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The sabbatical provides an important illustration of the changing nature of academic life and is a symbol of the growing demands of performativity. Drawing on historical literature and archival sources concerning university sabbaticals at Australian and English universities, the paper demonstrates that underlying assumptions about its purposes have changed slowly, but markedly, over time. A shift has occurred from a conception of the sabbatical as a period of rest, recuperation and academic travel to one of hyper-productivity. This change is linked to the emergence of the so-called research university, the rise of performativity, and the increasing demands of an audit culture. The academic sabbatical is also an often forgotten but significant indicator of the internationalisation of universities in the nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper responds to a growing literature arguing that change in higher education institutions might be better understood and managed if such institutions are understood as complex systems with emergent properties. Based on complexity theory, the paper articulates a set of characteristics that might be expected if institutions are in fact acting as complex systems. The utility of these characteristics for identifying complexity in the field is tested in the context of a large partnered research project involving the mathematics, science and education colleges from six Australian universities and their local K-12 schools. The study finds evidence of subsystem variations on the initial partnership priorities, including substantial boundary crossing, leading to emergence and co-evolution, indicating that a macroscopic view of emergent variation rather than 'micromanaging' may be an essential factor in scaling and sustaining collaborative partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a critical account of the role of universities in the development of innovation and technology in Hong Kong.To do so, the paper examines the political economy of Hong Kong's innovation and technology development. It outlines a finance-led regime, under which the vision of long-term innovation initiatives is transformed into short-term finance events, and the development of an entrepreneurial culture in society and in universities is neglected. The paper also suggests that the current research funding system and the rise of managerialism in the higher education sector restrict the development of academic entrepreneurship, though universities play a significant role in the innovation system. The paper closes by examining the recent changes in higher education policy and governance, the intensification of integration with mainland China and their implications for prospects of advocating a culture of innovation and promoting innovation and technology in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing number of public colleges and universities in the United States have hired management consulting firms to help develop strategies aimed at increasing institutional effectiveness and efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to explore the frames and strategies of consultants in US public higher education reform efforts. Drawing upon a range of documentary evidence, the paper examines four consulting firms (Accenture, Bain & Company, Deloitte and McKinsey & Company) and their perspectives on higher education reform. The paper analyses the consultative process with two public universities and two state higher education systems to determine possible avenues by which consultants exert influence. Through reference to theory on academic capitalism and new institutionalism, the paper reveals the ways in which consultants circulate crisis narratives and diffuse private sector management ideas among public colleges and universities that are seeking both financial solvency and legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The higher education policy of the previous Australian government aimed to achieve an internationally competitive higher education sector while expanding access opportunities to all Australians. This policy agenda closely reflects global trends that focus on achieving both quality and equity objectives. In this paper, the formulation and implementation of the policy are examined according to the policy cycle approach, drawing on additional theories and analytic frameworks as applicable. The analysis explores why such an ambitious policy approach was taken, how it was implemented and factors affecting its achievability. Indicators suggest the policy was not delivered successfully within the term of the Labor administration. It also highlights an ongoing policy trend to unify the higher education sector, despite evident divisions within the sector and between levels of government administration. The paper concludes with recommendations to diversify the system so that the equity and quality policy agendas can be implemented concurrently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines institutional governance of the public university in China, investigating the extent to which government has sponsored the autonomy of universities since the inception of the opening up reforms of 1978. The paper sets out to explain how the party governance system of China is interconnected with aspects of the university’s governance, little commented upon in academic literature outside of China. In particular, it explores how the Presidential Accountability System under the leadership of the University Committee of Communist Party (UCCP) operates. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the turn of the millennium, interest in collaborative and distributed conceptualisations of leadership has gathered momentum, particularly in education. During the same period, higher education institutions have been embedded in practices shaped by New Public Management. The resultant reconfiguration of structural arrangements within institutions has led to the existence of two staff groups, professional and academic. The former is often aligned to the rise in managerial practices over claimed academic collegial practices, thus creating conditions for a possible dualistic positioning with the two groups. Distributed leadership and collaboration are claimed to be approaches that overcome this dualism, yet they may also be susceptible to maintaining this dual state and subtly reaffirm embedded interests and structures. As an alternative, a leadership-as-practice approach ontologically shifts the way in which sense is made of organisations. The practice-based model for understanding organisations presented in this paper offers a theoretical and applied framework that incorporates and also goes beyond collaborative and distributed leadership due to its association with practice theory. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Within the framework of the strategic journey undertaken between 2005 and 2010, this paper seeks to examine how the University of Melbourne sought to differentiate itself through the introduction and reconceptualisation of a ‘third stream’ of academic work. Specifically, this paper seeks to investigate, through qualitative methods, how those in leadership roles in diverse areas of the University understood and operationalised knowledge transfer as a new strategic priority from 2006; and the approaches taken leading to the University's (subsequently refined) view of third stream activity as engagement. This paper also argues that there were multiple barriers to introducing and implementing the new strategy. However, once personal linkages were created between the changed strategy and scholarly life, an organisational story developed with the potential benefits leading to opportunities through mission differentiation, without the risk of unsustainable organisational resource demands. Finally, this paper concludes that significant change is not easy, but it is possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the contemporary development and reform challenges in tertiary education in Malaysia in both national and global contexts. The critical role exercised by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency in driving strategic change in higher education cultures, both in public and private universities is described and analysed. The paper examines the adoption, generation and institutionalisation of global standards of practice in teaching and learning and in other fundamental dimensions of the provision of quality education. Contending ideas, rationales and models of universities and the contributions this institution makes to educational provisions are examined. The analyses are informed by the development reforms in other sectors of government and society within the integrated framework of the nation's strategic vision of development - Vision 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complaints made to external agencies about Australian universities are rising in both number and complexity. Recent debate has therefore focused upon how to improve grievance handling in the Australian higher education sector. One suggested 'solution' is the creation of a national Australian university ombudsman. The UK has recently introduced such a national student complaint body - the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA), a 'world first'. This paper examines the structure and operation of the OIA and highlights the advantages and pitfalls of introducing an equivalent office into the Australian higher education sector. It argues that, on balance, there are advantages in a national university ombudsman. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including benchmarking of schools, higher education internationalisation and transformation of regional technical institutions in China.

A large number of failures in learning reforms at Asian universities have been documented recently in the literature. The main reason is that reformers often import Western-developed practices to Asian classrooms without a careful examination of their appropriateness within the socio-cultural context of these countries. This approach faces a high risk of failure because Western-developed practices are often supported by structural conditions and cultural values that are not always found in Asia. To ensure the success of student-centred learning reforms in Asian classrooms, this paper claims that reformers should not simply borrow and impose student-centred practices on Asian students. Rather, Asian educators need to be assisted to bring about change in their teaching practices and instructed how to design assessment that promotes student-centred learning practices. Moreover, some principles of student-centred theories need to be modified to become culturally appropriate in the Asian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's educational reform from the late 1990s, has substantially increased university capacity. This has been most evident in undergraduate enrolments. As an increasingly large cohort of university graduates enters the job market yearly, the demand for university graduates has not caught up with supply. Some university students plan to pursue postgraduate studies in order to delay their entry into the competition for jobs and to improve their educational credentials. This paper reports on findings from a survey of university students in Xi'an, China, identifying the types of students who aspire to postgraduate education. The findings confirm the importance of three sets of factors: (1) parents' education and financial capacity; (2) university attended; and (3) academic performance. The paper argues that educational policy change in China has resulted in students having to pay tuition fees and having responsibility for finding jobs, thus creating conditions conducive to students with better family and financial resources, and better academic standing, to aspire to postgraduate education. Further policy implications of these findings regarding the expansion, financing and affordability of graduate education in China are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of metaphor in the Dawkins education reforms under the Hawke labor government is the focus of this paper. I begin by offering a brief summary of the higher education reforms with a particular focus on the rhetoric that was used during the policy-making process that saw the reintroduction of university tuition fees. I then clarify what is meant by rhetoric and metaphor, and, using official documents, continue by illustrating the various pedagogical, heuristic, and constitutive functions of key metaphors used in to implement the Dawkins reforms of higher education. I argue that recognising metaphor in official rhetoric is useful because it draws attention to the discursive devices deployed and thereby points to opportunities for contesting the power to name and describe particular groups and social and educational problems. In other words, considering the official rhetoric in higher education reform offers opportunities to change those accounts and to replace them with alternative frameworks for understanding the issues of concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because there is close cooperation on quality assurance in the Scandinavian countries, one would expect there to be convergence of quality assurance policies and practices in Scandinavian higher education. Few studies have analysed these quality assurance policies and practices from a comparative viewpoint. Based on empirical evidence produced in connection with studies of recent quality reforms in Scandinavia and an approach based on linking diffusion and translation theories with institutionalist perspectives focusing on path dependency, the paper contributes to the current debate on Scandinavian quality assurance. The debate is compelling with regard to the Swedish case in particular, with its ‘one size fits all’ approach and exclusive focus on outcomes which has been heavily criticised by the higher education institutions and has turned out to be controversial from the European viewpoint. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As part of an ambitious 10-year programme to overhaul and improve its entire education structure, China is currently engaged in developing, reforming and opening up its higher education sector. The stated aims are to increase access, increase resourcing, improve outcomes and lessen direct official interference. Underpinning the programme are aspects of Confucian philosophy as well as Communist Party of China ordinances. Confucian thought however, is far from intractable and how much it has been altered to suit the political perspective is a matter of contention. This paper argues that the term Confucian heritage as it has been applied to governance in higher education is too unstable to inform the analysis of progress and potential in Chinese higher education reform in any meaningful way. Instead, it serves the more civic purpose of providing a popular reference point for China's national and international ambitions in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a practitioner's view on student system implementations in the Australian university sector. A student information system is a core system of any university and integral to its operations and services to students. These systems are constantly on the list of major projects and at any point in time, a university is either implementing a new system or upgrading an existing one, or planning for either or both. These projects are costly, time-consuming and share common challenges that can be attributed to a combination of factors including software implementations, peculiarities of the individual institution, the sector, the software supplier and the environment in which it operates. Themes underpinning these challenges are explored and discussed with a view to creating greater understanding of the many facets that come into play. Questions are posed on future needs and directions given the challenges ahead, particularly the major sector reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the salient characteristics of the French higher education system are examined in the light of its recent evolution and in the context of overwhelming Europeanisation trends. In spite of major weaknesses still hindering the performance of French universities, it is argued that following the recent wave of reforms, the country is well-equipped to face the numerous challenges of the global knowledge economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Policy borrowing' continues to be an important factor in the construction of higher education policy in East Asia. Many post-colonial societies have continued to look to the West for models that will assist them to reengineer their universities in the quest for creating world class institutions. Against this background, Hong Kong's University Grants Committee adopted an outcomes based approach to teaching and learning in 2005 and gained support from institutions under its responsibility for doing so. Supported with ample resources, the subject of numerous public symposia and incorporated into regular quality audit assessments, outcomes based approaches to teaching and learning are in the process of becoming part of Hong Kong's distinctive approach to quality reform in higher education. This paper reviews the policy context in which this initiative emerged, analyses the policy meaning in terms of its underlying theories and derives a set of principles that could guide the implementation of outcomes based approaches. The multiple possibilities associated with outcomes based teaching and learning demonstrate how systemic reform agendas are subject to interpretation and local adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of reforming Hong Kong's higher education sector commenced in 2001, and the system moved into the post-massification era. Within five years, the post-secondary participation rate for the 17-20 age cohort had increased to 66 per cent. This target was achieved much earlier than the Government had planned. More educational opportunities have been made available in order to help society cope with the challenges of the knowledge-based economy. This policy has drawn repeated criticism from the media, students, and pressure groups concerned about the quality of the self-financed sub-degree programmes. Drawing upon the literature and published data, this paper examines the development of the higher education sector in the past decade. The key motives for the Government to expand the mass higher education sector include a globalised economy, unemployment, ideological changes in political leadership, and weaknesses inherent in the elitist approach. Self-financed programmes are offered in the sectors where the Government has not faced problems of financial stringency. However, articulation opportunities, quality of education and educated unemployment are the key challenges ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving a shared vision is often cited as a prerequisite to successful organisational change. What change strategists do not take into consideration is how this concept applies to complex systems such as those found in higher education. This paper explores and identifies the divergent perspectives and meanings found among the multiplicity of stakeholders that comprise systems of higher education. Based on a case study involving the implementation of a new admissions criteria framework, the author identifies two strategies that were successfully used by change agents. The findings are relevant to those involved in implementing change in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a first assessment of the effects of changes in the Norwegian student support system, implemented in 2002–2003. Data have been drawn from NSELF, the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund and from Statistics Norway (various years). Covering the period 2001–04, the data compare the number and composition of those receiving student support before and after the changes, as well as the level of government resources allocated to student support throughout the period. The findings reveal a considerable increase in the resources spent on student support and an increase in the number of student support recipients. The relative increase has been particularly strong among part‐time and mature‐age students. Both intended and unintended consequences of the changes in the student support system are discussed, in relation to current educational policy goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advocates and costs a reform package called SuperHECS for the financing of undergraduate education in Australia. Autonomy and incentives offered to institutions under the program; Payment of tuition subsidies; Loan scheme for fee payments; Tax deductions for educational expenditures; Cost of the reform package to the government.

In the last decade there has been a shift in the discourses around professional staff in higher education that has been influenced by neoliberal agenda that focused on driving education reforms. Earlier discussions centring around nomenclature variations have progressed to those about creating and developing borderless professionals operating in the third space – a notional space where professional staff and academic staff with diverse and valuable skills work as equal professional partners on complex and multifaceted projects. This article looks at the evolution of the debates around professional staff. It considers how the notions of professionalism and professionalisation are being reconceptualised in the third space. Discussion progresses towards capability building and developmental opportunities of aspiring third space professional staff in higher education settings. Possible pathways of engaging with and empowering professional staff in designing their future careers and professional identities are considered. Building a community of research practices under the auspices of the Association for Tertiary Education Management (ATEM) and engaging postgraduate students in the university third space project work are proposed as potential areas for further research in the field of professional staff capability building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capital expenditure at United Kingdom (UK) universities is rapidly rising, with new buildings erected on the premise that national and international competitiveness must be maintained. We examine students’ engagement with and conceptualisation of university estate, and explore broader questions about the extent to which building design can support, and indeed change, students’ approaches to learning. Drawing on data collected from 10 staff members and over 200 students at a major UK institution, including detailed one-to-one interviews, we capture users’ often complex interactions with their university environment. Our findings confirm that when asked what would most improve their learning experience, students do not rank building design highly; interactional factors, such as contact time with staff, are considered more valuable. Our conclusion is that returns on capital investment would be boosted if pedagogical needs were prioritised more highly in the design of university buildings, and pedagogical opportunities communicated more clearly to users upon completion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has recently launched a radical reform to transform over 600 regional universities into application and technology oriented institutions. The reform is a response to diverse labour market demands, regional economic development and the suboptimal structure of the higher education system, and uses international experiences as a reference. While China is still struggling to identify proper international models to follow, this article offers a potential candidate – Finland, with respect to Finnish experiences recommendations for the Chinese reform are discussed and elicited. The analysis flows from discussions in a series of seminars and workshops held in Finland and China in 2014. This article argues that the Finnish experience is of relevance to Chinese regional university transformation, notwithstanding the huge difference in scale. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 2007, Kwara State in Nigeria embarked on a process of college of education reform. This article explores the strategic and managerial issues associated with that process. It sets out the policy imperative for reform within the context of an urgent need to improve the quality of education in Nigeria and traces progress over a four year period, drawing upon experience at both the Ministry of Education and college level. The article analyses the impact of what was a ‘top-down’ initiative, focusing in particular on the policy formulation process; the experience of developing an institutional plan; and the factors that made reform such a management challenge. The article concludes by highlighting lessons that might be learned from the Kwara experience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The role of the educational professional and the speed at which educational reforms have been introduced within higher education has transformed the academic into a manager. This is explained through a variety of changes; for example, technology and the transformation of traditional workplaces being replaced by virtual workplaces through the use of computing and advanced communication networks. The UK government has developed the role of the academic by producing policies that have initiated mass higher education and increased the number of knowledge-based workers to manage employability within a global labour market. This process has produced the managerial tutor. The managerial tutor is the amalgamation of the academic and manager who must be committed to the development of total quality through the delivery of educational provision within both domestic and global markets. This discussion draws upon the national and international policies that have led to the various changes within higher educational institutions and the direct effect these changes have had on the role of the educational profession. It will be shown how tutors have been re-positioned as knowledge producers for a knowledge economy in a global market, and who must be able to trade through a new form of currency - education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research interrogates the connections between information and communication technologies' (ICTs') use and change processes in Australian higher education. The empirical investigation focuses simultaneously on three domains of practice: the educational, the technological and the organizational, with a particular interest in their overlaps and intersections. There were 15 case studies, covering three discipline clusters (Medicine/Health Sciences, Economics and Business, English/Cultural Studies/Communications) in each of five different types of Australian university. The main research technique was semi-structured interviews with academic, executive and administrative staff, supplemented by focus groups with students and the study of curriculum and strategy documents. The main findings of the study were that the most effective use of ICTs in universities occurs when educational and organizational objectives are in harmony; when ICTs innovations are dominated by corporatist objectives at the expense of pedagogical objectives, benefits are limited and tensions evident; and pedagogical initiatives by discipline-based ICTs 'champions' require central support if they are to add value on a sustained basis. The optimal conditions for ICTs innovations in teaching and learning are disciplinary independence and capacity, conditions present in only one of the 15 case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major higher education reforms in the 1980s generated increased numbers of Australian university research centres, accompanied by equivalent numbers of academics acting as centre directors. This qualitative investigation using seven in-depth case studies explored the relationship between a centre's location in the university structure and its director's success. Lack of role clarity meant that the university hierarchy sometimes expected directors to maintain demanding involvement in university life outside their centre, regardless of their primary obligation to achieve the centre's objectives. All directors experienced pressure to attract external research funds but those in centres situated outside departments enjoyed greater financial freedom and autonomy in their role. To offset the role's demands directors held implicit expectations of organisational support as positive encouragement that was not always forthcoming. A number of practical suggestions for university hierarchy are offered regarding appropriate ways to support their research directors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on factors affecting the restructuring process in higher education in Australia. Ambivalence in relation to globalization; Withdrawal of government support for the nation-building role of universities; Conflict between academic and corporate values; Academic impact of the weakening identity and cultures of the academic profession.

Predicts the condition of universities amidst economic and technological advances worldwide. Diversity in various universities worldwide; Characteristics of university life; Impact of globalization on universities.

Studies how the government initiated reforms, result-oriented planning and quality assessments, were received by university and college departments in Norway. Tension and symbolic effects of result-oriented planning; Support given to quality assessments; Discussion of finding in relation to assumptions on the diffusion and rejection of management fads and fashion.

Provides an overview of articles on curriculum changes in higher education in Australia. Factors affecting the performance of university restructuring; Accounts on the early implementation of the Colombo Plan, the postwar aid-based scheme that became the foundation of international Australian education; Obstacles in university collaboration.