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The Research Handbook on University Rankings. Theory, Methodology, Influence and Impact, edited by Ellen Hazelkorn of BH Associates, with Georgiana Mihut, was published on 15 December 2021.

The Research Handbook is a major contribution to our understanding of rankings and putting them into context, theoretically and in terms of policy.

Higher education researchers, policy and decision makers as well as rankings followers will find the critical insights into globalisation and geopolitics, quality assurance, international comparability and assessment, and student outcomes and learning in this Research Handbook interesting.

BH Associates were asked to undertake a review of the Accreditation Board of St. Kitts and Nevis. The Review and Assessment of the Current Accreditation System of St. Kitts-Nevis and Recommendations to Improve Overall Accreditation Related Policies and Procedures was officially handed over to the Minister, Cons. Jonel Powell, was held on Monday, 15 November 2021.

The Welsh Government has announced that the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research (CTER), subject to legislation, will be established as an independent Welsh Government sponsored body by 2023. It will be responsible for overseeing the post-16 sector in Wales which includes further education (FE), higher education (HE), apprenticeships, sixth forms and Welsh Government funded research and innovation in the PCET sector.

The decision to establish CTER was based on a review of the governance, regulation and oversight of post-compulsory education in Wales undertaken by Ellen Hazelkorn in 2015. The report contained two primary recommendations:

Opinion: Twin genies of online learning and school-based assessment are out of their bottles and shouldn’t be put back, writes Tom Boland

Ellen Hazelkorn was commissioned by UNESCO to prepare a paper as background to the forthcoming 3rd World Conference on Higher Education’s scheduled for October 2021. Relationships between Higher Education and the Labour Market – A Review of Trends, Policies and Good Practices.

Ellen Hazelkorn assesses how the Skills for Jobs white paper measures up against its counterparts in the devolved nations, and Ireland.

The Minister for Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation & Science, Simon Harris TD,, launched the Asia Matters Report, Redefining & Reprioritising the Asia Ireland Higher Education Partnership in a Post Covid-19 World.

Tom Boland chaired the Asia Matters expert group. The report makes a contribution to the development of the next Irish national strategy for international education.

Ellen Hazelkorn participated in the Global Table on the “Economy, Employment and Education in the Digital Age“, organised as part of the policy forum informing the next G20 meeting. She proposed 6 positions for actions.

Recent decades have seen significant policy success on increasing the numbers of young people attending and successfully completing higher education. But what about the other 50% – have we given as much attention to (young) people who do not attend higher education? The report of the UK Independent Commission on the College of the Future made 11 recommendations. This is a timely report. A key message is centred around creating a more diverse and seamless post-secondary education system, embracing both vocational and higher education, in recognition that people’s life circumstances change.

Experience, even the worst experience, teaches us – so what are the lessons to be learned by higher education from the coronavirus? For example, the move to innovative forms of learning and classroom-based assessments came as a shock to higher education institutions – but now they should be incorporated into the norm, writes Tom Boland. What other lessons - and opportunities - should we carry forward?

BH Associates met with Mr. Simon Harris, T.D., Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to discuss the Technological University of Southeast Ireland.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD has today (28 July 2020) announced the appointment of an independent person to accelerate plans for a technological university in the South East.

Mr. Tom Boland, a former Chief Executive of the Higher Education Authority (HEA), will be the new independent Programme Executive Director for the TUSEI consortium comprising the Carlow and Waterford Institutes of Technology.

A survey of senior leaders in Irish higher education shows considerable support for key national objectives for higher education, but issues of accountability, regulation, institutional governance, and management are all viewed negatively by respondents. The survey and this article were completed before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has presented a whole new set of issues for governments and institutional leaders. Yet all these issues remain relevant.

Having a minister should ensure that higher education and research get a better hearing at Cabinet and a share of public resources proportionate to its importance. But if the creation of the department is to be really impactful it will require a response from the sector. Pleas for more funding, less regulation and more respect for autonomy are likely to get a better hearing from the new minister if combined with a demonstrated willingness among the institutions to see themselves as part of the solution to the fundamental challenges they now face. Sitting on the sidelines is not an option in the post-pandemic world.

Senior academics in Ireland feel their institutions would be in stronger financial positions if the Government would work harder to facilitate the recruitment of lucrative international students. However, a majority are also wary of becoming too dependent on international students for income – a problem which has been brutally exposed by the travel limitations brought in to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

BH Associates congratulates the Munster Technological University consortium in achieving technological university status. BH Associates has enormously enjoyed chairing the Project Leadership Group since last September. Congratulations.

Creating a well-function higher education system is one of the six stated high-level objectives of the National Strategy published nine years ago. The intention was, and remains, the creation of a coherent system of interlocking higher education institutions, each playing to their strengths and combining to address national economic and social priorities. In support of this objective, the Strategy recommended a process of “strategic dialogue”. The key elements are the Minister for Education and Skills, sets out national objectives for higher education and each institution through a process of dialogue with the HEA enters into a performance agreement which contains the objectives they will address and the performance metrics to be applied, with potential funding implications in the event of a failure to meet them.

You are invited to join us on 11 June 2020 to discuss “systemness”, the discussion will be led by Professor Nancy Zimpher, Chancellor Emeritus of The State University of New York (SUNY).