Call for Case Studies: Best Practices and Lessons in Cross-Border Higher Education

A New Strategic Service for Members by Members

About the case studies . . .

The Observatory’s Call for Case Studies is a new strategic service aimed at facilitating this exchange of cross-border strategies, best practices, lessons learned, policies, and delivery models. The case studies will be available to OBHE member organisations and staff only.

The proliferation of cross-border initiatives has created a growing need for universities and their partners to share information and strategies. Given this international arena is very competitive we recognise that many universities may be reluctant to share their best practices. Conversely, we believe institutions can and will share general strategies and experiences with their professional colleagues that embraces the community of scholars of the global academic profession. In sum, the exchange of cross-border best practices and lessons learned is a collaborative process that strengthens the global higher education community.

Authors for case studies . . .

Vice-Chancellors, Pro-Vice Chancellors and Vice Presidents of international partnerships-international education; deans and department chairpersons responsible for cross-border academic programmes; directors of distance or eLearning; quality assurance and assessment experts; directors and managers of branch campuses; business, government and university teams who are engaged in a cross-border partnership; university faculty; international students enrolled in a cross-border programme; student services specialists; and more.

Dissemination of case studies . . .

These will be accessible only to member organisations and their staff on the pass-word protected OBHE web site. Copyright of the case studies shall be owned by The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education. All rights reserved.

The Observatory may occasionally use sample case studies for marketing and promotional events.

Topical guidelines . . .

There are no general restrictions on case study topic areas provided the author 1) demonstrates a clear alignment between the topic and cross-border higher education, and 2) provides best practices and/or lessons learned that other organisations can adapt for their own programme. The following is just examples of case studies topics.

• Designing and administrating a foreign branch campus
• Marketing and PR for cross-border programmes
• Quality assurance and programme assessment
• Managing financial risks and investments
• Distance learning delivery models – hybrid models
• Public-private partnerships
• Building stakeholder support for foreign programems among faculty, administrators, staff, board members, students, and community members
• Cross-cultural student support services
• Contract negotiations – legal issues
• Maintaining high quality teaching and learning
• Undergraduate vs. post-graduate programmes
• Economic and workforce development impacts on the host country
• Balancing access, quality and cost – how do you do it and why?
• Language, culture, social, ethnic, and gender issues

Author content and format guidelines . . .

The focus of case studies should be on best practices and/or lessons learned in cross-border higher education programmes. The case studies are intended to be practical summaries to improve practice rather than formal, rigorous research papers. The following is a specific list of requirements for case study submissions:

Please Submit the Case Study via email to:

Dr Don Olcott, Jr. (d.olcott@obhe.ac.uk)

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