Enhancing transnational education quality through institutional, national, and international approaches: A case study of SILC Business School at Shanghai University

• In Event: Examining the quality of higher education: Achievements, barriers, and resistance

Proposal

Introduction
With the rapid development of globalization and internationalization, transnational education has become prominent in the field of higher education since the late 20th century. Despite having expanded quickly in the past several decades, transnational education has encountered numerous challenges during the development process (for example, Ziguras & McBurnie, 2006; McBurnie, 2008; Heffernan et al., 2010; Alam et al., 2013; Trifiro, 2018). Among them, quality assurance is salient (McBurnie, 2008). After reviewing literature on transnational education quality assurance, we found that stakeholders at the institutional, national, and international levels have been actively involved in improving transnational education quality. However, there is a noticeable lack of empirical studies examining the enhancement of transnational education quality across these three levels. To address this gap, we present a case study of the SILC Business School at Shanghai University, which was established through a collaboration between Shanghai University in China and the University of Technology Sydney in Australia.
Literature Review
From a literature review, we observed that approaches to enhance transnational education quality has been conducted by stakeholders at the institutional, national, and international levels. Usually, sending and receiving institutions collaborate to develop and implement their own quality assurance strategies (McBurnie & Ziguras, 2001; McBurnie, 2008). Simultaneously, sending and receiving countries, alongside international organizations, establish guidelines and regulations that serve as guidance and evaluate criteria for transnational education programs to follow (Sánchez-Chaparro et al., 2022). Despite the active involvement of stakeholders at these three levels in enhancing transnational education quality, empirical studies examining the improvement of transnational education quality across these levels are scant.
Research Design
To fill this research gap, we conducted an empirical case study of the SILC Business School at Shanghai University in China. China has emerged as a key player in transnational education since the 1980s, and in recent years, it has recognized the significance of a robust evaluation and quality assurance system and committed to regulate the entry and operation of transnational education within its borders.
Co-founded by Shanghai University and the University of Technology Sydney in 1994, the SILC Business School is one of the earliest Sino-foreign joint institutions in China, known for its strong commitment to quality assurance. By collecting data through document review and interviews with SILC’s vice-dean responsible for teaching and learning, this study aimed to showcase how the SILC Business School has been consistently committed to enhancing its education quality, thereby contributing to its reputation as an exemplary Sino-foreign cooperative running schools in China.
Findings
Through a combination of the deductive and inductive analysis approaches, we identified the three level approaches through which the SILC Business School has adopted to enhance its education quality. Firstly, at the institutional level, following Shanghai University and the University of Technology Sydney’s guidelines, the SILC Business School has established its own academic office to oversee its day-to-day academic operation. Besides, this school has formed several quality management and assurance committees that regularly convene to monitor and evaluate different aspects that influence the education quality.
At the national level, the SILC Business School strictly has been adhering to the Regulations on Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools (2003), which was formulated by the Ministry of Education of China as the key governing framework for transnational education within the country. In the meantime, the SILC Business School has aligned itself with the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021, which was outlined by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency in Australia.
At the international level, in 2020, the SILC Business School obtained accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), an internationally renowned professional association that fosters the highest standards of excellence in business education. Despite receiving global recognition and acceptance from this accreditation, the SILC Business School demonstrated their commitment to meeting the standards recognized by this reputable associations throughout the process of aligning with the criteria established by AACSB. The SILC Business School optimized its quality evaluation and monitoring system by establishing a mission-driven quality assurance system.
Implications
By presenting the quality assurance approaches implemented by the SILC Business School at the institutional, national, and international levels, we identified the following practical implications for other transnational education providers and receivers to follow. Firstly, we highlighted the importance of the strict adherence to the guidelines released by the receiving country/institution and the sending country/institution. Besides, it is important for transnational education programs to maintain the active interaction between their sending and receiving institutions. This interaction should not only be a one-sided report and feedback from the receiving institutions to the sending institutions, but the receiving institutions can also propose localized strategies to seek the sending institutions’ support. Last but not least, quality assurance approaches should sustain dedication to student-centered education, taking students’ need into full consideration.
Conclusion
This study is of vital practical significance for transnational education programs. Through a case study of the SILC Business School at Shanghai University, this study identified the three level approaches adopted by SILC to enhance education quality, including institutional-level committees, adherence to national regulations, and international accreditation. These approaches, as well as the implications mentioned above, are expected to inspire transnational education providers and receivers facing similar challenges to develop their tailored approaches to enhance their education quality with the aim to provide the best educational experiences for their students.

Authors

• Xiaoli Jing, Beijing Normal University

• Yunjia Xie, McGill University