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Author: Alex Usher

Three OECD Pieces Worth Reading

I spent Friday morning with a delegation of University Vice-Presidents at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s offices in Paris, discussing a variety of issues pertinent to Canadian higher education. As we ranged across a variety of topics, I realized I had fallen behind on my think-tank reading, because there were a few really important papers discussed that I had not read. I took some time over the weekend to read three of them and thought I would

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May 6, 2024 1 Comment

Culture Wars in American Higher Education

It is not particularly novel to note that American higher education has been in the midst of a major culture war for the past five or ten years. Universities have traditionally thought of themselves as politically neutral, a place where opposing sides in political debate could meet and resolve disagreements if not through rational examinations of data then at least through constructive debate. The idea that universities might be seen as “biased” in one direction or another is not a

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May 2, 2024 No Comments

Europe/ Canada: Same/ Different

Good morning from the Brussels-to-Paris Eurostar, where I am hanging out with the good folks of the University Vice-Presidents’ Network on our study trip to Belgium and France. We’ve had some excellent meetings, including a really fascinating visit to KU Leuven (one seriously well-run university), and a chance to catch up with some old friends at the European Universities Association. And I just wanted to pass along some of the similarities and differences I am seeing between Europe and Canada right

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May 1, 2024 1 Comment

Research Outcome and Impact Data

Every couple of years I do a piece looking at how Canadian institutions compare in terms of research output and impact using data from the CWTS Leiden Rankings, which happen to be the most transparent system of bibliometric research rankings out there. It’s that time again. So, just to remind people what the CWTS Leiden ranking actually is: the good folks who do scientometrics at the University of Leiden annually put together a wide variety of bibliometrics measures for about

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April 30, 2024 1 Comment

National Programs in Areas of Provincial Jurisdiction

Memory-lane time today. Because I just realized it was 25 years this week that the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation began inking deals with provinces to give away what turned out to be about $3.7 billion in scholarships. And I think there are some lessons that the folks in Ottawa who are fleshing out the (IMHO) poorly-conceived “national” school lunch program announced a few weeks ago.  The story of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation is hard to explain to anyone who didn’t

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April 29, 2024 No Comments

One Thought to Start Your Day

One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

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