Quality Assurance

National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good (AAUP)
The mission of the National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good is to significantly increase awareness, understanding, commitment, and action relative to the public service role of higher education in the United States. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which established the Forum in 2000, has extended its funding through 2006 and has recently awarded the Forum two new grants to support its work. In the spring of 2004, we announced a ground-breaking initiative, “Access to Democracy” which focuses new attention on the important relationship between higher education and the U.S. public. The National Forum collaborates with a number of organizations, institutions, researchers, and policy makers each of whom contributes in different ways to the movement to make higher education a leading force in American society. The National Forum aims to sponsor activities that are in line with three broad strategies: Leadership Dialogues, Connecting Research and Practice, and Public Policy & Public Stewardship.
- Website: http://www.thenationalforum.org/

Quality Assessment for Postsecondary Programs in Canada
In Canada, there is no national system of educational quality assurance. Postsecondary education is the responsibility of the provincial and territorial governments, and each jurisdiction has its own quality assurance mechanisms.
- Website: http://www.cicic.ca/postsec/accreditation/accreditation.en.stm

La Commission d'évaluation de l'enseignement collégial du Québec est un organisme gouvernemental autonome dont la mission d'évaluation couvre la plupart des dimensions de l'enseignement collégial, avec un accent particulier sur les apprentissages et les programmes d'études. Le législateur lui a confié pour l'exercice de son mandat un pouvoir d'évaluation, un pouvoir de recommandation et un pouvoir déclaratoire.
- Website: http://www.ceec.gouv.qc.ca/

Canadian Higher Education and the GATS: AUCC Background Paper. 2001
This paper examines the main aspects of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as they relate to trade in educational services. It was developed with a view to helping AUCC Members prepare for discussions with government officials and non-government experts on this topic. Debate with respect to the implications of the GATS for higher education has been polarized. While the liberalization of the education and training industry is of more limited interest to the federal government than the liberalization of other service industries, federal officials nevertheless promote the export of education and training services and downplay the likelihood of any negative outcomes for Canadian higher education.
- Website: http://www.aucc.ca/_pdf/english/reports/2001/gats_07_e.pdf

 United States

Publications and Reports

Overview of Higher Education in the United States: Diversity, Access, and the Role of the Marketplace (2004)
By Peter D. Eckel and Jacqueline E. King
This publication describes the major characteristics of American higher education, noting its essential philosophical underpinnings as well as important issues that currently challenge it. An Overview of Higher Education in the United States provides snapshots of how most colleges and universities are governed and financed, their students and faculty, the nature of the curriculum and student life, and the effects of the marketplace on colleges and universities.
- Website: http://www.acenet.edu/bookstore/pdf/2004_higher_ed_overview.pdf

Associations and Research Centers

American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
The mission of the AAUP is to advance academic freedom and shared governance, to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good. Founded in 1915, the AAUP has helped to shape American higher education by developing the standards and procedures that maintain quality in education and academic freedom in this country's colleges and universitiescondary education. The website includes valuble information about issues in higher education including academic freedom, accreditation, affirmative action, etc. The AAUP also publishes an annual report on faculty compensation.
- Website: http://www.aaup.org/Issues/index.htm

National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good (AAUP)
The mission of the National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good is to significantly increase awareness, understanding, commitment, and action relative to the public service role of higher education in the United States. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which established the Forum in 2000, has extended its funding through 2006 and has recently awarded the Forum two new grants to support its work. In the spring of 2004, we announced a ground-breaking initiative, “Access to Democracy” which focuses new attention on the important relationship between higher education and the U.S. public. The National Forum collaborates with a number of organizations, institutions, researchers, and policy makers each of whom contributes in different ways to the movement to make higher education a leading force in American society. The National Forum aims to sponsor activities that are in line with three broad strategies: Leadership Dialogues, Connecting Research and Practice, and Public Policy & Public Stewardship.
- Website: http://www.thenationalforum.org/

Higher Education Research Institute (HERI)
The Higher Education Research Institute is based in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. The Institute serves as an interdisciplinary center for research, evaluation, information, policy studies, and research training in postsecondary education. HERI's research program covers a variety of topics including the outcomes of postsecondary education, leadership development, faculty performance, federal and state policy, and educational equity. Visiting scholars, faculty, and graduate students have made use of HERI facilities and research resources since its affiliation with UCLA in 1973. The Institute's holdings include more than a hundred datasets that are regularly maintained for analysis of postsecondary education.
- Website: http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/heri.html

Quality Assurance

Institutional Acceditation in the US (US Dept of Education)
The goal of accreditation is to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality. Here you will find lists of regional and national accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as reliable authorities concerning the quality of education or training offered by the institutions of higher education or higher education programs they accredit.
- Website: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html?src=qc

Historical Documents and Resources

Archival Resources in Higher Education
This list (and links) are provided to IHEC courtesty of Dr. James Forest.
These and other resources can also found on his website: www.higher-ed.org