Liberal Education, Fall 2008

Current Issue

Fall2008Vol.94No.4

Globalization and U.S. Higher Education

This issue explores the potential impact of the Bologna Process on higher education in the United States, the phenomenon of global branding, and the functions and motives of U.S. institutions of higher education that are establishing overseas operations in Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Also included are articles on accountability and on advising a diverse student body.

Table of Contents
President's Message

Bologna Plus: The Liberal Education Advantage

By Carol Geary Schneider

From 1818 R Street NW

From the Editor

By David Tritelli

Featured Topic

Accountability "Light": Our Version Is Going the Way of the Dollar vs. the Euro

By Clifford Adelman
Through the largest reconstruction of higher education ever undertaken anywhere—known as the Bologna Process— academic leaders, faculty, and students themselves have come up with a convincing and credible scaffolding of accountability. 

Bologna: A Challenge for Liberal Education and an Exceptional Opportunity

By Paul L. Gaston
The Bologna Process offers a direct challenge to the principles, the practices, and, most especially, the international competitiveness of U.S. higher education. How might advocates for liberal education respond most constructively and effectively?

The Council of Europe, the Bologna Process, and Education for Democracy: An Interview with Sjur Bergan

Public discourse on higher education in Europe is very focused on the economic aspects of higher education—which are, of course, important. But the role of higher education in society is not just economic.

Global Branding and the Celebrity University

By Sheldon Rothblatt
The logic of the “world-class” university is the logic of the global economy. Suffice it to say that as globally ambitious universities cultivate brand identities, little emphasis is placed on the traditional concerns of liberal education.

The Offshore Model for Universities

By Andrew Ross
It may be all too easy to conclude that the global university, as it takes shape, will emulate some of the conduct of multinational corporations. It is much more of a challenge to grasp the consequences of the coevolution of knowledge-based firms and academic institutions.

Perspectives

Growing Government Demands for Accountability vs. Independence in the University

By A. Lee Fritschler, Paul Weissburg, and Phillip Magness
How can one justify a self-governing regime in a tertiary education sector that is functioning within a democratic system of government? And how does one defend self-government in a sector that receives such extensive public funding and that is of such critical importance to the general public?

The Voluntary System of Accountability: Responding to a New Era

By David Shulenburger, George L. Mehaffy, and Christine Keller
Within the academy and the assessment community, the Voluntary System of Accountability has generated much debate and some criticism. Unfortunately, many of the concerns are based upon misunderstandings, incomplete and faulty information, and outdated research.

Real Analysis of Real Education

By Anthony P. Carnevale
Arguing that intellectual ability and socioeconomic status are inherited, Charles Murray concludes that the BA degree should be reserved for students who score in the top 10 percent on the SAT or ACT. It is worthwhile to examine the economics behind Murray’s arguments, if only because he represents an extreme version of a lingering set of biases shared by many Americans. 

My View

Advising a Diverse Student Body: Lessons I've Learned from Trading Places

By Lerita Coleman Brown
An invitation to join a panel discussion about advising a diverse student body brought to mind my own experience as one of one hundred African Americans at a campus of five thousand students. If I were a new college student today—and knowing what I know now, some thirty years later—what would I want from an adviser?

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