Following the theory of situated cognition as proposed by Brown, Collins, and Duguid (1998), this research project tapped into the contextual knowledge of experienced administrators of online programs. Draft principles of financial sustainability for online programs were developed by an initial team of experienced online educators and then…

The Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus is a grand-scale exemplar of a city-university partnership. Its demonstrated impacts are economic, social, and educational, transforming both the city and the university. The magnitude of the investment of $223 million by the citizens of a city in a state university is unparalleled in higher…

Is higher education on the verge of a leadership gap? Unless higher education administrators specifically develop leaders capable of meeting those challenges, the coming years present the real possibility of a leadership vacuum in higher education. Those of them who lead, support, and govern colleges have a responsibility to actively cultivate a…

The paper uses a gendered and feminist perspective to explore some dimensions of the debate about excellence and diversity in relation to the leadership and management of UK universities. The paper considers the extent to which notions about excellence and diversity are in tension in UK higher education and how understandings, underpinning values…

This paper sketches the impact of globalisation and internationalisation on the terrain of values and ethics in higher education. The first part of the paper discusses values and ethics in higher education in relation to the "Idea of a University", and identifies the ethical regimes essential to the functioning of HEIs as knowledge-forming…

For academic administrators, the management of research remains a matter more of hope than expectation. It has proved particularly difficult to measure quality. Managers typically view research as an "asset". This essay argues that it is more useful to view research and its management as "process", and explores the implications of doing so for…

Universities in the United States are hardly novices in international initiatives, yet overseas projects today, although enticing, often seem novel to them, long experience notwithstanding. A number of motivators drive the new zeal to go overseas. Among these are a resolve to stay competitive in this era of heightened inter-institutional…

People do not want to know the history, minutiae of policy, or operations, or even the political intrigues of a virtual consortium. People want to know if the consortium has value, whether it can help them, and if it is a threat. In this article, the author focuses on the operating principles and policies that have proven successful in the…

The Mission Resource Requirement (MRR) represents the level of funding necessary for an institution given its mission, size, and complexity of programs, based on regional and national norms, and the amount of the previous year's appropriation. This document is the MRR for the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education for Fiscal Year 2007-2008.…

This article describes the internationalisation of higher education in the era of globalisation in China and Japan. It presents the following issues: the relationship between internationalisation and globalisation; major characteristics of the internationalisation of higher education; a comparison between China and Japan; and the results of…

Germany has recently gone through a fundamental process of reform of its higher education system. The last 15 years have been characterised by significant changes in virtually all aspects of the system. The impacts of the Bologna Process have been far reaching. The reform of the governance and funding systems in higher education has also been…

Historically, the definition and measurement of academic standards in British higher education have been the exclusive prerogative of the academic community. The calibration of standards across institutions was the responsibility and purpose of the external-examiner system. But the mechanisms in place to achieve these ends have broken down under…

As Americans near the end of the first decade of the new millennium, higher education in the United States is caught in a classic "good news/bad news" dilemma. The good news? Broad recognition of the importance of higher education to the country's future, along with larger federal funding increases than at any time in their history. The bad news?…

The managerial form of university governance has changed the conditions of academic work in many countries. While some academics consider this a welcome development, others experience it as a threat to their autonomy and to the meaningfulness of their work. This essay suggests a stance in response to the current conditions that should serve…

George Mason University has four campuses in Northern Virginia and 30,000 students, of whom 40 percent are graduate students. One of its campuses is just one mile from the Pentagon. On September 11, 2001, when terrorists struck the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon, no one knew the extent of the damage, how many people had been killed or…