From virologists seeking a vaccine and engineers creating ventilators in record time to student nurses on the NHS frontline, the coronavirus crisis has shown the very best of what UK higher education can offer. Now it is the turn of business schools to prove their value. With the world entering the deepest recession in living […] … learn more→

The National Tertiary Education Union this week struck an agreement with universities that no ongoing university staff member would be stood down involuntarily without pay. This deal is contingent on staff above a certain pay grade taking a cut of up to 15% of their salary. It’s still uncertain how many universities will sign up to the […] … learn more→

At Troy University in Alabama, students went online to help a county with a high infant mortality rate in the state of Georgia to analyze health disparities and develop solutions. At Cornell University, where I teach, law students are providing legal services online to death-row inmates in Tanzania  and children and young farmworkers in upstate New York. At […] … learn more→

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, we are being told that higher education will never be the same again. Many commentators are predicting dramatic, lasting effects on universities, going well beyond what we actually know about the immediate impact of Covid-19 on international student recruitment for the next academic year. The virus has inspired […] … learn more→

There’s a looming economic crisis in higher education. Perhaps you have lost work already and you’re wondering how you will support yourself (I’m really sorry). It’s hard to know if you’ll get more or less teaching next semester and what form it will take. Will it be online? Or face to face? Maybe your courses […] … learn more→

With many universities shifting their exams online as a result of the coronavirus, questions are being asked about how students can be given an equal chance to succeed given their varying levels of access to a conducive home environment. This, I predict, is likely to be a very vexed issue given the volume of complaints […] … learn more→

When the state of California cut funding to the University of California system by US$619.3 million, or 19%, in the wake of the 2008-09 recession, the leaders of the UC system tried to spread the resulting economic pain to its employees in a fair way. More specifically, employees with bigger salaries took on larger cuts – […] … learn more→

Be kind to others and to yourself. Do what you can do. Make small daily goals. Be realistic. Celebrate every victory.  Don’t be hard on yourself. These are extraordinary times. These are the messages that I and a lot of others have been spreading during lockdown. And I stand by those sentiments. However, seven weeks in […] … learn more→

With Covid-19 now under control in Australia, it is likely that most secondary schools will reopen in term two. This is good news as there has been much concern about the impact of the shutdown on students’ year 11 and 12 studies and their transition to university or college. There are eight different school systems […] … learn more→

This week, I’ve taught quantum mechanics to one of my dear students in quarantine in Shanghai. It is not the first time that I have talked about science to someone in a distant land, but it was nevertheless a heady event. It made me think about all my colleagues in universities and colleges around the […] … learn more→