What We Do and Why We Do It

After fifteen years of writing this blog, I pause and look back every now and then at those first posts. Back then, it was just me writing about a sector I had already spent much of my career working in, sharing whatever I thought might help people stay informed, provoked, or at least amused before their first coffee of the day.

Over time, I have come to realise that a surprising number of people assume my job is simply writing this blog, or that HESA is essentially a think-tank with a high output metabolism. So today I want to do something rather simple and maybe unexpected. I want to explain what it is we do, exactly.

Yes: we share a lot of material freely about the sector. We always have. We are an office full of higher-ed wonks, and we love nothing more than to talk about the sector with folks in the sector.

Much of that is in this blog, but there is also our weekly World of Higher Education Podcast, uniquely focused on truly global debates and developments in higher education; The Fifteen, a sharp, bi-weekly round-up of global higher education stories; Focus Friday, a bi-weekly webinar hosted by Tiffany MacLennan, offering higher education enthusiasts from across Canada opportunities to engage the biggest issues of the day; along with our special analysis of big events, such as the annual Budget Commentary; our always anticipated State of Post-Secondary Education in Canada (SPEC) annual almanac; and, new this year, a global counterpart to SPEC called World of Higher Education – Year in Review. The first edition comes out on December 4, and it is going to be a great read.

I won’t list everything here – you can find it all on our website if you wish – but the point is simple: we put information out into the world because the sector, now more than ever, deserves accessible and trusted analysis, and smart data and insights. And, well, because talking with you all is genuinely fun.

This public work helps keep the conversation moving, but the substance of our work is being allies and helping institutions make sound and strategic decisions.

Most of our time and expertise is spent supporting colleges and universities with strategic planning—large or small, whole-institution or faculty-level. We scan environments, test assumptions, run comprehensive consultations, and try to separate passing hype from what truly matters. Increasingly, institutions also turn to us through BoardWise to help their boards and board members understand the landscape in which they are working, and to navigate governance challenges. We often help institutions have difficult internal conversations, acting as both a knowledgeable resource and mediator.

We work on issues that sit inside the machinery of institutions: enrolment, program portfolios, international strategies, academic structures, equity and inclusion, and the perennial challenge of aligning people, processes, and priorities. We also help institutions revamp their academic programming. We keep tabs on developments in academic offerings both in Canada, and around the world. We do dynamic benchmark and competitor analyses, as well as highlight potential areas where blue-ocean programming could be developed.  

Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM) is a major part of this work, including the international side, where we analyze office staffing, support international strategies, and identify potential academic partners in developing countries. And yes, we work with a lot of data: helping institutions understand it, govern it, and use it wisely, including through our joint venture with the good people at Plaid Analytics.

And increasingly, we convene. The University Vice-Presidents’ Network (UVPN) has members meet three times a year: twice in Canada and once on an international study trip (next May’s trip to Germany is looking very interesting). We also hosted AI:CADEMY 2025 (watch for more on this for 2026), and will be hosting the sold-out Re:University conference coming up in January. Our team is currently hard at work on the upcoming National Defence Research Roundtable, which will convene university leaders from across Canada on December 15 to develop practical, sector-wide advice on how Canada should structure future defence and security research investments. Tickets are selling fast for that one – get in touch with us if you’re interested in participating. All of these initiatives are attempts to bring people together across institutional and sectoral boundaries, because no amount of writing or data sharing can replace honest conversation among peers.

We do all this because we believe a strong, informed, well-connected post-secondary sector matters. Not just economically – though, of course, it does – but civically and intellectually. And, we try to offer ways for people to engage with us that match the times, including some new, more flexible advisory models that I’ll say a bit more about in the coming weeks.

Why am I telling you all this now? Because the sector needs more coordination and shared purpose, and clarity about our role helps us contribute to that worthwhile work. Being open about what we do is simply part of staying connected and contributing to a stronger post-secondary ecosystem.