ABSTRACT
As previously established, the movement of higher education across borders is not a new phenomenon. Students, faculty, curriculum, and research have long traversed geopolitical boundaries; most recently facilitated by intergovernmental agreements such as the Bologna Process in the European Union and its Asian equivalent sponsored by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. One of the more interesting components of the growing global higher education marketplace is the rapid emergence of International Branch Campuses (IBCs). ese are higher education institutions operating in one nation and owned, at least in part, by a university in another nation. Whether by government requirement or just basic necessity operating in a cross-border environment, many of these IBCs have resulted in various forms of governance arrangements not widely explored in the scholarly literature. In all cases, at least two sovereign governments are involved and many cases involve the development of multinational corporate partnerships. Both of these situations raise concerns not confronted by other types of governance arrangements. is chapter uses two examples of IBCs from Malaysia to explore the nature of governmental relations and joint ventures in cross-border higher education. ese examples were selected because of their similarity. Both have a home campus in Australia; both participated in the opening of an IBC in Malaysia during the late 1990s; both entered into
a joint venture to operate the IBC. However, the dierences in how they structured the operating agreement and governance process provide the opportunity for comparison. e chapter is divided into three main parts. Part one reviews the development of IBCs, the role of intersectoral interfaces, and an overview of the dierent structural arrangements for creating an IBC. Part two describes the Southeast Asia context, explains the roles of the governments of Australia and Malaysia, and provides an overview of two IBCs created by a joint venture agreement. Part three explores how joint venture agreements potentially aect the governance of IBCs. It concludes with a discussion of practical implications.
