North America

THE podcast: how technology is reshaping the 21st-century campus

When hybrid learning and immersive technology can connect and engage students working in any location, where does that leave all those lecture halls and libraries? We ask two US experts about how universities are adapting to the digital transformation

Stephen W. Harmon, Lev Gonick

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities, Arizona State University

Engineering student using virtual reality

How comfortable are your students with AI and VR?

To train tomorrow’s workforce, higher education institutions must assess students’ technological familiarity, their readiness to engage with advanced tools and their purposes for using them. Here are two ways to gather data

Meryem Yilmaz Soylu

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

Studious student memorising notes at her desk

Don’t forget Bloom’s Taxonomy’s ‘remembering’ level

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a pedagogical framework covering six levels: remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating. Building a strong foundation to help students store and retrieve information is crucial

Adeola Matthew

The University of the West Indies

Science-backed mental health techniques for students’ well-being

University students have long struggled with academic pressure, social media demands, economic challenges and career uncertainty. This technique uses language and body awareness to help students cope and reset

Erica Coates

Virginia Tech

Learning objectives as a tool to guide post-Covid learning

Instructors can use specific learning objectives to spark greater reflection and self-regulated learning in students. Here’s a step-by-step guide to aligning learning, course and curriculum outcomes

Jeremy Hsu

Chapman University

A group of people working round an office table

How to create a start-up dynamic in academia

Innovation hubs have sparked ideas, fostered partnerships and raised funding for the software industry. Let’s use the same model to create groundbreaking educational programmes

Deborah Sepich

Colorado State University Global

How Mozart and the arts can help students feel less awkward

Music and dance give the post-Covid cohort low-stress opportunities to face each other in potentially antagonising – even agonising – set-ups. Here’s how a multisensory curriculum helps students combat feelings of isolation and impostor syndrome

Brigid Cohen , Wendy Anne Lee, Rosemary Quinn, Mimi Yin

New York University

What self-determination theory can do for post-pandemic college students

Incoming university students are more stressed, anxious and distracted than ever. Here’s how to support their psychological needs

Cathy A. Pohan, Melissa Samaniego

Chapman University

A magnifying glass searches out a wooden figure in a collection

Recruit your next president using the forensic model

In their new book ‘The New College President: How a Generation of Diverse Leaders is Changing Higher Education’, Terrence J. MacTaggart and Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran offer their step-by-step guide to finding the strongest non-traditional presidential candidates

Terrence J. MacTaggart, Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran

Association of Governing Boards

Service and creative practice as a university administrator

Why give up or reduce teaching responsibilities to enter an administrative role? Jim Bassett took on the position of director for simple but meaningful reasons: deepening the level of service to students and colleagues and extending creative practice

Jim Bassett

Virginia Tech

Various sqiggly arrows straightening into the same direction, blended learning concept

Teaching public policy research skills to tomorrow’s leaders

When students learn the fundamentals of public policy research, they also acquire tools to evaluate how institutions operate and how those same tools can be used to solve problems in their communities. This blended learning approach can level up these skills

Christopher Kromphardt, Mark Anthoney , Cassidy Branch

Johns Hopkins University, University of Iowa

Equity without whiteness: what leaders get wrong in pursuit of an equitable campus

How can equity be advanced within a system that protects the status quo, and how can university leaders make a difference? Jordan Harper, Rozana Carducci and Adrianna Kezar examine how

Jordan Harper, Rozana Carducci, Adrianna Kezar

Morgan State University, Elon University, University of Southern California

Couple in dual career concept illustration

What can universities do to support academic couples?

What elements can make a university stand out as being partner-friendly? Here are ways for institutions to support academics in dual-career partnerships – and boost their ability to attract and retain the best talent

Torin Monahan, Jill A. Fisher

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Colourful paper explodes from one wooden head, black paper from the other

Let’s kindle the fire for discovery in our students

In his new book ‘Mindset Matters: The Power of College to Activate Lifelong Growth’, Daniel R Porterfield explores how to spark a heat-seeking search for knowledge among undergraduates

Daniel R. Porterfield

Aspen Institute

Young black male university student with a backpack

A sustainable strategy for educating the next generation of African youth

Young women and men from African countries will soon comprise the most significant group of globally mobile students. What if universities met them with a sustainable, positive vision for their communities and the host institutions? Here are practical strategies and resources

Melissa Aberle-Grasse

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

Streamlining a move from a faculty position to a leadership role

Moving into a leadership role at an academic institution includes setting ambitious goals around collaboration and finding solutions to worldwide challenges. These techniques can support leadership success

Brian Lattimer

Virginia Tech

Are you ready to manage?

Management is rewarding, but managing people is not an easy task. It takes commitment and genuine passion to develop and empower people to achieve their very best, writes Colleen Robinson-Hunte

Colleen Robinson-Hunte

The University of the West Indies

Why I ban AI use for writing assignments

Students may see handwriting essays in class as a needlessly time-consuming approach to assignments, but I want them to learn how to engage with arguments, develop their own views and convey them effectively, writes James Stacey Taylor

James Stacey Taylor

The College of New Jersey

Balancing career readiness and finances: the case for abbreviated internships

Internships give students professional experience, guide career choices and boost job market competitiveness. But what if students need higher-paying summer jobs or can’t afford three months in a far-flung city? That’s where abbreviated winter internships come in

Margarita McGrath

Virginia Tech

Practical tips for graduate students undertaking a doctoral dissertation

Producing a doctoral dissertation can be an intimidating process, writes Bill Huckle. Here, he shares practical strategies for graduate students taking on the work to share their original contribution to knowledge with the wider community

William R. Huckle

Virginia Tech

What does it mean for students to be AI-ready?

Not everyone wants to be a computer scientist, a software engineer or a machine learning developer. We owe it to our students to prepare them with a full range of AI skills for the world they will graduate into, writes David Joyner

David Joyner

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

Female hands with a pen and a blank page

Strategies for writing a PhD dissertation: write before you’re ‘ready’

Reading isn’t writing, and knowing about your topic isn’t writing. So, what should graduate students do to get started and make steady progress? Monique Dufour suggests practising well before it’s time to write the thesis or dissertation

Monique Dufour

Virginia Tech

A woman in a mortarboard, holding a scroll, looks off into the distance

For the future of higher education, we need to educate the whole student

In this extract from his book ‘The Learning-Centered University’, Steven Mintz lays out his vision of higher education’s future, and proposes a new way of learning

Steven Mintz

University of Texas at Austin

Student and teacher interacting in a classroom

Integrating ethics into course design is vital – here’s how to do it

Integrating philosophical enquiry into course design can enrich teaching practice and help our students act justly, writes Cara E. Furman

Cara E. Furman

Hunter College

Building kindness into an institutional culture

Advice on how to ground humanity in institutional practices, structures and policies to holistically support faculty and staff

Xueli Wang

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Two sun loungers sit on white sand, shaded by a yellow beach umbrella

Get your PhD thesis beach ready

Prepping for the beach requires planning, effort and time management – and so does writing a PhD thesis. John Sinclair offers advice for summer days and doctoral nights

John Sinclair

Colorado State University Global

Recognising and dealing with bullying on college campuses

It’s not realistic to expect all contempt to instantly vanish when you respond, but it will certainly persist if you don’t respond, writes Elizabeth K. Englander

Elizabeth K. Englander

Bridgewater State University

Fulfilling a mission and serving Indigenous students

Universities can do much to support Indigenous students, strengthening the institution’s community, increasing visibility and highlighting the needs of Native Nations students and faculty through deliberate action, writes Melissa Faircloth

Melissa Faircloth

Virginia Tech

Change in higher education is hard, but not impossible

Transformational change requires something closer to the culture of a start-up, which pilots and tests new ideas, takes risks and prizes creative disruption, writes Brian Rosenberg

Brian Rosenberg

Macalester College

Yes, and… Using improv to build students’ confidence in the classroom

Through exercises borrowed from improvisational theatre, students can use imaginative thinking and creative problem-solving, learn to think outside the box and embrace ambiguity, writes Joe Conto. Here, he offers ways to help the post-Covid generation reconnect

Joe Conto

Paul Smith’s College

How can we train our students to be better communicators?

Introducing small departmental communication programmes can help students improve writing and presentation skills without overburdening faculty or requiring massive curriculum changes

Carl Follmer

University of Iowa

Panel job interview with young female candidate

How do universities successfully recruit faculty and staff?

Grounding hiring processes in the principle of “shared governance” is essential for successful recruitment outcomes, writes Norma Bouchard. Here, she offers 11 examples of best practice for hiring top candidates at a university

Norma Bouchard

Chapman University

Can well-being programmes attract world-class talent to an institution?

Aside from competitive compensation, research support and faculty development, how can a university attract the best faculty candidates? Ron Fricker outlines two programmes that meet the recruitment challenge head-on

Ron Fricker

Virginia Tech

A screen showing several windows open on different news sites

Spark social justice awareness in the classroom

Exposing your students to a wide range of perspectives on one topic can help develop their social justice awareness. Stone Meredith shows how

Stone Meredith

Colorado State University Global

The vital role of a faculty senate in higher education

In the intricate ecosystem of a university, the faculty senate allows for democratic governance and academic integrity. Here, Joseph S. Merola explains why establishing this body is not an option but an imperative

Joseph S. Merola

Virginia Tech

The secrets to success as a provost

What does this multifaceted job entail and what qualities do you need to do it well? Steve McLaughlin decodes one of higher education’s most mysterious roles

Steven W. McLaughlin

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

Moving from individual contributions to team achievements in group projects

Putting the emphasis on a deliberate, reflective approach that emphasises clear goals and active engagement is a better way to prepare students for teamwork in their future careers, write William Owen and Leah Chambers

William J. Owen , Leah Chambers

University of Northern British Columbia

The (AI) sky isn’t falling

Students using generative AI to write their essays is a problem, but it isn’t a crisis, writes Christopher Hallenbrook. We have the tools to tackle the issue of artificial intelligence

Christopher R. Hallenbrook

California State University, Dominguez Hills

Detail of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam

Why I invite a creationist to my evolutionary biology class

The encounter gives students a chance to apply newly gained knowledge to a real-world situation and, perhaps more importantly, it models productive discussion among people who disagree with one another, writes Curt Stager

Curt Stager

Paul Smith’s College

The pandemic taught me the benefits of flipped homework

In this extract from ‘Online Education During Covid-19 and Beyond’, Olga Amarie shares what she learned about flipped homework while teaching pandemic-era French lessons

Olga Amarie

Georgia Southern University

A professional giving a presentation in front of a seated audience

Follow these tips to get over your fear of public speaking

Anxiety over public speaking often prevents people from taking opportunities that may advance their careers. Here, Siguthani Bryan offers advice on how to move past it

Siguthani Bryan

The University of the West Indies

Leverage large language models to assess soft skills in lifelong learning

Leadership and critical-thinking skills are difficult to measure. Here, Jonna Lee offers case studies that test the idea of integrating large language models into assessment practices as a feedback tool to empower both students and instructors

Jonna Lee

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

How students’ GenAI skills and reflection affect assignment instructions

The ability to use generative AI is akin to time management or other learning skills that students need practice to master. Here, Vincent Spezzo and Ilya Gokhman offer tips to make sure instructions land equally no matter students’ level of AI experience

Vincent Spezzo, Ilya Gokhman

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

A woman holds a lightbulb with a holographic rendition of a mortarboard,

Seven things driving the evolution of the university in the 21st century

How can we align higher education with the changing demands of society? Urbi Ghosh identifies the seven factors involved in transforming the university

Urbi Ghosh

Colorado State University

Two people sit at a table covered with post-it notes at an event

Community-engaged research can give a voice to marginalised people

Our biggest challenges cannot be resolved by ‘expert’ research alone – community knowledge is essential. Tara Mahoney and Scott Neufeld argue that researchers should let communities set the agenda

Tara Mahoney, Scott Neufeld

Simon Fraser University

Taming anxiety around public speaking

Public speaking is a skill that inspires dread in many: fear of judgement, of making mistakes, of facing unpredictable circumstances. Here, Patty Raun draws on her experience as an actor to share tips for quelling the anxiety

Patricia Raun

Virginia Tech

How to tackle the PhD dissertation

Finding time to write can be a challenge for graduate students who often juggle multiple roles and responsibilities. Mabel Ho provides some tips to make the process less daunting

Mabel Ho

Dalhousie University

Use artificial intelligence to get your students thinking critically

When crafting online courses, teaching critical thinking skills is crucial. Urbi Ghosh shows how generative AI can shape how educators can approach this

Urbi Ghosh

Colorado State University Global

Designing assessments with generative AI in mind

A new era of AI requires a balance between thoughtfully mitigating and responsibly promoting student use of new tools

Kate Crane

Dalhousie University

Practical ways to ease presentation nerves

One way to offset public-speaking anxiety is to have confidence in your presentation. Brandi Quesenberry shares the keys to making your presentation shine and ensuring that it is memorable, impactful and successful

Brandi Quesenberry

Virginia Tech

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