WE REGULARLY PUBLISH IN-DEPTH REPORTS AND ARTICLES ON TOPICS OF INTEREST TO HIGHER EDUCATION

The list of challenges for the post-covid university is long, but here’s one flying under the radar: what happened to campus gyms while students and staff were locked down? They closed, of course, like everything else, and some are now struggling to rebound. Like many spaces on campus, gyms and other sport facilities may need a rethink in response to falling campus attendance rates and broader societal behaviour changes.
 

We are excited to launch this research in partnership with AUDE.

This paper brings to the fore some of the real concerns of Post-Graduate Research Students (PGRs) who are often towards the bottom of a cultural hierarchy within our universities, and who can find themselves overlooked in favour of ‘more valuable staff’ with permanent roles which attract research funding. We’ve interviewed representatives from universities in the UK and Australia to understand the critical space issues facing this cohort; reviewed international literature on the topic; engaged with PGRs through social media and an experience-mapping exercise; and spoken with workplace experts to draw in lessons from other sectors.

(Published in Campus Morning Mail on August 13)
Changes to university acceptance processes, rapid vaccination and student demand means the UK Higher Education sector is surging ahead in the Covid-19 recovery

Given the release of the recent IPCC report, are HEIs doing enough? We looked at some recent research which found universities are in their infancy for carbon footprinting. 

The Quality in Learning and Teaching indicators (QILT) are published annually, following a national survey where students rate their experience in higher education.  We were expecting to see a drop in student experience for 2020, no doubt about it. Since 2012 the largest variation in overall student experience has been 2%, last year there was a 9% drop.   However, some areas saw much sharper declines. We’ve highlighted a couple of interesting points.
 

As campuses re-open, outbreaks are inevitable. Young people have some of the highest transmission rates of Covid, this coupled with shared living conditions means it is impossible for outbreaks not to occur. There has been much criticism that the risks are known, but universities will not survive without the income so campuses are re-opening and dealing with outbreaks as they occur.

How long it will be, if ever, until higher education returns to some semblance of normality is unclear. What is important though, is that universities continue to deliver not just education, but the social and bonding experience that comes with higher education. In this report we look at the challenges of creating a sense of belonging pre-Covid, and what factors should be the focus going forward to assist in the recovery effort and build a resilient student experience. 

Whilst students do want life to return to normal and be back on campus, are their expectations based on a university life that we may never see again?