Call for Manuscripts
Special Edition of the Community College Review
Short-Cycle Higher Education in Europe: Emerging Challenges and Innovative Responses in the Context of the Bologna Process

This call for manuscripts invites scholarly essays or reports of original research on the emerging challenges before European short-cycle higher education in the context of the Bologna Process. The accepted manuscripts will be published in the July 2010 special issue of the Community College Review, a leading peer-reviewed US scholarly journal, published by SAGE Publications. The journal has wide distribution and readership.

In 1999, the Bologna Process launched a major effort to harmonize educational systems across Europe. It was not until 2005, however, that vocational education and training programs at the tertiary level, broadly known as short-cycle higher education (SCHE), were incorporated in the Bologna reforms. Short-cycle higher education refers to a wide variety of short programs of predominantly occupational preparation across Europe. The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED, 1997) placed these programs at level ISCED 5B (UNESCO, 1997), while the European Qualifications Framework refers to them as intermediary qualifications and places them at level 5 (European Commission, January 2008). In the US context, the Associate’s degree is one example of short-cycle higher education.

The purpose of this special issue of Community College Review is to offer a critical analysis of developments in today’s European short-cycle higher education. In light of the Bologna Process, and the emerging European Higher Education Area, short-cycle higher education in Europe faces new challenges which require innovative responses. Across the different European traditions, solutions are being sought to integrate short-cycle programs into educational systems as well as strengthen co-ordination between these systems. In this context, the range of central policy issues on short-cycle higher education faced in different degrees across different traditions includes:

• recognition and quality assurance of short-cycle programs and qualifications;
• strengthening the links with universities and upper secondary education;
• creating bridges between higher education and the world of work;
• addressing economic and community needs;
• expanding the social dimension of short-cycle higher education in terms of increased access and mobility;
• increasing transfer and completion rates, and student employability;
• faculty preparation and development;
• contributing to life-learning arrangements.

We plan to include five articles in this special issue that will address emerging challenges and innovative responses in short-cycle higher education in the European context. Ideally, four of the articles will address one or several critical issues from one or more national traditions; a fifth article with a broader comparative focus will discuss the main challenges of SCHE in the European context and/or the Bologna Framework.

Manuscript Focus:
Articles may include scholarly essays or research reports, from one or more national traditions. Possible topics include but are not limited to critical policy issues listed above. Articles should be about 20-30 manuscript pages each. Authors are to follow APA guidelines.

Review Criteria:
All manuscripts will be subject to a double-blind review process. An author’s submission of a manuscript does not guarantee publication. Review criteria include the following:

• Writing (Is the writing concise and easy to follow?)
• Topic (Does the manuscript address a clearly defined problem or challenge?)
• Insight (Does the author advance our understanding of the problem or challenge addressed in the manuscript?)
• Grounding in the literature (Do the references and background material represent a thorough review of the existing literature on the topic being discussed?)
• Methodology (If the manuscript is a research report, is the research methodology clearly explained and is it appropriate for assessing the stated research problems and purposes?)
• Findings (If the manuscript is a research report, are the findings clearly delineated through appropriate tables, charts, and graphs; illustrative quotations; or other appropriate means?)
• Conclusions (Are the conclusions drawn by the authors convincingly supported by the evidence?)

Submission Deadlines:
Articles must be submitted by e-mail to the Guest Editor, Snejana Slantcheva-Durst, at snejana.slantchevadurst@utoledo.edu  by November 15, 2009 (Deadline for submission of revisions to guest editor: February 1, 2010).

Authors interested in this project should feel free to contact Snejana Slantcheva-Durst at any time for further information:

Snejana Slantcheva-Durst, Asst. Prof.
Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership
Judith Herb College of Education
University of Toledo
2801 W. Bancroft Street
Toledo, OH 43606
Tel: 419-530-5673
Fax: 419-530-4912