The mental wellness of university students can be critical for their success. In an attempt to minimize stress for students, many universities have implemented a policy for a fall break with limited evidence to support its intended outcomes. This case study offers a critical appraisal of the formation of the fall break policy at one medium sized…

This paper reviews existing policies related to anti-racism and anti-discrimination at five major universities in Canada and assesses the equity initiatives undertaken by university authorities to promote greater access and inclusion of different ethnic minority groups. The study is based on secondary data sources. Therefore, policy papers,…

Open Educational Resources (OER) in higher education cannot be put into practice without considering institutional contexts, which differ not only globally but also within the same country. Each institutional context provides educators with opportunities or limitations where Open Educational Practices (OEP) and OER for teaching and learning are…

This exploratory study investigates the expertise of committee members tasked with constructing sexual violence policies within a post-secondary institution (PSI) and the constraints under which they complete this work. Our findings indicate that allocated committees prioritize institutional risk management, normalize confusion, and most members…

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented shifts to higher education globally, including Canadian universities. In this paper I utilize an extended photo essay method and narrative response to document the changes seen in my local university environment during the months of April through September 2020. Emerging literature and survey results…

This article is an expanded version of the 2023 Plenary Lecture at the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) Conference held at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. This invited essay explores the extent to which the promise of DEDI's (decolonization, equity, diversity, and inclusion) polices and initiatives might bring…

This article shares the findings of a study investigating institutional policy definitions of plagiarism at twenty English-speaking Canadian universities. The types of primary sources consulted for this study included: (1) university academic calendars for 2016-2017, (2) institutional policies on academic misconduct, and (3) student academic codes…

In this study, we investigated perceptions of cyberbullying within higher education among 1,587 professionals from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Regardless of country or professional role, participants presented essentially the same bleak picture. Almost half of all participants observed cyberbullying between…

Despite marked improvements, intervention for students with a mental health problem or illness in Canadian higher education settings remains not yet successful, mature, or sustainable. A number of challenges have been identified as contributory to the shortcomings surrounding student mental health in colleges and universities. In this paper, I…

Despite the increased trend towards secularisation in state schooling, issues of religion and spirituality have remained important. Increased pluralism within societies through expanding migration patterns is changing the religious and cultural contours of many countries in Europe and North America, and is creating a need for a deeper…

Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, asserts that education is one of the most effective instruments that society can employ in the effort to adopt sustainable development. This paper is a first effort to explore the degree to which Canadian institutions of higher education, including colleges and universities, have embraced this…

In a context of increasing attention to issues of scientific integrity in university research, it is important to reflect on the governance mechanisms that universities use to shape the behaviour of students, researchers, and faculty. This paper presents the results of a study of 47 Canadian university research integrity/misconduct (RIM) policies:…

Examines policies related to ownership or license of student-created intellectual property in Canadian universities and concludes that universities cannot claim ownership without significant legal issues. Presents recommendations to resolve difficulties. Contains 69 notes and 6 references. (JOW)

Reviews family leave policies in Canadian universities through March 2002. Analysis of pregnancy, adoption, and partner (paternity) leave policies reveal that most Canadian university policies produce income loss and disruption and are characterized by gender regulation and familialism. The paper proposes that improving faculty family leave…

This study deals with administrative and operational patterns of 278 college unions located in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Japan. Emphasis is placed on physical plant, organizational structure, professional staff, financial operation of the union, general union policies, relationship to departments, facilities, and…