TEMPUS I in Bulgaria: Institutional impact of the European Community assistance program in higher education during 1990-1994

This study was focused on the investigation of the patterns of institutional change influenced by TEMPUS I, the European Community/European Union assistance program in higher education in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) with an emphasis on Bulgaria during 1990-1994. The theoretical model of the research used as a point of departure the concept of Burton Clark (1983) and examined the roles of state government, market, and academic oligarchy in the dynamics of university administration and management during the transition period.;The regional analysis was based on EC TEMPUS data from the 11 participating CEE countries. The influence of the program was measured by acquisition of equipment for modernization of CEE educational programs (Action 1), and academic mobility (Action 2), patterns of funding, distribution of funds by discipline fields, and other specific indicators as reflected by aggregated data from 750 Joint European Projects (JEP) with a total funding ;The national analysis included 33 TEMPUS JEP grants developed in Bulgaria. Data from project reports was divided in six discipline fields: social sciences and humanities (including law); business and applied economy; engineering and technology; agriculture; medicine; and environment protection. Specific educational outcomes from TEMPUS I JEP were studied with emphasis on complex project serving as factors of institutional change.;The investigation of the changes at Technical University--Sofia was based on broad analysis of the developments in Bulgarian academe during the last decade. Provided data from 26 JEP grants and other institutional sources supported the thesis that the international academic cooperation and financial support provided by TEMPUS I JEP grants was a major factor in the process of development and implementation of new institutional policies and management changes during the transition period.;The study provided evidence about existing complex trends and factors, related to institutional change in CEE. For example, faculty preferences towards stability favored collegiate forms of academic governance at institutional level; at the same time strong academic departments from elite universities, supported by significant external Western European grants and professional affiliations displayed tendencies towards market-oriented approaches in their individual strategies.;This study can be used as a valuable source of information and insight for a broad variety of professionals involved in the problematics of international academic assistance and policies from academe, federal, and private (non-government) agencies in fields, related to the transition process in Central and Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union.