Institutional Goals (institutional + goal)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


The External Pressures on the Internal Governance of Universities

HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2002
Brian Salter
Governance is a means for realising institutional goals and in an ideal world should enable the institution to respond to the demands of the political environment by regulating its internal affairs accordingly. In the case of universities, not only is that environment increasingly differentiated but so also is the ability of universities to access it. Changes in state funding arrangements, accountability mechanisms, the contribution of the private sector, and the public definition of university education have placed numerous and varied pressures on institutions. Yet there is a studied reluctance by institutions to accept that their ability to respond to these pressures is equally variable, that they should tailor their ambitions to their capacities, and that their internal governance should be adapted using the principle of fitness for purpose. In the main, this is because the dominant ideological themes of higher education do not support the idea of distinct university functions of equal status. Rather, they encourage the erroneous belief that all universities are homogeneous in their functions , or, at least, that all have the potential to be homogeneous. [source]


The interpreter as institutional gatekeeper: The social-linguistic role of interpreters in Spanish-English medical discourse

JOURNAL OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS, Issue 3 2000
Brad Davidson
Increases in immigration have led to an enormous growth in the number of cross-linguistic medical encounters taking place throughout the United States. In this article the role of hospital-based interpreters in cross-linguistic, internal medicine ,medical interviews' is examined. The interpreter's actions are analyzed against the historical and institutional context within which she is working, and also with an eye to the institutional goals that frame the patient-physician discourse. Interpreters are found not to be acting as ,neutral' machines of semantic conversion, but are rather shown to be active participants in the process of diagnosis. Since this process hinges on the evaluation of social and medical relevance of patient contributions to the discourse, the interpreter can be seen as an additional institutional gatekeeper for the recent immigrants for whom she is interpreting. Cross-linguistic medical interviews may also be viewed as a form of cross-cultural interaction; in this light, the larger political ramifications of the interpreters' actions are explored. ,Interpreters are the most powerful people in a medical conversation.' Head of Interpreting Services at a major private U.S. hospital, May 1999. [source]


Knowing What Works: Program Evaluation

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENT SERVICES, Issue 90 2000
Margaret A. Healy
Program evaluation is a critical step in effective program planning. The programmer needs to know whether and how students change as a result of educational experiences. Through a systematic collection of data, the programmer gathers evidence of how programs help students meet their learning objectives and fulfill institutional goals. Further, the results of program evaluation can inform the next program planning cycle. [source]


Dealing with uncertainty: adaptive approaches to sustainable river management

AQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 4 2002
M.J. CLARKArticle first published online: 5 AUG 200
Abstract 1.Sustainable river management is the proclaimed aim of many agencies and institutions, but it remains challenging to bring this worthy ideal from the level of political rhetoric to that of practical river management. 2.Amongst the many drivers that already pressure the river manager, from internal institutional goals, through political aspirations to systemic change within the biophysical process system, one common element emerges, that of prevailing uncertainty. 3.Once it has been accepted that conventional science and engineering approaches to uncertainty (risk) minimization may be sub-optimal in a truly holistic (biophysical, socio-economic, political) system, the challenge emerges of developing a more appropriate framework without destroying over-burdened managers and management systems in the process. 4.It is argued that the necessary components are often already in place or under consideration. A linked model is proposed comprising practical measures of sustainability, robust approaches to uncertainty (if necessary, involving attitude change), responsive (adaptive) management frameworks, and an important underpinning of fuzzy decision support. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]