The Chinese higher education reform policies since 1993 have been pursued in a centralized, top-down manner, which some theorists characterize as "centralized decentralization" or governmental "steering at distance." This case-study dissertation has two purposes. First, is to evaluate the implementation or the "situated practices" of national higher education reform policies (the amalgamation, expansion, and quality assurance policies). Second, is to elaborate on the locally-grounded innovative ideas and practices at a key university in a large metropolitan city in China. The methodological approach used is phenomenological interviews, a vehicle that elicits "local knowledge" and accords the status of expertise to the interview participants. The purpose is to map out the different experiences and meanings different social groups derive from the centralized policies and to generate new ideas for the policy actions. The findings suggest that at the institutional level, the faculties, administrators, and students are highly reflexive, resilient and pragmatic. Instead of mutely accepting national higher education reform policies as given, the faculties, administrators and students are making an active effort to reappropriate distant policies, fashioning them into locally meaningful and relevant terms and practices. Furthermore, the findings suggest that small-scale, inside-out innovations grounded in local people's meaning-making systems and in harmony with their perceptions of organizational purposes, profuse and proliferate at the university of focus. In conclusion, the importance of the distinction between universities which naturally defy top-down, centralized reform efforts, and other models of organizations (business organizations and annexations of governmental bureaus) is stressed. Furthermore, the viability of inside-out, bottom-up approaches to policymaking in higher education reforms is discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]