Conclusion

As indicated in the introduction, this website has been designed to provide information on an important period in European higher education, in which institutions of higher education are coping with the challenges presented by administering the modern university in Central and Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation, after the end of the Cold War. The website brings together the VAP reports in combination with an overview of its goals and objectives, the institutions involved, the external advisors, and its results. It is intended to be source of information for scholars studying this period and these countries, for policy makers and advisors. The reports do not provide information on the way the institutions involved have made work of the recommendations in the reports. Only in the case of the fourteen follow-up visits one can get an idea of how the first reports have been perceived and the recommendations implemented. For that type of information one has to consult the universities involved. All in all, the reports together, using the different keywords as well as the individual search option for each report, provide a valuable source on higher education challenges and issues in the period 1998-2010 for Central and Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation.

Hans de Wit,
Professor of Internationalization of Higher Education,
Centre for Applied Research on Economics and Management (CAREM),
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands,
December 2011