United States Distance Learning Conferences
 
The Observatory: Crossing Tomorrow’s Higher Education Borders Today
 
Dear Global Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE). As the global higher education marketplace continues to rapidly expand and universities explore their role in internationalism and globalisation, senior leaders and managers will increasingly need focused research and strategic information to assess engagement in the global market. The Observatory is one of the organisations that can provide your campus with state-of-the art research on transnational higher education.

The Observatory provides global higher education with state-of-the-art research, resources, best practices, emerging trends, policy frameworks, and assessment and quality control guidelines for the effective delivery of cross-border higher education academic programs and services. The primary purpose of The Observatory is to provide strategic information to enable policymakers and institutional leaders to make informed decisions relevant to their existing and/or future transnational higher education initiatives. The Observatory was originally an initiative of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and Universities UK. The OBHE mission is accomplished through extensive collaboration with global higher education, government, and private sector organisations that are key stakeholders in the global higher education arena. The OBHE is also committed to bringing together international faculty to conduct scholarly research is various areas of transnational higher education.

The Observatory has over 185 organisational members representing 50 countries worldwide engaged in various aspects of transnational higher education and international cooperation. The Observatory partners with national and international organisations including the Association of Commonwealth Universities, Universities UK, UNESCO, the World Bank, the Commonwealth of Learning, the United States Distance Learning Association, the European Distance Education Network, the UK Leadership Foundation, and the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications. We also partner with ministries of education and economic development, government workforce organisations, and individual universities on selected initiatives.

We hope you will take a few minutes and explore our website at www.obhe.ac.uk. We also invite you to consider becoming a member organisation of The Observatory. We have provided an overview of our Call for Research Proposals below. The Observatory publishes in-house research as well as commissions specialised research topics in specific areas of cross border higher education. We have included the guidelines for proposals below and hope you will share these with interested scholars and colleagues at your institution. Member oraganisations have unlimited access to The Observatory’s research and strategic information reports and services. Non-member organisations and individuals may purchase selected reports.

We also invite you to mark your calendars for our 2009 Global Forum on Borderless and Transnational Higher Education which will tentatively be held in Malaysia in September 2009. This forum is being jointly organised by The Observatory, ACU, UNESCO, the World Bank, and Commonwealth of Learning. If you would like to be added to our conference mailing list, please send your contact details to E-Mail to the attention of 2009 Global Forum.

The Observatory will also be offering specialised seminars in 2008 and 2009 on Quality Assurance for International Distance learning Programs; Globalizing the Global University; and Best Practices for Developing International Branch Campuses. Please contact our office form more information.

We look forward to serving you and welcome your interest and inquiries about The Observatory. If we can provide any additional information, please feel free to contact me at your conveniences (contact information at the end of this email).

Sincerely,
Dr. Don Olcott, Jr., Ed.D., FRSA
Chief Executive
The Observatory
London, United Kingdom
 
Call for Global Scholars: Contribute to The Observatory Research Agenda

The Observatory’s research agenda focuses on strategic topics that have current or future relevance to transnational higher education. Our Editorial Review Board is particularly interested in receiving proposals for reports listed below. Note: The Observatory is particularly interested in focused, best practices or case study research that examines a critical area of cross border higher education
 
international branch campuses hosting transnational higher education programmes, particularly their administrative and organisational strategies for planning, design, implementation, management and assessment
quality assurance and regulatory models at the institutional, regional and/or international level assessing the effectiveness, efficiencies and academic integrity of transnational higher education programmes
contractual and financial models for the delivery of transnational higher education, particularly in regards to private-public partnerships
political, cultural, social and economic perspectives on the delivery of transnational higher education (e.g. perspectives by host country ministries of education, institutional providers, quality assurance agencies, economic development agencies, etc.)
transnational higher education’s cultural and ethical roles in facilitating the creation of sustainable host country higher education systems and infrastructures
distance education and e-learning best practices and/or delivery models for providing transnational higher education
emerging trends in higher education technology and their potential to influence borderless educational provision
emerging markets, particularly outside the English-speaking world and in developing countries
student perspectives form those participating in transnational higher education programmes
new providers in transnational higher education from the private and for-profit sectors
 
Guidelines for the Submission of Research Report Proposals

Many of the research reports we publish are solicited by our Editorial Review Board or our Advisory Group, but we welcome unsolicited proposals, which we review quarterly. Deadlines for submission are: 1 February, 1 May, 1 August and 1 November. Authors can expect a response within four weeks of these dates.
 
To note

In general, the reports we publish are 25-30 single-spaced pages, including all charts, graphs, footnotes, appendices and bibliography. We retain all copyright ownership pertaining to the report, but authors may use portions in their own work with prior permission. If reports are submitted within the deadline, we pay a maximum of £750 per report at the time of its publication.
 
Submitting the Initial Proposal

At the initial proposal stage, authors should send:
 
an abstract of 1200-1500 words (maximum) outlining the topic, its relevance to transnational higher education and the report’s general approach
a curriculum vitae of 2-3 pages (maximum) for each author with name, organisation, title, address, telephone, fax, and email address.
 
Proposals should be submitted to:

Dr. Rosa Becker
Research Officer
The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education
Woburn House
20-24 Tavistock Square
London WC1H 9HF
United Kingdom
Email: E-Mail

Or to:

Dr. Don Olcott, Jr.
Chief Executive
The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education
Woburn House
20-24 Tavistock Square
London WC1H 9HF
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7380 6714
Fax: +44 (0) 20 73872655
United Kingdom
Email: E-Mail
 
Timeline for Accepted Proposals

If we accept the proposal, our Editorial Review Board will provide specific editorial, organisational, formatting and referencing guidelines as well as a contract for each author to sign. An initial draft of the report should be submitted within 90 days from acceptance of the proposal and will be returned with editorial suggestions and comments within one month. The submission deadline for the final draft of the report is normally 30 days after the editorial suggestions have been sent.