On 28 November 2006 Russia observes the one-hundredth anniversary of Dmitrii Sergeevich Likhachev. By an edict of President V.V. Putin 2006 has been designated the year of D.S. Likhachev. A scientist of encyclopedic scope and a renowned researcher into Old Russian literature, Academician Likhachev became, starting in the second half of the 1980s,…

In July 2005 the Council on Higher Education in South Africa constituted a Task Team to conduct an investigation into the regulation of higher education by government and other agencies during the past decade, and to promote debate on conceptions of institutional autonomy, academic freedom and public accountability in general, and in the specific…

In recent years, policy makers and educators in the U.S. have begun to show considerable interest in the concept of weighted student funding as a means of financing primary and secondary schools. Weighted student funding (WSF) has three main elements. Money follows students on a per student basis to the schools they attend, the per student amount…

Finnish universities are about to enter a period of radical change. This paper considers the reforms expected of a new Universities Act currently before parliament and a set of institutional mergers. When passed, the new act will provide universities with independent legal status, change their relationship with the government in several ways,…

A substantial body of literature considers excessive corruption an indicator of a weak state. However, in nondemocratic societies, corruption--whether informally approved, imposed, or regulated by public authorities--is often an indicator of a vertical power rather than an indicator of a weak state. This article explores the interrelations between…

A key feature of recent curriculum reform in post-industrialised liberal economies has been the ascendancy of outcomes-based education policies. A 1995 review conducted in Western Australia (WA) recommended an outcomes-based approach, and in response, the Curriculum Framework (CF) was released in 1998. The same year, the WA State government…

This paper describes the evolution of a school-based planning model that accommodates independent approaches to School District of Philadelphia goals. The description centers on key strategic planning decisions made during a 6-year period and three components of the planning model: the organizational monitoring and feedback system; organizational…

Program evaluation, the evaluation of the performance of a unit of an organization (rather than of specific persons within that unit) against criteria that are consonant with the goals of other units in the organization, is currently the most important mechanism for the increased coordination, or coupling, of various hierarchical levels in the…

Explores the dialectic of power in the workings of university autonomy. Defines the concepts of power and dialectic; examines the potential for autonomy in any university; and identifies external factors which may create obstacles to university autonomy. (Author/AV)

Although women at first said their athletic programs would be different from men's, chances are good that women will follow the lead of men and develop similar problems. The solution is more institutional autonomy--each campus assuming responsibility for what happens there. (Author/LBH)

A 1976 survey of state legislation relating to community colleges indicates that community college funding is a major issue with legislators. State legislators also acted on a wide range of other topics. Survey results are presented and discussed. (DC)

Politicization is seen as dysfunctional to the academic goals of Indian universities. Eliminating political control of higher education, however, poses a challenge to the Indian political system. Suggestions for doing so are offered. (LBH)

The Brazilian system of higher education is discussed, including its evolution, the 1968 reform and its unintended consequences, and the recommendations of the 1985 presidential commission on higher education. Issues of interinstitutional diversity, institutional autonomy, and the influence of special interest groups on policy are addressed.…

At the present time, the universities in Alberta remain, as do the universities in the rest of Canada, autonomous though accountable institutions. An account is given of attempts during the 1970s to change the decentralized nature of Alberta's universities. (CJB)

Two kinds of academic freedom--personal academic freedom and institutional academic freedom--are discussed. It is argued that, in Australia, institutional academic freedom is the more important notion for universities and that current structural and governmental constraints threaten it seriously. (CJB)