Discusses quality assurance and evaluation at institutions of higher education in Africa. Notes driving forces behind this trend, including declining financial resources; accountability to stakeholders; and massification, internationalization, and globalization of education. Notes establishment by many institutions of internal and external quality…

Provides an overview of the initiatives and development of policies to establish a workable quality assurance system for institutions of higher education in South Africa in the last decade. Notes challenges such as the government's emphasis on programs of study and its requirement that quality assurance systems include institutional auditing,…

Reports on a five-year ethnographic, longitudinal study of a British higher education college during a process of change in quality assurance. Identifies tensions experienced during the process and stresses the influence of context, the unpredictability of change, and the lack of simple prescriptions for managing change projects. (DB)

The final paper in this theme issue summarizes concerns related to establishing a national quality assurance system for institutions of higher education in South Africa. Proposes a three-phase approach to establishing a national quality assurance system to include: (1) evaluation of existing institutional self-evaluation systems; (2) establishment…

Discusses the changing role of government as Australian universities face restructuring including: (1) shaping the system for national policy purposes; (2) funding research and teaching; (3) setting industrial relations and related policy parameters; and (4) quality assurance and accountability. Urges universities to tackle their problems without…

Examines Australian government policies involved in the development and implementation of the Colombo Plan, a program that sponsored the education of Asian and Pacific students in Australia. Concludes that the Colombo Plan's original emphasis on aid has had long term effects on the marketing of Australian education to Asian foreign students. (DB)

Argues that universal tertiary education in Australia is hampered by the country's binary system which separates tertiary education into higher education and vocational education and training sectors. Describes the application of an alternative model at Victoria University of Technology, a dual-sector university which has introduced personalized…

Reports on a study which evaluated how the 44 heads of schools at Griffith University (Australia) perceived the institution's strategic planning process. Heads expressed a sense of confusion and some resistance to the planning process. Issues identified included the importance of: vision and direction in planning, participation in the planning…

Examines how a paradigm shift in education from a culture of production to one of consumption is evidenced in institutional policy and programmatic development at the University of South Australia. Focus is on the changing functions of the university's Flexible Learning Centre which focuses on new and flexible approaches to the delivery of…

Discusses ways to overcome the financial crisis facing many universities in developing countries, including providing greater resources to higher education; raising tuition; privatizing higher education; admitting only the best candidates; attracting foreign students; requiring graduates' employers to compensate universities; linking industry and…

Offers a quality-policy planning model for academic institutions, noting that rapidly growing higher education systems are often characterized by market failure in terms of program quality, because controlling bodies have incomplete information about program quality and low sensitivity to quality variations. Applies this framework to Israel,…

This article examines the relationship between increased enrollment and educational quality in university education in Iran. Results of a self-evaluation project of medical faculties suggest that internal evaluation is a promising instrument in helping faculty members become more effective and in maintaining educational relevance and quality.…

Argues that the academic profession in Australia is undergoing a profound transformation with four dimensions: (1) globalization and strategic response to concomitant pressures and opportunities; (2) decline of governmental commitment to and funding of higher education; (3) the crisis of collegial values in an era of corporate and professional…

Presents a view of globalization and internationalization as providing an avenue for opportunity in Australian higher education. Examines the changing role of government; the public interest in research; the lack of independent policy advice to the Australian government; implications for teaching quality; pressures on academic freedom; demands for…

The United Nations University (UNU) is an international academic organization which brings together leading international scholars to tackle world problems. This article describes for South African scholars, institutions, governments, and their agencies the importance of the work being undertaken by the UNU and encourages their participation. (EV)