Analysis of the ongoing debate in the United States on higher education quality and its consequences in practice. Looks for a basis for evaluating higher education in Sweden and other western European countries. Standardized tests, other evaluation methods, restrictions on institutional autonomy, and pitfalls of the current approach are discussed.…

Explores perspectives from which to examine government-university relations in different countries, and discusses examples in the United Kingdom, Finland, Norway, Sweden, France, and Germany. Trends in Eastern and Central Europe are also considered briefly. Issues of both administration and governance are included. (MSE)

A discussion of the use of performance indicators for evaluation and funding of higher education institutions by governments offers 10 lessons for governments and funding agencies, drawn from a study of the role played by performance indicators in the systems of Denmark, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. (MSE)

The higher education systems and financing mechanisms in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland are described. In each, enrollment and productivity, in terms of student flow, are important financing factors. A new budget model developed for Norway is outlined, and efforts to create a cooperative community for higher education in the Nordic countries…

It is proposed that fiscal, technological, and societal pressures on higher education around the world require new administrative approaches and faculty-administrative collaboration to ensure institutional stability, even survival. Recommended techniques are outlined. Notes on government policies for higher education in Australia, Sweden, and the…

A model combining formative and longitudinal program evaluation was applied to two programs (economics/business administration and engineering) at Uppsala University (Sweden) in which students are brought together after two years in regional institutions. Useful features of the evaluation method are discussed and results of job market follow-up…

In the context of rapid change in European higher education, particularly in the fiscal relationship between states and institutions and institutional demand for more autonomy, the situations of Sweden and Scotland are considered more closely. The paper concludes that the emerging search for nonstate funding and the handling of those revenues pose…

The process and aims of university evaluation are discussed from the perspectives of the evaluation commission, university vice-chancellor, and dean of faculty of forestry at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, evaluated by the ministry of agriculture. Focus on the link between quality assessment and educational improvement is…

The formal regulatory frameworks for higher education in four nations (Australia, Great Britain, Holland, and Sweden) who have recently enacted similar policies are described. Focus is on five areas: (1) higher education system design; (2) planning approaches; (3) funding; (4) outcomes assessment; and (5) government regulation of degrees,…

Evolution of the relationship between academic and administrative functions in Swedish universities is traced over 30 years. Attention is given to a shift toward administrative power during a period of university democratization, and partial restoration of academic leadership in the 1990s. Two distinct patterns of administrative structure are…

The way in which changes in overall university funding can affect systems for paying staff, and in turn affect faculty career patterns and mobility, is examined. Data on pay, responsibilities, and qualifications of different faculty ranks in 8 countries (Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, United States) are compared. (MSE)

Analyzes the impact of new research funding arrangements in Sweden, intended to shift emphasis from discipline-based research to multidisciplinary, problem-focused research. Focusing on management at the institutional level, it discusses the tension between the university, representing academic freedom and autonomy, and controls imposed by…

Important management issues occurring between Lund University (Sweden) and its two affiliated teaching hospitals are discussed, including personnel policy and planning; distribution of faculty workload; and allocation of research resources. Present policies are assessed and future developments based on a new national approach in Sweden are…