The University of Crisis: (1 At the Interface / Probing the Boundaries)

This book began as a collection of papers presented at a conference entitled ‘The Future Business of Higher Education’ held at Oxford University. The contributions range from those who grapple with the question of what a University should do, through those concerned with making Higher Education more efficient, to some who were already planning for some technologically inevitable virtual future. These disparate leanings led to inevitable conflict and a challenge in editing into book form. In compiling and editing the chapters the editor has tried to preserve some of the diversity of opinion presented at Oxford. By doing so it is apparent that some individual contributors would find unacceptable much of what others in the book have to say. The traditionalists clash with the modernizers, the Left with the Right, Public with Private and the theorists with the practitioners. It is this very divergence of philosophical opinion as to the future of Higher Education that makes this book such an enjoyable and stimulating read.

Table of Contents:
Preface List of Abbreviations PART I The Idea of the University Bob MACKENZIE: The Decline of the Professor: The Impact of Higher Education Change on Academic Roles Kenneth B. PETER: Weberian Collegiality and Academic Freedom in the Western University David Seth PRESTON: Managerialism and the Post-Enlightenment Crisis of the British University Robert GRANT: The End of Liberal Education David JENKINS: Diced Carrots: The RAE Explained in the Light of Game Theory PART II Macro Contemporary Issues of the University George DIEHR and John R. MONTANARI: The Role of Private Sector Models in Higher Education: Back to the Future Glynis COUSIN: “It’s the Way They Tell It…” The RAE Explained in the Light of Rhetorical Criticism Len HOLMES: Reframing the Skills Agenda in Higher Education: Graduate Identity and the Double Warrant PART III Micro Contemporary Issues of the University Amanda RELPH: The Influence of Key Skills on Higher Education Ann BARLOW: The Implications of Widening Participation Initiatives for Learning Support in Higher Education Elizabeth MYTTON and Janet HANSON: W(h)ither the academic Law Teacher Ann IRVING: The Investors in People Standard and UK Higher Education Index Notes on Contributors

About the Author :
Ann Barlow is the Learning Support Coordinator at Manchester Metropolitan University. Glynis Cousin is Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Higher Education Development at Coventry University. George Diehr received his PhD in Business Administration from UCLA in Management Science. He is currently Professor of Management Science at California State University, San Marcos, where he also served as interim dean. Dr. Robert Grant is a Reader in English Literature at Glasgow University. In 1999 he was Visiting Research Fellow in the Social Philosophy and Policy Centre, Bowling Green State University, Ohio. Previously a Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and a lecturer at the University of Sussex, he has been at Glasgow for twenty-seven years. Janet Hanson is Associate Head of Academic Services at Bournemouth University. Len Holmes is Acting Director of the Management Research Centre at the University of North London. Ann Irving worked for several large blue chip companies, mainly in research and development roles, before joining the University of Portsmouth in 1992. Ann is currently an Associate Dean in the Technology Faculty at Southampton Institute. David Jenkins is Visiting Professor at the Centre for Higher Education Development. Bob MacKenzie, at the time of writing this paper, was Senior Lecturer in Public Sector Management at the University of Portsmouth. He is now an independent Development Consultant. John R. (Dick) Montanari received his Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Colorado at Boulder in Management and Administrative Policy. He has served on the faculties of the University of Houston and Arizona State University. He is currently Professor of Strategic Management at California State University San Marcos. Elizabeth Mytton is Director of the University Research Centre in Post-Compulsory Education and Head of Law in the School of Finance and Law at Bournemouth University. Kenneth Peter is an Associate Professor of Political Science at San Jose State University. David Seth Preston has degrees from the universities of London, Loughborough and Sheffield. His background is in applied Information Systems especially within engineering firms. Amanda Relph is a Senior Lecturer in Operations Management at the Business School, University of Hertfordshire. She became interested in educational research whilst working on an aspect group in teaching, learning and assessment prior to a QAA visit at her previous university. She is currently undertaking an MA in Education (Lifelong Learning) with the Open University.

Review :
"striking, perceptive thesis … these essays are valuable as an informed commentary on the major issues and problems confronting today’s university, indeed, the university of crisis" - in: The European Legacy, Vol. 10, Nr. 1 (1 February 2005)