In recent years, there has been a tremendous increase in the popularity of distance education among higher-education administrators. Students in growing numbers are also taking advantage of the flexibility and accessibility that distance education offers. This growth, however, has been a mixed blessing since it derives from using the Internet…

In this article, Gary Matkin, Dean of Continuing Education, Distance Learning, and Summer Session at the University of California, Irvine and long-time member of UPCEA, talks about his experience with higher and continuing education in California. The situation of public universities has changed considerably, and his 43 years as an undergraduate,…

This article discusses relations between happiness and higher education in the age of information, focusing on the need for the university to pursue happiness. Three questions are addressed. First, why should higher education pursue happiness? Second, what are the shapes and characteristics of higher education in the information age? Third, what…

This article concerns the provision of for-profit higher education in the Republic of Ireland (RoI), particularly in Dublin. It briefly sketches the general development of university/college provision in the RoI and, more importantly, it describes certain aspects of the current state of play and makes a tentative prediction for the future--namely,…

This article presents an interview with Mary Bitterman and James Narduzzi. Mary Bitterman, former President and CEO of The James Irvine Foundation, is President of The Bernard Osher Foundation and Immediate Past Chairman of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). James Narduzzi is Dean of the University of Richmond's School of Continuing Studies.…

Loyola University Chicago had long used the tag line, "Chicago's Jesuit University," to highlight the institution's local origins and its ties to a 450-year tradition of academic excellence. By the turn of this century, this reference was unfamiliar to a large percentage of prospective students, particularly adult students, and the Chicago focus…

Established in 1827, the University of Toronto is regarded as one of Canada's leading academic and research institutions. It has the highest number of students (both undergraduate and graduate), the most faculty members, and the widest range of courses among Canadian universities. It has often been referred to as the "Harvard of the North" because…

This article offers an answer to the question: What goals have persisted across all the stages of the development of the Western university? The main conclusion is that the following three goals have been the common threads: the higher education of students, the advancement of knowledge, and service to those outside the walls of the university.…

This article is based on a small study of thirteen professional doctorate students in two universities, comprising nine current students and four who had completed. The sample consisted of lecturer/practitioners, ie those who had made the transition from practice into higher education and other professionals including headteachers and teachers in…

Discusses competition and profit in higher education and the effect of the profit motive on educational quality. Describes the impact of the lucrative executive education field, extension education, the Internet, and the hidden curriculum of advertising and corporate dollars in universities. (SK)

Discusses the 1992 British Education Reform Act and identifies weaknesses in the existing accountability structures in both old and new universities and related implications for academic freedom. Argues that reviewing the quality of the administration may be as important reviewing the quality of teaching and research. (DB)

Uses university-based fictions or campus novels from the past 200 years to explore England's continuing concern about the exclusiveness of Oxford and Cambridge. Describes a development from portrayals of the poor student as illuminator of the inadequacies of Oxford or Cambridge, to modern comic novels where the poorer student acts as a destructive…

Argues that the international definition of a university allows for significant diversity in educational delivery and offers a New Zealand example in the transition of the Auckland Institute of Technology into the Auckland University of Technology. The university has formed an alliance with the University of Auckland to work toward some common…

Identifies five intellectuals who made distinctive contributions to the founding of new universities in England, Germany, and the United States. Institutional and individual biographies profile: Thomas Jefferson (University of Virginia); Wilhelm von Humboldt (University of Berlin); Lord Brougham (University College, University of London); A.D.…

A British national study of the university research enterprise in 1995-96 assessed the impact of a 1992 change in higher education policy to restructure the entire higher education system. The study investigated impact at the system, institution, unit, and individual levels, in the areas of research policy and strategy, structures, and processes.…