CHER would like to invite you to the upcoming public lecture organised by the Institute for Higher Education Management.

Title: US and Global Higher Education in the Trump Era
Date: Wednesday, June 4, 2025, at 3pm CET

Speaker: John Aubrey Douglass, Senior Research Fellow - Public Policy and Higher Education at the Center for Studies in Higher Education

Location: online via MS Teams livestream.
Please express your interest by registering with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract:
Trump and his administration cling to an isolationist, ‘America first’ foreign policy and a Christian Neo-nationalism agenda. His plot is to consolidate unprecedented powers in the presidency, which, among other things, presents an on-going and existential threat to American universities and civil society in the US. This evolving policy agenda also has significant consequences for transnational engagement among universities and academic communities – shaping what I call a Neo-Academic Cold War. Since Trump’s return to the White House, a precipice scenario has taken form: huge cuts in academic science funding, efforts to reclassify and fire or mute thousands of federal civil service professionals and scientists with expertise in areas such as climate change, investigation and demands for the end of DEI programs and curricular changes at universities, impounding of federal funds for specific universities, restricting access to federally collected scientific data, new and abusive visa restrictions, and arrests and deportations and other moves that hinder academic talent mobility and international science collaborations. Then there is Trump’s politics of personal retribution. Trump has made it clear: with new assumed and unprecedented powers of an imperial presidency, his administration is going after his real and imagined enemies, including students, faculty and other vocal critics. In short, Trump’s return to the presidency is cataclysmic for American universities, academic freedom and global science networks.

About the speaker
John Aubrey Douglass is Senior Research Fellow - Public Policy and Higher Education at the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) and a faculty member in the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California - Berkeley. He is the lead author of Neo-Nationalism and Universities: Populists, Autocrats and the Future of HE (Johns Hopkins Univ Press, Open Access). Recent related articles include Leading a university is set to become even more difficult, University World News, 11 January 2025, Universities as Truthsayers, in Seeds for Democratic Futures, The New Institute, Dec 2024. He is also a co-author of the recent report The Multi-Engagement Model: Understanding Diverse Pathways to Student Success at Research Universities, which provides a data-driven analytical framework for a holistic understanding of the undergraduate student experience at large research-intensive public universities.

It is with profound sadness that the CHER Board of Governors informs about the death of our colleague Claire Callender.

We take the opportunity to share with you a tribute to her, written by our colleague Simon Marginson, to whom we thank the sensible and thoughtful words - https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/04/18/in-memoriam-professor-claire-callender-obe/

We invite you to participate in the survey Shaping the Future of Higher Education Research: Insights from Researchers, which focuses on key aspects such as research priorities, funding, collaboration, and future directions.

This survey is part of the https://highered-change.org/">Global Observatory of Higher Education Changes (GOHEC). It aims to gather insights from scholars and researchers like you to better understand the challenges and opportunities shaping the field today and in the future.

Your responses will provide valuable insights into emerging research trends, funding dynamics, and the influence of higher education research on policy and practice. The survey also seeks to examine how researchers collaborate across disciplines, institutions, and international borders, highlighting opportunities for strengthening global partnerships.

The results will form the basis for future research initiatives and foster dialogue at key conferences, workshops, and community forums within the global higher education research community.

The survey should take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Your participation is voluntary and confidential, and all data will be used solely for research purposes. The deadline for participation is 18.04.2025.

Here is the link to the survey: https://uwk-krems.limesurvey.net/441312?lang=en">https://uwk-krems.limesurvey.net/441312?lang=en 

Thank you for sharing your expertise and contributing to this important discussion on the future of higher education research.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The CIPES PhD Student Workshop invites PhD students to share and discuss their research on higher education and higher education policies. This Workshop is free of charge and open to PhD Students from any institution or nationality who are working on relevant topics.
This fourth edition focuses on Higher Education in Transition, addressing the challenges, policies, and future directions shaping the field. It provides an opportunity for students from various disciplines — including Educational Sciences, Economics, Psychology, Sociology, Public Policy, Political Science, and Management — to engage in discussions with peers and senior researchers.

Detailed information may be found here

On June 7, 2025 the 1st CHELPS Annual Conference at the North Point Centre of the Education University of Hong Kong will be hosted.  The conference is dedicated to International Scholars and Leadership in Global Higher Education. CHELPS welcomes abstracts addressing issues of internationalisation, international leadership, international collaboration, and global higher education. Submissions should not exceed 500 words for an abstract and 150 words for a brief bio, and must be submitted by 17 April 2025. For more information, please refer to the Conference website: https://chelps.eduhk.hk/news-and-events/first-annual-chelps-conference

To submit your abstract, please visit: https://eduhk.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1SyOkxKQ9io69sW