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Traditionally the role of the external examiners in UK universities or more formally Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is that of quality assurance (QA). Typically, an experienced academic who is not affiliated with the HEI (i.e., someone from another university) is invited to act as an external examiner for a particular course or a module. The external examiner’s primary role is to provide impartial and independent advice to ensure academic standards are upheld for a degree program; and that the degree is comparable with similar programs across the country and that the achievements of students are also comparable with students on courses at other universities. This primary role makes external examiners highly valued people in UK universities, and as a result, their views are nearly always taken seriously. Over and above this recognized primary role of QA, external examiners can also be engaged by the host university in other ways. These additional roles or tasks of the external examiner can help enhance teaching and learning in higher education. This chapter will reflect on the range of roles, including the ones that go beyond QA.

This chapter aims to further integrate the results on the contextualised set of competencies. Specifically, this chapter will explain relevant pedagogical strategies such as seminars, expert-led workshops, experimentation, case studies, etc. to be used to develop these competencies. In addition to relating each strategy to a specific bundle of competencies, the chapter will conclude with contextualised pedagogical approaches that can be used to increase the relatedness and effectiveness of EE in developing countries.

This chapter explores the migration decisions and motives of a group of academics who were recruited to three Australian higher education institutions during the period 1965–2003. The chapter furthers our understanding of historical patterns of academic mobility and the experience of academic mobility and adds to our understanding of the academic profession. The research used a micro approach to migration history and focussed on academic migrants’ decision-making processes. The research used semi-structured interviews with three groups of academics who were interviewed in 1982 and 2003. The academic migrants in this research were not committed to any particular institution or curriculum. What was most important in their migration decision was simply obtaining any academic position. Many, if not most of them, owed their academic careers to the growth in Australian higher education caused by its transition from an elite to a mass system. They obtained their academic posts because of the global nature of academic work. The question that arises from this study is what Australian universities will need to do to attract a new generation of academics as they compete in a global market for academic personnel.

Historically, academic careers in many European universities have been characterized by the civil servant status of academics (i.e., an open vacancy model) based on the German Lehrstuhl (professorial chair) tradition. The chair system has been abandoned in many countries, and the status of civil servants has been changed to private employment. At the same time, many European universities have introduced some variant of the tenure track model to increase the attractiveness of academic careers at their institutions; however, open vacancy models continue to dominate academic careers in Europe. This chapter describes recent changes in academic promotion systems using case examples from tenure track models in two European countries, Finland and Austria. In conclusion, this chapter offers examples based on the best practices and challenges identified in the analyzed tenure track models.

Provide insights on the feasibility of connecting classrooms at a number of universities in the Asia Pacific region in a sustainable and low cost manner through the use of video conferencing.

Collaborative project implemented by a network of universities in the region.

A new form of innovative educational program is feasible based on the effective use of technology which is now readily available as a result of university investment programs, but under utilized due to lack of familiarity or negative perceptions amongst faculty of how to effectively employ this technology in their teaching.

A viable model of university collaboration has been identified and there are no insurmountable barriers preventing other educational programs with the same design. A key limitation relates to whether or not other educational institutions would see the benefits of this model in a highly competitive education marketplace.

Collaborative approaches to teaching in an inter-university context could prove very effective especially when dealing with complex topics like climate change, energy, and food security where the sharing of knowledge is crucial. Social implications: A connected classroom in the inter-university context opens up students and faculty to a diversity of perspectives that may be more appropriate than the traditional way of teaching, especially in this rapidly globalizing world.

All too often educational projects are implemented as pilots and they are not sustained over prolonged periods of time. This project has been on-going for over a decade.

In this chapter we discuss how, as a tool for organizational change, action research can affect the development of cooperation between a traditional university and the external environment. The case analyzed was a two-year action research project carried out in cooperation with over 20 employers. This project was carried out at multiple levels and had several essential goals. Apart from its emancipatory role in the shift in the way students carry out their master's theses (toward application, implementation, where organizations become the research subject instead of the research object), the project's aim was to open up the university to cooperation with its environment and conduct useful research. The results indicate that action research through the democratization of the process of introducing changes and its bottom-up nature influences the development of real cooperation between the university and external organizations. Additionally, they contribute to the emancipation of university knowledge, its democratization, dehierarchization, as well as cocreation and sharing with cooperating organizations.

iNNoVaNDiS started in 2005 at the University of Deusto (Spain) as a program that aimed to train students to perform as entrepreneurs. The aim of the chapter is to share the story of this 10-year old experience.

The chapter follows a case study approach, describing in a narrative form the evolution had by the program, from the perspective of the people that have been involved in it. It draws on the analysis of the different stages the program has gone through, over these 10 years, until the current structure of the program has been defined. Primary data are used to explain this evolution.

The chapter illustrates how the approach followed in iNNoVaNDiS has always been action-oriented. The rationale is that being entrepreneurial and innovative is a way of thinking, a mindset, and a personal identity. To achieve this different contexts are built during various workshops, working with real challenges faced by local organizations.

The program is run by a team with very different profiles, including consultants, researchers, academics, coaches, artists, engineers, entrepreneurs, actors, etc. This diversity allows the program to be in constant renewal. The program demystifies prejudices about the entrepreneur, the business idea and failure.

The philosophy behind the program is that entrepreneurship and innovation are not goals or disciplines to learn, and their purposes go far beyond starting a business. The scope of the initiative has not been the development of a business but rather to foster ethical entrepreneurship and innovative behavior in everyday life.