UHI: The Making of a University

This illuminating study is both a narrative account of the efforts to found a new university in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and a commentary on the problems facing those who seek to innovate within the British system of higher education. Scattered over a dozen campuses, the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) represents the positive response to the information and communications revolution by a large and sparsely populated area of Britain. The Internet, which has democratized knowledge, has opened the way for a new kind of university based on a networked system of colleges. Through UHI, a region on the fringe of Europe is now using higher education as a means to regenerate its economy and its culture, creating at long last a university of its own. UHI: The Making of a University will fascinate all those who contemplate the development of higher education in an age when it is possible to see the drudgery of rote learning in crowded auditoria being replaced by a personal learning experience which develops aptitudes of exposition and exploration of all kinds of knowledge. It will also inform those seeking new ways to promote regional development and to harness ICT for the education of scattered communities.