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Ireland needs a comprehensive, well co-ordinated and resourced tertiary education system if we are to provide for the wide range of skills that our society and economy needs. The key to achieving this lies in creating a better balance between further education and training (FET) and higher education (HE) – an outcome that may require radical action.

There is a growing cluster of rankings and frameworks focused on engagement themes or which emphasise higher education’s social, cultural and economic impact and value for their communities. More recently rankings have begun to focus on sustainability.

The fourth edition of the THE Impact Rankings was released recently. Ultimately, the real value of THE Impact Rankings is the data it collects. As the era of self-regulation for Big Tech nears an end, similar questions about data ownership, governance and regulation must be asked of rankings, publishing and data analytics conglomerates.

See article by Ellen Hazelkorn in University World News, 30 April 2022
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20220429114637871

On 4 April BH Associates is holding a Seminar in the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) to launch its paper, Strengthening the Sustainability, Quality and Competitiveness of Irish Higher Education: Trends and Propositions to Provoke Debate.

Professor Michael Murphy, President of the EUA and Emeritus President of UCC, will deliver a keynote address.

Registration is now open via Eventbrite. A link to the paper is attached here

We look forward to seeing you in person. Please note, this event will not be online.

Further information from BH Associates, info@bhassociates.eu

BH Associates was asked by UNESCO to help write a Higher Education Policy and 5-Year Plan for Lebanon.

The Minister for Education and Higher Education, H.E. Dr Abbas Halabi, launched the Policy and Plan on 2 March 2022 in Beirut.

Ellen Hazelkorn was the UNESCO Expert on Higher Education/UNESCO Lead Consultant for developing the 5-Year Plan for HE in Lebanon.

On 4 April BH Associates will launch Strengthening the Sustainability, Quality and Competitiveness of Irish Higher Education: Policy Options in which we will put forward a set of propositions to bolster the higher education system.

Professor Michael Murphy, President of the EUA and Emeritus President of UCC, will deliver a keynote address.

Registration is now open.

Every year, university leaders around the world anxiously await the publication of the latest university rankings. Whether their institutions improved their performance and gained positions, will determine their success (or failure) as administrators.

Ellen Hazelkorn spoke about university rankings to the European Association of International Education. Listen to the podcast. https://www.eaie.org/blog/podcast-ellen-hazelkorn-university-rankings.html

On 18 January, the EU went even further when it published the European Strategy for Universities and the Council Recommendation on Building Bridges for Effective European Higher Education Cooperation, along with the Staff Working Document. Today the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area comprise close to 5,000 higher education institutions, 17.5 million students, 1.35 million academics and 1.17 million researchers.

Ellen Hazelkorn explains the significance of the European Union’s strategy and support for higher education.

On the eve of their 20th anniversary, the Research Handbook on University Rankings: Theory, methodology, influence and impact – in 37 chapters – provides a comprehensive review and analysis of their influence and impact.

Ellen Hazelkorn explains the significance, influence and shortcomings of university rankings.

Ellen Hazelkorn has been appointed to the Higher Education for Smart Specialisation (HESS) advisory group of the European Commission, Joint Research Council. The JRC has been the home for the Smart Specialisation Platform.

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?