Vice-chancellor/principal

Autocracy starts with the violent repression of students and academics, say Matteo Fumagalli, Achim Kemmerling, Youngmi Kim and Luicy Pedroza

New president sets ambitious financial and internationalisation goals

The brutal cost-cutting demanded by Covid-19 may finally see intercollegiate athletics cut down to size, says Bruce Svare

Progress is being made but much still could and should to be done to boost women’s advancement, says Helen Bartlett

Local and international collaboration will allow institutions to tackle the challenges of sustainable development, says Tawana Kupe

The pandemic has prompted dire predictions about international student enrolment at anglophone universities. But will those fears come to pass? Is there an alternative to standard international education? And how much do universities really spend on recruitment agents? Ellie Bothwell reports

To coordinate research translation, a new organisation is needed that isn’t tied to one university but is linked to all, says Keith Ridgway 

The Chicago Principles are powerful partly because they are linked to institutional history and values, say Carolyn Evans and Adrienne Stone

Too many trustees misunderstand or forget their fiduciary responsibilities and become co-opted by institutional presidents, says James Koch

Pakistan’s labour shortages illustrate that well-rounded graduates also need to be properly prepared for specific industries, says Tahir Shah

A global recession will accelerate the latest shift away from high-cost study destinations, say Janet Ilieva and David Pilsbury

Awareness campaigns, support services and coordination with local authorities and transport providers are all needed, says Maya Tutton

Mushrooming university may need to limit its activities to balance the books, new president suggests

No institution will be able to make it alone amid the pandemic-induced tumult, so let’s make shared values the antidote to the crisis, says Ferruccio Resta

Different university groupings should have strong, distinctive capabilities that address specific markets, says John H. Howard

Scrutiny is inevitable but universities should do more to promote their teaching and their place in civil society, says Rosemary Bennett

A national ‘great debate’ in England would be more effective than imposing free speech champions and threatening fines, says Dennis Hayes

Global university networks, enhanced by technology, will offer students more flexibility over where to study, says Youmin Xi

Reduced tuition fees and more hardship scholarships would help those watching Zoom lectures while working on checkouts, says Barbara Franz

Flexibility around degree provision is the only way to ensure that workforces are equipped for the future, says Liz Barnes

Long-standing divides between schooling, employment and industry will be disrupted, predicts Singapore MP

Announced increases in hardship funding are not enough, while missed educational opportunities must be replaced, says Paul Blomfield

Universities’ wariness of online instruction was suddenly swept aside last year by Covid-19. But how successful has the overnight digital transition been? Is it sustainable? And should it be? Paul Jump runs through the results of our major survey of university staff

English universities are making huge efforts to support students through the pandemic, but the government must play its part, says Anthony Forster

Like retailers, institutions must adapt to new circumstances by accelerating transformation or face long-term extinction, says Paul Baines

When students can’t or won’t cross borders, universities can do it instead, says Wing Lam

The unique skills that academics bring to local projects underline that they change lives well beyond the lecture theatre, says Zahir Irani

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

Tributes paid to ‘intelligent, witty and compassionate leader’ who transformed Canadian studies and forged a major new collegiate university 

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

The tired stereotype of the unworldly scholar has often been used to justify giving excessive influence over university management to businesspeople and administrators. There is ample evidence that this is a recipe for disaster, argues Terence Kealey

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

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

New research shows that inadequate oversight is leaving institutions dangerously exposed, says Andrew Kakabadse

With new lockdowns upon us, it’s time students received the financial relief they deserve, says David Green

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

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

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

Turing scheme will not cover tuition fees, travel costs to the UK or staff exchanges, leaving UK universities to negotiate fee waivers

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

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  

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

The Purpose Coalition will bring together the skills and the jobs needed to create a fairer, greener UK, says Justine Greening

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

City’s leader announces sweeteners, while pushing engagement with mainland China

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

THE’s new Careers Clinic series brings together the great and the good of higher education to answer a burning careers question

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

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

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

Yogesh Tyagi suspended by government after he and executive council try to appoint rival candidates for registrar

Suzanne Rivera receives both praise and abuse on social media in response to offer but says she will continue to defend rights to assembly and free speech

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