Academic Centers Of Excellence Research Articles

A new partnership between science and politics. European scientists ought to adapt to new research policy paradigms.

A new partnership between science and politics. European scientists ought to adapt to new research policy paradigms.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Latin America and Caribbean Region

Despite its shared heritage the region of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) encompasses great diversity. Populations range from several thousands in some Caribbean island states to Brazil with over 150 million inhabitants. The region is home to some of the most impoverished countries in the world while many others boast strong institutions civil society groups academic centers of excellence and health infrastructure. It is the one region of the world in which the Spanish and Portuguese languages predominate and where the influence of the Catholic Church is most extensive. These and other factors have uniquely influenced local and national responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic resulting in examples of both astonishing success and disappointingly slow progress. (excerpt)

Creating open and lifelong learning institutions in higher education: a Namibian case-study

The paper explores the changing nature of the roles of universities in developing countries at the outset of the 21st century. It argues that, while remaining centres of academic excellence and creative thought, they must be prepared to add to these roles if they are likely to continue to attract public funding. They must become institutions which seek to provide their knowledge and academic expertise, which they create through much research and traditionally passed on through on-campus teaching, to a much wider community than could ever be reached in this way. This is the role of a university of open and lifelong learning. In previous generations univeristies have argued that they could only pass on their knowledge to the number of students they could accommodate in their classrooms. Modern ICT facilities make such restrictive criticism no longer viable. Universities can now, through distance learning techniques and open learning philosophies, reach out to the whole community in which they serve. This required not only new approaches to teaching and delivering their degrees and diplomas but also an acceptance that the most sophisticated concepts can be taught in formats and language that adults, however limited their formal education, can understand. The paper argues this is the role of the university and uses current debates and developments in the University of Namibia to illustrate how this transformation could take place.

A model for measuring customer satisfaction within an academic center of excellence

Customer satisfaction has recently become a concern of academic institutions with the commercialization of scholarship. Describes a process for capturing the authentic domain of customer satisfaction within an academic center of excellence. Findings highlight 19 determinants of customer satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and effectiveness. A Likert‐type survey was developed and tested. Results indicated that entrepreneurial customers were satisfied when they experienced positive relationships with the scientists they interacted with and when they received accurate and timely information to solve business‐related problems. Customers were dissatisfied when their projects were not completed as promised, when scientists lacked the expertise to assist customers, and when communications failed. Gleaning customer satisfaction within an academic institution is an arduous task; however, it is necessary as the citizens who fund public educational institutions demand higher accountability.

Assessing the Impact of Security Education Initiatives on Critical Infrastructure Protection

The need to protect US critical infrastructures has been the primary motivation behind two of the US Federal Government’s security education initiatives: the National Security Agency’s Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAE/IAE) programme, and the National Science Foundation’s Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service (SFS) programme. This article assesses the strength of these education programmes with respect to improving the level of critical infrastructure security.

A Pracademic Research Agenda for Public Infrastructure

Three recent articles inPublic Works Management& Policy (PWMP ) have brought new attention to the question of curricula for the public works/infrastructure (PW/IF) profession. This curriculum renewal is truly welcomed by those who have struggled to establish PW academic programs in the past. Previous graduate programs have regularly failed to attract sufficient PW practitioners or engineering graduates to sustain such an academic field. For the past 5 years, the PW profession has been served byPWMP , which has created a new literature from an emerging cadre of academics and practitioners. The journal’s editors believe such scholarship is an essential first step for renewed curricular offerings. This article synthesizes the three curricular initiatives and produces a “pracademic” research agenda to provide substance for PW/IF academic centers of excellence.

ON THE ESTABUSHMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLES OF EUROPE

The article is a plea for the establishment and the development of the University of the Peoples of Europe (UPE). As Europe comes together following the end of the post‐Second World War division, it is confronting a number of serious common problems of a kind amenable to solution by the concerted action of academics. The UPE, as a network of existing centres of academic excellence, could be harnessed to solve pan‐European problems of this sort on a pan‐European basis. As a part of its action, it would promote student mobility, but above all, it would facilitate the international movement of professors and advanced researchers. Steps should be taken to enhance the prestige of the participating institutions and to provide for the remuneration of participating academics.

Science and Technology Policies in Developing Countries A Retrospective View

The development of scientific and technological capacities in the developing countries has for many reasons been a difficult task and has assumed many different facets. Here three main groupings are defined, discussed and critically analysed: the building of scientific and technological enclaves, represented by academic centers of excellence, as well as nuclear and defence technologies from which modern science was to spread to the rest of the country's economy. Second, the import of modern technology and its adaptation to local needs. Finally, by focusing on the neglected social needs of the developing country, to integrate technology transfer and existing local technologies into the general political and economic development system of the respective country.

Science and Technology Policies in Developing Countries A Retrospective View

The development of scientific and technological capacities in the developing countries has for many reasons been a difficult task and has assumed many different facets. Here three main groupings are defined, discussed and critically analysed: the building of scientific and technological enclaves, represented by academic centers of excellence, as well as nuclear and defence technologies from which modern science was to spread to the rest of the country's economy. Second, the import of modern technology and its adaptation to local needs. Finally, by focusing on the neglected social needs of the developing country, to integrate technology transfer and existing local technologies into the general political and economic development system of the respective country.