Only three years ago the plan seemed ambitious: convince the world’s investors to stop bankrolling the fossil-fuel industry. Now that movement has become so successful, there’s no telling where it will stop, and Canada’s universities and colleges are becoming the latest battleground.

How will post-secondary education and research fare under the newly-elected Liberal government? The early signs are promising as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in short order announced the reinstatement of the mandatory long-form census, the creation of a new Ministry of Science, and the unmuzzling of government scientists.

A fact-finding investigation into Brock University’s handling of a series of complaints under its Respectful Work and Learning Environment Policy has found the university did not live up to its responsibility to protect and support academic freedom and the principles of natural justice.

Hon. Kirsty Duncan – Minister of Science; Hon. Navdeep Bains – Minister of Innovation, Science & Economic Development; and Hon. MaryAnn Mihychuk - Minister for Employment, Workforce Development & Labour.

Secret agreements, generous payoffs, mysterious resignations, gag orders and cover-ups. These are some of the allegations facing Canada’s universities and colleges in the wake of a series of scandals.

As Canada’s public universities and colleges continue their transformation into hybrid organizations dependent on both public and private financial support, it is increasingly urgent that we recognize and confront the resulting contradictions.

Provincial access to information (or freedom of information) legislation requires that documents in a public institution’s “custody or control” must be provided if requested, subject to specific exemptions and limitations.

In 2004, as a second year medical student at the University of Toronto, Navindra Persaud blew the whistle on questionable content in a mandatory course in pain management given by the university.

In the majority of the 4,400 uni­ver­sities and colleges in the US, it’s illegal to carry a concealed weapon. But pressure from an extreme pro-gun movement is changing the landscape. Laws in nine states now force public colleges and universities to allow guns into their campus buildings.

Protests and outcry spread throughout the University of Hong Kong last month after the university’s governing council vetoed former law dean Johannes Chan Man-mun’s candidacy as pro-vice-chancellor.

The University of Calgary is facing criticism over its ties with energy giant Enbridge. A CBC investigation has uncovered concerns that Enbridge may have interfered in the university’s Centre for Corporate Sustainability after the company provided a donation.

University and college officials say they are pinching pennies on everything from hiring to the use of copying machines because they’re strapped for cash.

In the ongoing massification of post-secondary education, university and college administrators are increasingly turning to temporary or contract academic staff to teach and work in their institutions’ lecture halls, labs and libraries.

When concerns are raised about asbestos in an office building, the first thing is to report the concerns to your academic staff association, your joint health and safety committee (JHSC) representatives, and to your chair or dean.

Making less than a living wage. Not knowing where you will be employed in a month’s time, no matter how well you do your job. Lacking an effective voice in how your workplace is run. Putting in long hours of unpaid work for your employer, before even receiving a contract. These are some of the daily realities faced by thousands of contract academic staff across Canada, and hundreds of thousands more around the world.

Shaun Bartone has a passion for the pursuit of knowledge and wants future generations to be just as enthusiastic. It’s not unusual for someone in his position who has devoted a career to research and teaching in higher education.

Canada is not the only country where universities are increasingly relying on contract academics for “near-voluntary” part-time work. It’s the new norm of how most universities across European countries and as far away as New Zealand and Australia operate.

Five years after the Conservatives axed the long-form census, researchers are noticing that important statistical data is being lost and it is hindering their ability to do research.

Child care has become a key issue in the 2015 federal election and one of Canada’s leading child care experts says universities and colleges have a stake in a national child care plan.

Japan’s state-run universities have been ordered by the government to review their faculties and graduate schools and develop reform plans for humanities and social sciences courses. The directive from the education ministry instructs that the universities take “active steps to abolish organisations or to convert them to serve areas that better meet society’s needs.”