Assessing institutional performance in higher education: a managerial perspective

Although many institutions are expending considerable effort in attempts to assess institutional performance and to utilize the results in improving performance, there are many impediments to the success of these endeavours. These include conceptual problems with the notion of institutional performance, inadequacies in the current measurement techniques and judgement procedures, and the mis-match between the results produced and management's information requirements. Institutional management in higher education has unique characteristics which give rise to particular information needs. The existing approaches to institutional evaluation vary in their ability to provide information meeting management's requirements.     

Internationalisation of higher education: European experiences

‘Internationalisation’ is generally defined as increasing cross-border activities amidst persistence of borders, while ‘globalisation’ refers to similar activities concurrent to an erosion of borders. Study mobility is viewed as the most visible component in this framework in Europe with ERASMUS as the largest scheme of temporary mobility. ERASMUS was a trigger for a qualitative leap of internationalisation strategies and policies since the 1990s: towards cooperation and mobility on equal terms, and towards systematic and strategic internationalisation. The ‘Bologna Process’ aimed to make higher education more attractive to students from other parts of the world and to facilitate intra-European mobility; however, many other activities are needed to stimulate mobility, and the Bologna Process pursues many other objectives. It remains to be seen whether supra-national and national policies and institutional strategies will continue to opt for wide-ranging cooperation based on mutual trust or whether the ‘competition paradigm’ will determine the scene.     

高等院校组织趋同的制度逻辑

讨论高等教育领域趋同问题有三个基本的制度前提,即组织分层、制度的功能和制度标准化。在政府主导分层的系统下,自致合法地位的院校通过采用已经在先附合法地位的院校中实行的具有标准化和合法性的制度,而努力获得高声望院校所具有的合法性。这些标准化的制度其功能不仅包括解决组织运行效率,而且还承担着提供合法地位以及获取资源的功用。     

MOOCs,institutional policy and change dynamics in higher education

The last couple of years have witnessed a growing debate about online learning in higher education, notably in response to the global massive open online course (MOOC) phenomenon. This paper explores these developments from an institutional policy perspective, drawing on an analysis of the initial stages of different approaches to MOOCs and e-learning being taken up at three Australian universities. It points to four commonalities emerging from the institutional constructions of these initiatives including (1) the use of e-learning policy as a vehicle for curriculum redesign; (2) an emphasis on internal curriculum redesign as a core rationale for MOOCs; (3) a desire to capitalise on promotional opportunities but a reticence around wholly embracing the concept and structure of MOOCs and (4) the absence of access-driven concerns in university policy despite the prominence of such concerns in broader public debate. The approach is framed by a consideration of change dynamics in higher education and highlights the emphasis on internal university work within the policy narrative, suggesting this could represent an attempt to reframe the debate about MOOCs away from popular arguments about systemic disruption and instead use them to progress forms of change that align to broader strategic objectives.     

Change of higher education in response to European pressures: conceptualization and operationalization of Europeanization of higher education

This article focuses on change in higher education in response to environmental pressures, more specifically pressures coming from European integration initiatives with respect to higher education, e.g. the Bologna Process. Significant research attention has so far been focused on the supposed impact of European initiatives on higher education systems and organizations. However, while many of such studies would claim that what they focus on is “Europeanization of higher education”, few of them provide a clear definition of the concept of Europeanization and an explicit and elaborate theoretical approach. Therefore, the aims of this paper are: (1) to provide a clarification of the concept of “Europeanization of higher education”, and (2) to provide a systematized and robust analytical framework able to account for identified patterns of change. The article builds on the conceptualization and operationalization of the process of Europeanization developed in international relations and comparative studies literature, using two strands of neo-institutionalism: Europeanization through an external incentives perspective based on rationalist institutionalism and Europeanization through a social learning perspective based on sociological institutionalism. Exploration of the explanatory potential of the two Europeanization perspectives focuses on changes in approaches to quality assurance in European countries. An assessment of said explanatory potential, as well as a discussion about the analytical challenges related to using these two Europeanization perspectives is provided in the conclusion.     

北欧高等工程教育考察

本文介绍了全国工程硕士专业学位教育指导委员会北欧考察团在 2 0 0 4年 8月访问芬兰、瑞典和丹麦等国四所著名工程类高校的有关情况 ,包括调研的背景和目的、所访学校概况、考察调研体会 ,以及值得我国工程教育工作者借鉴的经验和做法等     

An alternative assessment to higher education outcomes: Differentiating by institutional type

In this paper we propose higher education, and community colleges in particular, be evaluated not solely on their functional merits, but on their value in promoting, what Dewey (1966) called an active citizenry. Rather than considering only how well higher education meets the needs of democratic capitalism, we investigate alternative methods of assessing the contribution of higher education to the development of active citizens. In this exploration we consider how higher education preparation differs based on an individual's gender, race, class, academic program and the postsecondary institution attended. We explore alternative concepts of assessment in higher education not as proof we have discovered the method for assessing outcomes of higher education, but, rather, as an alternative approach to understanding the potential outcomes of higher education at its different institutional levels. Of special significance for our study is the finding that although students who attend a community college, for example, may not be as successful economically as university students, attendance at a community college is associated with an increased sense of self-empowerment. When we consider community colleges have a higher proportion of students who are typically marginalized by postsecondary institutions, the community college does appear to offer opportunities for students that are not measured only in economic terms.     

让院校研究走进院校管理

管理落后是制约我国高等学校当前改革与发展的一个重要因素,而造成我国高等学校管理水平落后的一个重要原因是管理中的院校研究缺失。因此,让院校研究走进院校管理是提高我国高等学校管理水平的理性选择。这需要管理者进一步提高对院校研究重要性的认识,加强高校管理队伍的专业化建设,继续深化高等教育管理体制改革,进一步扩大高等学校的办学自主权。     

The quest for institutional autonomy in the Dutch higher education sector

The term ‘market forces’ has become one of the great clarion calls of the modern era. They are seen as providing the flexibility and responsiveness necessary to allow the satisfaction of consumer demands. Market forces is a term used chiefly to describe economic relationships. Can the characteristics of an economic system be used to characterise the wider society? In particular can increased flexibility and responsiveness to the needs of the consumer play a role in the shaping of Dutch educational policy? In the Netherlands the exigency of financial restraint has prompted educational expenditure cuts. Concomitant to these has been a move towards decentralisation, with self-regulation at the institutional level. Moves that have been characterised as constituting a change in the power structure. This paper argues that the operation of market forces and the promotion of institutional autonomy requires financial independence. Without financial autonomy institutional autonomy may well be a pipe dream.     

Processes and stages of differentiation in European higher education

In this article we discuss processes of internal differentiation that have characterised European higher education systems in the last 50 years. We argue that these processes have gone through two main stages and in two different directions, each of which is showing its limits in the long run. Therefore, we expect a third stage of differentiation, which will be both internal to individual higher education institutions and multi‐dimensional concerning functions performed. In the first stage (1960–1970s) the main objective was to create a vocational track, without having to profoundly modify traditional academic institutions. In the second stage (mid‐1990s) the main objective was to differentiate between the more and the less competitive universities as regards the amount of financial and symbolic resources provided to them. However, large comprehensive universities are containers of smaller units whose performance may vary widely. Moreover, research is just one of the several functions that modern universities perform. The final section of the article provides some empirical evidence from United Kingdom universities to support the hypothesis of a third stage of differentiation.     

高校德育"以人为本"理念的新诠释

高校德育实效性不高已是不争的事实,非常重要的原因就在于德育世界的"人学空场"。因此,"以人为本"成为重新理解德育、提升德育有效性的应然视角,其基本思路是重构学生主体性,其必然路向是生成主体间性。     

Recent reforms in Australian higher education with particular reference to institutional amalgamations

The recent reforms in Australian higher education system envisaged the creation of a unified national system at the expense of the binary system with a smaller number of larger institutions through institutional mergers. The Green Paper quoted the La Trobe Lincoln merger as an exemplar. This paper examines the outcomes of these reforms in general with particular emphasis on La Trobe Lincoln merger, based on an evaluation of relevant archival material and interviews with all key personnel of both institutions and the merged university including the goals and academic rationale set for the merger and the progress made during the first three years, along with future trends.     

我国高等教育制度变迁的路径依赖与超越

长期以来,我国高等教育制度变迁形成了政府主导的自上而下的强制性变迁的路径依赖。这种方式在高教转轨初期发挥了重要作用,随着高等教育各项宏观政策的确立,强制武变迁不利于高教事业的进一步发展。本文首先分析了强制性高等教育制度变迁的弊端和形成此种路径依赖的原因．进而提出了突破高教制度变迁路径依赖即实现高教制度变迁方式由强制性向诱致性或强制性与诱致性相结合的方式转变的对策。     

Restructuring higher education systems through institutional mergers: Australian experience, 1981–1983

This paper reviews Australian experience over the period 1981–1983 in order to illustrate how institutional mergers can be used to tackle system-wide as well as local institutional problems in higher education. It also illustrates some of the tensions and complications that arise in a federal political system where the legal control for two out of three sectors of tertiary education lies at one level of government and funding responsibility at another. The background and context to the mergers are explained, an analysis is provided of how institutions and state governments reacted to Federal Government coercion, and an attempt is made to assess outcomes.     

Learning environments at higher education institutions: Relationships with academic aspirations and satisfaction

This study investigated university students?? perceptions of their institutions?? learning environments, and related those perceptions to students?? academic aspirations and satisfaction with their universities. A sample of 12,423 juniors at 42 universities in Taiwan was used to confirm the validity and reliability of the instrument: CUEI-S. The study revealed diversity of students?? perceptions among specific aspects of the learning environment. Students responded more positively for student cohesion, library resources and administrative support, but less positively for student-faculty relations, student services, enhancement of their language abilities and emotional development. The majority of students had low academic aspirations but felt satisfied with their universities. The learning environment on campus was shown to play an important role both in students?? academic aspirations and in their general satisfaction, whether the individual student or the university was used as the unit of analysis. The relationship between faculty and students is the aspect that was most strongly associated with students?? academic aspirations. On the other hand, both adequate library resources and university support for student services were the key correlates of students?? general satisfaction at the individual student level. By identifying important relationships among variables, this study suggests initiatives for improving the learning environment at higher education institutions.     

Expanding higher education: institutional responses in Australia from the post-war era to the 1970s

The history of universities in the twentieth century is, at least from the perspective of growth, a massive success. Australian higher education is no exception. Prior to the Second World War, Australia had six universities and approximately 10,500 students. Now there are in excess of one million students attending 39 institutions. In each phase of student expansion, governments have sought to make universities accessible to new segments of the community, a pattern that informs contemporary social inclusion initiatives. This paper focuses on two successive periods – the 1940s/1950s and the 1960s/1970s – during which university participation expanded. Comparing two universities which were at that time very different from one another – the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales – I consider the ways both universities approached admissions to understand what each institution hoped to achieve in attracting students beyond the traditional elite. This helps move beyond government strategy and rhetoric to consider what universities believed was at stake as they enabled new students to enter their communities.     

Noise Rather than Numbers: Access to higher education in three European countries

This paper explores a number of special alternative arrangements for adults to access higher education in England and Wales, France and Germany and examines the impact on these arrangements of the relationship between the state and higher education in the three countries. The similarities and differences are analysed along two key dimensions: complexity-simplicity and rigidity-flexibility and the absence of clear statistical data in all three countries is accounted for by the way in which the various stakeholders justify their actions. Finally, Weiler's theory of compensatory legitimation is drawn on to assess the effectiveness of the policy innovations and to explain why the noise around them has been louder than the numbers involved might warrant.