The University Lost: The Meaning of the University

This essay examines the current state of the University in terms of lost meaning and value, especially from the perspective of scholarship. The author specifically points to three works of literature and writers on the subject, and how these works have significantly contributed to our understanding of what is taking place within the modern University, and how the University has transitioned and specifically, radically changed from its originary purpose to the “modern” University as an institution narrower in scope and depth, role, and even responsibility. The author examines the writings of John Henry Newman, Bill Readings, and John Milton, and comments on several of their ideas and demonstrates how these ideas are relevant in understanding and improving the modern University which has shifted from academic to managerial orientation; faculty to administrators—hence its decline. Finally, the author provides several examples of challenges in the modern University and how these have created the gaps in perceived and real purpose and philosophy of the ideal university versus current “all-administrative” university and its perceived status and role.     

The International Baccalaureate Career Programme: a case study of college and career readiness policy goals

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is noted in school reform policy circles as the gold standard of academic excellence. While the presence of IB as a sought-after education vendor has grown in the past decade, the organization has attempted to shake off its image as an elite agency serving only private international schools with its longstanding liberal arts curriculum. As such its turn toward the public sector in the United States with a credential for vocational students appears perplexing and out of step with its product brand, but the newer Career Programme (CP) is marketed as meeting the needs of applied learners in secondary schools. This paper offers a case study of two schools in one US state that adopted the CP, generating IB school enrollments from among talented vocational students while elevating its ranking on the college and career readiness (CCR) score, an annual assessment of postsecondary success. The CCR policy reformers advocate curricular improvements so that all students receive the academic foundations and employability skills needed to thrive in the new economy. Yet the egalitarian discourse of CCR could not be attended to using the CP. In this case study only high-achieving students were advised to participate and enroll in the program.     

Higher Education Institutions and Their Regions: Linking the Local and the Global

This article is based on the Final Report of the "International Seminar on the 'Emergence of Universities: New Higher Education Institutions and their Role in Local and Regional Development'," held in Zielona Go´ra, Poland, in May 2001. A first set of presentations argued strongly that the presence of higher education institutions in given regions is increasingly important for the continued development of these regions. However, for the presence of higher education institutions to be effective in regard to their regions, universities may have to be reorganized and smaller institutions merged. A second set of presentations detailed specific ways in which universities can be of service to their regions, as, for instance, in providing linguistic services and in furthering inter-ethnic and cultural understanding. A third set commented upon the converging roles of public and private institutions and discussed the challenges facing higher education in general.     

Author Correction: Digital Citizenship: you Can’t Go Home Again

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. Figure 3 on the published version of the article was wrong. The correct Fig. 3 is now presented below.     

Learned societies and electronic publishing

Electronic publishing techniques are introducing inevitable changes in scholarly publishing as a whole and in the academic journal publishing business in particular. What will be the effect of the changes on the function and role of learned societies?     

JPEE Book Review

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability -