Tag: Listening

Who’s listening to the TNE student experience?
Transnational education (TNE) is an increasingly prominent feature in the UK higher education landscape. The sector now has more than 600,000 TNE students, who study outside the UK for awards made by UK providers. Growth in the number and diversity of TNE students shows no sign of stopping. This has implications for institutional strategy and for the UK’s global reputation. At the same time, it asks us to consider the quality of the TNE student experience.

The 2024 HEPI report recommends practical ways to increase public understanding of the TNE student experience. These include: wider engagement with the Quality Assurance Agency’s Quality Enhancement of Transnational Education (QE-TNE) scheme; and greater use of external surveys of TNE students. Jisc’s new report focuses on the digital experience of TNE students and staff.

Things rarely stay still for very long in the TNE world. What has changed in the six months between the two reports, and what can we learn now?

In April, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (part of Jisc) published the latest aggregate offshore record. There were 621,065 UK TNE students in 2022-23, an increase of 8 per cent on the previous year. The total number of TNE students has grown every year since the current record was established in 2019-20. This trend looks set to continue, with India attracting particular recent attention. The government’s revised International Education Strategy is expected to have a renewed emphasis on TNE growth.

Meanwhile, at home, higher education providers face financial headwinds, combined with a potentially unfavourable policy environment for international students in the UK. Is TNE part of the answer? TNE projects are notoriously complex and have long lead-in times, making the direct impact on a provider’s bottom line hard to gauge. But many providers recognise the long-term strategic value of TNE projects, and are ready to invest even at a time of financial uncertainty for the sector.

April also saw a change of mind by two regulators: the Office for Students in England, and Medr in Wales. They jointly paused the development of TNE data sets based on individual student records, a requirement that would have been excessively burdensome on providers. Instead, there will be an expanded aggregate offshore record, such as was already planned in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the absence of more granular data, it is all the more important that we find ways to understand the quality of the TNE student experience.

One aim of the HEPI report was to give a higher profile to TNE students in the policy agenda. This month’s Jisc report maintains the profile of TNE students by summarising the known digital challenges to global educational delivery from the perspective of 21 UK higher education providers. Digital is central to the success of all TNE students: whether learning in classrooms, dialling in or in asynchronous online modes of study. In every case, technology is woven throughout curriculum delivery and beyond. Jisc found that:

In aiming to deliver an equitable learning experience, we cannot assume that connectivity, digital resource access and prior digital experience in host countries is the same as in the UK

Intermittent access to the internet is common in many countries, often due to disrupted electricity supply. Technology infrastructure is especially vulnerable during times of extreme weather, natural disaster, civil unrest or war

Challenges associated with accessing digital resources and learning materials are common. They can be caused by software or publisher licensing restrictions, export control laws and/or host country restrictions

Significant fees can be charged for TNE student access to software or e-publications. This reflects how publishers define a student as ‘belonging’ to an institution

There are cultural differences in expectations related to how digital is used to support learning, teaching and assessment

Cultural differences also create challenges in understanding and adapting to UK academic norms associated with academic integrity, copyright, plagiarism, effective use of AI and assessment rubric

The digital skills and capabilities expected of HE students and staff can differ between countries and cultures

The report also summarises how Jisc, Universities UK International, British Council and The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education are working together to support the sector to better understand the quality of the TNE student experience, and so support effective and successful global educational delivery.

This month’s Jisc report is the first of two on the TNE student and staff digital experience. The second report will summarise the views of over 4,800 TNE students and 400 staff, across 50 instances of global delivery. It will be published in October 2025 and launched at the Universities UK International TNE conference.
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July 31, 2025
What Your Students Aren’t Telling You: Listening, Learning, and Leading with Empathy – Faculty Focus
This article includes a free, open-access resource for educators: What Your Students Aren’t Telling You: Listening, Learning, and Leading with Empathy. The book, co-authored with students, offers actionable strategies and insights to help create more inclusive and humane learning environments. Download it here: https://publish.illinois.edu/gist-partnerships/what-your-students-arent-telling-you/

In higher education, we often track student success through grades, credit hours, and retention rates. But behind those metrics are untold stories—narratives of resilience, confusion, silence, and strength. This project started with a deceptively simple question: What aren’t our students telling us?

After years of teaching, I noticed how often students carried academic, emotional, and personal burdens without sharing them. Not because they lacked courage, but because they didn’t feel invited to speak. Their stories, while occasionally requested, were rarely acted upon. I wanted to change that—not just by asking better questions, but by building an open-access platform that would amplify student voices and inform actionable change.

From Curiosity to Campuswide Inquiry

The project began in two large general education courses I teach at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: FSHN 101: The Science of Food and FSHN 120: Contemporary Nutrition. These courses enroll a diverse cross-section of the student body, creating the perfect environment to listen broadly and learn deeply.

Over multiple semesters, more than 2,000 students voluntarily participated in IRB-approved surveys and follow-up interviews. These were not standard end-of-semester evaluations. The surveys included over 20 demographic questions—covering areas like housing, food security, disability status, and employment—followed by 15–40 experience-based questions exploring academic confidence, mental health, study habits, and perceptions of inclusion.

To capture both breadth and nuance, the surveys incorporated multiple question formats, such as Likert scales, rankings, multiple select, and open-ended prompts. Each semester, the surveys were refined based on student feedback and changing classroom dynamics.

We also conducted one-on-one interviews with select students, allowing them to share the context behind the data—what it feels like to study while housing-insecure, to navigate a disability without accommodations, or to sit in a classroom where your identity is invisible.

Building a Cross-Disciplinary Team

To guide this growing body of student insight into something useful for faculty, I turned to trusted collaborators with expertise across student development, pedagogy, and educational innovation.

Bonnie Hemrick, Director of Mental Health Promotion at Oregon State University, helped frame issues of student well-being and resilience. Dr. Emily Tarconish, a teaching professor in the College of Education, contributed her deep knowledge of Universal Design for Learning and accessible course design. Amy Leman, professor in Human Development and Family Studies, helped navigate the IRB process providing insight and guidance. Dr. Tony Zhang from Gies College of Business offered perspective on AI, ChatBot technology, and ethical academic support tools. Ann Fredricksen, a dedicated advocate with Disability Resources and Educational Services, kept disability at the center of our equity framework—not as an afterthought, but as a foundation.

Together, we weren’t just evaluating survey results. We were reframing how we think about student-centered learning.

Empowering Students as Authors and Analysts

One of the most powerful dimensions of this work was who got to tell the story. From the beginning, students weren’t just research subjects—they were research partners. Many were enrolled in leadership-focused sections of FSHN 101 and 120 and took on active roles in the analysis, writing, and design of the final open-access book: What Your Students Aren’t Telling You.

Their contributions weren’t theoretical. They were rooted in lived experience. Alysha Haverkos grounded our understanding of food insecurity and student basic needs. Ananya Mani shared honest, often-overlooked realities of international student life. Samarth Jain brought data visualization to life, uncovering trends and turning them into stories. Sheza Shaikh centered mental health and belonging in her writing. Tessa Wolf strengthened our commitment to inclusive course design.

These students didn’t just support the work—they shaped its voice. Each of them served as a reminder that students are not passive recipients of education. They are co-creators of it.

Key Takeaways That Changed Our Classrooms

Through data analysis, interviews, and student authorship, a set of clear—and deeply human—patterns emerged:
- Timed, high-stakes assessments caused the highest levels of stress, especially for students managing disabilities or mental health concerns.
- Flexibility in format and modality—such as recorded lectures, alternative assignments, or extended deadlines—made students feel supported, capable, and seen.
- Textbook format and cost mattered. Students appreciated transparency and choice when it came to required materials.
- Inclusive language, representation, and proactive instructor support all contributed to students’ sense of belonging and trust.
These findings don’t argue against academic rigor. Rather, they ask us to pair rigor with relevance and compassion. Many of the most impactful changes were not labor-intensive. A reworded syllabus, an anonymous feedback survey, or a mid-semester check-in can shift a student’s entire trajectory.

A Free, Open-Access Resource for Faculty

The insights we gathered are now published in What Your Students Aren’t Telling You, a free and open-access resource designed to support faculty, advisors, instructional designers, and anyone working to make higher education more humane and inclusive.

The book is both research-informed and experience-driven. Each chapter is co-authored with students who lived the realities we discuss. Their stories—of being brilliant but burned out, passionate but unheard, capable but unseen—bring the data to life.

You’ll find practical strategies, institutional recommendations, and reflective questions to help you translate student voices into action.

You can download it here:
👉 https://publish.illinois.edu/gist-partnerships/what-your-students-arent-telling-you/

Why This Work Matters Now

We are teaching in a time of complexity—rising mental health challenges, widening equity gaps, and ongoing uncertainty in higher education. But we’re also teaching in a time of possibility.

Students are more willing than ever to share what they need—if we create the space to listen. They’re asking us not to fix everything, but to see them, to ask good questions, and to respond with care.

This project reinforced what many of us already know: better is possible. But it takes intentionality. It takes listening. And it takes the courage to rethink not just what we teach, but how we teach and why.

Final Thoughts: A Call to Listen and Lead

The most transformative teaching moments rarely come from perfectly delivered lectures. They come from real connection—from the moments we pause, ask, and truly hear our students.

The students in this project didn’t ask for perfection from faculty. They asked to be heard. And in return, they gave us tools, stories, and solutions that can reshape the future of our classrooms.

Let this be your starting point.

Explore the book. Share it with a colleague. Invite conversation in your next department meeting. And if it resonates with you, I welcome you to reach out. Let’s talk, collaborate, and keep learning from the people who know our classrooms best—our students.

Toni Gist is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Download the book at https://publish.illinois.edu/gist-partnerships/what-your-students-arent-telling-you/
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May 16, 2025
What Your Students Aren’t Telling You: Listening, Learning, and Leading with Empathy – Faculty Focus
This article includes a free, open-access resource for educators: What Your Students Aren’t Telling You: Listening, Learning, and Leading with Empathy. The book, co-authored with students, offers actionable strategies and insights to help create more inclusive and humane learning environments. Download it here: https://publish.illinois.edu/gist-partnerships/what-your-students-arent-telling-you/

In higher education, we often track student success through grades, credit hours, and retention rates. But behind those metrics are untold stories—narratives of resilience, confusion, silence, and strength. This project started with a deceptively simple question: What aren’t our students telling us?

After years of teaching, I noticed how often students carried academic, emotional, and personal burdens without sharing them. Not because they lacked courage, but because they didn’t feel invited to speak. Their stories, while occasionally requested, were rarely acted upon. I wanted to change that—not just by asking better questions, but by building an open-access platform that would amplify student voices and inform actionable change.

From Curiosity to Campuswide Inquiry

The project began in two large general education courses I teach at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: FSHN 101: The Science of Food and FSHN 120: Contemporary Nutrition. These courses enroll a diverse cross-section of the student body, creating the perfect environment to listen broadly and learn deeply.

Over multiple semesters, more than 2,000 students voluntarily participated in IRB-approved surveys and follow-up interviews. These were not standard end-of-semester evaluations. The surveys included over 20 demographic questions—covering areas like housing, food security, disability status, and employment—followed by 15–40 experience-based questions exploring academic confidence, mental health, study habits, and perceptions of inclusion.

To capture both breadth and nuance, the surveys incorporated multiple question formats, such as Likert scales, rankings, multiple select, and open-ended prompts. Each semester, the surveys were refined based on student feedback and changing classroom dynamics.

We also conducted one-on-one interviews with select students, allowing them to share the context behind the data—what it feels like to study while housing-insecure, to navigate a disability without accommodations, or to sit in a classroom where your identity is invisible.

Building a Cross-Disciplinary Team

To guide this growing body of student insight into something useful for faculty, I turned to trusted collaborators with expertise across student development, pedagogy, and educational innovation.

Bonnie Hemrick, Director of Mental Health Promotion at Oregon State University, helped frame issues of student well-being and resilience. Dr. Emily Tarconish, a teaching professor in the College of Education, contributed her deep knowledge of Universal Design for Learning and accessible course design. Amy Leman, professor in Human Development and Family Studies, helped navigate the IRB process providing insight and guidance. Dr. Tony Zhang from Gies College of Business offered perspective on AI, ChatBot technology, and ethical academic support tools. Ann Fredricksen, a dedicated advocate with Disability Resources and Educational Services, kept disability at the center of our equity framework—not as an afterthought, but as a foundation.

Together, we weren’t just evaluating survey results. We were reframing how we think about student-centered learning.

Empowering Students as Authors and Analysts

One of the most powerful dimensions of this work was who got to tell the story. From the beginning, students weren’t just research subjects—they were research partners. Many were enrolled in leadership-focused sections of FSHN 101 and 120 and took on active roles in the analysis, writing, and design of the final open-access book: What Your Students Aren’t Telling You.

Their contributions weren’t theoretical. They were rooted in lived experience. Alysha Haverkos grounded our understanding of food insecurity and student basic needs. Ananya Mani shared honest, often-overlooked realities of international student life. Samarth Jain brought data visualization to life, uncovering trends and turning them into stories. Sheza Shaikh centered mental health and belonging in her writing. Tessa Wolf strengthened our commitment to inclusive course design.

These students didn’t just support the work—they shaped its voice. Each of them served as a reminder that students are not passive recipients of education. They are co-creators of it.

Key Takeaways That Changed Our Classrooms

Through data analysis, interviews, and student authorship, a set of clear—and deeply human—patterns emerged:
- Timed, high-stakes assessments caused the highest levels of stress, especially for students managing disabilities or mental health concerns.
- Flexibility in format and modality—such as recorded lectures, alternative assignments, or extended deadlines—made students feel supported, capable, and seen.
- Textbook format and cost mattered. Students appreciated transparency and choice when it came to required materials.
- Inclusive language, representation, and proactive instructor support all contributed to students’ sense of belonging and trust.
These findings don’t argue against academic rigor. Rather, they ask us to pair rigor with relevance and compassion. Many of the most impactful changes were not labor-intensive. A reworded syllabus, an anonymous feedback survey, or a mid-semester check-in can shift a student’s entire trajectory.

A Free, Open-Access Resource for Faculty

The insights we gathered are now published in What Your Students Aren’t Telling You, a free and open-access resource designed to support faculty, advisors, instructional designers, and anyone working to make higher education more humane and inclusive.

The book is both research-informed and experience-driven. Each chapter is co-authored with students who lived the realities we discuss. Their stories—of being brilliant but burned out, passionate but unheard, capable but unseen—bring the data to life.

You’ll find practical strategies, institutional recommendations, and reflective questions to help you translate student voices into action.

You can download it here:
👉 https://publish.illinois.edu/gist-partnerships/what-your-students-arent-telling-you/

Why This Work Matters Now

We are teaching in a time of complexity—rising mental health challenges, widening equity gaps, and ongoing uncertainty in higher education. But we’re also teaching in a time of possibility.

Students are more willing than ever to share what they need—if we create the space to listen. They’re asking us not to fix everything, but to see them, to ask good questions, and to respond with care.

This project reinforced what many of us already know: better is possible. But it takes intentionality. It takes listening. And it takes the courage to rethink not just what we teach, but how we teach and why.

Final Thoughts: A Call to Listen and Lead

The most transformative teaching moments rarely come from perfectly delivered lectures. They come from real connection—from the moments we pause, ask, and truly hear our students.

The students in this project didn’t ask for perfection from faculty. They asked to be heard. And in return, they gave us tools, stories, and solutions that can reshape the future of our classrooms.

Let this be your starting point.

Explore the book. Share it with a colleague. Invite conversation in your next department meeting. And if it resonates with you, I welcome you to reach out. Let’s talk, collaborate, and keep learning from the people who know our classrooms best—our students.

Toni Gist is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Download the book at https://publish.illinois.edu/gist-partnerships/what-your-students-arent-telling-you/
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May 16, 2025
CUPA-HR Participates in DOL Overtime Regional Listening Sessions – CUPA-HR

by CUPA-HR | June 14, 2022

In May and June, CUPA-HR participated in five regional listening sessions hosted by the Department of Labor (DOL) on the anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to update the criteria for the “executive, administrative and professional” exemptions for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The listening sessions provided regional employers the opportunity to discuss their support or concerns with changes to the minimum salary level required to be exempt from overtime payments under the FLSA.

CUPA-HR joined each of the five sessions to express concerns with the timing of the proposed increase to the minimum salary threshold to qualify for exempt status under the FLSA. Specifically, we raised concerns with the timing of such changes, as they would come while institutions, employees and students are still grappling with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, a tight labor market and historically high inflation. Additionally, several CUPA-HR members joined the calls to raise similar concerns and discuss issues more specific to their individual institutions.

Though many in higher ed and other industries are expressing similar concerns about raising the overtime minimum salary threshold level at this time, labor unions and worker advocates have led efforts to both raise the minimum salary threshold and expand coverage of overtime regulations to workers currently not covered under the FLSA. Notably, the National Education Association sent a letter to DOL urging the agency to remove the teacher exemption that currently exempts teachers from the FLSA requirements to receive overtime payments regardless of how much they are paid.

The overtime NPRM that was targeted for release in April 2022 is now expected to come anytime within the next couple of months, though more information on when it will be released may be included in the anticipated Spring 2022 Regulatory Agenda. CUPA-HR will continue to monitor for the NPRM and will keep members apprised of any updates to the overtime regulations.

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June 14, 2022
DOL to Host Regional Listening Sessions for Proposed Overtime Rule Regulations – CUPA-HR
by CUPA-HR | April 7, 2022

In the Biden administration’s fall 2021 regulatory agenda, the Department of Labor (DOL)’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced that it planned to release in April 2022 a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) changing criteria for the “executive, administrative and professional” exemptions from the overtime pay requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In May and June, the DOL will host five regional listening sessions allowing stakeholders to discuss the anticipated proposed rule aimed at changing the exemptions to the federal overtime pay requirements.

With listening sessions extending into May, the WHD will not be able to meet the April target date, but we do expect the agency will release a proposed rule in 2022 with compliance likely required in 2023. While the DOL has not shared how it may change the exemptions, it is holding listening sessions to elicit stakeholder input as to whether changes are appropriate and what changes would be appropriate at this time.

Background

According to the regulatory agenda, one of the goals of the NPRM would be “to update the salary level requirement of the section 13(a)(1) exemption [under the FLSA].” Changes to the overtime exemption minimum salary threshold have been proposed recently under both the Obama and Trump administrations. In 2016, President Obama’s DOL issued a final rule to increase the salary threshold from $23,660 to $47,476 per year and impose automatic updates to the threshold every three years, but the rule was subsequently struck down by federal court before taking effect in 2017. In 2019, the Trump administration issued a new final rule that raised the minimum salary threshold from $23,660 to $35,568 annually, which went into effect on January 1, 2020. The $35,568 threshold remains in effect today.

On March 29, in anticipation of the upcoming Biden administration rule, the DOL held a virtual higher education-specific listening session for D.C.-based higher education associations, including CUPA-HR. The listening session was scheduled after CUPA-HR and 14 other higher education associations submitted a request that the DOL hold such meetings prior to releasing the anticipated NPRM. CUPA-HR and several other higher education associations joined the session to discuss potential concerns institutions may have with an increase to the minimum salary threshold at this time.

Regional Sessions

In addition to the D.C. meeting held in March, the DOL is planning to host five additional regional listening sessions for employers. The sessions include the following:
- Northeast Employers: May 13 at 3:30 p.m. EDT
- Southeast Employers: May 17 at 2:00 p.m. EDT
- Midwest Employers: May 20 at 3:30 p.m. EDT
- Southwest Employers: May 27 at 3:00 p.m. EDT
- West Employers: June 3 at 3:30 p.m. EDT
If your institution is interested in participating in any of the regional meetings, please reach out to CUPA-HR’s Chief Government Relation Officer Josh Ulman at [email protected]. Additional information about the D.C. listening session and CUPA-HR’s talking points will be provided upon inquiry.

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April 7, 2022