Analytic Quality Glossary
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Citation reference: Harvey, L., 2004–9, Analytic Quality Glossary, Quality Research International, http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/
This is a dynamic glossary and the author would welcome any e-mail suggestions for amendments or additions.
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University is an institution of higher
education that grants its own degrees including the award of Ph.D. and normally
undertakes leading-edge research, as well as having a social critical role.
explanatory
context
The term university has international
currency and many countries use a recognisable variant based on the Latin universus
(meaning the whole, corporate body), subsequently universitas in
Medieval Latin and universite in Middle English (see table below).
There is some attempt to delineate
universities from other institutions that are exclusively teaching (and
scholarship) institutions that do no funded research. In some countries, an
(accredited) institution of higher education may undertake all the same
functions as a university but that alone does not entitle it to use the
university title, which may be protected and restricted.
Also, it is debateable whether
universities in all countries are able to play a social critical role.
In some countries, significant
universities have another name, such as grand cole in France or fundao in
Brazil.
Also, the status of University of
Technology /Technical University varies from country to country. In some cases
it is a major university in others it is a vocational higher education
institution. For example, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay is an institution
of national importance it has selective admission and is one of the best
engineering schools in India. Birla Institute of Technology, also in India,
however, has the status of an institution deemed to be a university having
been originally an affiliated college of Bihar Univeristy. In Indonesia,
Institut Teknologi Bandung (Bandung Institute of Technology) is a very highly
regarded state institution. Similarly, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (The
Technical University of Denmark) is arguably Denmarks main engineering
institution. On the other hand, technical Institutes in Britain, in the main,
are further education colleges.
analytical
review
HEA (2004) defines university as:
A
higher education institution committed to teaching and research in the major
disciplines of knowledge and professions. It may comprise one or several
colleges. The University will have the power to confer degrees.
HEFCE (2003) comments on British
universities as follows in its glossary:
Universities are diverse, ranging in size, mission and history. The Secretary of State has the power to grant university status to an institution. Former polytechnics were given the status of universities under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. These are sometimes called new universities. The existing old universities include many founded in the 1950s and 1960s, the civic universities established in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which date from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Fachhochschule Mannheim (2004) states:
The Universitt offers a theory-oriented
and science-based education; pure research is typically performed there. A
university with mostly technical subjects is called a "Technische
Universitt (TU)" (Technical University) or sometimes "Technische
Hochschule (TH)"
|
Term |
Languag |
|
Dai
Hoc |
Vitenamese |
|
Daigaku |
Japanese |
|
Gama'at |
Sudanese |
|
Hskli |
Icelandic |
|
Panepistimion |
Greek |
|
Sveuciliste |
Serbo-Croat
|
|
Tudomnyegyetem |
Hungarian |
|
Universidad |
Spanish |
|
Universidade |
Portuguese |
|
Universit
degli Studi |
Italian |
|
Universitas |
Indonesia |
|
Universitt |
Austrian/German/Swiss
German |
|
Universitatea |
Romanian |
|
Universit
|
French
|
|
Universiteit |
Dutch |
|
niversitesi |
Turkish |
|
Universitet
|
Bulgarian |
|
Universitet |
Russian |
|
Universitet |
Swedish |
|
Universitetas |
Lithuanian |
|
Universitetet |
Norwegian |
|
Universiteti |
Albanian |
|
Universiti |
Malaysian |
|
University |
English |
|
Univerza |
Slovenian |
|
Univerzita |
Czech |
|
Yliopisto |
Finnish |
related terms
sources
Fachhochschule Mannheim ,
2004, Studies without Frontiers What
is a Fachhochschule? http://www.fh-mannheim.de/FHweb_englisch/what.html
Higher Education Authority (HEA) [of
Ireland] 2004, Glossary http://www.hea.ie/index.cfm/page/sub/id/519
Higher
Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE ), 2003, About us: Glossary
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/glossary/glossary.htm
Updated 3 January 2003.