Page 331 - Universitas Terbuka Center of Excellence In Asia 2010 and The World 2020 (A Journey Towards a Leading Open and Distance Education Institution 1984-2008)
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provider at the global level. Internally, a distance higher education institution
should be able reorganize itself in order to have a new role effectively at the
global level. A distance higher education institution should prepare and equip
itself with a new technological strategy and build new competence for all
personnel to serve the clients at the global level with cross-cultural differences.
Externally, a distance higher education institution should be able to cope with
differences in socio-cultural background, economic, and technology, and the
impact on international students.
Prospect of Global Role of Distance Higher
Education Institution
The latest development in public service sector, especially in education,
shows close relationship between higher education and market demands. The
pressure for expansion and shift of perception about higher education as
personal need bear consequences not only on mechanism of public funding but
also on structural change of higher education system. Control of the government
as funding agency in the implementation of higher education has shifted to
market force which requires higher education service. This trend also applies to
any distance higher education institution worldwide.
In the national context, since its establishment, UT has relied on public
funding for its program implementation , which is received from students' fee , not
from government public funding. For distance higher education institution, the
proportion of funding from the client is increasing. The new paradigm, laws and
regulations from the government which require higher education institutions to
change their status to Legal Body University (BHP) with wide autonomy in their
management also require UT to adopt immediately. The change of status is more
than a technical change on paper, but changes in paradigm of thought, frame of
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