A university’s ‘international’ brand must be more than just spin to attract the best academics

Universities are constantly bombarding us with their ‘global’, ‘international’ and ‘worldwide’ credentials. You can barely visit a website or pick up a prospectus without reading about their global reach, world changing activity or international impact. These assertions have become every much a part of their brand as academic excellence, outstanding research reputation and an exceptional …

Knowledge without Borders: A Malaysian Example

It was one of those happy, and totally unexpected, events. We were on our way to visit Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). We arrived at the airport, with a few hours to spare before our first meeting, and were wondering what to do with the time. In baggage reclaim we met Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, Prof. Tan Sri …

The global financial crisis and the internationalisation of higher education

This post was first published in the ‘From the Vice-Chancellor’s desk’ blog on January 20, 2012 I am often asked about the impact of the global financial crisis on the internationalisation of higher education. Given Nottingham’s unique global footprint, that is not a surprise. As the sub-title of Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff’s outstanding book This Time …

The Nottingham Global Network

The growth in transnational higher education is well documented, with UK institutions playing a leading role in delivering degree programmes outside of their home market. International research collaborations have also seen significant expansion in recent years with more and more institutions looking to build strategic partnerships to enhance the quality of research and magnify its …

The growth of TNE in SE Asia: Challenges and Realities

While attending the recent UK-Vietnam Partnership Workshop, organised by the University of Nottingham in conjunction with the British Council and the Vietnam National University, I was struck by the many similarities between the Vietnamese experience and that of other SE Asian nations. While the event was held in Hanoi, and attended by largely Vietnamese delegates, …

Return of the Civilizing Mission

At the recent Observatory on Borderless Higher Education ‘Global Forum’ in Kuala Lumpur, ‘New Players and New Directions: The Challenges of International Branch Campus management’, there was much to digest about current thinking concerning Transnational Education. The delegate list itself was something of an internationalisation ‘Who’s Who’, and the programme offered a rich set of …

International Campuses or International Students?

For those of us who have long been active in developing educational and research provision outside the UK, it is heartening to learn that David Willets is keen to address the barriers to greater engagement by UK universities in overseas ventures. Developments such as international campuses (a major focus of recent discussions in the UK …

Why we need to recapture ‘marketing’ from the ‘marketisation’ of higher education debate

Critics of marketing in higher education (HE) argue that a fundamental and inexorable conflict exists between the intrinsic purposes and values of education and what has been described as an increasing shift towards ‘marketisation’ or ‘corporatisation’ i.e. treating HE as a commodity open to market forces with students as its primary customers. Some have asserted …