The leadership roles of pro-vice-chancellors (PVCs) in the United Kingdom and elsewhere have evolved markedly over the last three decades while universities have been encouraged to shift towards more executive styles of leadership and decision-making. The change does not only reflect changing institutional needs, however, but an accommodation of…

The article explores the proposals put forward in the Lambert Report for reforms in university governance. It compares the recommendation for a Code with the analogue Combined Code which regulates corporate governance in companies and draws a distinction between attempts, from the Cadbury Report in 1992 to the Higgs Review in 2003, to create board…

Martin Hall's essay, "Academic Freedom and the university: Fifty years of debate" (2006) does offer us a way to make better sense of some of the conceptual and pragmatic links between academic freedom and institutional autonomy in relation to higher education. His analysis of the classic and contextual views of the two concepts also gives us some…

Since the mid 1980s, modernising university governance has been a constant item on the political agenda of most countries, often followed by reforms attempting to change how universities are managed and led. However, when considering the effects of the many initiatives taken, a rather complex picture appears with respect to the scope and depths of…

This paper aims to investigate the possible framework for encouraging the presence of local dimensions in an internationalised and globally competitive system by using Taiwan's higher education system as a case. It begins by discussing the notion of internationalisation and its implications for higher education. It then turns to look at Taiwan's…

Vietnam has recently accepted the need for a comprehensive transformation of its higher education system. In 2005, the Ministry of Education and Training developed a Higher Education Reform Agenda (HERA), a blueprint for reform of the system by 2020. The Government of Vietnam recently approved the main elements of the Agenda, including a proposal…

People, especially people in Washington, are worried about the state of American higher education. Last September a report by the Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education expressed grave concern about the quality and purpose of colleges and universities. The report cited statistics that implied that higher-education institutions are…

Over the past 2 decades, a large number of countries have been engaged in the decentralization of decision-making to schools. Although the motives and incentives for school autonomy are often diverse, it is commonly believed that decentralization will enhance the quality of schooling. Based on a secondary analysis of data from OECD's Programme for…

In recent years, Swedish higher education institutions have experienced reduced regulation while at the same time more authority has been given to the boards of the institutions. Paradoxically, this situation has neither been experienced as an increase in autonomy nor as increased--or maintained--academic freedom. On the contrary, dependency on…

Since President Bush named Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court, speculation has run high as to where the new court may be headed. Citing three recent cases ("Morse v. Frederick", "Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc." and "Garcetti v.…

To spearhead increased emphasis on admissions, the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT) formed an Admissions Committee in Fall 2003. The committee recognized the importance of institutional autonomy in determining admissions policies and processes at each institution. Following initiation of the Student Transitions Project…

In a number of European countries, the recognition of the university's key role in the evolution of the knowledge society--and in the identification and solving of political, socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural problems--has led to radical reforms of higher education systems. Denmark has implemented the most radical reforms of the region in…

Charter schools emerged in the early 1990s as a strategy for improving student learning and increasing quality educational options, often for underserved students and communities. The charter school idea centers on the promise of increased autonomy for accountability for results. Thus, the charter movement has helped to lead the charge--and has…

The legal terrain regarding institutions' rights for use of major charitable gifts has clarified somewhat in recent months. While this may encourage institutional fundraisers, it is also clear that extreme care still must be taken about the acceptance and terms set for use of transformational gifts. As recent lawsuits demonstrate, careful planning…

In Lower Saxony, the legal status of universities as foundations under public law is offered because increased autonomy is a core condition for effective and economical management of resources and can attract increased private and public funding and improve corporate identity. A university senate can apply to receive this status. The university…