Institutions of higher education

Institutions of higher education fulfil different kinds of purposes, a key distinction amongst that are purposes which are set by the wider society and purposes that are intrinsic to the character of the IHEs themselves. A concern with the development of each student&s;s autonomy, self-critical abilities and academic competence. At the level of the institution, it looks to the body of academic staff seeing both academic programmes and their planning and review as corporate activities, in which all members share an interest. The purposes of institutions of higher education is concerned with is simply the idea of institutions as academic communities and the development of students into members of that community. So clarity, commitment, and a reasonable degree of consensus over purposes seem necessary requirements. But these reflections surely present problems. The problem with indicators of performance used in the conventional approach is not just that they are simply only indicators and do not illuminate the character of the performance.