This article seeks to establish what impact external quality assessment had on universities in Estonia between 1997 and 2009. It is based on a study of the analysis of experts' reports of curricula accreditation and interviews with university and programme managers, undertaken between 2007 and 2009. The study included an analysis of 12 curricula…

Narrative policy analysis is examined for its contribution to participatory policy development within higher education. Within narrative policy analysis the meta-narrative is developed by the policy analyst in order to find a way to bridge opposing narratives. This development can be combined with participants deliberating in a policy process,…

The article considers the global governance of knowledge systems, exploring concepts of power, networks, standards (defined as normative practices), and structuration. The focus is on science as a form of predominantly private global governance, particularly the self-regulatory and collaborative processes stretching across time and space. These…

For the past 10 years, a growing number of community colleges in the US have begun to offer baccalaureate degrees across a range of targeted programmes including business, education, and nursing. This study examines whether community college baccalaureate policies result in an increased production of nurses--currently a policy priority in nearly…

The rapid quantitative growth of higher education in Ethiopia has triggered considerable concern for quality. The present paper analyses why expanding the higher education subsector took precedence over quality against the backdrop of the current Ethiopian political discourse. This article argues that the growing public demand due to globalization…

The debate on sustainable development is not new and the search for new approaches, methods and means to further the case of sustainability in a higher education context is needed today more than ever. This paper reviews the status of sustainable development at universities and presents issues which need to be considered in ensuring sustainable…

The purpose of this paper is to explore how active learning may help address the legitimacy and practicability issues inherent in introducing education for sustainability into business-related degree programmes. The focus of this study is the experience of the authors in the development and implementation of education for sustainability within…

The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology that allows higher education institutions (HEIs) to promote, to evaluate and to report on sustainability. The ultimate goal of the afore-mentioned methodology is to help HEIs achieve sustainability. First, a model entitled Sustainability in Higher Education Institutions (SusHEI) that generally…

This article presents an overview of the sustainability initiatives at the St. John's campus of Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada). The key initiatives include setting a realistic goal for energy efficiency, becoming carbon neutral, and conducting various research and outreach projects related to sustainability. As…

This paper presents a concept for analysing the bearing of institutional settings on inter- and transdisciplinary research and education for sustainable development and applies it to a concrete case example. It asks in how far the funding programme requirements and the institutional project arrangements impacted on the research process and project…

The paper scrutinises the dynamics and the nature of peer review in the programme evaluation and accreditation process within the context of diverse individual and institutional legacies in South Africa. It analyses the peer review process and highlights the contestation at political, policy and epistemological levels. The paper argues that,…

As of 2004, all universities in Japan must submit to an external accreditation evaluation, to be repeated every 7 years. The universities are to receive detailed written assessments in multiple categories from one of four official accrediting agencies. These assessments are to be publicized. The universities also receive grades: pass, probation,…

This paper presents the findings of a national survey of student satisfaction with undergraduate teaching in a sample of universities and colleges in China. The results show that while a high proportion of academic staff participates in undergraduate teaching, levels of student satisfaction are low. The lowest levels of student satisfaction are…

All Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries have experienced an unprecedented expansion in higher education during the second half of the twentieth century. This was only possible because higher education became part of national welfare policies. OECD countries differ, however, with respect to the significance of…

This paper explores the quality of the implementation of the West European Bologna reforms in higher education in a post-soviet country. This process of policy diffusion is analysed using concepts of policy diffusion/transfer and innovation literature, attempting to combine both streams of literature. Despite strong motivation to improve the…