July 2025

Professor Duncan Ivison is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester where staff members including Alan Turing defined the concepts of algorithmic and computational automation. Duncan draws on his global experience from Canada, the US, Australia and the UK to revisit the purpose and future of universities in the fastest period of computational advancement to date. How has the global landscape of higher education evolved and where will it develop next?

Verity Firth as Chair of Engagement Australia and Vice-President of Societal Impact, Equity and Engagement at UNSW joins with guest host Alphia Possamai-Inesedy PVC of Student Success of WSU. They discuss the challenges universities face in maintaining or seeking to regain social licence and to serve community needs. They explore how the Accord considered this issue and how the new ATEC will be a circuit breaker in measuring research impact and creating mission based compacts. It gives a comprehensive policy-informed overview and insight into the landscape of community engagement in Australia ahead of the exciting next conference of Engagement Australia hosted at The University of Queensland on July 22-23.

An episode from a HEDx study tour of the UK and from the foyer of the HEPI Conference in London. Sally Curtain of Bendigo Kangan Institute, Andrea Burrows of OES and Caroline Dunne are among the HEDx tour party and Tash Stoeckel one of the hosts along with Tim Dunne of Surrey and Lisa Brodie of TEDI London. The episode gives insights into the plight of tertiary education in the two countries and how AI, online education, tertiary harmonisation, regulation and the skills agenda are viewed in the two systems. The one common feature is the need for change, now.