"Disruption"--while an evocative word triggering feelings of anxiety and perhaps even fear--also signals renewal and growth. The Higher Education (HE) sector in England has experienced some profound disruption over the years, and yet has emerged stronger and renewed in many ways. The impact of recent disruptive forces, from fees to the…

The organisation and administration of research and teaching in universities depends upon daily consultation, cooperation and negotiation, shared management and input of specialist and organisational skills and expertise. Universities conduct staff surveys which reveal significant worries about certain person-management aspects of everyday…

Institutional Research (IR), as a concept, has been gaining traction in the UK and across the world, as evidenced by the growing number of European, African, Australasian and North American associations, communities, conferences and publications. This paper stresses the need for high-quality (Institutional) research behaviours, aligned with and…

Traditionally in Arab public universities, presidents are appointed by government authorities. Recently, in uprising Arab countries universities' presidents have been elected by universities' faculty members. Neither traditional nor self-governance pattern succeeded to modernise Arab universities. Reforming patterns of governance is…

This paper provides an overview of transnational higher education (THE) in Uzbekistan. It includes a brief account of THE current and future market trends. The data, gathered from a literature search, show that the demand for THE (off-campus) is growing even faster than the demand for international (on-campus) programmes. This paper then provides…

Student Engagement is the investment of time, effort and other relevant resources by both students and their institutions intended to optimise the student experience and enhance the learning outcomes and development of students, and the performance and reputation of the institution. As such, it has affective, behavioural and cognitive dimensions,…

This paper outlines core features of what it terms "consumer-based learning" and relates this to the context of increasing utilitarian goals and values of higher education. It argues that this presents challenges broader than the immediate teaching and learning environment and student experience, which also potentially impacts the future…

Education is often seen as a contrast (or even contest) between being a process of liberal education (with the aim of fostering life-long independent, innovative and creative thinking useful throughout life) and delivering vocational education (immediately applicable skills and competencies, ready for the world of work--"employability").…

In this paper, the author draws upon his interest, as a psychotherapist, in working with change at a psychological and individual level, and on his experience of the radical changes currently taking place in higher education, specifically the University where he manages several services, including a Counselling Service. Through leading and…

The most striking trend in international student mobility over the past forty years is the increase in the number of globally circulating students, from approximately 250,000 in 1965, up to an estimated 3.7 million at present (OECD 2011: 320, UNESCO 2006: 34). Perhaps as important as the growing numbers of students is the fact that the traditional…

The renewal of strategy development and implementation is important in the context of the changing higher education landscape. Changing government policy and the political agenda require a university to engage in careful strategy development and implementation which result in long-term sustainability. The political interest of the government will…

This article tells the story of a conversation-based review process and subsequent re-structuring that has transformed the supporting administrative infrastructure at the Scarborough campus of the University of Hull into a highly centralised model, breaking long-standing organisational silos and putting the student perspective into central focus.…

In this article, the author reflects on research management and administration (RMA) as a profession. RMA arose from the need to manage growth in the number and complexity of research awards over the last fifty years, and is an activity and profession that continues to mature. It has grown in parallel with the increasing complexity of research…

Conversations with colleagues across the sector suggest that the use of mentoring as an organisational development tool in higher education (HE) is increasing. In an era where universities are constantly urged to do more with less, it offers a potential means of using the institution's own staff to train and support each other, thus maximising the…

There is limited literature that looks at the evolution of student services in the UK and their effectiveness in providing student support. Student support is broadly defined as all services that support students to learn. Academic and non-academic support are essential mechanisms in providing holistic student support. In this article, the author…