This article highlights new possibilities for consideration. Will the concept of tenured positions continue to exist over the next 10 years with this global seachange in student/university relationship? I wonder at times whether power plays/shifts disguised in the name of “productivity”/etc, evaluations continue to occur on a not so obvious and subtle level, in university adminstrations, everywhere. Will administrators hold the reins completely eventually? Will lecturing staff of the future be little more than annually renewed contracted and previously unemployed PHDs hired to teach a set curricula? A curriculum designed(lecturer lesson plans), contractually provided by once-tenured folk(fired/compromised), to be owned as intellectually property of the university and spewed forth internationally on the strength of a, “name brand”?. Will universities eventually resemble pared down bottom line machines designed for fitness and survival? Are they becoming this corporate model, already? How about the treatment of students? A future where university administration are “put to task” I think will become more common place. Once upon a time, students cow-towed to the Ivory Tower. However, not until one reached graduate studies that the realization would hit home concerning, “internal politics” and personality appeasement was the true guaranteed stepping stone to success in this musty world. Power with the wide-swath of a guillotine had been utilized on many an occasion, destroying potentially promising academic career. One example I was made aware of concerned a gifted graduate student at a university in Oklahoma. For a six affected graduate students, who’s course had been cancelled even though the requirements for conferment had been met and completed, were left with no option but to extend there university “time” and transfer their course to another. The university stated this was within their jurisdiction should role numbers be low. However, as anyone familiar with graduate school knows, graduate classes sizes do not resemble undergraduate class sizes. The stress on this young persons life, repeals(straight As) which went no-where, the loss of two completed master degrees in one foul swoop, an inability to maintain lucrative employment(six months) due to demands of the course, allied with the need to work because of the overall on-going cost of graduate studies, and a $60,000 student debt, led to a breakdown. Although the student concerned prefers to forget she ever studied, this leaves the possibility of students organizing into consumer collectives of their own in seeking judicial respite. Can universities be sued for misuse of Federal Funds if student loans are used to pay for student courses? Will universities be more susceptible to law suits? If so, universities may be forced to become more transparent and accountable to students. And, that is one positive change economics(as well as a growing student awareness) will/may positively influence dictator-led administrations hiding under the guise of, “we know best” , we control you, we are……...
It's also, predictable that some governments are not too thrilled with the reality that their best and brightest are taking their fledgling skills abroad in the pursuit of quality education. Do you think universities in these countries will offer amongst facilities like a crèche for parenting students, perhaps a gulag, too? How do these governments prevent students from eyeing the elevated lifestyle possibilities of other countries, the internet does offer a view merely through its existence? Being talented, these students about to defect, are in no uncertain terms, more than likely to receive lucrative offers of employment before their course even concludes in the study country of their choice, and unlikely to return, home, in any great hurry. Which is obviously, what irks the home-based politicians in need of a means to perpetuate their nests. Some governments may not be too thrilled with down-home success stories either. An example comes to mind from New Zealand. Carich International had begun to make inroads into China and South Africa (S.A. may have been their downfall since many South Africans consider New Zealand kith and kin) with a view to establishing campuses in these regions. Their evaluation for growth was accurate and possessing national accreditation along with international recognition; this extremely profitable “private” education provider was poised for the big time. The plug was pulled however, when the Ministry of Education claimed impropriety (misrepresentation of student numbers) on monies claimed on actual student attendance. Because of the size of this organization, the question-mark regarding student numbers(delayed in Carich receiving funds to pay it’s bills) and funding claimed for, led to the Ministry of Education’s refusal to “pay out” (money which was “legally” owed for student-loan-claiming students). The delay snapped its (Carrich’s) proverbial backbone sending the once profitable private educator, to the liquidators. This was not before Carich had made the far-sighted decision of placing local students fees in trust, along with taking out insurance to protect(students) and international students fees paid(Computer World magazine). Last year, the Minister of Education stated one of the major goals for the Ministry of Education in the next decade, is to make New Zealand a respected education provider for international students. According to Chinese representatives, students are turning away because of anti-Asian racism, and the Carich debacle, which has seriously marred this country’s reputation as a trusted provider. Provider accountability to students is a wonderful new development. I welcome a grand shake-up of the once tax-payer funded ivory trough via the rigors of economics and competition. It will be interesting to see sluggish lecturers having to "clean-up" their act (co-erced by the dole queue or a genuine love for study and seeking of applicable truth/s). It will also be interesting to see if old guard academics can learn new tricks by remaining current knowledge wise, in order, to at least offer students a useable and tractable, knowledge base reflecting needs of society and industry. How will some disciplines evolve during this process, let alone the lecturer’s own evolution? For current/prospective students who hadn't previously entertained the idea of studying online, let alone abroad, options abound. If statistics are to be believed is beginning to experience exponentially radical growth. As the internet becomes standard technological fare these options are becoming more casually explored and investigated. Where, over the last 5 years once-upon-a-time, when most online courses were viewed with skepticism, with a lot of it originating from heady press proclamations of diploma mills and fraud, this is appears to be relaxing. Due to a greater understanding of and, the availability of investigative resources (i.e., degreeinfo, for one) international students are beginning to take first tentative steps toward study online with some degree of confidence. This trend will surely continue to revisits the question as to how the academic village/continent intend to divvy-up this cash brute estimated at US$30 billion annually. Currently, Monash University in Australia is seeking to establish a campus in China. This initiative will enable foreign (Chinese) students to earn credits (with the hope "their" students will continue to study, with Monash) which are recognized within the Australian accreditation framework and internationally because of the association with Monash. A necessary strategy for any uni's hope of remaining competitive it may seem. It will be interesting to see how home turf universities respond to this challenge already fraught with fraud, networking, corruption, and the presently reeling from these corresponding effect on local universities reputations, both, locally and abroad. The possibility of studying in two places at once is also heady as recently as a few years ago, these options were previously unimagined. The precedent hadn’t existed before. For example; an MBA in "International Trade" with the Spanish School of Business (11 months) and B-com in E-commerce with US accredited Tourno University. Looking at study this way, it wouldn't be difficult to say that as students begin to investigate their options online, the possibilities they will undoubtedly uncover in the process, will point to markedly obvious savings in time and available fiscal resources. Subjugating every students' historical nemesis (leaving more money to furnish the garret) with a single smite, very likely to do the rounds and could force institutions to reevaluate how they market student services. An even greater need to master English as the lingua franca of study is likely to become of even greater importance for students hoping to get the most from on-line and abroad learning possibilities. English mastery than become an essential pre-requisite for career success, study abroad logically follows for some. It will be interesting to see whether old school teaching methodologies undergo a sea change as well? Where market demand dictates and a student-cum-customers growing awareness of the scarcity of time and effort/value exchange ratio, one may wonder if methodologies may morph due to non-static competition. If results aren't secured by paying customers unable to pass go until they have the "lingo down pat," Will the market truly dictate, affecting industrial education foundations. In Korea, education is prized. But the market dictates in the republic just as it does in a full democracy. Universities have been known to fail, and of course, this is true of the United States, as well, of brick and mortar facades of higher learning, going under. For the savvy students, this has created a tenuous faith in anything but the very best education facilities in-country, and can also be seen in the numbers of Korean students applying for study abroad. Representing, a noticeable increase over the previous years according to official emigration and applications for passports and student visas records in 2005. Also a culture of hierarchy exist that influence lives primarily determined on who one’s family is. It is common practice for lecturers (hopefully a minority) to have purchased their degrees (favor system/relationship ties/hard-cash) along with influence in securing university positions. Dissertations also go through a process (excludes Professors who earned the Doctorate abroad) which are collectively collaborated on amongst "their" students or even, a student’s original work with name substituted. It isn't unusual either to find that a lecturer may not have even written "their" paper (copied, even). Ghostwriters are also culturally accepted as, "just one of those facts of life" if, one wants to get ahead. Thus, the actual realizable value of some of these sheepskins tends to be questioned from obscure universities. Where the general student’s life or failure depends on the university he/she attends through the rigor of high school entrance exams whose final grade which determines where you will study, and further undermined through corruptive practices, it’s no wonder the “informed” jump ship. For the lecturers of dubious repute, a government job securely ensconced in a university appears to justify the means. For a Korean student an overseas earned degree could significantly enhance the post-graduation employment odds, not to mention a reduction in the study competition stakes adding to that, the value of fluent –spoken English, for student’s seeking positions at, “home”. We live in rapidly changing times.
