The concept of community is deeply embedded in the discourse on higher education. This paper: (1) examines some of the idealistic myths surrounding it; (2) identifies current threats to people's ideas of its meaning; (3) explores how the concept may need to adapt to allow development within a mass higher education system; and (4) considers the…

Attempts are currently being made to create a European Higher Education Area and a European Research Area, which are the two pillars of the so called "knowledge-based society". Since 1998 there has been a flurry of EU initiatives affecting higher education. Out of these, the Bologna Process is probably the most well known. Related to this, there…

What, if any, changes have occurred in the academic structures of UK universities since the early 1990s and the abolition of the binary line? This paper attempts to answer this question and raises issues about the significance of any such changes. There is one useful publication that can provide some insight into the pattern of academic…

This paper is based on the report "Higher Education policy issues and trends: An update on higher education policy issues in 11 Western countries'", 2004.

In addressing the issue of estates strategy, this paper considers the impact of estate on university planning and why it has been underestimated, the implications of institutional missions for estates strategies and ways of making estates strategy integral to university planning. A major theme is the significance of a Higher Education…

Support for Learning is a feature of the learning and teaching strategy for first-year undergraduate students on the Applied Social Studies/Community and Social Studies programme in the Department of Applied Community Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University. The programme provides professional education and training in social work, youth…

This paper discusses university finances in European countries which derive from the Humboldtian tradition. Such universities are mainly state funded, are independent academically but dependent financially, and have long histories of keeping the power of the state at bay. The most far-reaching, and arguably intended, consequence of government…

This paper explains the strategic importance of internal communications, and offers a simple model for managing the process of effective internal communications. Discussion includes defining internal communications, strategic importance of internal communications, integrating internal communications strategy as a natural part of everyday working…

As part of the movement to greater social inclusion, a number of initiatives have been created to build bridges between the school and further education sectors and universities. In England, this kind of activity comes under the Partners 4 Progression (P4P) initiative. In Scotland, such initiatives are more regionally based: the thrust of widening…

The purpose of this paper is to share findings and reflections arising from an AUA study visit of the US and Canada in 2002. It explores how e-learning, i.e. computer-mediated teaching and learning, is changing higher education in North America. How do they see the future? What strategies are being developed for managing online learning and…

Traditionally, universities were seen as academic communities in which students and staff were engaged in a scholarly partnership. As is well known, this view has substantially given way to the student being considered as a "customer" or "consumer," with all that it implies--including higher risks (Palfreyman 2003). The law has reflected this…

The word 'quality' has become a 'central term in the lexicon of contemporary higher education and a major point of interest to various interest groups'. As quality assurance systems have developed around the world, certain assumptions are becoming alarmingly widespread: for example that quality assurance is new to higher education, that quality…

The 2003 White Paper on higher education brought back into public debate the meaning of the term 'university'. In accordance with its statements that 'excellent teaching is, in itself, a core mission for a university' (DfES 2003a: 54) and 'not every teacher needs to be engaged in 'research' as a narrowly defined activity but might be expected to…

One of the themes running through a number of recent papers in perspectives has been a questioning of the current state of perceived boundaries within post-compulsory education in the UK. Temple (2001: 81), for instance, questioned the appropriateness of continuing with the historic conceptual difference between the "knowing what" of higher…

Higher education (HE) in the UK is undergoing extensive changes. One key change is the increasing prominence of postgraduate education. Higher demands on employees create the desire for more qualifications and greater skills. This increasingly consumer-oriented focus to postgraduate education has created a need for information about quality and…