Category: Worldwide PSE

The Failed Fees Free Policy in New Zealand

New Zealand has always been a place unafraid to experiment in higher education. That’s partially because change is often easier to make in small countries (it’s easier to get everyone in a room), but also because the country itself has found innovation key to success. One of the biggest recent changes was the introduction of free first year for university students, something that was introduced by Jacinda Ardern, something we discussed with a previous guest, Dave Guerin, about a year

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HESA’s AI Observatory: What’s new in higher education (Jan. 19th, 2024)

Spotlight Good afternoon all,  If you’ve been following the growth of our AI Observatory since it got launched last August, you’ve probably noticed that we’ve built quite an extensive database of institutional policies, statements, guidelines, and recommendations developed across the country and all around the world to respond to GenAI in higher education. In parallel, we’ve been keeping track of what they cover (or don’t). Combined with conversations with administrators and faculty, we now have an in-depth understanding of how

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“Whatever It Is, I’m Against It: Resistance to Change in Higher Education” with Brian Rosenberg

 Hello, I’m Alex Usher, and this is the World of Higher Education podcast. One paradox of higher education that holds more or less true around the world is that while universities are charged with inventing the future, pushing boundaries, and aspiring contrarian and sometimes radical ideas, they’re also extremely conservative when it comes to their own affairs. Change does not come naturally to them anywhere in the world. Today my guest is Brian Rosenberg, a former president of Macalester University

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The Central Asia Play

Today let’s talk about four countries in Asia: Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. Japan, the first Asian country to modernize, went through a thoroughly transformative economic miracle in the 1950s and 1960s. It currently has a population of 125 million, 10th largest in the world. South Korea was the next of the so-called “Asian Tigers” to follow, achieving “developed-country” status in the 1980s and 1990s. It currently has a population of 51 million. Though both have been to some

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HESA’s AI Observatory: What’s new in higher education (Jan. 12th, 2024)

Spotlight 2024 is off to a flying start, and with that comes a second round of AI Roundtables! Thanks to everyone who participated in our sessions in the Fall, and to those of you who shared your ideas and feedback with us.  We listened to you! In the new year, we’ll aim to make these sessions as “roundtable-y” as possible, and provide more opportunities for all participants to engage.  In the upcoming months, we’ll be diving into various topics that

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