Outlines eight steps that will help optometry schools transition a faculty from "denial" of the need for assessment to "institutionalization": establish a collaborative environment, establish an infrastructure that makes assessment an integral activity, recruit a leader for full implementation of outcomes assessment, conduct a needs assessment,…

Reports on difficulties that institutions of higher education are having with new integrated student-administration software systems being developed by PeopleSoft. Institutions have been reporting automation projects which are months behind schedule and budget overruns. The company has apologized and some institutions admit they share…

Describes how a previously proposed model of school planning has developed to become linked to such aspects of organizational learning as the development of the school's core purpose and values. This approach should lessen the gap between strategy and implementation. (SLD)

This paper discusses the rationale underlying "PENTA", an EU funded Erasmus Mundus project. In doing so, it explores the challenges of internationalising and standardising European environmental assessment (EA) practice and education to a third country audience, looking at India as a case study. It is argued that the EU EA Directives are…

Prior to 2003, virtual universities were being created at a rate that would question the usual perception that higher education rarely changed, or changed (if at all) at a glacial speed. No comprehensive study of what was actually being created had been done; nor had anyone tapped the experiences of the developers in the states to see what was…

Notwithstanding years of retention efforts, graduation rates of Latinas/os remain alarmingly low. The purpose of this review is threefold. First, the authors go beyond traditional theory and highlight those scholars who shed new information on retention for Latina/o students. Second, they summarize factors that specifically affect Latina/o…

This study attempt to examine the perception of stakeholders (tutors & coordinators) in open and distance education with particular reference to the eastern region of Harargie. Thirty tutors and 10 program coordinators were consulted and considered as subjects of the study. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed in the data…

Mainstreaming Environment and Sustainability in African Universities Partnership (MESA) is a programme which grew out of the coming together, in 2004, of a number of African universities met with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UNESCO and several African regional environment and education projects to assess the status of…

A "culture of evidence": The term gets tossed around mightily in higher education these days. But what does it mean? Is it just another catchphrase, or is there a chance that the concept--if realized through to implementation at colleges and universities across the nation--has the potential to change higher education as one knows it? Simply put, a…

This paper traces the genesis of the MIT OpenCourseWare project from its initial strategic precursors in 1999 and 2000, through its launch in 2001 and its subsequent evolution. The story told here illuminates the interplay among institutional leadership, and strategic planning, and with university culture in launching major educational technology…

This study explores two specific cases of institutional mergers in the field of higher education. The two cases took place in China in the 1990s. One of the cases might be labeled a vertical merger and the other a horizontal merger. The former simply implies a merger between higher education institutions with equal status and the same level of…

Purpose: The course management system (CMS), as an evolving tool and innovation, is increasingly used to promote the quality, efficiency and flexibility of teaching and learning in higher education. This paper aims to examine students' experiences of CMSs across faculties at a comprehensive university in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach:…

Distance education in its many forms had been around for decades, but the Western Governors University (WGU) was arguably the first "virtual university" (VU) in the United States, or at least the first VU that gained widespread attention from the press and public. After the governors in the Western Governors Association announced they would create…

This paper provides an overview of the challenges that impede success in collaboration among U.S. institutions of higher education and foreign institutions. There are problems in many areas, including administrative aspects, regulatory environment, the fiscal situation, and cultural and political factors. In crafting a response strategy, some…

This article reviews the implementation of the student loan scheme in China, based on results of the national survey of 100,000 student loan recipients in 2007. By calculating student expenditure on campus, analysing factors which affect family economic status and also considering the possible family contribution, the gap between students' needs…