The MCO’s Secretary General, David Lock, was one of the guests at the opening of the Centre for Global Higher Education in London this week.
The Centre for Global Higher Education is an Economic and Social Research Council centre which is focused on global higher education engagement, the social and economic impact of higher education, and local higher education engagement.
It is a partnership led by the University College London Institute of Education that includes Lancaster University, the University of Sheffield and eight international universities.
The Centre's objectives are to conduct and publish basic and applied research in three integrated programmes; build theory about higher education and new methods of inquiry and research; respond to issues arising within the frame of the three programmes; maximize its impacts in higher education policy in the four UK nations and worldwide.
The opening contained a number of presentations and discussions which may be of interest to MCO signatories. Three of these focused on the impact of higher education and research which explored the term ‘impact’ and the implications of achieving it for the various stakeholders with a legitimate interest in higher education.
Fundamental values featured insofar as the autonomy of institutions and academic freedom enjoyed by academic staff and the balance of the multiple responsibilities which they have to the various stakeholders are factors both in how the impact is achieved and how it is viewed.
On speaker referred to ‘a healthy ecology of higher education’ being the product of ‘intellectual autonomy, financial sustainability and insightful governance’. (Alis Oancea)
More details of the Centre can be found at www.researchcghe.org
Published on 10 February 2016
