Education Policy Seminars - 2013 IHE Report

These seminars bring distinguished scholars to the Institute to address critical issues and research in higher education.

“A Short Introduction to the Concept of Transnational Academic Capitalism”

Ilkka Kauppinen is a university lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland). Kauppinen received his PhD in Sociology from University of Jyväskylä and has a bachelor’s in political science and philosophy from the same university. He visited the IHE first in 2010-2011 as a visiting Fulbright post-doc researcher, and since that time he has annually returned to the IHE for shorter visiting periods. At his home university he has actively participated in developing educational structure of the Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy where he also acts as a coordinator of an interdisciplinary program “Living with Globalization.” His main research interest is the complex relationship between globalization and academic capitalism. Other key research interest areas are sociology of globalization, and economic sociology. His most recent articles include “Different Meanings of ‘Knowledge as Commodity’ in the Context of Higher Education,” “A Moral Economy of Patents: The Case of Finnish Research Universities’ Patent Policies,” and “Towards Transnational Academic Capitalism.”

“Sequestration and Beyond: Financial Challenges and Opportunities for Colleges and Universities”

Kenneth E. Redd is director of research and policy analysis at the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), and a fellow at the Institute of Higher Education. Ken is an expert on college finance and student financial aid issues, and has focused his recent intellectual efforts toward understanding factors that lead to student and college and university financial success. At NACUBO, Mr. Redd directs the annual survey of college and university endowments and other studies on higher education finance issues. He came to NACUBO in 2008 from the Council of Graduate Schools, where he directed the organization’s research and policy analysis efforts. Previously, he served as director of research at the USA Group Foundation (now the Lumina Foundation for Education) and as a senior research associate at Sallie Mae. He has also worked as a researcher and analyst at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and the Congressional Research Service. The Chronicle of Higher Education named Mr. Redd as one of ten up-and-coming “New Thinkers in Higher Education” in 2005. He is the author of a number of publications focused on higher education policies and practices, including the widely cited “Discounting toward Disaster: Tuition Discounting, College Finances, and Enrollments of Low-Income Undergraduates.”

“Valuation of University-based Research in Britain: Rhetoric and Reality (or ‘Yes, but what are you going to do with it?’)”

Stevie Upton joined the Institute in August as a postdoctoral associate. At the time of her presentation, she was a public policy portfolio manager at the Arts & Humanities Research Council, Swindon, and also a research officer at the Institute of Welsh Affairs, Cardiff. Both her PhD and MSc are from the School of Planning and Geography at Cardiff University, UK, and a BA in Geography from the University of Cambridge. The titles of her three latest articles are: “Advocates, Critics and the Economic Valuation of Knowledge Exchange: Overcoming a Beguiled Trance,” “Identifying Effective Drivers for Knowledge Exchange in the United Kingdom,” and “Universities as Drivers of Knowledge-Based Regional Development: A Triple Helix Analysis of Wales.”