Observatory on Borderless Higher Education

From Researching Virtual Initiatives in Education

The mission of The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE) is to conduct state-of-the-art research, disseminate best practices, emerging trends, policy frameworks and assessment and quality assurance information; and develop strategic partnerships with public and private universities and organisations for the effective delivery of borderless higher education academic programmes and services. The Observatory's primary purpose is to provide strategic information to enable policy-makers and institutional-organisational leaders to make informed decisions relevant to their existing and/or future transnational higher education initiatives.

Its web site is at http://www.obhe.ac.uk

The Observatory's mission is accomplished through extensive collaboration with stakeholders including global higher education, government and private sector organisations. The Observatory is committed to bringing together emerging research in transnational higher education through conferences, scholarly networks and the publication of reports.

Benchmarking

See OBHE benchmarking

Vision 2010

The Observatory is positioned to become the leading source of strategic information on transnational higher education. To fulfil this vision, The Observatory will:

Engage international scholars in collaborative research on current and emerging issues in transnational higher education;
Offer best practice guidelines on specific areas of transnational higher education for Observatory partners and stakeholders;
Convene institutes, colloquia and conferences that provide a forum to exchange ideas and strategies;
Monitor developments in quality assurance mechanisms at the international, national and institutional levels, particularly as they apply to international branch campuses and transnational and dual-degree higher education programmes; and
Provide a highly specialised consultancy service to institutions and organisations engaged in or planning to initiate transnational initiatives

Membership

The Observatory has over 170 organisational subscribers representing 50 countries worldwide engaged in various aspects of transnational higher education and international co-operation.

Organisations other than universities

The Observatory partners with national and international organisations including the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), Universities UK (UUK), UNESCO, the World Bank, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA), the European Distance Educational Network (EDEN), the UK's Leadership Foundation and the Western Co-operative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET).

Universities outside the UK

For a university outside the UK to join OBHE it must have a strong interest in transnational education, even if not distance learning or e-learning. This makes the list a likely place to look for prospects for case studies.

Antigua and Barbuda