Examines evidence that higher education institutions in the United Kingdom are not discharging their responsibility for program quality and standards, and suggests that unless institutions act on these findings, they may find themselves sharing responsibility increasingly with external agencies and authorities. Evidence comes mainly from recent…

Presents results from the Hudson Institute's Charter Schools in Action, a two-year research project that evaluated the creation, operation, and impact of charter schools. The paper discusses the charter notion and examines accomplishments achieved and dilemmas confronted by various charter schools. The study concludes that charter schools are a…

Reports on the establishment of a charter school in Michigan that serves home-schooling families and stresses a creationist curriculum. Describes the legal action taken against public funding of the charter school. (DDR)

A discussion of the relationship between the Scottish funding agency for higher education and universities focuses on expectations of the council for lay members of the governing bodies and the appropriateness of those expectations. Whether the state can continue to respect institutional autonomy while seeking greater accountability for public…

Investigated whether institutional autonomy related to faculty autonomy in Taiwan's higher education system, which has recently implemented policies to enhance institutional autonomy. Faculty surveys conditionally supported the claim that faculty members work within the constraints of regulated autonomy, where individual behaviors are delimited by…

Discusses the introduction of shared governance in California in 1988, noting that it ultimately did not materialize into an anticipated model of collegiality. Provides recommendations for institutions dealing with shared governance, underscoring the need to accept the past and present in managing change. Contains 13 references. (YKH)

Challenges the assumption that bureaucracy is bad for charter schools. Examines perceived autonomy, governance structures, leadership, and perceived culture of community-charter schools in Ohio. (Contains 15 references.) (PKP)

This paper tracks policies in the governance of higher education over the first decade of South Africa's democracy. The first democratically elected government of 1994 was faced with the formidable task of dismantling the structures of apartheid education. The foundations for a new policy were laid by a National Commission that reported in 1996,…

This paper examines the evolution of government policy in England on widening participation. It traces government policy on widening participation in relation to social class from Robbins (1963) through Dearing (1997) to "The Future of Higher Education" (2003) and the passing of the Higher Education Act (2004). The paper concludes that…

The main argument in Loyiso Jita's article is that although both law and convention have established stakeholder participation in higher education quality assurance, it lacks conceptual clarity. The article bravely attempts to develop a theory of "stakeholder identification and salience" by drawing mainly on business and organisational…

This account of an academic lawsuit qualifies as a horror story. A mediocre minority student abuses civil rights and ADA protections to win a massive monetary award against his school on the flimsiest of evidence. Jaded lawyers for the state university represent powerless faculty defendants in court, torpidly allowing the jury to throw 50 years of…

In June 2005, the American Council on Education (ACE) and 27 other higher education organizations issued the Statement on Academic Rights and Responsibilities. The statement was a pragmatic response by the higher education establishment to the escalating challenge posed by its neo-conservative critics in general and their most ardent advocate,…

This is a case study of a state institution granted charter status in 1992 in exchange for capping its request for state funds. St. Mary's College of Maryland received widespread freedom from state procedural controls, including procurement, personnel, and some capital development processes. The state, however, retained its oversight of the…

Among the numerous components of development of higher education are; growth in quantity, quality, relevance and diversity of curriculum [programme and courses]; widening of access and broadening of equity, innovation in teaching methods and techniques; improvement in the quantity and quality of research activities; more and better community…

Policy makers and educators in the U.S. have recently shown considerable interest in the concept of weighted student funding (WSF) as a means of financing primary and secondary schools. WSF appeals both to conservatives, who see it as a way to promote parental choice and school autonomy, and to progressives, who are attracted by the call of extra…