83. Alex Usher & Jogvan Klein: Policy whiplash in Australia and Canada

Although the international student mobility sector has always been in flux, it feels as if change and disruption have been more acutely a part of our lives since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘Policy rollercoasters’ have been apparent in a wide range of countries around the world, including the Netherlands, the UK, Canada, and Australia. A ‘whiplash effect’ brought on by changing policies has a huge effect on students, administrators, institutions and the sector as a whole. It also raises lots of questions, but who has the answers?

In this episode of the EAIE podcast, we welcome Alex Usher, President of Higher Education Strategy Associates and a well-known expert on the Canadian IHE sector, and Jogvan Klein, Director, Future Students, at the University of Queensland and Chair of the Australian Universities International Directors Forum (AUIDF). These two experts share some key insights into the how and the why of the shifting policy landscapes for international student mobility specifically in Canada and Australia. How do they understand the policy dynamics we’re witnessing in these major international student destination countries? And what would they do if they were in the policy driver’s seat?

About Alex Usher
Alex Usher is the President of Higher Education Strategy Associates. An internationally recognized expert on a range of fields within higher education, including student financial aid, quality measurement, rankings and public financing, he has wide experience in strategic planning at both the institutional and system level. Alex is the lead author of the annual higher education almanac The State of Post-Secondary Education in Canada and the co-author of the premier statistical handbook on global tertiary education: World Higher Education: Institutions, Students and Funding. He authors a free daily intelligence e-mail, One Thought to Start Your Day and regularly engages with fans and critics alike on Twitter (@alexusherhesa). Prior to founding Higher Education Strategy Associates, Alex served as the Director of Educational Policy Institute Canada and Director of Research and Program Development at the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation.

About Jogvan Klein
Jogvan Klein joined The University of Queensland (UQ) in July 2023 as the Director, Future Students, leading the University’s global student recruitment activities. Prior to joining UQ, Jogvan was the Director, International Recruitment at Swinburne University of Technology (2019-2023) and Director, International at RMIT University Vietnam (2016-2019) and has held previous senior positions at RMIT University and La Trobe University. He is also the current Chair of the Australian Universities International Directors Forum (AUIDF), a national membership-based organisation of Australian international university leaders and immediate past Chair of the Victorian Universities International Forum (VUIF). A native of the Faroe Islands, Jogvan holds an MA and a BA from Aarhus University in Denmark and has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors course.

Additional Resources
For further insights into the topics touched on in this episode, the following resources may be of interest:
→ 3 steps to influencing policy development

→ Larissa Bezo: Catching up on Canada

→ Phil Honeywood: Australia’s post-pandemic path

→ One Thought to Start Your Day

→ The Koala News

→ Future Campus