Branch Anxieties

By Scott Jaschik. During a discussion here Monday on international branch campuses, a panel of experts discussed a variety of challenges facing universities that set up branch campuses in other countries or engage in international partnerships. They discussed the economics of these ventures, shifting types of student demand, the potential of competition from massive open online courses and a variety of regulatory structures. But until asked during the question period, the panelists didn't say a word about the elephant in the room: differing commitments to academic freedom in the host countries for branch campuses and the Western democracies whose universities are setting up the branches.
The United Arab Emirates is home to numerous branch campuses of American and British universities, and many others are in nearby Qatar. So Dubai seemed a logical setting for Going Global, the annual gathering on international education sponsored by the British Council, and about 1,300 leaders of universities from around the world are gathering here for the discussions. While the universities setting up campuses here haven't asserted that the UAE is democratic, they have talked about their ability to operate campuses with academic freedom. Read more...