Institutional Mergers in Higher Education: Lessons from International Experience

Higher education systems andinstitutions have used institutional mergers toaddress a range of different problems,particularly fragmentation amongstnon-university institutions, lack of financialand academic viability, pressures for majorsystem restructuring and external competitivethreats. While mergers frequently aredisruptive, strongly contested and costly inboth human and financial terms, they have thepotential to produce substantial longer-termbenefits, particularly larger and morecomprehensive institutions, stronger academicprogrammes, improved student services, enhancedstudent choice, greater institutionalflexibility and, under certain conditions,increased efficiencies and cost-savings. Sensitivity to human and cultural factors andeffective leadership are of utmost importancein achieving success in merger processes.     

Developing a Quality Culture in Higher Educaiton

Although quality and qualityassurance have become embedded into the discourse ofhigher education, the development of a quality culturewithin higher education has (paradoxically) laggedbehind the implementation of quality assurancepractices. Part of the paradox, as far as learningand teaching are concerned, can be attributed toexternal demands which are homeostatic, when thefuture of higher education seems to be needing aradical commitment to curricular development. Thispaper sets the development of a quality culture in apolitical context, explains the relevance of single-and double-loop learning, argues for a conception ofmanaging for quality, identifies some aspects ofinstitutional dysfunctioning, lays out some qualitiesof a learning organisation, and suggests some ways inwhich institutional leaders might approach the task ofdeveloping a quality culture.     

论我国营利性高等教育的供给机制

营利性大学的出现,不仅引发了人们对大学和社会两者间关系的重新思考,同时也提出了对“大学”内涵重新解释。随着社会经济的发展逐步加快与知识经济的到来,人们越来越需要通过各种途径获取知识、丰富知识。在此基础上,在正规的国民教育序列之外,兴起了私立性质的营利性大学。文章主要从营利性高等教育的供给角度研究其必要性及可能性。     

当前英国高等教育收费改革之研究

近年来,随着高等教育大众化的深入发展以及教育成本的不断增加,许多国家掀起了新的高等教育收费改革,英国高等教育收费改革以其涉及面之广、阻力之大、立场之坚定而备受各国关注.本文从当前英国高等教育收费改革的起因、内容和改革的特点三个方面对此次改革进行探讨和研究.     

Mergers and Linkages in British Higher Education

In its pursuit of the cost-effective expansion of higher education (HE), the British Conservative government has strongly encouraged competition and has opened the HE sector to the influence of market forces. This policy has certainly helped to drive down unit costs but it also has an inherent destructive potential which requires to be mitigated by a whole spectrum of collaborative structures. To study the interplay between competition and co-operation in British higher education, it is useful to focus on the relationships between higher education institutions (HEIs) as manifested in mergers (both actual, proposed and ‘failed’) and the various forms of inter-institutional linkage which are leading to a re-alignment of HEIs in the post-binary era. A number of forms of linkage, stopping short of merger, are defined and illustrated: for example, affiliation, validation, accreditation, franchising and access arrangements, and the important function of consortia is underlined. However, because they exist within a matrix which is basically competitive, such forms of co-operation are subject to stress and disruption. The British higher education system manifests an unusual degree of flexibility which has enabled it to adapt organically to new policies and challenges. It is more permeable than that of most other European countries, but this permeability is gradually being endangered by increasing UK reliance on formal legislation in HE. Experience abroad, notably in Australia, indicates that wholesale dissolution of boundaries, combined with fierce forms of competition, can in the end lead to serious deterioration in educational standards. A balance between competition and co-operation must be sought, but can never be ‘established’ once and for all because external circumstances require it to be constantly re-adjusted. The research on which this paper is based was carried out with funds from the Economic and Social Research Council and from the Faculty of Education Research Committee of the University of Ulster.     

教师教育专业质量评估路向探究

教师教育专业质量评估在教师教育专业发展中发挥重要的作用,通过分析教师教育专业质量评估现状及困境,从第四代教育评估理论的视角,提出教师教育专业质量评估的有效路向:在评估理念上,坚持共同构建、全面参与的专业质量评估观,从质量监测转向全面质量管理;在评估指标体系上,坚持评估的科学性和可操作性,依据国家课程标准和专业标准建立教师教育专业分类评估指标体系;在评估组织上,坚持评估主体多元性,采取建立完善的教师教育专业质量的外部、内部评估。     

Mergers in Higher Education: A Strategic Analysis

This paper looks at recent mergers in higher education from a strategic management perspective. It is based on private research undertaken for a dissertation in completion of an MBA degree in 1996. The objectives of the study included the discovery and analysis of merger input factors and process variables, and an assessment of the contribution of both towards an effective outcome. The paper considers similarities and differences between mergers in higher education and as a whole. The process included structured interviews with senior management in two universities, which helped to develop a census survey of incidents involving an HE partner between 1987 and 1994. The incidents included mergers with further education colleges, other HE institutions, and colleges of health.     

Institutional Advertising in Higher Education

ABSTRACT

Based on an apparent lack of published research, an exploratory study was conducted to discover and describe current advertising practices in higher education. Results from fifty-nine colleges and universities who advertise in local, regional, and national media are reported regarding media usage, importance of communication objectives for institutional messages, and the importance of audiences targeted for advertising. All major media were used by most institutions sampled. Few colleges and universities reported using just one advertising medium. Traditional target audiences were noted. Communication objectives mentioned most often were general image enhancement and awareness of the institution.     

上世纪60年代以来西方文化研究中的权力议题

从跨学科的文化研究这个角度论述了权力议题在年代西方文化研究领域的地位和作用,以及权力作为文化研究中心议题的逻辑和转向,并以消费主义、文学研究、民族身份、国际间的文化权力等作为研究案例,讨论了文化研究中的权力议题。权力议题是文化研究结合现实、批判现实的一个节点,理当发挥人文研究经世致用的功能。     

Regional inequality in university attainment in seven African countries since 1960

Inequalities in access to university education are of concern across the world, but many countries in Africa have faced particularly pronounced regional and ethnic inequalities in educational attainment. Have such disparities increased or decreased since the 1960s? Using census data to trace the sub-national origins of university students in seven African countries (Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) over successive birth cohorts shows that regional inequalities in access have taken a u-shaped path. In the first two decades of independence, as higher education expanded from a low base, graduates were growing more regionally and ethnically representative of the national populations. Since the 1980s regional inequalities have increased in most countries, on account of a growing attainment gap between people born in the largest cities and the remaining populations. This growing educational advantage accruing to those born in the main urban metropolises was initially driven by a slowdown in enrolment growth, coupled with high rates of skills-selective urban migration and higher educational performance in the urban regions. This new urban bias is rapidly changing the composition of the region’s educational elites.     

1949年以来我国教师教育的制度变迁

自1951年建立完整的师范教育①体系至1990年,以《关于改革学制的决定》（1951年）为肇始,《中共中央关于教育体制改革的决定》（1985年）、《中华人民共和国教师法／5（1993年颁布的）以及随后一系列纲领性政策文件,既不断强化由政府主导教师教育改革的模式,也提供了一个基于法律、政策的制度性框架,使得教师教育工作以渐进性变革的方式应对着其服务对象——基础教育学校的需求变革;进入1990年代后,我国教师教育则进入一个借鉴欧美国家经验的制度转向与重构的变迁过程。     

以质量强化为导向的苏格兰高等教育评估——ELIR的经验与启示

以质量强化为导向的院校审核是苏格兰QAA自2003年起实施的主要评估活动,2008年出台了新版的评估手册。新一轮评估活动保留了五个核心理念:质量强化包含质量保障、面向未来、质量强化与风险并存、支持多样化和国内外比较,同时引入了质量文化、学生参与、高质量学习等理念。其运作过程大致可以分为三个阶段,主要包括反思分析报告、调查审核、年度讨论、院校反馈等环节。     

20世纪60年代以来美国多元文化教师教育思想的流变与评析

美国多元文化教师教育思想自20世纪60年代产生以来形成了四种取向:学术取向、专业取向、解制取向和社会重建取向。这四种取向的多元文化教师教育思想具有存在的共时性、发展的层次性以及政治环境的制约性。虽然四种取向的多元文化教师教育思想在教师观、课程观、教学观和实践观等方面都有不同的见解,但其本质都是指向社会公正。     

21世纪以来欧洲大学的合并:动因、问题及对策

21世纪以来,为了应对高等教育全球化、国际化、经济下滑、质量提升需求以及全球知识经济兴起等复杂的外部环境,欧洲的高等教育进行了结构与体系上的调整,其大学经历了一系列的合并.在此次合并浪潮中,扩大规模产生规模经济效益、实现资源合理利用成为欧洲大学合并的主要驱动力.欧洲大学合并不仅是时代背景下的一种战略需求,而且也是其提升学术影响力以及吸引优秀生源和师资的一项重要抉择.     

博洛尼亚进程以来土耳其高等教育国际化发展研究

自加入博洛尼亚进程以来,土耳其通过师生的国际流动、国际教育交流、课程和学术研究、国际合作办学等推进高等教育国际化.研究发现,质量提升仍是土耳其高等教育国际化建设的核心.为实现世界第十大经济体的目标,土耳其仍需努力赋予大学更多自主权、增加以英语作为教学语言的课程比重、提高质量认证成效和建设世界一流大学.     

Video Production Technology in Australian Higher Education

The paper describes the present state of the art of video programme production in Australian tertiary education, discusses the identity of the decision‐makers in the production sequence, and assesses the importance of video aesthetics. Against the background of some Australian media departments' production and hardware philosophy, the author describes four series of programmes produced at the ACUE.     

The Emerging Chinese Institutional Architecture in Higher Education

The article reviews the global landscape of higher education with the anticipation of an emerging Chinese institutional architecture in Asia-Pacific higher education. It starts with a theoretical framework for analyzing the functionalities of values and institutions in international higher education by adopting Joseph Nye's concept of soft power. In particular, it considers the Chinese cultural values and ranking systems/citations indexes as resources projecting the soft power of China in the arena of higher education. While China still plays the role of norm taker in the existing geopolitical sphere of knowledge construction, this article argues the possibility that China will change its role to norm setter by examining its potential institutional architecture in knowledge construction. On this basis, it argues that China may be able to increase its influence in higher education in the region through promoting China's academic practices and standards.     

我国高等旅游教育制度变迁分析

国外高等旅游教育制度变迁轨迹经历了萌芽期、形成期、发展期到完善期,而我国高等旅游教育制度仍处于发展期。我国高等旅游教育制度变迁机理,是在诱致性制度变迁与强制性制度变迁的共同作用下发展演进的,并呈现出高学历教育制度需求增加和院校培养制度供给合理化的趋势。