The economic, civic and intellectual ends of a university education do not need to be placed in opposition to one another. A university education at its best will be attentive to all these ends.
People walk past the University of Toronto campus during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto in June 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
The COVID-19 pandemic affected college towns profoundly and highlighted the complex relationship between universities and their host communities.
Researchers examined 15 Ontario municipalities with a major university campus, and found only one (Waterloo) had adopted plans designed to accommodate student housing near the campus. Student-oriented housing under construction in Waterloo, Ont., in 2016.
(Evelyn Hofmann)
Local governments have far too often been let off the hook for approaches that discreetly limit where students may live.
Sexual and gender-based violence can seem like an insurmountable problem, but interdisciplinary thinking encourages creative approaches to social change. Queen’s University students in Kingston, Ont., protest sexual assault on campuses in September 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg
Faculty and university staff are embedding training to prevent gender-based and sexual violence into curricular goals of both arts and STEM classes.
Police tape on a door following a stabbing at the University of Waterloo on June 28,. Waterloo Regional Police said three victims were stabbed inside the university’s Hagey Hall, and the suspected attacker was arrested.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn
The stabbings at the University of Waterloo remind us that violence for daring to stand in a classroom and speak is still ever-present.
A community event takes place on June 29 outside Hagey Hall at the University of Waterloo to focus on supporting one another and making everyone feel safe after an attack at the university earlier in the week.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne
We need to care for those most affected, and consider both how we create safe work and learning environments, and how we de-escalate movements of misogyny, homophobia and transphobia.
New research has found that Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students are more likely to be sexually harassed in a university context than any other students.
The damning findings of five years ago did prompt universities to change policies and practices. The problem is we still lack evidence for what works to prevent sexual violence on campus.
Waipapa Marae, University of Auckland campus.
Shutterstock
Childhood dreams of being an All Black helped give a senior academic leader the courage to adopt the humble posture of a pupil with much to learn.
International students living abroad who face unpredictable pandemic travel restrictions during holidays may be feeling vulnerable, and reaching out is important.
(Shutterstock)
Peer support, opportunities to engage in responses to combat racism and bias and culturally responsive counselling are important for the mental health and well-being of international students.
Students matching the ‘traditional’ applicant’s profile see university as a stepping stone to a good job. Those from less-well-represented groups care more about higher education’s intrinsic value.
Western University students march during a walkout in support of sexual assault survivors, in London, Ont., on Sept. 17.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne
Many universities overseas have already made vaccination a condition of being allowed on campus. There are precedents for this policy, which is based on strong public health and economic grounds.
International student demand for places in Australia has fallen by a third over the course of the pandemic, while for our key competitors demand has remained stable or even increased.
Digital technology and COVID-19 have transformed the ways universities are delivering courses. But some are taking a minimalist low-cost approach, while others are aiming higher.
Would anyone want to spend more screen time talking about pandemics? Yes, learned an anthropologist, biologist and historian who developed a course on the topic.
(Shutterstock)
The course offers a model for teaching about complex problems, and underlines the critical role of university learning, research and outreach in understanding and addressing them.
Over 5,000 student-athletes were directly affected by a recent wave of shutdowns of intercollegiate sports teams.
Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellow, Director, Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies, The University of Melbourne
Associate Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, the University of Queensland; International Distinguished Fellow, the Burton Blatt Institute, Syracuse University., The University of Queensland
Director of Centre for Postgraduate Studies, Rhodes University & Visiting Research Professor in Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, Rhodes University