Oxford Round Table

Last updated

The Oxford Round Table is a series of interdisciplinary conferences organised in Oxford, UK by a US-based (currently California-based) educational organisation.

Contents

The company is not affiliated with the University of Oxford, [1] which has stated that events such as the Oxford Round Table are "external to the university" and "not, as such, authorised or endorsed by the university." [2] The company has been accused of misrepresenting its relationship with the university. [2] [3]

Conferences

The first meeting of the Oxford Round Table was held at St. Peter's College (Oxford) in 1989, sponsored by the Norham Centre for Leadership Studies of the University of Oxford under the direction of Vivian Williams and by Virginia Tech, under the direction of Kern Alexander. [4] Subsequent Oxford Round Table conferences have been held at Harris Manchester College, Trinity College, Exeter College, Oriel College, Lincoln College, and the Oxford Union.

The Oxford Round Table brings together scholars and others from a variety of backgrounds (new professors and PhD students, college presidents and deans, school administrators, religious leaders) to discuss research on specific topics usually related to public policy. In its early years, the conference was held every other year, and the organisation financed the attendance of participants by raising funds itself (more than £80,000 in 1993). [5] By 2009, the ORT was charging attendees. [2]

One of the earliest conferences, in 1993, was on the links between education and the business sector. It brought together education ministers from major developing and transition countries, representatives of major multinationals (such as Apple, Boeing, BP, and Honeywell), US state officials, and the World Bank. A major highlight was a paper by Edward Dneprov, education minister of Russia, on education reform there. [6] A 1993 article in the Times Higher Education Supplement noted that "the Oxford conferences are going very well" and had gained "international interest." [5]

Publications

The Oxford Round Table publishes an online journal, titled The Forum on Public Policy: A Journal of the Oxford Round Table. The mission of the journal, according to its website, is "to disseminate knowledge with regard to salient issues in public affairs." [7]

McGill/Queen's University Press published a volume of papers from a 2003 conference, The University: International Expectations, on public administration issues related to higher education. [8] Another edited volume on primary (precollegiate) school choices in America emerged from, among other sources, a 2003 meeting on "Choice in Education." [9]

Company history and officers

For most of its history the Oxford Round Table has been an American organisation run by members of the Alexander family and variously headquartered in Kentucky, Illinois, Florida, and California. Kern Alexander, Professor of Excellence at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, founded the Oxford International Round Table on Education Policy in 1989. [10] However, it was not incorporated until 1994, when it was established in Florida as a for-profit corporation, with Alexander as president. It was administratively dissolved in 1996. [11] Alexander also incorporated the Oxford Round Table, Inc., a Florida for-profit corporation; it was established and dissolved at the same time as the Oxford International Round Table on Education Policy. [11]

In 1995, the Oxford Round Table, Inc., a for-profit Kentucky corporation, was incorporated by Samual K. Alexander III (son of Kern Alexander [12] ). [13] It was administratively dissolved in 1998 and reinstated in 2006. [14] This corporation dissolved itself 22 September 2008. [15]

In 1998, the Oxford Round Table, Inc., a for-profit corporation, was incorporated in Illinois by F. King Alexander, (son of Kern Alexander and presently the President of LSU). It was involuntarily dissolved in 2000. [16]

In December 2001, the non-profit Oxford Round Table of Godstow Hall, Inc., was incorporated in Kentucky by several members of the Alexander family. [17] In May 2007, the non-profit Oxford Round Table, Inc., NFP, was established in Illinois. It changed its name to Oxford Round Table, North America, Inc., NFP, in October 2008. [16] In July 2008, the non-profit Oxford Round Table, Ltd., was established in the United Kingdom., [18] went dormant a year later and was "struck off the books" the following year.

In the 2007 annual report of the Kentucky for-profit Oxford Round Table, Inc., Kern Alexander was listed as company president. [19] As of the 2008 annual report, J.C. Buckman was listed as president. [13]

In 2008, it filed for a non-profit charter in the United Kingdom. It was dissolved in 2011. [20] [21]

Criticism and litigation

A 2009 report cited critics who claimed that the Oxford Round Table "does not make its lack of academic connection [to Oxford University] clear." The article noted that pictures of Oxford University are used liberally on the ORT webpage, and quoted a number of ORT attendees who believed they had been invited by Oxford University. One professor expressed "surprise" when she learned that the ORT was not affiliated with Oxford University and concluded that "my conference funds would be best targeted towards a more appropriate venue." [3]

In 2007, Times Higher Education reported that Oxford Round Table had been criticised on the forums of the Chronicle of Higher Education website by people who said it was trading on the name of Oxford University, and failed to properly inform people invited that it had no formal academic links to the university. Other criticisms were that its selection criteria were poor and that it was a "vanity conference." [2]

The University told the newspaper that such external events were "not, as such, authorised or endorsed by the university." The principal of Harris Manchester College said that although the college provided the company with an office, "we don't run the ORT in any sense," and that as far as he was aware, all ORT participants were satisfied. The company defended its selection criteria, and reported that its disclaimer, which is on its website, uses "the exact wording that was provided to us by the legal office of the University of Oxford several years ago." A spokeswoman dismissed the critics as "a few nameless bloggers."

The ORT sued Sloan Mahone, a lecturer in the history of medicine at Oxford, after she emailed invitees and posted on the Chronicle of Higher Education website. [22] [ unreliable source? ] The ORT complained that Mahone had described the ORT as a "scam", a "complete fraud", and "a tourist venture, not a prestigious academic event". [3] [2] [23] An attempt by the Oxford Round Table, Inc., to sue Mahone for libel in the Kentucky courts failed on jurisdiction grounds, [24] and the company threatened to take legal action in the UK. [2] The company dropped the action after the researcher hired her own lawyer. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)</span> Mainline Protestant (religious) denomination

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th century as a loose association of churches working towards Christian unity, then slowly forming quasi-denominational structures through missionary societies, regional associations, and an international convention. In 1968, the Disciples of Christ officially adopted a denominational structure at which time a group of churches left to remain nondenominational.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of the Cumberlands</span> Christian university in Williamsburg, Kentucky, U.S.

The University of the Cumberlands is a private Christian university in Williamsburg, Kentucky. Over 20,000 students are enrolled at the university.

DeVry University is a privately owned for-profit university with its headquarters in Naperville, Illinois. It was founded in 1931 by Herman A. DeVry and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. DeVry is predominantly an online educator but does have campuses in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Buckingham</span> Private university in Buckinghamshire, UK

The University of Buckingham (UB) is a non-profit private university in Buckingham, England and the oldest of the country's six private universities. It was founded as the University College at Buckingham (UCB) in 1973, admitting its first students in 1976. It was granted university status by royal charter in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Initiatives of Change</span> Organization

Initiatives of Change (IofC) is a global organisation dedicated to "building trust across the world's divides" of culture, nationality, belief, and background. Initiatives of Change was known as Moral Re-Armament (MRA) from 1938 to 2001, and the Oxford Group starting in 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Asia and the Pacific</span> Private university in Pasig, Philippines

The University of Asia and the Pacific is a private university in the Philippines. It traces its beginnings to the Center for Research and Communication (CRC), which was established on August 15, 1967, as a private think-tank that conducted economic and social research and offered graduate courses in economics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Flather</span> British academic

Paul Charles Ram Flather is a British academic. Until 2018 he served as the Secretary-General of the Europaeum, an association of leading European universities, and is Fellow of Mansfield College, Oxford. He is the son of Shreela Flather, Baroness Flather. He was formerly a journalist working for the BBC, Times newspapers and the New Statesman where he was deputy editor. He has written for many publications on education and politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National American University</span> University in South Dakota and Georgia

National American University (NAU) is a private for-profit online university. It is owned by National American University Holdings, Inc. (NAUH). In 2018, NAU acquired the assets of Henley-Putnam University and now offers strategic security programs. Most of NAU's academic programs are on the 11-week quarter system and have monthly starts. The school is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American InterContinental University</span> For-profit university based in Schaumburg, Illinois, US

American InterContinental University (AIU) is a private for-profit university with its headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois. It employs open admissions. American InterContinental University is a member of the American InterContinental University System. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission to award associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees. It is owned by the for-profit company Perdoceo Education Corporation, publicly traded on the NASDAQ under PRDO and formerly known as Career Education Corporation (CEC).

Perdoceo Education Corporation (PRDO) is a public company that owns four for-profit universities in the United States: American Intercontinental University, Colorado Technical University, California Southern University, and Trident University International. The company was previously known as Career Education Corporation.

The Round Table Society was a volunteer-run, charitable non-profit organization based in Chicago, Illinois. It was endorsed by the Romanian General Consulate, and the organization's mission was to facilitate intercultural exchange, strengthen the Romanian-American community, and create a sense of unity and belonging. The organization had no religious or political affiliations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Mendenhall</span>

Robert Winton Mendenhall is an American educational technologist best known as the president from 1999 to 2016 of Western Governors University (WGU).

Sanford–Brown was a division of the Career Education Corporation, a proprietary, for-profit higher education organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brightwood College</span> Defunct system of for-profit colleges in the United States

Brightwood College, formerly Kaplan College, was a system of for-profit colleges in the United States, owned and operated by Education Corporation of America. Main qualifications offered included health, business, criminal justice, information technology, nursing and professional training (trades) programs. On December 5, 2018, Brightwood's parent company, Education Corporation of America, announced unexpectedly via an email that all of its schools would be closing in two business days. Staff were terminated without legally required notice.

Samuel Kern Alexander Jr. is Professor of Excellence at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he is endowed by the O'Leary Endowment and Editor of the Journal of Education Finance, published by the University of Illinois Press and Project MUSE of Johns Hopkins University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F. King Alexander</span> American university administrator

Fieldon King Alexander is an American former university administrator and professor of higher education policy and finance. He was the president of Oregon State University, Louisiana State University, California State University, Long Beach, and Murray State University. He resigned from his most recent position as President of Oregon State University in 2021 after a faculty vote of no-confidence. While at LSU, he also oversaw, and helped cover up, a culture of rape and domestic violence, where Title IX complaints were routinely dismissed.

Adtalem Global Education Inc. is a US corporation based in Chicago, Illinois, that operates several for-profit higher education institutions, including American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Chamberlain University, EduPristine, Ross University School of Medicine, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, and Walden University.

Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC) is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation. SSCCC came into existence on April 29, 2015 when a document titled "Articles of Incorporation of Student Senate for California Community Colleges" was filed in the office of the California Secretary of State. Prior to that filing, the Articles were signed by a community college student named Omar Paz Jr. Omar is the founder and "Incorporator" of SSCCC. In his capacity as Incorporator, Omar elected the initial directors of SSCCC.

For-profit higher education in the United States refers to the commercialization and privatization of American higher education institutions. For-profit colleges have been the most recognizable for-profit institutions, and more recently with online program managers, but commercialization has been a part of US higher education for centuries. Privatization of public institutions has been increasing since at least the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth H. Alexander</span> American activist (1938–2021)

Ruth Hammack Alexander was an American activist for women in collegiate sports. She established the "Lady Gator Athletic" program at the University of Florida to allow women to participate in intercollegiate athletics for the first time.

References

  1. ↑ "Disclaimer". Oxford Round Table. Archived from the original on 9 July 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Newman, Melanie (21 December 2007). "'Oxford' events firm under fire". Times Higher Education Supplement . Retrieved 1 February 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Melanie Newman, "Round Table invitees confused by Oxford 'link'", Times Higher Education, 12 March 2009
  4. ↑ "The Journal of Education Finance: Table of Contents Vols 15–33". Archived from the original on 27 October 2010.
  5. 1 2 Huw Richards, "All Rhodes lead to reform," Times Higher Education Supplement , 8 October 1993, p. 8.
  6. ↑ Richard Margrave, "International Partnership," The Times, 1 November 1993.
  7. ↑ "Forum on Public Policy". Archived from the original on 24 November 2007.
  8. ↑ Reviewed by Anthony Potts, History of Intellectual Culture, Volume 4, No. 1, 2004.
  9. ↑ Carreiro, Paula J. and Eileen Shields-West, Choosing the Right Educational Path for Your Child: What Are the Options? Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2008; pp. vii, ix.
  10. ↑ "College of Education Faculty Research Profiles: Kern Alexander".
  11. 1 2 Corporate report filed with Florida Secretary of State, Division of Corporations. Retrieved 16 March 2008
  12. ↑ Sigma Alpha Epsilon Alumni Association, Kentucky Kappa Alumni Association Alumni News 1960–1964 Archived 13 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine , last update 13 September 2001. Retrieved 5 March 2008
  13. 1 2 Annual report for Oxford Round Table, Inc., filed on 15 January 2008 with the Kentucky Secretary of State, Business Services section. Retrieved 16 March 2008 [ dead link ]
  14. ↑ Application for reinstatement of corporation, filed with Kentucky Secretary of State. Retrieved 16 March 2008
  15. ↑ http://apps.sos.ky.gov/business/obdb/OBDBDisplayImage.aspx?id=3258043, consulted 3 October 2008.
  16. 1 2 see search results for "Oxford Round Table" at Illinois Secretary of State. Retrieved 16 March 2008
  17. ↑ Annual corporate report, filed 18 January 2008 with the Kentucky Secretary of State. Retrieved 16 March 2008
  18. ↑ see search results for "Oxford Round Table at Companies House
  19. ↑ Annual corporate report, filed on 10 May 2007 with the Kentucky Secretary of State. Retrieved 16 March 2008
  20. ↑ "WebCHeck - Problems". Archived from the original on 29 December 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2016./companysearch?disp=1&frfsh=1384728351&#result
  21. ↑ "Welcome to Oxford Round Table". Archived from the original on 9 July 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  22. ↑ http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php?topic=30869.msg417974 [ bare URL ]
  23. ↑ Oxford Round Table Complaint, http://www.dmlp.org/threats/oxford-round-table-inc-v-mahone
  24. ↑ "Oxford Round Table Inc. v. Sloan Mahone - Internet Library of Law and Court Decisions". www.internetlibrary.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.