FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT

 

 

Sharing Quality Higher Education Across Borders: Role of Associations and Institutions

 

                                                                                                            

First Global Meeting of Associations

and

International Conference

 

hosted by

Bibliotheca Alexandrina and

Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport

 

14 - 16 November 2005

Alexandria, Egypt

 

 

CONFERENCE RATIONALE AND OVERALL STRUCTURE

 

Cross-border higher education is expanding in many parts of the world, taking on a variety of forms and bringing with it both opportunities and risks.  Increasingly, the discussion of cross- border education is focusing on appropriate ways to govern this activity at the international level. The debate has often been polarised between the need for regulation by policy frameworks, set up through multi-stakeholder dialogue, and a more liberalised approach, in which the market and trade regimes set the rules.

 

National and regional associations can play an important role in assisting institutions of higher education to make sense of these trends.  Collective action to influence decision-makers also requires active engagement of associations working with their member institutions and with each other across regions to gather perspectives, analyse tendencies and develop informed policy positions. 

 

In Alexandria, the International Association of Universities (IAU) will hold a unique event.  Divided into two parts, it is first an invitational Global Meeting of Associations.  Heads of national, regional and international associations of universities will be invited to discuss cross-border education and review possible actions and services they can develop to support and implement the principles and recommendations contained in the policy Statement Sharing Quality Higher Education Across Borders.  Second, participants at the International Conference will include university and other institutions leaders, as well as Association leaders who attended the earlier Meeting of Associations.  The focus will remain on cross-border education as an important and growing aspect of internationalisation of higher education.

 

The discussion will revolve around definitions of cross-border education.  It will articulate the key questions that its expansion brings.  It will try to ascertain how best associations can serve their institutional members by improving knowledge, policies and measures at the institutional, national, regional and international levels that maximise the benefits and limit the possible negative impacts of cross-border education. 

 

UNESCO and OECD will also be invited to this meeting as these intergovernmental organisations are jointly engaged in a complementary initiative to prepare Guidelines on Provision of Quality in Cross-border Education. 

 

In addition, the Conference will enable all participants to learn more about recent developments in higher education in Egypt where reforms have been underway for several years and where various initiatives of cross-border education, involving US, German, Canadian and French institutions among others, have been launched.

 

PARTICIPANTS

 

Heads/CEOs of national, regional and international associations of universities

IAU Member Institutions

Representatives of IAU Affiliates

Other higher education stakeholders

Representatives of UNESCO and OECD

 

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS

 

-          Sharing Quality Higher Education Across Borders: A Statement on Behalf of Higher Education Institutions Worldwide, 2005 (http://www.unesco.org/iau/p_statements/index.html)

-          OECD-UNESCO Draft Guidelines on Provision of Cross-border Education (www.oecd.org

            or www.unesco.org);

-          Preliminary findings of IAU 2005 Internationalization of Higher Education survey 

 

SCHEDULE

 

14th all day and morning of 15th November 2005

            Meeting of Associations

 

15th afternoon and all day 16th November 2005

            International Conference

 

15th November 2005 - afternoon

Focus on Egyptian Higher Education (open to all)

 

REGISTRATION AND MORE DETAILED INFORMATION

 

Detailed programme for both Meeting of Associations and International Conference, as well as Registration Forms, fee schedule and hotel information will be available in late March on the IAU website: www.unesco.org/iau.  To be added to the mailing list for up-dated information, e-mail IAU at iau@unesco.org and signal your interest in Alexandria 2005.