World Philosophy Day 2021 falls on 18 November. Commemorated since 2005 world-wide, it is quite close to the birthdays of theologian and Christian philosopher (Saint) Augustine (13 November 354–28 August 430) and philosopher Baruch Spinoza (24 November 1632–21 February 1677). ...
More »How does a university of enterprise operate and engage its stakeholders? opinion
A university of enterprise actively seeks to give voice to, and engage, all stakeholders. Its leadership team visibly and actively seeks to incorporate the views of its customers in plans for the future – and are not afraid of the ...
More »The higher education experience is changing for good: opinion
Steve Jobs once said: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards.” Looking back, 2020/21 was a time of dramatic shift in universities. International student income had propelled research growth, raising our performance in ...
More »Student engagement in the move to online and hybrid learning – opinion
It would be an understatement to say approaches to learning, and the needs of learners, have changed during the pandemic. Before COVID-19, there had already been a move towards improving the engagement of learners to match expectations within the digital landscape. ...
More »If humans did not exist would there be arithmetic, the ‘Big Bang’ or dinosaurs? Opinion
June 2021 was the 41st anniversary to the month of the publication of the article ‘Extraterrestrial cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction’ (main authors Louis and Walter Alvarez) in the Journal Science (1980) 208 (448) pages 1095-1108 which, in effect, proposed ...
More »Who will have the fast mover advantage? opinion
Much of the commentary on university strategy within our public universities in Australia and globally is noteworthy more for how little is changing. We remain to see radically different strategies and business models. The feelings of observers, and many staff ...
More »How universities can combat increasing cybersecurity threats: opinion
Australian universities are facing ongoing pressure from cyber attackers who have been emboldened by COVID-19 disruptions and attracted to the increasingly digital nature of learning and research. Universities store highly valuable information about students as well as data regarding research ...
More »The changing face of management during a pandemic: opinion
By now we are all aware of the effect and impact a pandemic can have on society and how disruptive it can be to the economy. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the business world into turmoil in so many ways. ...
More »Finding the best of times in the worst of times – opinion
The scenario for universities in 2013 appeared uncertain. Foreshadowed budget cuts to higher education suggested the worst of times may be on the near horizon. But who could have foreseen the “challenging” and “unprecedented” times that would follow just seven ...
More »Centralised customer teams – the missing piece that will boost retention: opinion
The competition to enrol new students has continually pushed tertiary institutions to strengthen their future student teams – to listen and take a more consultative approach. With continual COVID disruptions, the competition has now got tougher. Indeed, high performing customer ...
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