Ah yes...pre-set standards!! I hear your pain :) It is my contention that higher education is now being compromised by the same standardization that has stiffled K-12 education for years. All higher education, vocational included, must retain its focus on critcal thinking, exploration of thought and higher order thinking in order for students to truly grow as learners. So, what to do? Well, of course none of us can take on an entire system single-handedly, however we can at least make the decision that any standards we are expected to meet with our students are only a starting place rather than the ending point. The standards are the minimum rather than the maximum - just where the learning starts :) That keeps us away from standraized testng only as a means to evaluate learning. I'm happy to hear you're working on your dissertation. A possible angle might be, "How can higher education reclaim its validity for students?"