The University: International Expectations

Alexander D. Gregor is director of the Centre for Higher Education
Research and Development at the University of Manitoba and coeditor of
Postsecondary Education in Canada: The Cultural Agenda.

An introductory chapter in this collection of edited papers articulates
some broad themes and challenges (from reinventing the modern university
to responding to changed societal and national needs), and makes the
argument that an international perspective is an important basis for
considering the issues facing national systems. The papers that follow
address a broad range of topics: the reinvention of Australian
universities, the development of the Council of Ontario Universities,
the impact of human-rights issues on the governance of British
universities, overcoming apartheid in South Africa, the financing of
private colleges, performance-based university financing, international
legal issues related to defamation on the Internet, the challenges
facing for-profit colleges, and the place of technology in the
university experience. Most of the authors are senior administrators in
their respective jurisdictions. Their papers, written from the
perspective of the practitioner rather than the specialized scholar of
higher education, will appeal to administrators, policymakers, and
interested general readers.