Assisting the Development of the Global Network of Universities

1. Assisting the Development of the Global Network of Universities Stuart Umpleby, Professor of George Washington University School of Business and Konstantin Mekhonoshin, Associate Professor, Siberian Institute of Law, Economics, and Management; Irkutsk State University; University of Maryland University College

2. Trends that are creating a global network of universities • The internet • The Bologna Process • Faculty and student exchange programs • International travel • Widespread use of the English language • Reduced ideological competition

3. What the internet makes possible • Much easier access to a great deal of information via the world wide web • The possibility to work with scholars anywhere in the world as easily as with colleagues at the same university • The ability to offer classes to students not located in the same city

4. How the internet is being used • Cooperation on research and co-authoring of papers by researchers in more than one country • Distance education where students and professors can be in various countries • Administrative cooperation on conferences, professional societies, and exchange programs

5. Regions and Countries

6. Number of PC Users

7. Total Internet Users • The graph begins from 1990 • North America, Europe and East Asia are the top three • The rate of increase has been phenomenal after 1994 • China, Oceania, Latin America and South Asia also have a high growth rate • An increase in every region But the rate is lower and it started late

8. The Bologna Process • Is creating common course and degree structures • Is making it easier to transfer credits from one university to another • Is facilitating student and faculty exchanges • Is spreading from Western Europe into Eastern Europe and other countries

9. Faculty and student exchanges • The number of exchange programs is increasing – Junior Faculty Development Program, Bradley Program, and Ron Brown Program in the U.S. • Some universities in the U.S., the U.K. and Germany allow students to receive degrees from two universities for a few years to establish a degree program

10. Likely benefits from strengthening universities • Improved international understanding • More rapid economic development • A more skilled labor force • More educated citizens to create stable democracies • More scientific advances created by more scientists

11. International activities of universities • Provide overseas experiences for students • Conduct joint research programs with professors in other countries • Help other universities establish or improve their degree programs • Establish campuses in several countries, thus increasing competition in higher education

12. Interpretations of the “global network of universities” • Connecting universities to the internet and providing distance education • Increasing standardization in course credits and degree programs • International cooperation in teaching courses • International collaboration on research

13. Sources of funds for universities • Charge tuition • Begin an endowment • Submit more applications for research grants • Support “observer consulting”

14. Examples of “observer consulting” • The World Bank builds a road or bridge using an international contractor and “hires” a local civil engineering professor to observe • A local sociologist or anthropologist is also hired to observe effects on the local people • Businesses also hire local professors to observe and then teach current methods

15. Universities Expanding Overseas • Development of Distance Education • Cost Minimization Strategies • Teaching outsourcing

16. Examples of outsourcing teaching • University of Maryland University College and the Siberian-American Faculty of Management • University of Southern Queensland and the Siberian-American Faculty of Management

17. Reasons to outsource teaching to foreign professors • Expand the number of potential instructors • Lower costs by hiring instructors who are willing to work for less than Western professors • Hire professors who know both English and the home country language • Increase the number of students who enroll for courses

18. Benefits of outsourcing teaching • Students will have more educational options to choose from • Students will have access to current knowledge from Western universities • Faculty will improve their skills and knowledge by using Western syllabi • International faculty will receive higher wages and hence continue as professors

19. Reform of universities • More faculty oversight and governance • Increased demands from tuition-paying students for quality instruction • More opportunities for students to evaluate the quality of instruction • Higher faculty salaries • Less corruption, such as professors selling grades to students

20. Prepared for the conference on the Global Integration of Graduate Programs Irkutsk, Russia October 3-8, 2005 www.gigp.org