Students’ firebombing of Nelson Mandela’s alma mater has raised questions about whether South Africa’s universities can break out of a cycle of corruption, underfunding and protest. They can – but only with good leadership and political will, hears Juliette Rowsell #edusky https://ow.ly/KA4L50XQVfc

Another day, another news story on the catastrophic choices behind Future Nottingham. How many signs do we need that we're careening in the wrong direction? #StopTheCuts #SaveHE www.timeshighereducation.com/news/staff-f...

Thank you for covering this. @julietterowsell.bsky.social @timeshighered.bsky.social

Failure to adequately manage work-related stress at University of Birmingham breached health and safety regulations, watchdog rules www.timeshighereducation.com/news/birming... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

Pleased to be interviewed for this much needed piece on the rising transphobia in higher education. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/trans-s... (Archive link: archive.is/oYqXS)

University and College Union members at Southampton Solent University have voted to pursue strike action after the institution moved professional services staff to a subsidiary firm with a different pension scheme. Juliette Rowsell reports #academicsky #UCU https://ow.ly/95fz50XJM6R

“There’s no getting away from the fact that it’s a really disappointing result and it leaves us weakened. It’s not a good place to be,” @dyfrigjones.bsky.social tells @julietterowsell.bsky.social as UCU strike ballot misses turnout threshold www.timeshighereducation.com/news/ucu-str...

"[It was] manifestly the wrong decision" Read my coverage of the reaction, and fall out, to the "disappointing" UCU ballot result, which sources said "leaves us weakened"👇 Got any thoughts? My email is in bio, and DMs are open 📫

Northumbria University to offer staff one-off payment of £5.8K-£10K if they switch from expensive TPS pension to USS - those who do not switch face a pay freeze www.timeshighereducation.com/news/northum... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

Reforming external examining and introducing progression measure risk standardising university curricula and treating them like schools, warn @paulashwin.bsky.social @davehitchcock.bsky.social @profstevenjones.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/news/risk-st... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

The University of Derby has reported itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office after letters sent to staff accidentally revealed they were vulnerable to redundancy. Juliette Rowsell reports #edusky https://ow.ly/RWeM50Xh13S

Government commits to raising tuition fees and maintenance loans in its Skills White Paper, with universities expected to deliver higher-quality teaching and more specialised research in return, reports Juliette Rowsell #edusky https://ow.ly/PsL050Xfga3

I went down to the student protests in London today, where there was a heavy police presence as students defied calls from Sir Keir Starmer to avoid protesting on the second anniversary of the 7 October attacks

Hundreds of UK students have attended pro-Palestinian marches on the anniversary of the 7 October attacks in Israel, despite calls from prime minister Keir Starmer to stay away, reports Juliette Rowsell #edusky https://ow.ly/WzTU50X7QAf

Limiting maintenance grants only to certain courses may end up undermining Labour’s goal of widening access and puts arts, humanities, and social sciences programmes at further risk, experts warn www.timeshighereducation.com/news/mainten... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social @patrickjack.bsky.social

New chief executive of @advancehe.bsky.social Alistair Jarvis discusses university finances, #EDI pressures and plans to pivot body from ‘development to transformation’ agency. @julietterowsell.bsky.social reports www.timeshighereducation.com/news/jarvis-...

TEF is “a completely inadequate measure of teaching excellence as it is, so the idea that [it] could now be used for some other purpose is seriously concerning”. Views from @tom-richmond.com @paulashwin.bsky.social et al www.timeshighereducation.com/news/tef-cha... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

Have been pretty quiet on here recently, so here's a round-up of everything I've been working on for @timeshighered.bsky.social over the last couple of (busy!) weeks 🧵

Proposed changes to the Teaching Excellence Framework could exacerbate universities’ precarious financial situation and lead to further mergers and institutional closures, analysts have warned. @julietterowsell.bsky.social reports #TEF #academicsky www.timeshighereducation.com/news/tef-cha...

PQA has been repeatedly rejected, but with this year seeing another record number of students placed via clearing, is it being adopted by default? And would a wholesale switch address equity concerns or lower-tariff institutions’ recruitment woes? @julietterowsell.bsky.social reports bit.ly/3Ihxidi

“There’s never been a more important time for people to put themselves forward and try and do things a bit differently,” says @uniofbrighton.bsky.social v-c Donna Whitehead, adding that universities must “reform or die” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/vice-ch... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

Donna Whitehead tells @julietterowsell.bsky.social that university leaders must be candid with staff as the UK sector’s financial crisis endures #EduSky #highered

I spoke to Jane Harrington, the current vice-chancellor of the University of Greenwich, who is set to lead the 'Kentwich' merger. She said: - Other universities could join the group at a later stage - She could not rule out job cuts www.timeshighereducation.com/news/more-un...

Academics say their office hours increasingly have no attendees amid growing class sizes, the rise of student part-time work and widespread use of AI. @julietterowsell.bsky.social reports #AcademicSky #highered

UCU will be balloting members on whether to take national strike action over pay following the employer association's final offer of 1.4% - get in touch if you have any opinions on this. DMs are open or email address is in bio ✉️

UCU will be balloting members on whether to take national strike action over pay following the employer association's final offer of 1.4% - get in touch if you have any opinions on this. DMs are open or email address is in bio ✉️

UK universities could be hit with nationwide strikes after the University and College Union announced it will ballot its members over pay, reports @julietterowsell.bsky.social #academicsky #strikeballot

Universities’ efforts to stamp out sexual harassment and misconduct hampered by lack of regulation requiring staff to disclose previous incidents to new employers, says @the1752group.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/news/missed-... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

New Dundee principal acknowledges “clear failings in financial monitoring and management” at university, where leaders were “focused on their own portfolios, with limited cross-functional financial accountability” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/dundee-... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

The government is 'running out of time' to help Gazan students take up their places at UK universities in September, with many of them unlikely to be able to reapply because of the worsening situation on the ground Me for @timeshighered.bsky.social 📰 www.timeshighereducation.com/news/time-ru...

Students swapping places in clearing ‘new normal’ for university admissions, Ucas chief Jo Saxton tells @hepi-news.bsky.social webinar www.timeshighereducation.com/news/student... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

@timeshighered.bsky.social @julietterowsell.bsky.social Quoted in this piece on the stresses and strains on national collective bargaining in the university sector after employer body, UCEA, makes a 1.4% final offer www.timeshighereducation.com/news/wages-r...

I'm quoted in this @timeshighered.bsky.social piece about lecturers' contact with their students. I think what we're doing is diluting and polluting education of internationally-recognised quality. But there you are, that's just life I suppose. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/student...

Several English universities have introduced partial bans on staff-student relationships ahead of new regulations coming into force today, while Liverpool and Southampton have said that they will ‘discourage’, rather than prohibit, staff-student relationships Me for @timeshighered.bsky.social

OpenAI has launched a new “study mode” feature on ChatGPT to help encourage “cognitive learning”, in an attempt to address concerns that widespread AI use is damaging students’ education, reports @julietterowsell.bsky.social #academicsky #edusky #chatGPT #AI

“New students, who did significant parts of their schooling under lockdown, are shyer and quieter than previous cohorts: ‘They need quite a lot more help in engaging with each other and with us.’” @julietterowsell.bsky.social reports #highered

Jewish staff at Goldsmiths, University of London claim they are being “frozen” out of its response to an inquiry into antisemitism, amid fears that it will be used to “constrain” protests and freedom of speech, reports @julietterowsell.bsky.social #AcademicSky #EduSky #antisemitism

The UK government should be “going out of its way” to ensure Palestinian students can take up places to study in the country’s universities instead of “obstructing” them, the University and College Union has said. @julietterowsell.bsky.social reports #AcademicSky

The number of job cuts that have been made in UK higher education could be much higher than previously thought, with more than 20,000 roles potentially affected, according to new research. @julietterowsell.bsky.social reports #AcademicSky #jobcuts

UK universities gearing up for another “cut-throat” student recruitment round, with little sign of elite institutions reining in efforts to take lion’s share of domestic intake, reports @julietterowsell.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/news/cut-thr...

Recruitment rounds at universities becoming increasingly “hard to predict”, with redundancies leading to frantic competition for academic jobs but also putting off people who may once have joined the sector www.timeshighereducation.com/news/us-scho... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

Recruitment rounds at universities are becoming increasingly “hard to predict”, with the redundancy crisis leading to frantic competition for academic jobs but also putting off people who may once have joined the sector, reports @julietterowsell.bsky.social #AcademicSky

Plans to employ professional services staff through a subsidiary firm at University of Surrey risk creating “two-tier” workforce, union warns www.timeshighereducation.com/news/employi... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

Leader of first institution dedicated solely to diversity training says it faces ‘environment of significant risk and hostility’, reports @julietterowsell.bsky.social #AcademicSky #EDI

AI has “blurred the line” between what constitutes academic support and what should be seen as misconduct, necessitating a rethink on what is considered cheating, says Phil Newton www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univers... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

University of Manchester bans some staff-student relationships after criticism www.timeshighereducation.com/news/manches... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

University of Dundee ex-principal says he will reconsider whether to return £150K payout after being accused of “walking away from a university you almost destroyed” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/incompe... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

Iain Gillespie, former V-C of the University of Dundee, admitted today to not knowing his former institution breached banking arrangements until reading about it in damning report @timeshighered.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/news/incompe...

Welsh university leaders say they are in desperate need of “stable” and “cohesive” education policies to help their institutions survive the current financial crisis www.timeshighereducation.com/news/lack-po... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

University of Dundee staff 'vindicated' by report blaming management failures for financial crisis www.timeshighereducation.com/news/dundee-... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social