@johnfleckeross.bsky.social
Online chat groups help keep students motivated and provide a “safety net” against forgotten assignments, but their contribution is “more logistical than epistemic”, an Australian analysis suggests. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/student...
Student group chats a ‘blind spot’ in learning support
Private chat forums are ‘valued learning environments’ that can help stop students falling behind, Australian study finds
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 22, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Online chat groups help keep students motivated and provide a “safety net” against forgotten assignments, but their contribution is “more logistical than epistemic”, an Australian analysis suggests. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/student...
Response to Segal’s report doesn't address her recommendations around university funding, but THE understands that the government plans to empower higher education regulator TEQSA to impose significant financial penalties on universities. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univers...
Universities judged on antisemitism response after Bondi attack
Financial penalties loom for institutions that fail to crack down on issue as government commits to ‘report card’ system
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 18, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Response to Segal’s report doesn't address her recommendations around university funding, but THE understands that the government plans to empower higher education regulator TEQSA to impose significant financial penalties on universities. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univers...
Australian universities will be assessed on their efforts to stamp out antisemitism on campus, and risk losing funding if they are found wanting, under government moves following the Bondi Beach terrorist attack. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univers...
Universities judged on antisemitism response after Bondi attack
Financial penalties loom for institutions that fail to crack down on issue as government commits to ‘report card’ system
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 18, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Australian universities will be assessed on their efforts to stamp out antisemitism on campus, and risk losing funding if they are found wanting, under government moves following the Bondi Beach terrorist attack. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univers...
Australasian universities have agreed terms with the world’s biggest scholarly publisher, averting a looming lockout from over 1,600 academic journals. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/austral...
Australasian universities strike deal with Elsevier
‘Significantly improved’ agreement with world’s biggest scholarly publisher averts new year shutdown
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Australasian universities have agreed terms with the world’s biggest scholarly publisher, averting a looming lockout from over 1,600 academic journals. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/austral...
$233m funding lifeline in yesterday's budget update will not prevent CSIRO from retrenching up to 350 staff and abandoning research areas, as it confronts need for large scale maintenance and upgrades. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/csiro-f...
Csiro funding lifeline ‘will not save researchers’ jobs’
Australian science lobbyists pin hopes on research and development review, saying ‘one-off’ mini-budget funding boost will not compensate for years of decline
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:35 PM
$233m funding lifeline in yesterday's budget update will not prevent CSIRO from retrenching up to 350 staff and abandoning research areas, as it confronts need for large scale maintenance and upgrades. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/csiro-f...
“Why would you have a council overseeing a council? You have to be careful of redundancy. We’ve got a council. We’ve got an independent expert inquiring into these matters. We’ve got Teqsa employing the independent expert. Do we need another committee?” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/new-bod...
New bodies mooted as leadership appointments come under spotlight
Senator warns universities have ‘few levers’ to pull when things go badly – citing ‘havoc’ at the Australian National University under former vice-chancellor
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 16, 2025 at 7:58 PM
“Why would you have a council overseeing a council? You have to be careful of redundancy. We’ve got a council. We’ve got an independent expert inquiring into these matters. We’ve got Teqsa employing the independent expert. Do we need another committee?” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/new-bod...
ANU’s acquiescence to TEQSA demands marks a “big shift” from uni councils’ instinctive resistance to regulatory interventions. “Under different circumstances could you see the regulator overuse its powers? Potentially. That’s what I'd be worried about.” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/new-bod...
New bodies mooted as leadership appointments come under spotlight
Senator warns universities have ‘few levers’ to pull when things go badly – citing ‘havoc’ at the Australian National University under former vice-chancellor
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 16, 2025 at 7:57 PM
ANU’s acquiescence to TEQSA demands marks a “big shift” from uni councils’ instinctive resistance to regulatory interventions. “Under different circumstances could you see the regulator overuse its powers? Potentially. That’s what I'd be worried about.” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/new-bod...
Proposal from independent senator David Pocock is the latest challenge to university self-governance from staff, regulators and politicians. “It’s become very clear that there are very few levers to course-correct when things go incredibly badly.” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/new-bod...
New bodies mooted as leadership appointments come under spotlight
Senator warns universities have ‘few levers’ to pull when things go badly – citing ‘havoc’ at the Australian National University under former vice-chancellor
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 16, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Proposal from independent senator David Pocock is the latest challenge to university self-governance from staff, regulators and politicians. “It’s become very clear that there are very few levers to course-correct when things go incredibly badly.” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/new-bod...
Australian universities have been urged to create new oversight bodies that would have the power to remove leaders when things go wrong amid increasing challenges to institutions’ self-governance. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/uk-univ...
UK universities strike deal with four major publishers
Universities can decide on publishing deals after terms agreed with Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 16, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Australian universities have been urged to create new oversight bodies that would have the power to remove leaders when things go wrong amid increasing challenges to institutions’ self-governance. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/uk-univ...
“The worst thing now would be to cower into oblivion. We need to teach about it. We need to research it. We need to talk about it, and we need to do it from a place of generosity and goodwill and not suspicion and hatred and anger. We need to be brave.” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/hard-co...
Hard conversations needed after Bondi attack, universities told
Reconceive disagreement as an opportunity to engage rather than a problem to be solved or sidestepped, experts urge, following terrorist tragedy on iconic beach
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 15, 2025 at 8:54 PM
“The worst thing now would be to cower into oblivion. We need to teach about it. We need to research it. We need to talk about it, and we need to do it from a place of generosity and goodwill and not suspicion and hatred and anger. We need to be brave.” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/hard-co...
No Australian vice-chancellor has hit the ground running quite like former federal opposition leader Bill Shorten. www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/faces-...
Faces of 2025: who shaped higher education headlines this year
Times Higher Education journalists name the change-makers at the heart of the sector’s biggest debates over the past 12 months
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:00 AM
No Australian vice-chancellor has hit the ground running quite like former federal opposition leader Bill Shorten. www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/faces-...
IRU analysis suggests Morrison govt’s JRG reforms, designed to push students into disciplines with supposedly better employment prospects, are undermining current government’s policy agenda of shepherding more disadvantaged students into higher education. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/disadva...
Disadvantaged students ‘worst hit’ by humanities fee hike
Former administration’s tuition fee reforms undermining Albanese government mission to promote equitable enrolments
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 14, 2025 at 8:25 PM
IRU analysis suggests Morrison govt’s JRG reforms, designed to push students into disciplines with supposedly better employment prospects, are undermining current government’s policy agenda of shepherding more disadvantaged students into higher education. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/disadva...
Between 2020-2024, bachelor’s degree take-up by low-SES Australians fell 10%, compared to 2% in mid and high-SES, particularly declining in fields with highest tuition fees - 18% in law, business and commerce and 21% in other HASS fields. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/disadva...
Disadvantaged students ‘worst hit’ by humanities fee hike
Former administration’s tuition fee reforms undermining Albanese government mission to promote equitable enrolments
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 14, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Between 2020-2024, bachelor’s degree take-up by low-SES Australians fell 10%, compared to 2% in mid and high-SES, particularly declining in fields with highest tuition fees - 18% in law, business and commerce and 21% in other HASS fields. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/disadva...
A longstanding decline in humanities and social science enrolments has been most pronounced among students from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds, hitting elite fields like law as well as generalist arts degrees. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/disadva...
Disadvantaged students ‘worst hit’ by humanities fee hike
Former administration’s tuition fee reforms undermining Albanese government mission to promote equitable enrolments
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 14, 2025 at 8:19 PM
A longstanding decline in humanities and social science enrolments has been most pronounced among students from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds, hitting elite fields like law as well as generalist arts degrees. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/disadva...
Disadvantaged Australians have deserted arts, business, commerce and law courses after a post-Covid inflationary spike intensified the sting of Job-ready Graduates fee hikes, new analysis suggests. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/disadva...
Disadvantaged students ‘worst hit’ by humanities fee hike
Former administration’s tuition fee reforms undermining Albanese government mission to promote equitable enrolments
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 14, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Disadvantaged Australians have deserted arts, business, commerce and law courses after a post-Covid inflationary spike intensified the sting of Job-ready Graduates fee hikes, new analysis suggests. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/disadva...
Academic boards would conduct annual reviews of the “staffing profile” of every uni course, and higher education regulator would monitor staffing levels “to provide continued assurance of quality”, under proposals from a marathon Senate committee inquiry. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/adequat...
Adequate staffing for every course in new oversight ‘blueprint’
Funding must be part of the conversation, crossbench senators warn, as final report of Australian governance inquiry published
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 11, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Academic boards would conduct annual reviews of the “staffing profile” of every uni course, and higher education regulator would monitor staffing levels “to provide continued assurance of quality”, under proposals from a marathon Senate committee inquiry. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/adequat...
“It is indefensible that no work is being done to address the timing of indexation on student debt. There is no other financial sector in which we could accept Australians being charged interest on monies already repaid.” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/overpay...
Overpayments persist despite Australian student debt overhaul
Charging interest on loans already repaid would be illegal in other sectors, senator highlights
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:33 PM
“It is indefensible that no work is being done to address the timing of indexation on student debt. There is no other financial sector in which we could accept Australians being charged interest on monies already repaid.” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/overpay...
Australia’s government has overhauled student loan repayments and forgiven billions of dollars of student debt but is yet to fix a glitch that forces graduates to pay interest on money they have already repaid. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/overpay...
Overpayments persist despite Australian student debt overhaul
Charging interest on loans already repaid would be illegal in other sectors, senator highlights
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Australia’s government has overhauled student loan repayments and forgiven billions of dollars of student debt but is yet to fix a glitch that forces graduates to pay interest on money they have already repaid. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/overpay...
“That’s one of the things about discovery science. You never quite know where it’s going to go. That’s sometimes hard to sell to politicians who say, ‘You’re asking for tens of millions of dollars. What’s the outcome in three years?’” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/pre-ord...
‘Pre-order’ research in sights of science academy president-elect
Epilepsy pioneer vows to target ‘negative view’ of discovery science and ‘mindset’ of expecting the outcomes in advance
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:34 PM
“That’s one of the things about discovery science. You never quite know where it’s going to go. That’s sometimes hard to sell to politicians who say, ‘You’re asking for tens of millions of dollars. What’s the outcome in three years?’” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/pre-ord...
UNSW Sydney outlines plans for an outpost in Bangalore, marking a rare venture by a top-flight university into the financially risky world of foreign branch campuses. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/unsw-un...
UNSW unveils branch campus plans as elites join rush to India
First major foray abroad for one of Australia’s top-ranked universities since Singaporean venture closed after just a semester
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:36 PM
UNSW Sydney outlines plans for an outpost in Bangalore, marking a rare venture by a top-flight university into the financially risky world of foreign branch campuses. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/unsw-un...
Higher education reviewer and steward Mary O’Kane has been named next chancellor of the University of Queensland, where she will succeed diplomat Peter Varghese. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/okane-n...
O’Kane named next Queensland chancellor
Serial reviewer and interim higher education steward to head governing body of sunshine state’s sandstone university
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Higher education reviewer and steward Mary O’Kane has been named next chancellor of the University of Queensland, where she will succeed diplomat Peter Varghese. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/okane-n...
NZ’s unis will need to demonstrate improvements in completion rates, earnings of their graduates and industry uptake of their research to mount compelling arguments for govt funding, under new tertiary education strategy. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/unapolo...
‘Unapologetic’ focus on economic growth in new NZ strategy
Jobs and achievement the new mantra in a ‘refocus on what matters most’ in the tertiary system
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:58 PM
NZ’s unis will need to demonstrate improvements in completion rates, earnings of their graduates and industry uptake of their research to mount compelling arguments for govt funding, under new tertiary education strategy. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/unapolo...
Many students in Australia struggle to afford enough food, and expensive campus outlets are not helping. www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/subs...
Subsidised canteens are a must to address student food insecurity
Many students in Australia struggle to afford enough food, and expensive campus outlets are not helping, say Jane Dyson and four colleagues
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Many students in Australia struggle to afford enough food, and expensive campus outlets are not helping. www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/subs...
ANU's sixty-year-old music school becomes the latest cultural institution to win a reprieve from sweeping cuts to the university. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/no-stru...
No structural change to ANU Music School
Reprieve reflects outpouring of community concern and improvement in university’s financial position
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 1, 2025 at 11:09 PM
ANU's sixty-year-old music school becomes the latest cultural institution to win a reprieve from sweeping cuts to the university. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/no-stru...
Atec's bill only empowers it to advise on “Commonwealth contribution amounts for places”, not student contributions. “Does that just leave it to the govt to devise a JRG replacement, which they’ve conspicuously failed to do for quite a number of years?” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/atec-bi...
Atec bill ‘sidesteps reform’ of Job-ready Graduates scheme
Australia’s new higher education steward may lack the power to overhaul widely opposed system of university fees and subsidies
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Atec's bill only empowers it to advise on “Commonwealth contribution amounts for places”, not student contributions. “Does that just leave it to the govt to devise a JRG replacement, which they’ve conspicuously failed to do for quite a number of years?” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/atec-bi...