Abstract
International advisory committees are a new development globally. Some universities seeking to raise their profile and improve their performances have implemented committees of prominent academics and business people to provide advice. These committees need to be effectively organized if they are to have a useful impact.
Highlights
The latest accouterment of world-class universities, or those aspiring to worldclass status, is an international advisory group
Heidelberg University, in Germany, has one headed by a former Oxford vice chancellor; the Higher School of Economics committee, in Moscow, is chaired by a Nobel Prize–winning American economist; and several prominent Saudi Arabian universities have committees composed of top-ranking academics and a few business executives
WHO SERVES—AND WHY? not based on a careful and systematic analysis of advisory-committee membership, it appears that most committees consist of prominent academics and institutional leaders, from a range of disciplines chosen from top universities worldwide—with a predominance of participation from the major universities in the English-speaking world
Summary
The latest accouterment of world-class universities, or those aspiring to worldclass status, is an international advisory group. The laudable goals of such committees, which meet on an occasional basis to review and evaluate the institution’s plans and performance, include bringing new ideas and analysis from the experience of academe beyond the borders and especially from the pinnacles of higher education globally, and hopefully assist the institution to understand itself and to improve. The committee members have a continuing relationship with the university and, presumably, a commitment to its welfare and improvement.
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