan Palmowski

The president of The New School in New York says universities are often underprepared for their first black leader

Comparison with current data suggests government proposals are ‘not exactly a revolution in the funding balance’, say experts

With both Oxford and Cambridge seeking new vice-chancellors, Rosa Ellis examines the unique pressures of leading these prestigious universities and the qualities that successful candidates will need to do the job

As the value of public funding diminishes, success will depend on ability to boost other sources of income, says Anton Muscatelli

Border restrictions, differing national Covid strategies and changing demographics have all made significant impacts on overseas recruitment over the past two years. Simon Baker examines the latest data from five major recruiting nations and considers what they might presage for the future

The University of British Columbia president discusses reforming counselling provision, the importance of data and his own mental health struggles

Requiring 60 per cent of graduates to go into managerial or professional roles ignores the reality of creative careers, says Bashir Makhoul

Two years of low-quality online provision has left one stranded international student homeless, unemployed and heartbroken

If universities will not give up NDAs, how can we expect private corporations to do any better, asks Julie Macfarlane

The Oxford college’s vast expenditure of charitable funds to try to dislodge its own dean could have serious repercussions, says Alan Rusbridger

The University of Toronto president has ‘doubled down on internationalising’ while remaining rooted in the Canadian metropolis for almost four decades

Marketing claims are often empty, unaccompanied by comprehensive policies, plans, timetables or evaluation criteria, says Harvey Graff

Higher education must double down on the liberal education values of interdisciplinarity, experiential learning and critical thinking, says Eric Skipper

The City president discusses his personal ties to the institution, the opportunities and threats universities pose to national security, and self-indulgence in higher education

If the English regulator agrees to tear up universities’ current access plans it risks undermining any perception of autonomy, says Geoffrey Alderman

With concerted efforts, the UK could attract far more than 600,000 international students to its shores, says James Pitman

The pandemic may just push US colleges and universities to do what they should have done a long time ago: reorganise, says Michael Hadjiargyrou

The Maastricht University president and rector is shifting the emphasis away from only research, despite pushback from Nobel laureate