Institutional governance is generally much more developed in those higher education systems where universities have a large amount of autonomy. Notwithstanding some interesting innovations that are starting to take place in Europe, in practice, this means that the most obvious comparators with UK higher education governance are found in Australia and the USA.
In Australia a national framework for governance in higher education has been established and all institutions now comply with its provisions. There has even been discussion of an international standard for university governance proposed by the OECD. In the USA, tighter legal regulation on private sector boards was introduced in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and US universities are now taking steps to meet the spirit of Sarbanes-Oxley provisions. The US Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges has published a statement on board accountability, which contains guidelines on fiscal, academic and other responsibilities, and a set of self-assessment questions for board activity including ways in which Sarbanes-Oxley provision is being met.
More details can be found through the following organisations and their web sites: