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As transnational education grows in complexity, it is imperative degree-awarding institutions develop ways to ensure the quality of their offshore provision. Although agencies, such as the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in the United Kingdom and Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) in Australia, safeguard standards through guidelines and reviews, it is vital degree-awarding institutions consider their own actions in the pursuit of academic quality. Although codes of conduct can guide quality assurance, this article suggests these documents are not enough to ensure quality education occurs. Offering a study of two Chinese-British transnational partnerships, this article identifies two key challenges that can affect the implementation of quality assurance at the operational level: time and cultural difference. The findings suggest that senior managers at degree-awarding institutions should consider how their structures and policies encourage and support the implementation of quality assurance at the operational level.

The bonds that unite partner institutions in the delivery of shared transnational collaborative programmes are critical in the effective management of these education partnerships. A crucial component in this unification is social capital, where partners connect and develop networks, lubricated by trust, which facilitates cooperation and commitment to the venture, producing purposive and beneficial outputs. This paper explores this phenomenon by investigating the way social capital manifests between operational colleagues tasked in the delivery of collaborative joint-degree programme partnerships. Initially, the paper explores the relationship between 'partnership' and 'social capital'. It then analyses three sociological perspectives of social capital, the "rational," "critical" and "democratic" strains, before examining them in relation to empirical data collected from three collaborative programme partnerships. The paper concludes there is evidence of all three strains, but advocates partner institutions observe four recommendations, so to encourage the manifestation of the beneficial "critical" and "democratic" strains.

Transnational higher education is an increasingly important and essential part of the internationalisation of higher education. As the number of global educational institutions and international students participating in these types of initiatives increases, it becomes of paramount importance that research methodologies that investigate the phenomenon are developed and shared within transnational research communities. This article seeks to contribute to transnational education research by exploring a paradigm that has the potential to generate alternative forms of knowledge concerning transnational collaborative partnerships. By exploring functionalist and interpretivist approaches, often applied in partnership research, this article argues that neither approach, when applied in isolation, can fully articulate the notion of a TNE collaborative partnership. The article therefore champions the application of critical realism when investigating these partnerships and provides an empirical example of two Chinese-British case studies to illustrate the application of the paradigm, followed by a vignette of the type of findings generated, and its value to research and practice.

This paper explores social capital development between operational faculty members delivering Sino-British transnational partnerships. Research focuses on two Sino-British 'joint programme' partnership case studies in order to investigate boundary spanning and the development of social capital between UK and Sino academics involved in programme delivery. Since social capital is posited as a central facet in the development and institutionalisation of successful partnerships, understanding how to grow, nurture and maintain productive levels of social capital between operational academics could significantly improve and strengthen transnational partnerships. Findings suggest that boundary spanning is a useful tool, enabling individuals to interpret, transmit and filter knowledge, facilitate resource transmission and represent their organisations, building cohesion and commitment between stakeholders. The research concludes that boundary spanning can improve social capital between operation faculty members, and that senior leaders at higher education institutions should consider it as a tool with which to manage and evolve their international educational partnerships.

For too long, transnational higher education (TNE) has been linked to discourse predominately focused upon strategic implementation, quality assurance, and pedagogy. While these aspects are important when designing and managing overseas provisions, there is a lack of research focusing on the social interactions that influence the pace and development of TNE partnerships. This gap is particularly evident at the operational phase of TNE partnerships. This conceptual article therefore offers an alternative way in which to research TNE partnerships, in relation to the interactions of faculty members delivering at the operational level. It provides an integrated theoretical framework, comprising of three different theoretical approaches to provide a conceptual tool in which to investigate and evaluate TNE partnership development. The article concludes that by understanding how relationships develop between faculty members tasked with delivering TNE, international partnerships can be significantly strengthened in terms of their progression and value.

Transnational education has increased over the past decade for multiple reasons. Higher education institutions driven by a need to increase non-governmental funding and the concept of higher education as a commodity, have combined to cause many institutions to extend their activities into the field of transnational education partnerships. To ensure the survival of these strategic alliances, teaching faculty are required to service the commodity being exported from the UK. This unique study uses this context to evaluate the application of Heideggerian phenomenology and IPA as a means of analyzing the lived experiences of academic practitioners and the effects on their being. The study concludes that Heideggerian philosophical thought provides an insightful lens when combined with IPA, by providing access to an individual's personal perception of events as opposed to other methodologies that simply attempt to produce an objective account of the event itself. Two vignettes from the data exemplify how the approach can help us understand participant lived experiences in a given context, as well as documenting the wider benefits of applying this approach in other studies that concern the lived experiences of individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]