Saturday 1 September

9.30-10.00        Registration and coffee

10.30-10.45      Introduction to the Fourth International Workshop on Higher Education Reforms
Professor Maria Slowey, Workshop Co-Chair, Vice President for Learning Innovation and Registrar Dublin City University, Ireland

Session One

11.00-12.00    Keynote Speaker

Professor Tom Collins, Head of Education Department, National University of Ireland Maynooth

12.00–13.00    Plenary Panel: Policies and practice of internationalisation in higher education

Chair:    Professor Hans Schuetze, Workshop Co-Chair, University of British Columbia, Canada

Panelists:  

• Dr. Elsa Hackl, University of Vienna, Austria
• Professor Rolf von Luede, University of Hamburg, Germany
• Professor Heather Smigiel, Flinders University, Australia
• Professor Ronnie Munck, Academic Theme Leader, Internationalisation and Interculturalism, DCU, Ireland

13.00–14.30    Lunch

Session Two

14:30 – 16:15    Plenary Session: National policies on access and learning

Chair and Discussant: Professor Shinichi Yamamoto, Hiroshima University, Japan

The educational gap in Ireland
Dr Mark Morgan, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin, Ireland

Subordination, inclusion and diversion in English higher education
Professor Gareth Parry, University of Sheffield, England, UK

Access policies: between institutional competition and the search for equality of opportunities
Professor Alberto Amaral, Centre for Research  on Higher Education Policies, Portugal

Austria: The open access system under attack
Professor Hans Pechar, University of Klagenfurt, Austria

16:15 -16.30    Coffee

Session Three

16.30-17:45    Parallel Sessions

Session A:  Graduate Education

Chair and Discussant: Professor Akira Arimoto, Professor and Director, Research Institute for Higher Education, Hijiyajma University, Japan

An assessment of policy initiatives steering doctoral studies in South Africa
Professor Laetus O.K. Lategan, Central University of Technology, Free State, South Africa

The new innovators: Supporting Graduate Students to become future Faculty
Professor Heather Smigiel, Flinders University, Australia

Session B: Education and Learning

Chair and Discussant: Dr Elsa Hackl, University of Vienna

Guarantee student learning: Institutional support activities and staff
Professor Jun Oba, Hiroshima University, Japan

Creating an Innovative Learning Environment in Chinese Higher Education Context: Unbundling Cultural and Disciplinary Myths
Professor Yihong Fan, Xiamen University, China

Unchanged first-year retention
Professor Per Olaf Aamodt, NIFU STEP, (Studies in Innovation, Research and Education), Norway

Academic freedom and university standards for teaching and research
Professor Maria Yudkevich, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

Evening entertainment: 1838 Club, DCU

19.00-20.00    Welcome reception

20.00        Gala dinner

Sunday 2 September

Session Four

08.30 - 9.15

09.30-10.15    Keynote address

Challenges for teaching and learning and the consequences for the organisation of universities
Professor Ada Pellert, Donau-Universitat Krems, Austria
      
10.15-11.15    Plenary Panel: New students, new ways of learning

Chair and discussant: Professor Lesley Anders, University of British Columbia, Canada

Panelists:   

•  Professor Yihong Fan, Xiamen University, China
•  Professor Jun Oba, Hiroshima University, Japan
• Professor Andrae Wolter, Technical University of Dresden, Germany

11.15-11.30    Coffee

Session Five

11.30-12.45    Plenary Session: New policies, new faculty, new students

Chair: Professor Rolf von Lude, University of Hamburg, Germany

Past and Present Academic Profession in Japan: Comparison of the Carnegie international surveys of 1992 and 2007
Professor Akira Arimoto, Hijiyama University, Japan

Participation and Completion and the Changing Composition of the Student Body in German Higher Education
Professor Andrae Wolter, Technical University of Dresden, Germany

Reviewing Canadian Post-Secondary Education:  An Analysis of Recent Canadian Post-Secondary Education Policy Reviews
Dr Dale Kirby, Memorial University, Canada  

12.45-13.30    Lunch

Session Six

13.30-14.30    Parallel Paper Sessions

Session A:  Learning within and across regions

Chair and discussant: Professor Sumin Li, Tianjin Normal University, China

Economic issues in teaching and learning

Chair and Discussant: Professor Hans Pechar, University of Klagenfurt, Austria

Widening access:  Implications outside the metropolis
Professor Hervey Gibson, COGENT Strategies International Ltd, Scotland, UK

Session B: Economic issues in teaching and learning

Chair and discussant: Professor Hans Pechar, University of Klagenford, Austria

The emerging ‘financial identities’ of fee-paying students
Dr Anna Round, Northumbria University, England UK

Improving efficiency and equity in higher education through economic incentives: How does it work? Intended and unintended effects of changes in the system of student support in Norway
Dr Vibeke Opheim, NIFU STEP (Studies in Innovation, Research and Education), Norway

The future of the Erasmus Programme: Results of the 2006 ESN survey
Dr Ewa Krzaklewska, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
      
14.30-15.30    Overview of Workshop themes and discussions: Conclusions for Policy and Research

Rapporteurs:    Professor Hans G. Schuetze, University of British Columbia, Canada
Professor Shinichi Yamamoto, Hiroshima University, Japan

Closing words: Professor Maria Slowey, Dublin City University, Ireland

15.30    Irish Cultural Event
The 2007 all-Ireland final of Ireland’s unique sport of hurling will be shown on large screen.  Dr Mark Morgan, St Patrick’s College Drumcondra, will provide an introduction for international colleagues (along with some traditional Irish beverages!).