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World Universities and Cross-Border Higher Education. Brian D Denman School of Professional Development & Leadership University of New England Armidale NSW 2351 Australia bdenman@une.edu.au. Presentation Overview. The aims of this presentation are as follows:
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World Universities and Cross-Border Higher Education Brian D Denman School of Professional Development & Leadership University of New England Armidale NSW 2351 Australia bdenman@une.edu.au
Presentation Overview The aims of this presentation are as follows: to propose working definitions of university, world university, and cross-border higher education based on recent developments; to create a typology of cross-border higher education; to identify geographic, financial and competitive factors affecting international-oriented universities; and to suggest challenges ahead for universities and classification systems
Higher Education As long as higher education perpetuates the creation of communities of productive learners and scholars, it will continue to influence and be influenced by societal expectations. This struggle is not only inevitable but necessary, for any institutionalized, organizational body that addresses societal issues, norms, and practices should be held under close political and social scrutiny.
Historical Origins of the University • Nalanda (c. 5th Century BCE) • Islamic University of Al-Azhar (c. 970 CE) • University of Paris and the University of Bologna (c. 1150 CE) • University of Cambridge (c. 1209 CE) • Newman’s idea of a university (c. 1850)
The Rise of the Modern University Around 1850, the university served as a territorial display of civilization-building with a bias towards advancing society-at-large through knowledge distribution. Territorial, if not cultural, imperatives helped shape its structure until the advent of technological advancement. As such, they were as a catalyst, giving rise to the modern research university, changing "nations from agricultural status to industrial status, which opened up the possibilities of vast world trade" (Cubberley 1948: 799).
Working Definition of a University for the 21st Century A university is a complex higher education organization that is formally authorized to offer and confer advanced degrees in three or more academic disciplines or fields of study.
Current Numbers According to IAU’s World List of Universities (2004), there are currently 9,200 universities and 8,000 other institutions of higher education in the world (IAU’s World Higher Education Database (Accessed 3 March 2005), http://www.unesco.org/iau/onlinedatabases/list.html).
Higher Education Expansion Whether the concept of the university was initially conceived as a form of institutional imperialism or not, a pattern of higher education expansion is taking shape, and with greater intensity, in terms of economic opportunity. The commodification of knowledge alone is a daunting circumstance, but if left to market forces, universities will increasingly be amalgamated in such ways to generate new types of knowledge, not for the sake of knowledge advancement, but for financial gain.
World ‘Global’ Universities University of National and World Economy (Bulgaria) University of World Economy and Diplomacy (Uzbekistan) Uzbek State World Languages University (Uzbekistan) Vancouver University Worldwide (Canada) World Maritime University (Sweden) World University of Bangladesh (Bangladesh) United Nations University (Japan) University for Peace (Costa Rica) Transcend Peace University (Romania) First Global University to teaching Jainism (Jain University) The Global College (Pakistan) Sources: Universities Worldwide. (Accessed 4 March 2005) http:////univ.cc/world.php; International Association of Universities Online Database. (Accessed 4 March 2005) http://www.unesco.org/iau/onlinedatabases/list.html
Working Definition of a World University A world university is a degree-granting institution that may be hosted by a country but not designed to share the host country’s national or cultural character. Instead, it is intended to concentrate on a scholarly theme of global relevance.
Working Definition of Cross-Border Higher Education Cross-border higher education refers to institutions of higher education that have undergone the ‘multinationalization’ process. This process involves academic programs and/or institutions from one country which are offered in other countries (Altbach 2004: 3).
Typology of Cross-Border Higher Education • Satellite [Offshore] Campuses: campuses are set up by an institution from one country to another in an effort to provide its educational or training degree programs in the host country; • Memorandum of Understanding Schemes: an institution (A) approves an institution (B) in another country to provide one or more of A’s programs to students in B’s country; • Island Study Abroad Programs: an institution (A) offers its own students its academic programming in another country with or without collaboration from another institution (B);
Typology of Cross-Border Higher Education - continued • Semi-Affiliated and Wholly-Affiliated Study Abroad Programs: an institution (A) recognizes and offers academic study at an institution (B) in another country as partial credit towards a degree program at institution (A); • Continuing Education Programs: degree and/or training courses designed to focus on specific fields of study from institution (A) in affiliation with institution (B) located overseas; • Twinning Programs: agreements between institutions (A) and (B) in different countries to offer a joint degree or qualifying degree programs [bridging];
Typology of Cross-Border Higher Education - continued • Corporate Programs: programs are offered in another country by businesses and accredited by an institution (A). These often involve accreditation across national borders; • International Consortia and Alliances: a network of three or more universities or other institutions of higher education working cooperatively to offer degrees and conducting research; and • Distance Education Programs: a degree or training program that is delivered by institution (A) to other locations throughout the world by means of satellites, computers, correspondence, or other technological means.
The Study (International University Classification) A modest study of internationally-oriented universities was undertaken in the process of developing the foregoing analysis and definition of a university. The initial portion of this study resulted in a classification of institutions utilizing surveys sent to over 500 international university organizations. The primary rationale for the classification system was to identify like-mindedness between institutions and to forge new avenues for improving academic standards at appropriate levels. The following tables and graphs reflect analysis of data collected from only 89 institutions representing some 13 countries.
Percentage of Universities Identified as World-Focused According to Country (2004) (n=33)
Percentage of Universities Identified as Multi-Culturally-Oriented According to Country (2004)
Sponsorship Mobility • Sponsorship mobility is a system that chooses its students by the established elite or their agents. Selection to matriculate into this ‘elite status’ is based on some criterion of ‘supposed merit’, but once given, it cannot be taken away • The responses in the following graph reflect a rejection of elitism, despite possible misinterpretation of the factors of equity, equal opportunity, and diversity
Contest Mobility • Contest mobility is perceived as a system in which the pursuit of ‘elite status’ is merit based. In other words, a fair and open contest is standardized to determine those who qualify and those who do not (Turner in Hopper 1972: 91) • The positive response rate for contest mobility in the following graph reflects a possible new trend among universities
Mass Mobility • Mass mobility refers to the idea of education for all. In this particular case, it includes education from primary education all the way up to higher education • The responses related to ‘mass mobility’ in the following graph suggest an acceptance of a free market for higher education, but the responses are mixed and therefore inconclusive.
Lern- und Lehrfreiheit • Lehr- und Lernfreiheit refer to teaching and learning freedoms • With regard to a 9% (strongly disagree) response rate, it is understood that even though teaching and learning freedoms are valued, it was ranked at a lower priority to other system classifications in the following graph
User-Pay Principles • User-pays principles is a system based predominantly on student tuition, whereby students pay to receive coursework and/or to pursue academic degrees • The overwhelming response rate in the affirmative suggests a tendency toward increased student tuition interest and activity among universities worldwide
Regulatory Entities • Respondents were asked to rank in order of importance which regulatory entities determined university status • Accrediting bodies or associations ranked highest at 29%; National governments and state and regional governments ranked equal at 19%; Board of directors and presidents ranked 14%; Academic staff at 11%; and trans-national and multilateral organizations at 8%
Challenges Ahead for the University • Being everything to everybody and specializing curricula to the extent that a world university system may be incapable of producing great ‘global’ thinkers; • Pursuing to be ‘world-class’. This spurs greater competition, which may result in a shift back toward elitism with a global-market orientation at the expense of meeting local needs; and • Losing sight of the larger purpose---that is to disseminate and advance knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself. What remains uncertain is whether nation-state and market forces will enforce their influence upon universities to advance only certain types of knowledge (e.g. utilitarian).
Challenges Ahead for Classification • Fear that a worldwide system may tailor itself to the U.S. higher education system, which is imperfect; • Perception that classification means ranking; • View that if too stringent in definitions and categories, policies could be implemented that could inhibit the development of world universities, dismiss or ignore new and ‘unique’ program offerings, and further compromise academic integrity. Conversely, if definitions are relaxed, categories may become meaningless and data unreliable; and • Universal consensus on definitions needs to be established in order to be all-inclusive
Concluding Remarks • History has played a major role in the evolution of a university, but the sale of knowledge production may be undermining its historical purpose. Many institutions are working against rather than with one another by progressively specializing in degree programs and/or delivering degrees in different modes; • The university’s emphasis on molding and shaping student minds has been replaced with corollary emphasis upon the transferability of skills within a significantly enlarged geographic workplace; • A number of universities are student-demand-driven, catering to a ‘user-pays’ type student. Their competitive nature is aligning themselves with an expanded ‘world’ community, which may have different needs than the local community they initially served; and • The segmentation of the international higher education market suggests that higher education has not so much lost its soul as it has its voice. The soul of an institution may be misguided, but if the soul of the student is lost, then higher education has indeed failed society.
