The big idea: one change that could transform universities

What single change to university practice would have the most positive and far-reaching consequences? Eight academics and thinkers give us their views

Published on
November 29, 2018
Last updated
November 29, 2018
Richard Arum, Paola Mattei, Grietje Molema, Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, Cameron Neylon, Nick Hillman, Douglas McWilliams Kehinde Andrews
Man paints columns yellow
Source: Getty/iStock montage
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University admissions
Staff diversity: sex and gender
University governance
PhD, postgraduate and early career
Research
Teaching and learning

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Reader's comments (4)

#1 Submitted by WH_2016 on November 29, 2018 - 8:11am
Another diversity piece with the hidden undertone of "why don't we get rid of white people". When will this attack on normal people - who just happen to be white - trying to do their jobs eventually be seen as just another form of racism?
#2 Submitted by l.... on November 29, 2018 - 8:47am
"Over the next few months, we will convene a set of national expert panels to inform efforts to develop measures, protocols and tools associated with learning management systems, administrative and student affairs data, as well as surveys, experiential sampling and performance assessment measurement of students’ cognitive, motivational, socio-emotional, social network and curricular/pedagogical experiences." Welcome to the Social Predestination Room (does anyone read Brave New World anymore or does it not have a sufficient citation score?)
#3 Submitted by peregrine31 on November 30, 2018 - 5:08pm
Given all the various surveys and performance assessment measurements cited in the first example, I cannot understand why students are submitting compliantly to this never-ending experimentation. Ceding valuable study time to the myriad surveys disseminated over three years of study is quite a considerable waste of time. Of course students are told that as fee paying customers, they need to comment on all of these very important uni strategies and activities, but really, it's just a con and I'm surprised no student has suggested a total boycott of the neoliberal university's predilection for data collection and busybody surveys to service their box-ticking endeavours.
#4 Submitted by Rappelbaum on November 29, 2018 - 2:59pm
It's surprising how few ideas there really are here, not to mention how few of them are new, or how few of them actually deal with the university writ large. It's all about do this for my group, do this for that group. And of course, what most universities need the most is simple: more money. That's what most students need too.

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