For the past 25 years UK Higher Education institutions have forged research and teaching partnerships with their counterparts overseas. Many of these links were funded by the British Government and managed by the British Council’s Higher Education Links Scheme. This book takes an informed and critical look at issues and trends in global higher education over the past twenty five years with an in-depth and often personal account of how these links were managed and led. Ten experts representing a variety of disciplines from areas such as conserving the natural environment, the promotion of human rights, and education and gender present an ‘insider’s’ view of their link, reflecting upon the successes and challenges in promoting research, developing institutional capacity at home and abroad, and the lessons they have learned. This book will be of particular interest to those working in higher education and international development generally; as well as students, researchers and professionals engaged in bilateral and multi-lateral development assistance programmes.

This book discusses the concept of capacity-building for tertiary education through cross-border education, emphasising the critical role of quality assurance and trade negotiations.

Higher Education Leadership and Management have become increasingly important throughout the years due to the complexities that have to be addressed by universities worldwide. This can be seen not only in professionalisation in fields such as faculty management or in areas of quality assurance and internationalisation, but also in the need for exchange and training in academic leadership, such as that of deans or study deans, or of university leadership in general. The Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies (DIES) is addressing this need in emerging countries by building platforms of exchange and offering training courses. Not only is the programme supporting capacity building of human resources, but it is also specifically focusing on inducing change within the universities, such as introducing new instruments or tools in the area of quality assurance and internationalisation, and addressing specific challenges or setting up new structures in the form of projects in the frame of the training. The ‘National Multiplication Trainings’ Programme under DIES is further addressing the sustainability and multiplication of the DIES Programme, that is, alumni are enabled to implement capacity building in higher education leadership and management in their national context. The articles within this volume of the “Potsdamer Beiträge zur Hochschulforschung” (Potsdam Contributions to Higher Education Research) analyse and share the experiences of such training programmes held in Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Malaysia, Kenya, and Uganda. They all revolve around the best ways to address the needs and challenges in higher education leadership and management, and in building capacities in these areas.

The first of its kind, this book documents and analyzes the international dimension of higher education in Africa based on country case-studies and a consideration of relevant historical and contemporary themes. It identifies trends, developments, and challenges related to the international dimension of higher educational at the institutional, national, and regional levels. It explores the institutional the opportunities and probes the risks while it responds to the growing need for information and analysis of internationalization of higher education in Africa. On the basis of this book project, an effort is underway to establish the African Network for Internationalization of Education (ANIE). This network aims to develop research capacity and expertise to meet the professional and practical needs of individuals, institutions and organizations interested in the international dimension of higher education in Africa.

International Organizations and Higher Education Policy critically analyzes the impact influential organizations have at different levels of higher education policy development and implementation.

Academics work in a highly complex world where they must build integrative capabilities and outcomes as teachers, researchers and leaders. As they progress from novice to expert their evolving identities, methodologies and strategies need to be well-attuned to their own strengths and the sectoral expectations: a process that is greatly facilitated by the guidance of leaders and specialist developers. Developing Academics offers guidance to developers, senior leaders and academics on the principles and practices that support high-performing and adaptive academic communities. As the first work to explore the complex nature of academic capacity building, it offers comprehensive development principles, learning theories and specific strategies to support academic growth and development. Developing Academics explores academic capacity from a range of perspectives, including: What makes a high-performing, well-rounded academic? How can our academics be equipped to meet the demands of their current and future roles? What are the essential characteristics of an outstanding developer and development service? How can leaders support and guide high-performing academics who wish to excel? This book is divided into five parts. The first explores academic capacity building and the role developers, leaders and academics play. The second part offers comprehensive guidance to higher education developers, providing the theoretical grounding, methodologies and advanced professional techniques that support their service delivery. The third explores the academic development context, mapping the key capabilities that academics need to acquire as they progress from early career to senior roles across their various portfolios. The fourth explores strategies to evaluate and research the impact of higher education development on learners and their performance. In the final part, the design of higher education services and their interaction with university leaders is explored, illustrating the critical importance of building influence and impact across the university community. The positioning of higher education development as a discipline is also mapped. Developers, leaders and academics will find this handbook to be an essential resource for regular reference: full of useful insights, tips and strategies to help them increase their outcomes and impact. Readers are challenged to reflect on their own leadership and effectiveness throughout this work, as individuals and contributors to academic capacity building.

Higher education has recently been recognized as a key driver for societal growth in the Global South and capacity building of African universities is now widely included in donor policies. The question is; how do capacity building projects affect African universities, researchers and students? Universities and their scientific knowledges are often seen to have universal qualities; therefore, capacity building may appear straight forward. Higher Education and Capacity Building in Africa contests such universalistic notions. Inspired by ideas about the ‘geography of scientific knowledge’ it explores what role specific places and relationships have in knowledge production, and analyses how cultural experiences are included and excluded in teaching and research. Thus, the different chapters show how what constitutes legitimate scientific knowledge is negotiated and contested. In doing so, the chapters draw on discussions about the hegemony of Western thought in education and knowledge production. The authors’ own experiences with higher education capacity building and knowledge production are discussed and used to contribute to the reflexive turn and rise of auto-ethnography. This book is a valuable resource for researchers and postgraduate students in education, development studies, African studies and human geography, as well as anthropology and history.

Collective Capacity Building: Shaping Education and Communication in Knowledge Society explores different forms of expression of capacity building, in educational, societal and cultural contexts. In particular, collective capacity building in higher education is analysed and illustrated in a number of educational offers for professionals.

Deryn Watson CapBIT 97, Capacity Building for Information Technologies in Education in Developing Countries, from which this publication derives, was an invited IFIP working conference sponsored by Working Groups in secondary (WG 3. 1), elementary (WG 3. 5), and vocational and professional (WG 3. 4) education under the auspices ofIFIP Technical Committee for Education (TC3). The conference was held in Harare, Zimbabwe 25th - 29th August 1997. CapBIT '97 was the first time that the IFIP Technical Committee for Education had held a conference in a developing country. When the Computer Society of Zimbabwe offered to host the event, we determined that the location and conference topic reflect the importance of issues facing countries at all stages of developmen- especially Information Technologies (IT) development. Information Technologies have become, within a short time, one of the basic building blocks of modem industrial society. Understanding IT, and mastering basic skills and concepts of IT, are now regarded as part of the core education of all people around the world, alongside reading and writing. IT now permeates the business environment and underpins the success of modem corporations as well as providing government with cost-effective civil service systems. At the same time, the tools and technologies of IT are of value in the process of learning, and in the organisation and management of learning institutions.