Internationalising Higher Education

Line Verbik, Deputy Director, Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, UK introduces: The international branch campus: models and trends.
Based on extensive research carried out by the Observatory on Borderless Education, this presentation will outline the main findings on current developments and emerging trends on international branch campuses across the world. The Observatory undertook its first comprehensive study of branch campuses in 2002 and has since followed developments in this area closely. These studies have been aimed at addressing some of the issues affecting transnational education (including branch campuses) and its provision, consumption and regulation.

Professor Graham Galbraith, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK introduces: Quality as a key component for successful internationalisation
Globalisation influences all aspects of economic and social development and the higher education sector is no exception. One prime area for international expansion is UK transnational education. This paper presents a case study related to the development of a university campus in Oman - which has grown over a ten-year period to a cohort of approximately 1,000 students - and illustrates the centrality of the quality agenda in the success of such ventures. This paper will explore the many lessons learned from this experience including the importance of cultural sensitivity in the content, delivery and assessment of programmes, the need for staff buy-in and the importance of effective quality control processes being embedded from the start.

Tom Rhodes, Assistant Registrar, University of Sheffield, UK introduces: Managing the clash of cultures and reaping the rewards
In 1992, the University of Sheffield (UoS) entered into partnership with a newly established, private college in Northern Greece. At the time, the college was delivering a small number of mostly unaccredited higher education equivalent programmes and had yet to make an operating profit. The partnership today enables more than 700 students a year to study on UoS validated degrees. This paper will provide a brief history of the partnership, considering the clash of cultures between public and private, old and new, large and small, UK and Greek and research-led versus teaching oriented. It will describe how these differences have been addressed and how such partnerships can be developed further to meet the challenge of increased global competition and changing delivery patterns.