Management and governance

Joint statement declares support for ‘new form of stewardship’ as legislation faces rocky ride through Senate

Higher education has seen alliances launch with broad declarations and fade with little to show. But we are structuring this one differently, says Noah Pickus

Quarter of UK universities changing vice-chancellors after several retire and some forced out, with experts predicting continuing challenges mean churn at the top will only continue

Court documents show Kathleen Stock feared ‘chilling effect’ of university trans policy as she was ‘never assured’ she would not face disciplinary action as a result of contravening it

OfS investigation finds students at provider delivering franchised degrees also told how to avoid detection by plagiarism software

Government faces horse-trading in the Senate, as shadow minister flags outright rejection of bill to establish commission

Candidates who stood in 2024 poll seek rerun of campaign after alleging incumbent broke rules by using internal resources – claims strongly denied by union

Regulator finds university failed to ‘exercise proper control’ of one of its external assessment centres

Greenwich to change name to London and South East University Group before Kent joins as new ‘superuniversity’ takes shape

Call for government to create new position mirrored on role that already exists in further education, to help steer sector while avoiding excessive regulation

Mental health policies need to be more than just a ‘tick-box’ exercise or risk falling flat, university HR leaders say

Cost-cutting measures impacting student experience, finds OfS polling, with increased class sizes and reduced access to facilities among issues raised

Resignation follows series of scandals involving academics at the leading institution

Council merely doing preparatory work, institution insists, after politician decries ‘historical revisionism’

During times of austerity, when trust and cooperation are needed most, their absence results in division, secrecy and vengeance, says a UK academic

Adelaide ‘throwing everything’ at resolving enrolment hitches as students and staff protest

Buyers remain keen on UK higher education despite financial turmoil – but bringing in private equity can create challenges for educators

Critics allege that Australian universities have developed a bad habit of secrecy around severance agreements even when it serves no reasonable purpose – or, worse, prevents an important wider issue from being highlighted. But is there more to the issue than meets the eye? John Ross reports  

‘Do it properly or don’t bother,’ commission sceptic advises, as others argue for more chiefs

Ever more processes rely on artificial intelligence, yet our governance is still stuck at the level of ‘is it OK for students to use ChatGPT in essays?’, says Tom Smith

MP calls for institution to take steps to restore trust as concerns mount over how it has been run

Stella Maris axed from Scottish university governing body again over claims she failed to follow governance rules

Institutions looking to conclude long-running searches for new presidents likely to favour candidates who can stay out of the limelight, experts predict

Former leader returns to the role following the death of the university’s first female vice-chancellor, Emma Johnston, from cancer complications

Leaders of research-intensive universities see pay top £350,000 despite financial strife faced by institutions

Academia is inherently competitive but we can reduce the debilitating sense of constant threat, say Catelijne Coopmans and Catherine Montgomery 

Vice-chancellor Dave Phoenix tells THE that focus should be on using partnerships to deliver for city and UK, not switching to face-to-face education on new campus

As chair of a women’s network, I see first-hand how the gap between policy and lived experience still shapes how careers unfold, says Xiaoran Xu

Students’ recent firebombing of Nelson Mandela’s alma mater has raised more questions about whether the country’s universities can break out of a cycle of corruption, underfunding and violent protest. They can – but only with strong leadership and political will, hears Juliette Rowsell 

Government thought to want someone who can move English regulator away from ‘highly politicised’ past as applications open for new leader

The various reactions to my recent article on universities’ tardy AI adoptance underlines their allergy to internal transformation, says Ian Richardson

Lack of financial expertise at board level nearly toppled famed drama school, says leader who picked up the pieces

Australian science lobbyists pin hopes on research and development review, saying ‘one-off’ mini-budget funding boost will not compensate for years of decline

Senator warns universities have ‘few levers’ to pull when things go badly – citing ‘havoc’ at the Australian National University under former vice-chancellor

Facing a £12 million deficit and a beloved but underutilised rural campus, former barrister who led murder cases says she took lessons from legal career when attempting to modernise an institution with Victorian-age origins

White House plans to launch new ‘state-of-the-art’ foreign funding reporting portal expected to increase scrutiny of universities

Funding must be part of the conversation, crossbench senators warn, as final report of Australian governance inquiry published

Efforts to ensure student voices are heard on university boards often ‘tokenistic’, with ‘invisible barriers’ placed on participation

Cardiff’s January announcement of plans to cut 400 academic jobs and close several departments prompted a media firestorm that heaped opprobrium on its vice-chancellor. But she also received lots of quiet support for her efforts to put the university back on an even financial keel, she tells Chris Havergal

Nuclear physicist departs next spring having set up first branch campus in India

Regulator announces it is probing governance arrangements at under-pressure institution

New ‘ethical code’ attempts to address criticism that university governance is ‘dominated by cliques’

Dark tales abound of various UK universities being at risk of breaching agreements with their banks. But what exactly are covenants? Why have they come to play such a prominent role in the conversation about sector health? And would breaking one really lead to institutional ruin? Helen Packer reports  

Serial reviewer and interim higher education steward to head governing body of sunshine state’s sandstone university

Activists step up efforts to protect caretaker of shrine situated inside construction zone

Rules need tweaking to rein in high salaries that have become ‘emblematic’ of Australian universities’ social licence problems, George Williams argues

Allegations of corruption and concerns about academic integrity will not be addressed without frank conversations, says university president

New legislation creating Australian commission represents ‘the obliteration of the idea that universities have purposes independent of government’, critics say

In wide-ranging interview, crisis-hit university’s interim principal admits further redundancies are ‘uncomfortable’ for ministers and acknowledges ‘moral hazard’ of £62 million bailout

Representatives of chancellors, staff and students in Victoria eye doubling of elected places in rare ‘meeting of minds’

Departing vice-chancellor of Middlesbrough institution crowned University of the Year discusses riot aftermath, serving a deprived area and the importance of ‘learning gain’

When Mashreq’s campus was shattered and then occupied by soldiers, we were forced to strip education down to its essentials, says Gihad Ibrahim

Dundalk Institute of Technology to join forces with Queen’s University Belfast to create new opportunities for student mobility and skills development

A successful merger requires leaders to be mission-grounded and brave enough to move on, say David Lloyd and Peter Høj, in the final instalment of their series on the largest merger in Australian university history

Evidence level system encourages scams while making little difference to institutional obligations, critic says

Africa’s flagship university may have escaped the arson that has blighted some South African campuses but its research prowess could have gone up in smoke earlier this year when Donald Trump began slashing research funding, Cape Town’s vice-chancellor tells Jack Grove

Swinburne’s Pollaers reportedly asked for more money while confronting governance inquiry fuelled by resentment over overpaid leaders

It is difficult to think of another sector that has so dismally failed to strategically engage with the transformative potential of IT, says Ian Richardson

Hands-off councils said to have contributed to ‘governance crisis’ that Australian sector ‘needed and in many respects deserved’

Federal government must ‘take proper responsibility’ for a university sector ‘which in practice it controls’, MPs told