CALL FOR PAPERS

PROPHE's Regional Center for Central and Eastern Europe is organizing a Workshop entitled "In Search of Legitimacy: Issues of Quality and Recognition in Eastern and Central European Private Higher Education". The Workshop presents the main step of a larger Project that focuses on the private higher education sector in Central and Eastern European countries and the former Soviet republics. The Project has received a grant from HESP,OSI-Budapest, Hungary.

Goals of the Project:
The Project, which involves the research conducted prior to the Workshop, the Workshop itself and the resultant volume, outlines three major goals. The first goal aims to enhance our understanding of the struggle for legitimacy of private higher education in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics. We will address this goal mostly through scholarly research and analysis reflected in our presentations at the Workshop. Brief presentations by key researchers in the field of private higher education will also be invited to further inform our discussions.

The second goal focuses on analysis of existing policies (or the lack of any) for the guidance and regulation of private institutions of higher education in the region. With this goal, further strides towards addressing the more general objective of our Regional Center aiming at “data collection on private higher education in the region of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics as a contribution to PROPHE's efforts to collate, analyze and disseminate information on private higher education world-wide” will be made. A special round-table session during our Workshop, involving all participants and invited guest-presenters, will be conducted to discuss policy guidance and regulation (central or not) of private higher education institutions in CEE countries and FSRs (comparative perspectives will be attempted) and to summarize specific recommendations for policy makers.

The third goal involves the publication of select group of papers from amongst the Workshop presentations in the first book on private higher education in the region of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics. The time between the Workshop and December of 2004 will be devoted to the revision and final preparation of the papers.

Call for Papers:
We are extending a call for papers to be presented at the 2004 Workshop. The deadline for submitting short (no more than 300 words) abstracts has been extended till January 31, 2004.

Invited are research papers providing an in-depth analysis of a problem(s) of private higher education in a country(ies) or in the region that fall within the main focus of our Workshop. The papers should, as much as you reasonably can, reflect and build upon current and classic literature on the topic.

A list of key readings on private higher education can be found at
http://www.albany.edu/~prophe/publication/bibliography.doc
The site also uploads PROPHE’s working papers and provides more information on the status of private higher education in several countries. Among the classics internationally and important works are Daniel Levy (1986, 1992, 2002), Philip Altbach (1999), Roger Geiger (1986, 1991), Hans Giesecke (1998, 1999) and Robert Reisz (2003, his “Public Policy for Private Higher Education in CEEurope” is in Arbeitsberichte 2’03, HoF Wittenberg – Institut fuer Hochschulforschung an der Martin-Luther-Universitaet Halle-Wittenberg.

The papers might involve a very brief descriptive component on the status of the private higher education sector in the respective country(ies) or the region as context to the analysis (authors should not give overviews where such information already exists, instead use citations appropriately).

Presentation and discussion of papers will be scheduled within the two-day Workshop. After brief paper presentations (of around 10 min.), a moderator for each group of presentations, dependent on their focus, will lead a discussion on the topic and the papers. This discussion will also assist future book authors in their consequent revisions. Moderators should receive drafts of the papers a month before the Workshop.

Workshop Location and Dates:
The Workshop will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria at the Elieff Center of the American University in Bulgaria (http://www.elieff.bg/) in the period 20-21 June, 2004.

Financial Support:
Participants from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics may apply for financial support for their expenses related to the Workshop (contact Snejana Slantcheva for more information).