Academic quality,league tables,and public policy: A cross-national analysis of university ranking systems

The global expansion of access to higher education has increased demand for information on academic quality and has led to the development of university ranking systems or league tables in many countries of the world. A recent UNESCO/CEPES conference on higher education indicators concluded that cross-national research on these ranking systems could make an important contribution to improving the international market for higher education. The comparison and analysis of national university ranking systems can help address a number of important policy questions. First, is there an emerging international consensus on the measurement of academic quality as reflected in these ranking systems? Second, what impact are the different ranking systems having on university and academic behavior in their respective countries? Finally, are there important public interests that are thus far not reflected in these rankings? If so, is there a needed and appropriate role for public policy in the development and distribution of university ranking systems and what might that role be? This paper explores these questions through a comparative analysis of university rankings in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US.     

近代大学教授会与当前教授委员会的比较研究——以二三十年代的清华大学为个案

民国时期清华的“教授治校”制度在大学管理中发挥了重要作用,作为我国近代高教史的遗产,对当前教授组织参与大学管理有着重要的借鉴意义.本文简要介绍了民国时期清华的教授治校制度以及教授会这一“教授治校”的基础性组织,总结了其组织特征;简要分析了当前大学教授委员会的实施现状;并对历史与当下两种教授会制度做了对比分析,得出相应的启示.     

制度变迁视野下公办高校学费制度的变革

公办高校学费制度历经了＂免费＂、＂双轨制＂、＂并轨＂和＂并轨＂后的规制四个阶段。公办高校学费制度的变革由政府以渐进式的方式主导;其动因是经济体制和高等教育需求的转变,高等教育的发展;其目标是实现高等教育的有效供给,基于＂利益获得原则＂进行高等教育成本分担,政府分担高等教育成本的依据由培养＂国家人才＂转变为补偿高等教育的正外部性。     

公共性视域下的现代大学治理

现代大学提供公共教育、传承公共知识,已经从私人场所转变成为一个公共机构。大学行政部门公共性弱化,科层管理异化为行政力量的过于强势,其本质是大学管理公共性的缺失。大学管理公共性的缺失可以引起大学公共性基于现实问题和公共性的要求,我国现代大学治理的核心是要提升大学管理公共性。具体而言,就是要在公共利益、民主管理、多方参与的治理理念指导下,从政府管理和大学内部治理两个层面提供更好的高等教育基本公共服务。政府提供高等教育基本公共服务的模式包括培育专业教育中介机构、完善国家教育基本标准、发挥数据和信息服务作用、进行教育问责等;大学提供更好的基本公共服务则要从校长职业顶层设计起步,加强"校长"岗位的制度设计,包括明确任职要求、公开遴选程序、规范职责、制定任期和薪酬体系、形成制衡机制、设立校长卸任机制等。     

浅析高等教育的公益性

教育是一项社会公益事业,高等教育作为教育的一个重要组成部分,其公益性主要体现在高等教育应该符合国家和社会公共利益。中国的现实国情与高等教育的功能体系决定必须把公益性作为中国高等教育的出发点和落脚点。为确保高等教育的公益性,政府必须加强宏观调控和政策引导,大学自身必须彰显本色和强化责任,同时也亟待社会的积极支持和主动参与。     

The university of the future: Stiegler after Derrida

Abstract

Higher education has not been spared from the effects of the disruptive aspects of technology. MOOCs, teach bots, virtual learning platforms, and Wikipedia are among technics marking a digital transformation of knowledge. The question of the university, the foundation of its authority and purpose is more than timely; it is urgent to any future philosophy of higher education. Will the university survive in the future and if so, for what purpose? We examine two philosophers, Jacques Derrida and Bernard Stiegler, who take on this challenge. Derrida, writing at ‘the scene of teaching’, proposes new humanities for a university ‘without condition’, one with increasing autonomy to democratize it further. Stiegler takes issue with him on the conditions of the university of the future. Stiegler offers not an ‘anti-Derridian discourse’ but a ‘deconstruction of a deconstruction’ of Derrida. Stiegler’s critique of Derrida on the role of the professoriate and the university of the future expand the fissure between them. In this article, we argue that Stiegler’s reading of Derrida points to the university not as an anachronistic way of knowing displaced by the digital revolution but as vital to a politics of the spirit in a democratic future.     

公立高校法律定位的单一化取向及其路径选择

现行公立高校的事业单位法人的法律定位不合理,公立高校承担的法律主体角色呈现出复杂化状态,严重制约了高校的健康发展。直接由立法机关以单行法规独立规范公立高校的法律地位,在大学与政府平行分权的基础上,确立公立高校独立于行政机关的公法人之特别法人的法律地位,可以提供完整的、对大学主体人群的权益保障,从而确保大学自治的实现。     

The Professoriate and the Future of Higher Education Kinesiology

ABSTRACT

This article broadly addresses academic freedom and higher education in America, accentuating the viewpoint that change is not new. A historical overview of the state of the professoriate and social contexts are examined to situate the field of kinesiology into the context of the university. Ideas regarding the future of the field are addressed with an emphasis on the conduct of higher education scholars within this context. It is hoped that this article will not become an autopsy documenting the assault on the field, marginalization of the academy, and end of kinesiology in higher education, but will rather be a call to action for moving forward as a profession.     

The Contemporary Professoriate: Towards a Diversified or Segmented Profession?

On the empirical basis of six national studies (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Denmark, Russia and South Africa), this paper examines the phenomenon of segmentation, defined as the solidification of deep hierarchies with little crossover between categories of institutions or individuals. The massification of higher education has brought about a great diversity of institutions and, concomitantly, stark differences among the professoriate. While the public sector has to some extent been able to protect its academic personnel, the for‐profit sector is moving towards an unstable professoriate, poorly paid, hired mostly on a per‐hour basis, and for whom sharing in academic governance is a distant dream. Some of this differentiation is emerging also within institutions and a new kind of academic who could be termed ‘just‐in‐time knowledge worker’ is on the rise.     

大学自治与我国高校内部体制改革

我国高等学校的内部管理体制自建国后发生了七次变更，1998年的《高等教育法》明确规定高校实行党委领导下的校长负责制，引发了处于同一地位的书记、校长两位“一把手”的权力纷争。借鉴西方国家大学自治内部管理体制的经验，发挥委员会制与一长制的优势，将党委会居于校长之上，并将党委会更名为理事会，明确理事会主席在职位上高于校长，这种理事会领导下的校长负责制是比较好的选择。     

大学公共性的实现在于公共资源的优化配置

在我国经济社会和高等教育快速发展和转型之际,大学的公共性问题日益受到人们的高度关注。大学作为公共教育场所,应该以实现公共利益为目标,然而由于以财政投入为主的公共资源的短缺、公共权力滥用、追求规模忽视质量的发展模式、传统公私观中公共理念的缺乏等原因,高等教育机会平等和教育质量受到损害,大学公共性形成潜在危机。作为一个资源依赖型的组织,大学优化公共资源配置有利于其公共性的实现和提升。     

Capital and Knowledge Flows: Global higher education markets

Accelerating global flows of people and information have formed new communities and networks across social and political borders. Higher education is one such globalised knowledge community in which new patterns of knowledge, accreditation, research alliances, and social and professional relationships are emerging. In this paper I outline the push–pull dynamics of globalisation in higher education: the co-constitutive nature of local and global interests and educational formations; disjunctive flows of capital, information, people, and knowledge; and the new politics of knowledge capital as they affect academic research and the public archive of scholarly publishing and university libraries. I close with reflections on the differential consequences of globalisation on: the role of the nation state in higher education provision and reform; the role of education in nation building and national identity politics; and the governability of a global eduscape.     

Theology in Australian higher education: the ‘Newcastle Model’ brings theology home to the academy

This article investigates the movement of theological education away from diocesan controlled theological colleges in the Anglican Church of Australia into the mainstream curriculum of public universities. Particular reference is made to the establishment of Theology as an area of study at The University of Newcastle. Other models of theological education based on particular hermeneutic interests of Anglicanism are examined. Comparisons are drawn between those institutions seeking to maintain partisan control over theological education and those who cede control, in part or entirely, to the public university. Discussion of some historical material leading to the implementation of the ‘Newcastle Model’ is presented as this relates to church and public policy on Theology in higher education. The article argues that the place of theological education is in the academy or public university since it is there that Theology, like other public knowledge, best develops and maintains a critical intention.     

高等学校法律地位变革的功能导向与风险因应

伴随着高等学校任务体系的持续扩张,高等学校法律地位变革的功能导向不断强化。在大陆法系国家,高等学校通常具有基本权主体、国家机构或公法设施以及民事主体或公法意义上的法人等“多重”且“交叠”的法律地位。在英美法系国家,高等学校作为“混合型机构”的特征日益凸显。经由普通法与成文法的持续发展,形塑出高等学校作为自治机构、公共当局、非营利性机构以及贸易实体或法人等不同类型且富有“张力”的法律地位。高等学校法律地位变革中功能导向的强化,既为高等教育治理中多元利益的整合提供了可能,也客观上导致高等学校作为学术机构本质的式微,并衍生出自治权限萎缩、利益冲突状况加剧、教师权利危机凸显等诸多风险。在此背景下,如何调整学术子系统与法律系统之间的复杂关系,如何在传统与现代之间保持必要的张力,构成大学法研究的前沿议题。     

Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Revising Promotion and Tenure Standards According to Boyer

If one acknowledges that scholarship comes in many shapes and forms, and if one agrees with Boyer's argument that it is time to reconsider scholarship in light of the role of faculty members within departments, colleges, and universities, the next logical step then is to see if Boyer's principles can be effectively applied in a university setting. At the 1995 NAPEHE conference, Boyer acknowledged that the next step, as indicated by the title of the Carnegie Foundation's forthcoming sequel Scholarship Assessed, is to identify ways to fairly and equitably evaluate faculty scholarship within the context of the professoriate in general, and in higher education institutions in particular. The authors argue the case for differential application of standards within and among universities, based upon the diversity of missions and goals. Following that, examples are given for how Boyer's classifications have been applied to promotion and tenure standards at one comprehensive land grant university in the midwest. Administrator and faculty (new and old) commentary provide sup port for the new standards.     

Notes on the Canadian professoriate

While many publications on higher education in Canada make some reference to the professoriate, few are devoted specifically to that group. This paper draws, therefore, on many sources in an attempt to provide an overview. Aspects dealt with include characteristics of the professoriate; recruitment and selection; salaries and fringe benefits; rank, promotion and tenure; teaching, research and community service; professorial associations; and the professoriate and politics.     

The American professoriate and the movement toward unionization

This paper examines the movement away from professionalization and toward unionization by the American professoriate. A content analysis of the bi-annual addresses of the thrity-two past presidents of the American Association of University Professors demonstrates that the approach taken by this organization which has been central in representing the professional interests of the professoriate has been inadequate. The fact that academics are not independent professionals but carry out their research and pedagogical functions in bureaucratic structures makes their quest for autonomy particularly problematic. The traditional stance taken by the leadership of the American Association of University Professors seems to ignore the obstacles, e.g. the distribution of power in organizations, in the path of attaining full professional status. Consequently, the professoriate has not only fallen considerably short of its aspirations and is beset with a number of problems, e.g. continual violations of academic freedom, but increasing numbers have begun looking to labor unions to further their quest for professional status.     

高等教育质量保障规制体制的理想类型、变革趋势与启示

长期以来,高等教育质量保障有赖于学术自治与自律机制的建立,受同行评议机制与声誉机制的控制。然而,受高等教育规模扩张与国家政治经济体制变革的影响,这种传统的学术自我规制体系能否保障与提高高等教育质量开始受到广泛的质疑。以学术界利益为旨归的私人规制体制、风险与标准导向的市场型规制体制以及基于绩效责任逻辑的政府规制体制三种类型的高等教育质量保障规制体制先后确立。三种规制体制在规制标准的制定、信息搜集以及行为矫正机制等规制要素方面具有迥异的规制逻辑与特征。规制实践的经验表明,倾向于自我规制与国家规制的规制体制均存在缺陷。基于学术自由与公共利益辩证统一的诉求,三种规制体制均开始强调自治与法治、自律与他律的有机整合,并呈现出合作规制的变革趋势。中国高等教育质量保障规制体制的变革应立足于法治的原则、思维和方式,增强政府公权力的法治规约,以实现国家监督与大学自主之间的合作与平衡。     

对大学的怀旧

当前,社会上渐起的对大学的怀旧之风,恰表明高等教育正处于改革的攻坚期和深水区.大学的发展既不能无视社会需求,也要与社会保持边界.应综合考虑大学的社会性、独立性、公益性、多样性、专业性五方面内容.同时,要坚信大学可以引领社会文化,先从自身的制度文化做起,回归教育本质,完善内部治理结构,着力营造良好的学术生态环境.