Higher Education Quality Council of OntarioOn Our Radar features HEQCO staff and guest bloggers offering their unique perspectives on trends, new ideas, and hot-button issues in higher education. The opinions are those of the authors. Access to postsecondary education has been a research priority for HEQCO since its inception. An interesting twist to the access issue has recently surfaced with […]
I had hoped that the first blog I wrote for HEQCO would serve as a public, irreversible break from academia. I was of the mindset back then that my dream of finding an academic position was a virtual impossibility, and I resolved to pursue non-academic employment exclusively and with all my energy. Well, after eight […]
It seems inconceivable that there could be a HEQCO Board of Directors meeting without the Honourable Frank Iacobucci at the helm. But after six years as HEQCO’s first chairman, the inconceivable is upon us. The tribute below can only begin to tell the story of Frank’s many contributions to this agency and Canadian higher education. […]
One challenge I have encountered in my application process is determining precisely what positions to shoot for. Suffering from post-dissertation burnout and desiring a clean break from my academic career, I was adamant when I kicked off my job search that I did not want to work in a field related to my area of […]
Entering my sixth month of post-PhD unemployment, I can state pretty emphatically that employers aren’t buying the package that I am attempting to sell. This is the crux of the problem that I have been grappling with for months now: How can I reinvent myself in a way that will make an employer want to […]
I attended two conferences recently to speak on the issue of how governments form higher education policy and how postsecondary institutions can behave to have greater influence over the policies governments adopt and the decisions they make. Many of the speakers in these gatherings approach these problems from some theoretical orientation. In contrast, my contributions […]
I was raised in a family that prioritized education. My parents stressed the value and importance of both formal and informal learning from when I was in diapers, and instilled in me the notion that a university education was the key to my future social and economic wellbeing. I eagerly accepted this education-centric worldview and […]
Some call it disruptive, some call it welcome but change is afoot in higher education. From rising enrolments to economic constraints, from the promise of technology to the pressures of international competition, the game is changing and the challenge for postsecondary education is to keep apace, or better yet, set the pace. It must be […]
HEQCO is an organization built on the principles of inquiry, performance assessment, evidence and research. So, it seemed only appropriate that we subject our own performance to a critical review and rigorous evaluation by an informed outsider. To that end, we commissioned an outside expert to review HEQCO. The reviewer selected was Lorne Whitehead, an […]