NUFU Conference' HE Impact

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A European Perspective on International Trends in
Higher Education
NUFU Conference. HE Impact 11-13 February
2009 Lilongwe - Malawi
Prof. Pierre de Maret Board Member EUA Former
Rector Brussels University (ULB)
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University in the world
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• Internationalisation is changing the world of
  higher education, and globalisation is changing
  the world of internationalisation.
• -Jane Knight-

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A borderless, interconnected, interdependent
world. We can now jump daily from the local to
the global.
It is for this type of world that we should be
educating our students
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Force for Changes in HE
Globalization

• a borderless world of opportunities or the
  triumph of deregulation ?
• cross-border education / McDonaldization of HE,
• increasing prevalence of English,
• Anglo-saxon countries having a head start in the
  international market,
• imperative for institutions to internationalize.

A Flat New World.
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Local and/or global university

• Local universities seek excellence by serving
  their local environments.
• Global universities seek excellence by drawing
  resources (students, staff, income,..) from all
  over the world.
• World Class Universities succeed in being both
  excellent by international standards and deeply
  committed to the development of their local
  environments. They are glocal.

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Mobility

• Migratory flows
• Controversial research is geographically
  constrained
• Teachers / researchers are becoming nomads in
  search of hotspots
• University is less a stable and well defined
  community and becomes more an ad hoc, ever
  changing community of communicators and
  researchers.

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• Would national governments lose their influence
  on HE ?
• Would borderless education undermine HEs
  capacity to contribute to social development and
  cultural identity ?
• What about the Brain Drain ?

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UNIVERSITY THE PALACE OF PARADOXES

• The dilemna How to be

• Accessible and elitist?
• Challenging and fair?
• Autonomous and accountable?
• Public and private?
• Innovative and conservative?
• Engaged and secluded?
• Critical and respectful?
• Demanding and supportive?

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UNIVERSITY THE PALACE OF PARADOXES

• Creative and precise?
• Local and international?
• Specialised and interdisciplinary?
• Rational in the face of irrationality?
• Attract funds without losing credibility?
• Do more with less?

A difficult balancing act !

• The contradictions of todays world echo in the
  University

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Excellence

• The range of expectations is ever increasing
• Multiple missions (teaching and education,
  research and innovation, service to the society).
• Flexibility in teaching (more students of
  different types enlisted in different and
  specialized training tracks).
• Knowledge is exploding
• New services (health care, sport, culture,
  elderly people).
• At the same time, costs are rising and state
  investment in education is decreasing.
• Excellence implies strategic choices. It also
  requires leadership, commitment, outstanding
  people, organisational fit and adequate resources.

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Solidarity

• Excellence is not enough.
• The competition paradigm (survival of the
  fittest) alone leads to unbearable disequilibria,
  both at the individual level and at the
  collective level.
• It has to be complemented by the principle of
  cooperation and solidarity (reliance).
• Universities should contribute to a fairer and
  more sustainable society
• Social mobility, democracy
• Economic and social development ( North-South
  dimension)
• Mutual understanding between communities and
  cultures

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Emerging issues
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• Globalisation creates new issues for universities
• Issues are more systematically complex, such as
• Migration
• Global warming
• GMO
• Terrorism Tourism
• Epidemic

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AGEQUAKE

• Changing demographics
• Unprecedented growth of students
• Replacement of retiring teachers ?
• How will different regions differentiate in a
  global economy?
• Increasing specialisation and delocalisation

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Attitude to internationalisation
Asia experiencing Americanisation Europe moving
away from isolationism Africa starting to
integrate regionally America becoming more
entrenched
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THE AMERICAN PARADOX Universities are highly
international in some ways and highly insular in
others
How much will they become involved in genuine
collaboration with the institutions in the rest
of the world?
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LOOKING AHEAD THE BIG PICTURE
A more interdependent and instable world

• Migration
• Energy crisis
• Depletion of natural resources
• Highly turbulent world economy
• Financial instability
• Global epidemics
• Increased inequality
• Exacerbated identities
• Renewed religious and spiritual quests
• Global trafficking
• Terrorism

? A more and more unpredictable and competitive
world.
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None of us can relax in this  dog-eat-prof-world 

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CONSEQUENCES AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL
MORE COMPETITIVE

• Competition on the rise - ranking
• - alternative provider
• The brains business
• Marketing

MORE INVOLVED

• Growing expectations
• Explosion of knowledge
• Lifelong Learning
• Stakeholders
• Shift in the  town and gown  relationship
• Internationalization

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CONSEQUENCES AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL
MORE DEPENDENT

• The State less investment, more interference
• Need to generate new revenue - student fees
• - entrepreneurship
• - fundraising
• - partnership

• Demand overload at every level.
• Increased fragmentation of institution at the
  expense of its identity
• Management tries to adjust
• Our public image is changing (Sacred place ?
  Market place)

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In Europe and in the world, the responses to
those challenges have been

• research partnerships
• educational alliances and cooperation
• internationalization of teaching and learning
  (studying abroad, languages skills)

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From nations to regions, the construction of
Europe A test case in internationalisation
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In the European context, the Bologna process and
the Lisbon strategy have been key engines of
change
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The Bologna Process
The Lisbon Strategy
2000 European Union currently 27
countries to make Europe the most competitive
knowledge based society. But also capable of
sustainable economic growth, with more and better
jobs and greater social cohesion  also by 2010
1998/99 Currently joined by 46 European
countries Governmental push for system
convergence implementation in Universities across
Europe EHEA by 2010
46 Bologna Countries
27 Member States of EU
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Higher education in Europe Shifting
responsibilities and contexts

• Higher Education remains predominantly a national
  responsibility
• Bologna process A large Europe (46 countries)
  looking for convergence through common structures
  and tools

• 3 years Bachelor 2 years Master
• European Credit Transfer System (ECTS)
• Diploma Supplement
• Quality assurance

Our common model with Bologna is a model of
cooperation and solidarity
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A UNIQUE CULTURE OF COLLABORATION

• The ongoing changes in Europe are based on over a
  30 years old practice of partnership and
  networking
• In teaching J.S.P., ERASMUS, TEMPUS, ALFA,
  ERASMUS MUNDUS,
• In research PCRD, and now ERC, EIT, etc.
• And at every level
• Minister Biannual conferences
• Institution CRE, EUA, EURASHE, Coimbra, UNICA,
  LERU, etc.
• Student ESU

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PARTNERSHIP AND ALLIANCE ARE BECOMING KEY NOTIONS

• Universities can complement one another
• Universities can learn from one another
• Firms are increasingly dependent on external
  source of knowledge
• Increasing role of university networks in Europe.

FROM COMPETITION TO  COOPETITION 
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INTERNATIONAL INTEREST IN BOLOGNA

• Growing interest in the Bologna process across
  the globe.
• Demand for policy dialogue
• 3 cycle degree structure, how it articulates with
  other regions
• QA the interest already from non European
  accreditors in the Register
• Interest to link national/ regional HE systems to
  Bologna.
• Specific examples
• change in the attitude of US Graduate schools
  towards Bologna graduates
• Australia has launched a consultation process on
  the impact of Bologna on Australian HEIs
• Francophone Africa and the MEDA countries of the
  southern Mediterranean adopt Bologna Reforms etc.

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Europes Universities Commitment towards
higher education dialogue and cooperation
with Europe partners
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• 34 national Rectors Conferences
• 770 individual universities
• Affiliated university networks organisations
• in 46 European countries

EUA  the Voice of European Universities
EUA Membership - 2007
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• EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATION (EUA)
• Independent membership organization
• Secretariat in Brussels
• Goals Strengthen the European universities
• Representing the European university sector
• Shaping HE and Research policy at European
  level
• Institutional development (seminars, workshops,
  publications on policy development
  institutional good practices)
• Supporting internationalization of European
  higher education

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A Multi-layered approach
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A Multi-level approach
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International cooperation Multi-level approach
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EUA International Agenda

• Promote mutual understanding and transparency
• Solidarity advocating institutional autonomy and
  higher education as a public good
• Globalisation joint issues
• Quality culture and institutional development
  EUAs experience in a diverse Europe
• The European Higher Education Area in a Global
  Setting strategy for more/better cooperation

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Institutional Evaluation Programme (IEP)

• Voluntary audit - based on self-evaluation and
  peer review
• Supporting individual institutional mission,
• Strengthening governance and managment
• Tailor-made response to institutional development
  needs
• Individual universities national higher
  education systems
• Over 250 evaluations conducted in 39 countries
• European programme, with international outreach
  (Latin America, South Africa)

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EUA Council for Doctoral Education

• A recent membership service of EUA.
• Forum for cooperation and exchange of good
  practices among doctoral programmes and schools
  across universities in Europe.
• Advancement and improvement of doctoral education
  in all disciplines.
• Doctoral education quality becoming an
  international issue
• Multilateral forum Banff principles
  involving organisations from many parts of the
  world (Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Latin
  America, US)
• Bi-regional initiative Europe-Asia Workshop on
  Doctoral education, Beijing China Dec. 2008

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EU-Asia Higher Education Platform (EAHEP)

• European Commission funded under the Asia-Link
• Enhancement of mutual understanding and
  inter-institutional cooperation
• Capacity building for HEI in emerging countries
• Promotion of European Higher Education Area
• HE policy dialogue and exchange of good practice
  via workshops, roundtables, symposia on doctoral
  education, mobility programmes, governance and
  management, regional QA approaches etc.
• Impacting the governmental agendas (ASEM Rectors
  submit recommendation to ASEM Education
  Ministers participation of EUA in ministerial
  and senior officials meetings)
• Information portal and online discussion forum
  for stakeholders www.eahep.org

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Access to Success Fostering trust and exchange
between Europe and Africa

• Funded under European Commissions Erasmus
  Mundus
• Examining widening access and equity as critical
  issues of both continents
• Institution-centred approach Questionnaires,
  student focus groups and seminars
• Inter-institutional and interorganisational
  cooperation EUA meets Association of African
  Universities
• Building block for better mobility, cooperation
• How to impact governments and donors.

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Conclusions
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The role of universities in a globalised
context is complex. The competitive forces
driving change in higher education are creating a
global marketplace. The risk is that our
institutions will be driven by the market rather
than by their own sense of higher purpose.
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The challenge we now face is for the different
nations and peoples of the world to agree on a
basic set of human values, which will serve as a
unifying force in the development of a genuine
global community -Aung San Suu Kyi- Nobel
Peace Price Laureate
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How could the worldwide university community
contribute to this goal? What could be the
place of the university in the new global village?
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• The internationalisation of higher education
  provides a unique opportunity for Universities
  around the world
• To contribute to the diversity and the dialogue
  of civilisations
• To engage in socially useful learning and
  knowledge creation
• To preserve a space where one is allowed to
  debate and dissent
• To promote development

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Universities around the world could use their
core values to contribute to a more democratic
and fairer globalisation based on their
cooperation and solidarity.