Solutions
Customized, Evidence Driven Solutions
We develop customized, evidence driven solutions for challenges facing higher education professionals.
HESA provides insights and solutions to higher education policy makers and institutions across Canada and around the world. Through our expertise in higher education, we can improve enrollment outcomes, evaluate governance structures, measure policy outcomes, and more. From developing our own research projects to creating in-depth reports responding to client needs, we have a proven track record of doing research that fosters change.
Strategic Planning and Governance
We conduct and advise on strategic planning exercises in higher education at the unit, faculty, institutional and — occasionally — provincial and national levels. Through a combination of multiple-channel stakeholder engagement, environmental scanning, and a keen sense of the latest developments in higher education, HESA can provide your organization with the best possible strategic advice, always tailored to the unique nature of clients in the higher education sector. We also advise institutions on issues of governance and how to improve fast but collegial decision-making.
Queen’s University, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science Strategic Plan
In 2021, HESA completed a strategic planning exercise for the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences (FEAS) at Queen’s University. The project was developed through several phases of consultative engagements of university stakeholders such as students, alumni, faculty, administration and leadership. We used qualitative and quantitative tools to gather data to develop strategic direction for the Faculty. Surveys with students and staff helped us to discover major areas of focus for the Strategic Plan. The process also involved listening to many perspectives, leading to the development of clear documents and tools that facilitated discussion between HESA and faculty/administration and that guided internal discussions of potential objectives, goals, and related metrics.
Based on this research, HESA worked with the Faculty on the development of a strategic plan for the next 5 years and beyond.
Academic
Planning
We help institutions develop new academic programs and refresh old ones. Through a combination of labour market analysis, competitor benchmarking, and examination of the latest innovations in program design and pedagogical approaches, we can offer options for new programs with significant enrolment appeal and unique value propositions. Also, for organizations interested in starting new institutions in British Columbia or Ontario, HESA offers tailored support to bring your institution and programs through the regulatory process to approval.
Northern Lights College: Technical Training Program Review
In 2021, drawing on employee interviews, discussions with academic administrators, and a comprehensive labour market scan, HESA commented on the feasibility of a wide range of technician programs that Northern Lights College could launch to improve recruitment and retention. The project focused particularly on the energy sector, but commented on the need for training other areas, including health care and environmental restoration. The result was not simply a report that relied on labour market trends to make recommendations but also one that drew on examining new credential types, identifying the need to engage with different types of learners, and on observing major employers’ needs to make unique and credible recommendations.
Institutional
Improvement
We help institutions identify and solve problems in their day-to-day business both big and small. From streamlining credit transfer and registrarial operations to improving work-integrated learning programs to developing strategies for external engagement, HESA analyses institutional practices and with the help of benchmarking and best-practice research, recommends solutions to make institutions more efficient, responsive and data-driven. We also assist in the development of institution-wide policies in areas such as research management and equity, diversity and inclusion.
ONCAT: MapIT
Since 2019, HESA has worked with most of the Ontario colleges and universities on MapIt for ONCAT, the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer. The various iterations of MapIt (which we refer to as MapIt 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0) have examined credit transfer processes across a wide variety of institutions. The aim of the project is to visually map credit transfer so we can compare and contrast credit transfer processes in different institutions and identify good practice.
The team has interviewed faculty and staff and facilitated focus groups with students who have personal experiences of transferring credits between institutions. We use Lucid Chart to create visual maps of the credit transfer process, which have given decision-makers clear images of how transfer pathways differ across Ontario. We have identified the relative strengths of different processes and also sections of the pathways where there was a risk of losing applicants. The research has revealed differences in perspective between credit transfer staff and students who have experienced the process, which underlines the importance of our wide consultation.
We presented our findings to the ONCAT management team following each iteration and also ran a workshop on process mapping for staff. ONCAT has re-engaged the HESA team for MapIt 5.0, reflecting our positive experiences of working together.
Economic and Social
Impact Studies
We are serious about measuring and improving impact. Disappointed with the standard algorithmic analysis of impact, which amounts mostly to just exercises in competitive counting, we go beyond abstract numbers and look for the real institutional contributions to growth and flourishing. Our specialty is in measuring and describing the real ways in which institutions help their communities to offer broader opportunity and to be more knowledge-intensive and prosperous, both through the development of talented graduates and the transfer of ideas.
York University: Economic and Social Impact Report
In 2020, HESA completed York University’s economic impact assessment. This report projects the impact of an academic community of over 55,000 undergraduate and graduate students plus the staff and faculty who support them.
To support this research, we reviewed a number of documents and statistics provided by York University and Statistics Canada. We surveyed 2,239 York students and 5,551 alumni and used their answers to project the overall impact of York University, including projecting a counterfactual of how their lives might have been different if the university did not exist. We also conducted more than 70 interviews with York staff, community partners, employers, and partners in research and development.
Based on this data and our mathematical modelling, HESA estimated that expanding access to higher education generated approximately $2.2 billion in economic activity. We also uncovered numerous qualitative impacts of York’s research, scholarship, and community engagement. We considered that all public spending induces some economic activity, and therefore we focussed on how lives would be different if York did not exist.
As a result of this project, we were able to develop a series of three surveys — one for students, one for faculty, and one for alumni — to help institutions drive narratives about the way they contribute to their communities both economically and socially.
Who we've worked with
A Selection of Our Recent Clients
