academic patches

[nimsooze]

"Conflicts beyond the campuses become transposed into tussles over defending or promoting academic patches."
What means "patchs" here? [a text about american universities]

[BobK]

I can think of four possible meanings in a context that general:

• areas of work regarded with proprietary zeal by researchers ("That's my patch")
• academic sessions in a largely non-academic programme
• areas reserved for academic work in a largely non-academic environment
• the leather patches often used by academics to repair or reinforce the elbows of their jackets

Does any of those fit? I think the first is probably most likely, but they're all possible.

b