Category: Podcast

Royal Roads University: A Canadian University Without Tenure or Senate

One way in which Canada is a big outlier in global higher education is the lack of standardization of university forms. Most countries have national or sub-national framework legislation that apply to all institutions’ operation and governance. Not Canada. Our provinces tend to prefer creating new bespoke legislation for every new institution that comes along. On the one hand, this leads to a pretty chaotic system. On the other: well, some time you get some pretty interesting experiments. One of the most interesting examples of

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What Is UNESCO’s Role in Global Higher Education Today

In the wake of World War II, the nations of the world thought seriously about the relationship between education and peace. One of the outcomes of that thinking was the creation of the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations – UNESCO, for short – whose founding charter states: “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed”. And, since higher education was part of that mandate, that arguably

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The Annual Kelchen Review: The Top 10 U.S. Higher Ed Stories in 2025

Hi everyone. I’m Alex Usher, and this is the World of Higher Education Podcast. This is our last podcast for 2025, and as usual, our Christmas edition comes from the University of Tennessee with Robert Kelchen, our favourite guest from the United States. He’s here to talk about the top 10 issues in higher education in the U.S. over the past 12 months. He needs no introduction; this episode needs no introduction. It’s a great annual favourite. Robert, welcome. The

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Monsters in the System: Alex Usher on the Forces Transforming Higher Ed

Hello and welcome back to the World of Higher Education Podcast. I’m your host this week, Tiffany MacLennan. Today, we’re doing something a little bit different. With this podcast, as you know, we look at some of the major stories shaping the higher education sector around the world. This year, that reflection has also taken form, not just as a podcast, but as a written report as well. A global year-end review that examines how politics, demography, finance, and technology

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Funding, Free Riding, and the Future of Canadian Science

Ever since World War II science — that is, state funded science — and economic progress have been seen to go hand in hand. And for the most part, governments have been happy to let scientists themselves decide where much of the money goes. But things have been changing lately, and not just in the United States, where the Trump administration has awarded itself the right to involve itself in any science award for any reason. Several countries, notably Australia

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