Higher Education Strategy Associates

Early bird tickets are officially sold out for AI-CADEMY: Canada Summit for Post-Secondary Education! However, it is not to late to join us in Calgary on March 6-7, 2025. Regular tickets are still available, but they are selling fast, so do not wait any longer! >>?Register here: https://lnkd.in/enBXQbnS This inaugural national summit will bring together senior university and college administrators, policymakers, educators, researchers, and industry leaders to explore AI's transformative role in post-secondary education. Get ready to... ? Be inspired and challenged by thought-provoking?keynote speakers; ? Hear College and University Presidents discuss the AI revolution during our?Presidential Panel - with Bill Flanagan, President of University of Alberta, and Misheck Mwaba, PhD., P.Eng., President of Bow Valley College; ? Join the?panel?Canada’s Policy Response to AI?to hear policy leaders discuss how governments are investing in AI - with Rajan Sawhney, Minister of Advanced Education of the Government of Alberta, Mark Schaan, Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet on AI at Government of Canada, and Elissa Strome, Executive Director of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy at CIFAR; ? Learn about what’s happening around the world by attending our?panel?Global Perspectives on AI and Education, with representatives from across the globe; ? Attend our?Student Panel?to hear students share their thoughts on AI, and?how institutions should react - moderated by Wasiimah Joomun, Executive Director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations; ? Listen to industry professionals discuss their vision for the future of AI in postsecondary education during our Industry Panel; ? Join a multitude of?presentations selected from our open call for proposals; ? Learn how AI solutions can be used to enhance the student experience and smoothen institutional operations by attending our?Tech Demos; ? Roll up your sleeves and put your mind to work during interactive?Workshops; ? Walk around our?Marketplace?and explore the?exhibitor booths?to discover the newest AI solutions; ? Network?with postsecondary leaders, policymakers and peers! HESA has also organized?discounts?at the Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel, located directly across from the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre.?Make sure to reserve your accommodation early to benefit from the group rate! Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/eMxhdmyZ We can’t wait to see you in Calgary in March! We wish to thank our partner postsecondary institutions, Bow Valley College and Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), as well as our platinum sponsors, Duolingo and Studiosity, our gold sponsor Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and our silver sponsor Pearson, for helping bring this event to life. Register here: https://lnkd.in/enBXQbnS Become a sponsor or exhibitor: https://lnkd.in/evJigfDB #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #GenAI #HigherEducation #HigherEd #PostSecondary

We are continuing our #EmployeeSpotlight initiative, where we introduce you to the great members of our team at Higher Education Strategy Associates! This week, meet Janet Balfour, PhD, Msc, BSW, BA, Senior Research Associate. Janet joined HESA in May 2023 and is based in Toronto. She holds a PhD in Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University, an MSc in Social Policy from the The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a professional degree in Social Work from Toronto Metropolitan University and a BA in Philosophy from Western University. Since joining HESA, Janet has worked on a variety of client engagements, notably related to supporting institutional evaluations of student services and supports, to strategic planning, and to the development and adoption of micro-credentials. Janet has also been a co-author of HESA's State of Postsecondary Education in Canada (SPEC) annual report for the past two years. (Read SPEC 2024 here: https://lnkd.in/g8C6RNfn) Janet also leads a number of our marketing and partnership development initiatives. Interested in getting to know her more? We asked her a few extra questions. Read her responses below!??? > What recent HESA project are you the proudest of? "I was excited to collaborate with many institutions this year to support the development of strategic plans that align with their mission while addressing the evolving needs of the community. By combining research on demographics, demand, innovation and the future of work with meaningful stakeholder engagement, we helped these institutions navigate current challenges and seize opportunities for differentiation and sustainable growth." > What is one thing that you like about working at HESA? "I enjoy the dynamic collaborations with clients, the depth of data-driven research we undertake, and the shared energy and values of our team. Our collective commitment to quality learning and student success inspires me every day." > What inspired you to work in higher education? "A long history of advocacy related to student supports and quality education! This advocacy focus has been central in all my work. I have worked in both Canada and the UK, across the full life-cycle of education – from middle school through graduate school. I joined HESA following twelve years as an Instructor in Social Work with the desire to continue to promote student success and lifelong learning." > Do you have any book or podcast recommendation? "I recently attended the Wonkhe Festival of Higher Education in London and enjoyed listening and sharing with leaders, faculty, staff and students from across the UK. I would recommend tuning into their dynamic podcast The Wonkhe Show (https://lnkd.in/gTwsfXQD) and reading any number of their insightful blogs and reports (https://wonkhe.com/blogs/)." Janet's contribution to HESA's team is incomparable. We are lucky to have her!

Did you miss last week's episode of The World of Higher Education Podcast? Here is a snippet of Alex Usher's discussion with Sharowat Shamin where they talked about the student protests in Bangladesh that shook the government in the summer of last year. Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel if you haven't already, so that you do not miss on any of our future videos! ?? Snippet: https://lnkd.in/e_idf32P ?? Subscribe to our channel: https://lnkd.in/eY2VEbQK ?? Full Episode: https://lnkd.in/g4H_ten4 #podcast #HigherEd

This week on The Fifteen,?your source for new and developing stories in Higher Education from around the world, we start in Canada, where universities are sounding the alarm as their finances continue to weaken. A similar situation unfolds in the UK and Australia, and we’re taking a look at how governments and institutions are reacting there. We also have three stories in foreign languages this week (Italian, Ukrainian and Spanish), which you can read with the help of the Google Translate plugin for your browser of choice. Enjoy! > A report from Ontario shows that universities are facing a “financial cliff,” and might be short by up to 100k seats by 2030.?The news cycle is picking up stories at?Carleton,?Windsor,?uOttawa?and?Waterloo?as institutions raise the alarm. > It looks like the UK is about 12 months ahead of us in sounding the alarm on the financial state of Higher Education, although some fear it may still be late.?72% of UK universities?are facing a deficit.?The regulator does not have a handle on the financial state of English higher education. > India has added hundreds of universities and thousands of colleges over the past two decades in its bid to have a massified system.?But to get to a developed-country level, it still needs a whole heap more of them. At the same time, the country has overtaken China as the top source of foreign students in the US as students continue to look overseas. > Systematic analysis of the internationalization of higher education in Asia explores the challenges of integrating a predominantly English language system, especially in China. >> Access the links and read the rest of this week's Fifteen here: https://lnkd.in/gmETvKyp >> Make sure to subscribe to our blog to receive the next edition straight in your inbox: https://lnkd.in/eNqH4k65 The Fifteen list is curated by our President Alex Usher and our Research Analyst Matthew Doyle.

This week, on The World of Higher Education Podcast, our President Alex Usher is joined by Sharowat Shamin, an academic at the University of Dhaka and the School for Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. They dive deep into the surprising student protests in Bangladesh that shook the government in the summer of last year. They explore the history of student political movements in Bangladesh, the intricacies of the country's labor market, and the broader implications for higher education and democratic transitions. Watch it here: https://lnkd.in/g4H_ten4 The World of Higher Education Podcast is produced by our very own Tiffany MacLennan, Senior Research Associate, and Samantha Pufek, Graphic Designer. #podcast #HigherEd

We are continuing our #EmployeeSpotlight initiative, where we introduce you to the great members of our team at Higher Education Strategy Associates! This week, meet Preet Mondair, Senior Research Associate. Preet recently joined HESA, earlier in 2024. Originally from Surrey, British Columbia, she is currently based in Toronto. She completed a BA in Political Science and History at The University of British Columbia and a Master of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University. At HESA, Preet has been involved in a variety of both academic and strategic planning projects. Interested in getting to know her more? We asked her a few extra questions. Read her responses below!??? > What inspired you to work in higher education? "I’ve been working in the skills and talent space for most of my career, so leaning further into higher education just made sense. Post-secondary institutions are increasingly under pressure to not only produce work-ready graduates, but creative and compassionate thinkers who can navigate change and the 'wicked problems' we’re dealing with today. I’m seeing loads of intention among PSIs to innovate, and quite frankly, keep up – through strategic planning, curriculum design, industry and community engagement, etc., - so for me, it’s an exciting time to be working in the sector." > What is one thing that you like about working at HESA? “The variety of projects! I’m never bored, and I’m always learning something new. HESA clients, and the wonderful team here feeds my curiosity on the regular.?” Preet, we are so happy that you have joined our team! Your positive energy is contagious!

Did you miss last week's episode of The World of Higher Education Podcast? Here is a snippet of Alex Usher's discussion with Joseph Wycoff, PhD, author of "Outsourcing Student Success: The History of Institutional Research and the Future of Higher Education". Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel if you haven't already, so that you do not miss on any of our future videos! ?? Highlights: https://lnkd.in/ejfqHTpk ?? Subscribe to our channel: https://lnkd.in/eY2VEbQK ?? Full Episode: https://lnkd.in/e2NYbdiB #podcast #HigherEd

What you missed this week on Alex Usher's One Thought to Start Your Day: > In "Global Rankings Update 2024", Alex presents a round up of how Canadian institutions did on the "Big Three" research rankings in the past year: the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE), and the QS World University Rankings (WUR). "So, what does all this say about Canada’s overall research performance? Well, it’s good but not great. We probably punch?just?above our weight but given what Canada spends on research in higher education—including the 40% of professorial time devoted to research which is paid for out of simple operating funds, which doesn’t happen everywhere—we should probably have a couple of more institutions in the top 200 of various rankings." He also looks at the THE Impact Rankings. His take? "Maybe we have socially responsible universities, maybe we have universities that are good at telling their stories about social responsibility, and maybe we just benefit from a lot of big universities just not turning up. Hard to tell." (https://lnkd.in/ev-ri6vs) >?In "Two Advances in Research Rankings", he looks at interesting developments in the field of research rankings, notably the sudden rise of open bibliometric data, and how it can be used for research rankings and for data visualization of research profiles. (https://lnkd.in/eJzY-2tK) > In "'Eating the Future' in Action", he illustrates his critic that the Government of Canada is 'eating the future' by comparing federal spending on the elderly with federal spending on post-secondary education. "In just 15 years or so, we’ve gone from payments to the elderly being 4.5 times what we spend on post-secondary education to 6 times. Or, if we exclude payments to students (which, let’s face it, are to some extent consumption rather than investment), the ratio has jumped from 5:1 to 8:1." (https://lnkd.in/eaN49buF) Not subscribed yet? Don't miss out on future blogs by subscribing to #OTTSYD here: https://shorturl.at/morBJ Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ecgiE7hA #HigherEd #blog

This week on our AI Observatory blog, our Research Associate Sandrine Desforges looks at this week's Government of Canada announcement to create the Canadian AI Safety Institute (CAISI), which will include both applied and investigator-led research (funded through CIFAR), as well as government-directed projects. She also looks at other AI Safety Institutes (AISIs) around the world, notably in the US, the UK and the EU. While the UK's AISI is already reflecting on its first year of operations and the US's AISIC already encompasses more than 300 member organizations, including 50 post-secondary institutions, the EU's AI Office even has regulatory powers and can apply sanctions to model providers. She then shares updates on the global front, with the creation of the International Network for AI Safety last May, and the publication of the interim International Scientific Report on the Safety of Advanced AI. Read today's blog: https://lnkd.in/ejCh8pyB Make sure to subscribe if you don't want to miss any of our future AI blog posts: https://lnkd.in/eNNvy-vf Interested in learning more about AI in post-secondary education? Do not miss out on HESA's AI-CADEMY: Canada Summit for Post-Secondary Education, on March 6-7 in Calgary! Register here: https://lnkd.in/eWWV2jbJ #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #GenAI #HigherEd #PostSecondary

Shape the Future of AI in Post-Secondary Education by partnering with us at AI-CADEMY 2025! We are excited to offer a unique opportunity to partner with us at AI-CADEMY: Canada Summit for Post-Secondary Education, hosted by Higher Education Strategy Associates on March 6-7, 2025, in Calgary, Alberta. This inaugural national summit will bring together senior university and college administrators, policy-makers, educators, researchers, and industry leaders to explore AI's transformative role in post-secondary education. Sponsorship with AI-CADEMY provides unparalleled visibility and access. Connect directly with institutional decision makers, showcase your AI innovations in our interactive Marketplace, and participate in high-profile sessions and networking opportunities. The goal is to provide an immersive experience, with opportunities for attendees to interact with the latest AI products, services and platforms designed to support both post-secondary institutions and learners. This is your chance to position your brand as a leader in the AI and post-secondary education space. Current sponsors include Duolingo and Studiosity (Platinum), Kwantlen Polytechnic University (Gold) and Pearson (Silver). Interested in partnering? Explore our Sponsor & Exhibitor Prospectus for opportunities to boost your client engagement and growth at AI-CADEMY 2025: https://lnkd.in/evJigfDB Contact Janet Balfour, PhD, Msc, BSW, BA, Partnerships Lead, to learn more and discuss more creative ideas to collaborate: [email protected] Learn more about AI-CADEMY: https://lnkd.in/enBXQbnS #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #GenAI #HigherEducation #HigherEd #PostSecondary #Sponsorship