Ranking Universities: Criteria and Consequences

This Supplement to 'Higher Education Digest' Number 59 brings together a number of items addressing the issue of university rankings. The first piece explores some of the background to the debate: the impact of rankings, the main criticisms and broader issues of policy and principle. It arose from an initial review of the literature for current research on university league tables and their impact on institutional behaviour undertaken by CHERI and Hobsons Research, commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). A brief description of the various strands of this research project follows. One of the weightier volumes on university ranking that has emerged recently is editors Sadlak and Lui’s 'The World-Class University and Ranking: Aiming Beyond', and a summary of this collection of papers is also featured in this supplement. Many of this book’s authors are members of the International Rankings Expert Group (IREG) and one of the Group’s key contributions has been to draw up a set of 'Principles on Ranking of Higher Education Institutions', with the explicit aim of evaluating and improving ranking practice. The Principles are included here as one succinct statement of good practice. But many critics question the very principle of creating hierarchies of institutions, and Ulrich Teichler provides a personal reflection on this subject to conclude this Supplement

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What works?: the culture of evidence in university teaching

This article analyses the culture of evidence in university teaching and its implications in the professional training of teachers in higher educa tion. The new culture of organisati on and assessment introduced into university teaching has brought about the configuration of a management model geared towards results and accountability based on solid evidence. Its implementation means that both administrators and teachers are asking themselves: what works? This study shows that the implementation of a culture of evidence requires the adoption of a pluralist vision of evidence, as well as cl ear criteria for determining the validity of evidence. In addition, teachers should be trained to mobilise systematic pedagogic know ledge and transform their practice, using available institutional support, the systematic analysis of their own experience, and the promotion of best practic

Мисия и задания исследовательских университетов и университетов мирового класса

It is analyzed the concepts of research and world-class universities; it is indentified their specific features, mission and tasks; it is emphasized the new role of the university in the knowledge triangle “education – science – business” at the expense of the strengthening of entrepreneurial culture and values.Проаналізовано концепції дослідницького університету та університету світового класу; визначено їх характерні особливості, місію та завдання; наголошено на новій ролі університетів у трикутнику знань «освіта – наука – бізнес» за рахунок становлення підприємницької культури та утвердження антрепренерських цінностей.Проанализировано концепции исследовательского университета и университета мирового класса; определены их характерные отличия, миссия и задания; сделано ударение на новой роли университетов в треугольнике знаний «образование – наука – бизнес» за счет становления предпринимательской культуры и утверждения антрепренерских ценностей

Academic rankings: an approach to a Portuguese ranking

The academic rankings are a controversial subject in higher education. However, despite all the criticism, academic rankings are here to stay and more and more different stakeholders use rankings to obtain information about the institutions’ performance. The two most well-known rankings, The Times and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University rankings have different methodologies. The Times ranking is based on peer review, whereas the Shanghai ranking has only quantitative indicators and is mainly based on research outputs. In Germany, the CHE ranking uses a different methodology from the traditional rankings, allowing the users to choose criteria and weights. The Portuguese higher education institutions are performing below their European peers, and the Government believes that an academic ranking could improve both performance and competitiveness between institutions. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the advantages and problems of academic rankings and provide guidance to a new Portuguese ranking.Academic rankings; CHE; higher education; performance evaluation; Portugal; Shanghai; THES

Benchmarking Jiangsu University to Improve Its Academic Ranking

This paper collates research on global ranking through U.S.News.com in relation to Jiangsu University’s non-appearance in global ranking of higher education institutions. The author critiques the Academic set up of the University in comparison with universities Ranked as World Class. The author navigates the study largely through descriptive and critical synthesis of published research and their variances. He explains how these measures improve the performance and ranking position of a Higher Education Institution (HEI). Looking at the international ranking systems in the world, and zeroing down to U.S.News.com; the author puts out the theory of all departments’ focus on generating quality research, high quality publications and internationalization to meet the demands of World University ranking by addressing the Gap in Jiangsu University (JU) and how to close it Keywords: Higher education ranking, Jiangsu University, U.S.News.com, international, indicators, weights

Higher education in the Mediterranean : managing change and ensuring quality

Provides an overview of the key themes raised at the November 1996 Malta conference concerning the quality of higher education in the Mediterranean, including international networking in education as well as managing change and quality assurance. It synthesizes the main contributions made by the presenters and identifies several transversal themes that emerged.peer-reviewe