Blog

There must be full transparency over the costs and benefits of a merged Adelaide University, says Binoy Kampmark 

Civility works well as a campus norm, and lawful rights must be protected, but ‘respect’ mandates are misguided, says Geoff Sharrock

Massification, metrics and consumerism have eroded what was distinctive about UK higher education, says Philip Langton

Sector-wide guidelines on sharing and discussing research online would also be very useful, says Laura Hassink 

But institutions will contribute much more to both their localities and their planet if they collaborate more, says Simone Buitendijk

If the government is set on cutting international students, charging domestic students above the current ceiling is the only option, says Peter Ainsworth

The country’s cultural deference to authority means students lack the courage and the motivation to challenge current thinking, says Aus Abdulwahhab

Institutions’ marketing approach should be to inform would-be students about the full range of degrees on offer, says Pat Moores

Saying that you stand with Ukraine while glossing over the situation in Hong Kong is untenable, says Phil Chan

Cutting-edge polling techniques can help universities genuinely canvass local needs, rather than assuming them, says Polly Curtis

Leaders should model thoughtful, respectful disagreement and bridge divisions in ideologies, say Teresa Valerio Parrot and Ali Lincoln

Overloaded slides, peculiar body language and speech that is too quick, slow, quiet or relentless are all easily fixed, says Brian Bloch

German-style political stability and long-term science funding could help mitigate the damage, say Zach Meyers and John Springford

More hardship funding, bigger maintenance loans and restored grants would all complement universities’ efforts, says Sarah Stevens

The department’s threat to ban international students from all but the top UK universities is totally counterproductive, says Nick Hillman

The need to rearrange academic units and, potentially, cut staff is the direct result of UK government policy, say David Latchman and Matthew Innes

Building a publishing platform that allows scholars to earn from sales of their papers has put all Pooja Sawrikar’s rage to good use 

The police-catch-punish approach neglects to address plagiarists’ misunderstanding of what higher education is all about, says Sioux McKenna

Greater efforts need to be made to distinguish predatory journals from those that at least aspire to scholarly standards, says Harvey Graff

If government sets clear ambitions, innovation follows from the private sector and charities – not the other way round, says Ian Walker

In Hong Kong, as elsewhere, managers should support faculty and students to engage in inquiry whatever their personal values, says Carsten Holz

The findings of the UniSAFE survey about the extent of gender-based violence at European universities are troubling, says Susan Sorenson

If the sector is to tackle the existential threats facing the world, it must rediscover its practical idealism about itself, says Nigel Thrift

Universities should not be obliged to support speech that restricts another’s right to speech or academic freedom, say James Murray and Alice Sullivan

Students at higher-ranked liberal arts colleges report strong relationships with their instructors – but rural institutions languish, says Samuel Abrams

The mature student specialist’s renowned politics department could become part of the solution rather than the problem, says Matthew Flinders

The LLE is a useful first step towards a radical reform of the country’s narrow and inflexible higher education system, says Martin Rees 

Fine words in support of academic freedom are welcome, but deeds are also required, says Agnieszka Piotrowska

The new prime minister’s orthodoxy will prevent a repeat of the Iron Lady’s raid on the science and higher education budgets, says Terence Kealey

This year’s Maddox Prize winner shows how community-led research can help communities escape polarised debates over scientific evidence

It is not enough to argue that higher education’s primary relationship with the students is not labour-related, say Jeffrey Stankunas and Emily Dilloway

Higher education must meet students where they are and find a way to connect anyone with an education if they are willing to work, says Aaron Basko

Scholarship that does not acknowledge the legitimacy of alternative views is inimical to knowledge generation, says Katy Barnett

Boosting innovation and supporting democracy requires a global, comprehensive approach, says Jan Palmowski

Amid growing anti-immigration sentiment, US universities should make greater efforts to export their expertise to where the demand is, says Richard Joseph

Although available information on USS finances is patchy, scope appears to remains for restored benefits or reduced contributions, says Michael Bromwich

Suella Braverman’s threats to ‘significantly reduce’ international student numbers are a direct threat to growth, says Keith Burnett 

The sector needs to foster a better collective sense of the pressures and possibilities of running a university, say Doug Parkin and Richard Watermeyer

As Sir Colin Campbell knew, an overseas footprint offers the long-term returns that universities are established for, say Christine Ennew and David Greenaway

Relying on overseas expertise is foolish for a country that abounds with specific economic issues, says Jagjit Chadha

Making appropriate decisions is difficult for students when information is scarce and inaccurate, say Kaibalyapati Mishra and Krishna Raj 

We must examine how our measures of merit are impacted by culture, context, place and hierarchy, says Cheryl de la Rey

New York University’s multiple sites around the world were instrumental in minimising Covid-related disruption, says Andrew Hamilton

Scholars need to address how the legacy of Russian writers and artists is taught to students and the public, says Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed

A recent email by a UK vice-chancellor is a case study in how not to inspire people to go beyond the call of duty, say two management scholars

Scholars from the Global South have vastly fewer international options than those from the Global North, says Srila Roy

Universities must refocus on the basics of reading, writing and numeracy across subjects and fields, says Harvey Graff

The standardised test is graduate schools’ ideal measurement tool for the personality traits they seek in applicants, says John Gomez

Opening up cutting-edge facilities to both students and wider communities can help close 21st-century skills gaps, says Sara Prowse

Writing off student debt can encourage people to complete their degrees and work in the sectors they have trained for, says Danny Bielik

The cost-of-living crisis is bringing to a head the inadequacy of current funding and support for doctoral students, says Ellie Munro

Covid-19 illustrated how universities are not always good at taking responsibility for the practicalities of their policy statements, says Zahir Irani 

Careful thought is required before Western art music is condemned and cast out, says James Olsen

Research support must be realistic, the cost of educating UK students must be properly met, and overseas students remain welcome, says Ian Walmsley

Acknowledging such students’ difficult personal circumstances is an important first step to improving their graduation rates, says Ozalle Toms

It is no accident that universities are prominent in protests over ties to the slave trade and movements to decolonise education, says Joanna Newman

The inequalities exacerbated by global capitalism must be challenged by institutions in the service of citizens rather than corporations, says Carl Rhodes

A large survey of students suggests that even Democrats are afraid to air their views on certain subjects. This isn’t healthy, says Samuel Abrams

Northumbria University’s transformation, reflected in its QR allocation, will allow it to do more for its students and its region, says Louise Bracken

Traditional metrics neglect the systematic barriers faced by individuals with various oppressed axes of identity, says Shan-Jan Sarah Liu