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Category: Blogs

The Country 100 Ranking

You may have seen a spate of headlines recently, such as this one in University Affairs, about how Canada is considered #5 globally in terms of higher education according to a new “Country 100” ranking done some outfit called Measures HE. Cue minor celebrations: woo woo! Someone thinks we are top ten! Etc. The troublemakers who make up the readership of this blog have questions, I am sure. Naturally, I am here to answer them. First, who is “Measures HE”? It is a data consultancy formed by two guys who used

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May 12, 2026 No Comments

Everybody Hates John Tibbits

Note: I am writing this piece early on Friday morning, the day after this story broke. It is possible some details may have emerged over the weekend to render some aspects of this blog incorrect. Apologies if so. On Thursday, the government of Ontario dismissed the Board of Governors at Conestoga College on grounds of financial mismanagement and replaced them with a single appointed administrator.  This was grounds for schadenfreude among many folks who believe that John Tibbits and Conestoga

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May 11, 2026 1 Comment

Focus Friday: May 8

Good morning everyone, Tiffany here. Just a reminder that Focus Friday is today at 12:30-1:30pm Eastern! Joining me today is Pat Lougheed from Plaid Analytics for what I think will be a really fun conversation on data myth busting in higher education. Across the sector, we spend a lot of time talking about being “data-informed,” but there are also plenty of assumptions, half-truths, and recurring narratives that shape institutional decision-making. Today’s conversation will dig into some of the biggest myths that continue to circulate

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May 8, 2026 No Comments

Universities, Colonialism, and Indigenous Knowledge in Australia

Dhoombak Goobgoowana can be translated as “truth-telling” in the Woi Wurrung language of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people from the unceded area now known as Melbourne, Australia. It’s also the name of the recently published two-volume work on Indigenous Australia and the University of Melbourne. The books are an extraordinary read, not at all your usual institutional history. Made up of dozens of essays by different authors, it’s not so much a corporate history as it is a meditation on

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May 7, 2026 No Comments

Canadian Research vs. German Research

Hi all. I’m in Germany this week along with the members of our University Vice-Presidents Network having a blast networking with German institutions and hearing from some of the sharpest commentators on the German higher education scene, including Frank Ziegele, author of one of my favourite books of 2025, Authentic Universities (podcast interview here) and Jan-Martin Wiarda, my sort-of German equivalent in the sense of being a prominent education blogger, (albeit much more journalistically-inclined than I am). It’s been a

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May 6, 2026 2 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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