University governance

University chooses ‘private sector partner’ to deliver project

Western ‘settler’ nations such as Canada and Australia are wrestling with how to redress historical injustices visited on their native populations. One proposal is for universities to embrace Indigenous knowledge. But what does that mean in practice? Will it achieve its aims? And where does it leave science? Matthew Reisz considers the arguments

The controversy over a Harvard dean’s defence of Harvey Weinstein is no reason to disregard the core academic mission, says Sandro Galea 

University acknowledges that drop in student recruitment has brought ‘financial challenges’

Institutions Down Under do not have the resources to lead the world across the board, says former vice-chancellor

School’s new student intake fell by nearly 40 per cent in just two years

Survival depends on institutional buy-in to a fundamental questioning of operating models and cost structures, says Angus Laing

Hepi report ties increase to mounting workloads and performance management

Dean was removed following opposition to his role in Harvey Weinstein’s legal team

Crucial cash flow in jeopardy as regulator scrutinises bush institutions’ urban partners

Home of United Nations court and Dutch government has no university of its own – but Leiden’s outpost ‘could grow to 10,000 or 20,000’ students

Successful publish-or-perish operators should look in the mirror before writing their next diatribe about marketisation, says Mike Marinetto

Shift in council membership may be factor in escalating vice-chancellor pay

Recent controversies in Australia over vice-chancellors’ pay, Ramsay Centre funding and the role of academic presses have raised questions about whether university boards have too few – or, perhaps, too many – members from scholarly backgrounds. John Ross chairs the discussion

V-c who left school at 16 before entering university without A levels says university’s social mission is irreplaceable

In a managerial era, universities are challenging the traditional idea that only individuals need protecting, say Otto Hüther and Georg Krücken

The unfettered pursuit of knowledge is every university’s core value – even if management doesn’t always see it that way, says Dennis Hayes

Dutch universities are conspicuously and consistently successful. Yet their funding is declining and their embrace of internationalism has put them on a collision course with the populist right. John Morgan assesses the mood in Leiden, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Maastricht

Former OU pro vice-chancellor returns to take top job at troubled institution

Wollongong’s Paul Wellings rejects claims he contravened rules in approving Ramsay Centre course, as decision faces legal challenge

Struggles of Hampshire College suggest to some that students may be reluctant to shape their own degrees in a debt-heavy, career-focused higher education sector

The country’s recent judge-led review is another instance of the global misperception of institutional censorship, say Ian Jacobs and Susan Dodds

Report warns that racism persists in South Africa’s leading university, but it has attracted criticism

The US admissions scandal notwithstanding, Australian university history reveals a variety of approaches to allocating university places, say Gwilym Croucher, James Waghorne and Hamza Bin Jehangir

Apparent moves to increase university autonomy will have the opposite effect given the government’s authoritarian tendencies, says Jarosław Płuciennik

Opponents should learn from Chinese candidates’ successful and potentially formative forays into democratic politics, says Salvatore Babones

Australia’s vice-chancellors must wake up: China's munificence is all motivated by its vast geopolitical ambition, says Nick Forster

Ford administration is blind to incompatibility of statistical metrics and quality teaching, academics warn

US universities might be world-leading in research terms, but there is scant evidence that this has any bearing on their prowess as educators. Why do institutions of higher education show so little interest and aptitude in instilling genuine learning, asks John Tagg 

As public debate grows crude, University of Miami’s Julio Frenk pushes faculty to emphasise thoughtful alternatives

Shin Sung-chul, who is under investigation by the Korean government, says state is starting to provide more freedom to universities but progress is slow

Friendly competition can push us all to do better. But when the competitiveness that fuels excellence and prestige becomes based in the logic of the market, universities lose sight of their true purpose, writes Kathleen Fitzpatrick

Candid interviews with Chinese university presidents and government officials reveal widespread doubt that institutional freedom has increased

Scholarly society investigated alleged breaches of harassment and bullying policy by Alun Evans

Questions have been raised over appointment as design school head of academic who is being sued for alleged age discrimination

Sunderland v-c urges policymakers to recognise post-92 universities’ ‘contribution to the health of the nation’

Executive exchanges in universities, business and government ‘would improve policy’, says Monash council member

A lack of accountability can permit a toxic culture to linger unchecked, says one former employee, who was the victim of antisemitism

US university president tells THE summit that institutions need to ‘rethink’ their operations

Tough stances on grade inflation, unconditional offers and senior pay will help maintain global excellence, says Michael Barber 

What are university leaders and chief technology officers doing to meet future challenges?

How will the rise of artificial intelligence affect universities’ carbon-based employees? John Gilbey runs the algorithm

Project reported to be linked to suspended dean of School of Management

Experts say university council should intervene in Western civilisation degree row

Elite US universities’ history of acknowledging hereditary advantage at least came with a sense of social obligation, says Amanda Louise Johnson

Can sharing a city with a more prestigious neighbour make it easier or harder for an institution to realise its value? Jack Grove examines the competition

Anthony Abraham Jack’s new book distinguishes two kinds of under-represented students and sets out what universities need to do if they truly want to recruit the most disadvantaged students. Matthew Reisz writes

Market-like mechanisms within higher education are unpopular with academics but can have positive effects, say Rebecca Natow and Kevin Dougherty

A greater willingness from facilitators to listen to feedback could transform collective decision-making, say Liana Kreamer and Steven Rogelberg 

Leader takes reformer reputation to Los Angeles shortly after leaving University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill amid Confederate protest

University insists resolution will not affect plans for ‘Western civilisation’ course

As universities become ever more wary of negative publicity, leaders who speak out on contentious issues are increasingly finding themselves in hot water. Ellie Bothwell reports

Complaints about depictions of contentious historical figures should be met with sensitivity and a firm grasp of the facts, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto 

Recruiting a five-year, full-time president could transform the umbrella body’s ability to defend the sector, says Sir Anthony Seldon

A student’s mysterious accusation of racism saw P. K. Newby removed from her course – and another woman lost from the leaky pipeline

Marketisation, precarity and global competition have combined to create a vast market for academic ghostwriting, says an anonymous scholar

Former ESRC chief executive to replace Swansea’s suspended v-c Richard Davies after his ‘planned retirement’

Adam Tickell acknowledges university has ‘failed’ staff and students in the past but says improving well-being is his top priority

Strides have been taken since the destruction wrought by the US-led invasion, but funding and standards remain unacceptably low, says Mohamed Al-Rubeai

Efforts to improve work-life balance must address the significant amounts of time that many scholars spend travelling, says Rachel Moss