This article presents a case study of the integration of the scholarship of teaching and learning at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Prishtina in Kosovo. We discuss the challenges and opportunities inherent in bringing together a specific cultural, economic, and political context with the beliefs and practices of SoTL in the health…

This article examines responses to a new impact indicator introduced to the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF). While analysts have pointed to opportunities in impact policy for educational research as a field, the requirement to demonstrate impact beyond the academy poses challenges for research relating to higher education. The study…

This study examines the feasibility of publication imports that may significantly change school rankings in higher education. A small offshore branch campus is used as a case study. The results show that a higher ranking of the offshore campus is largely due to visiting faculties from its parent university in the United States. This implies that…

As of year-end 2014, the Confucius Institutes--the largest international educational cooperation project in human history, and the largest internationalization project in the history of Chinese universities--celebrated their first decade of existence. This case study examines 27 Confucius Institutes in 15 countries spread across six continents…

Total Survey Error (TSE) is a component of Total Survey Quality (TSQ) that supports the assessment of the extent to which a survey is "fit-for-purpose". While TSQ looks at a number of dimensions, such as relevance, credibility and accessibility, TSE is has a more operational focus on accuracy and minimising errors. Mitigating survey…

Data governance is a relatively new and evolving discipline. It encompasses the people who are responsible for data quality (the stewards); the policies and processes associated with collecting, managing, storing and reporting data; and the information technology systems and support that provide efficient infrastructure. Higher education…

Distributed leadership has been explored internationally as a leadership model that will promote and advance excellence in learning and teaching in higher education. This paper presents an assessment of how effectively distributed leadership was enabled at five Australian institutions implementing a collaborative teaching quality development…

More students with disabilities are accessing the tertiary sector with many disabilities not easily observed (or hidden), because there are no physical indicators. These "hidden" disabilities affect a variety of cognitive processes and may be developmental or acquired. To ensure students with hidden disabilities can enrol, engage in and…

Despite the presence of several funded research projects at academic and research institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, the quality of the pre/post grant award process in these institutions is inadequate. There is a need to strengthen research administration through infrastructural, organizational, and human resource development to match the dynamic…

This article focuses on the elaboration of institutional research practice, which is an important element of any research university. The study addresses three questions. First, how did institutional research arise, and what is its raison d'etre in a research university? Second, how can institutional research contribute to the improvement of the…

Australian higher education lags behind other western countries in relation to access and attainment of equity groups (Organisation for Economic Development [OECD], 2010). This is despite major policy reforms in the last two decades targeting better educational outcomes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Australian Labor Government's…

This article highlights the role of sustainability appraisal for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Traditional HEI appraisal systems lack a way to assess the integration of sustainability principles reflecting societal needs with the consequences of research, education and management of HEIs. Two appraisal systems are discussed. The Austrian…

The authors investigate how Third Mission activities at universities, such as the outreach and technology transfer functions, are anchored in organizational structures and practices, and discuss the implications of this relationship for the success of the activities. They draw on case studies of two Swedish university colleges to illustrate the…

This paper is based on a case study of one university's efforts in "self study," or "institutional research," presented at the first UK Institutional Research (IR) conference. It offers a critical account of work in progress at the University of Brighton to try to establish good data habits, embracing collection, analysis and…

The scope of institutional research (IR) undertaken in Australasian universities is progressively expanding. A traditional focus on student life cycle elements such as enrolment, retention and satisfaction has been complemented for some years now by other areas of focus including research performance and community engagement. More recently,…