Managing in a modern University no problem

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Managing in a modern University - no problem?

• Kevin Griffin, Dublin City University
• Management Forum
• University of Essex
• 19 June 2003

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Presentation 4 main areas

• Changing nature of the university
• Increased demands eg. quality assurance,
  marketing, accountability
• Leadership, management and strategic planning
• Moving to a devolved / executive Faculty structure

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Changing Nature of the University

• Context HE in England Ireland
• White paper on future of HE in England Basking
  in previous successes and shirking the need for
  reform offers no robust future for our
  universities (Charles Clarke)
• Stressing the importance of teaching - university
  title dependant on undergraduate teaching degree
  awarding powers only
• International competition
• Public/private sector working more closely
  together - knowledge exploitation/transfer less
  than one in five businesses tap into
  universities skills knowledge (C.Clarke)

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Changing financial regime

• Build up endowments
• 2006 students contributing more to cost of
  education (allowing for fees exemption of 1,100
  on sliding scale up to 30,000 income)
• 2004 grants for students from poorest
  background
• deferred payment philosophy
• rise of funding of universities of over 6 over
  the next three years
• discriminating positively in favour of those from
  state schools in admissions - concern from
  independent schools

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• Widening participation - 50 target - changing
  student profile and increase in numbers
• Access the social class gap entering HE is a
  national disgrace (C.Clarke)
• Raising participation and standards in our
  reform of secondary and further education will be
  the most important step in improving access
  (C.Clarke)

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Sir Howard Newby, Nov. 2002

• Institutions must seeks out their comparative
  advantage rather than trying to do everything
• Concept of lifelong learning encouraging a more
  diverse student population
• Students have shifted into a new role as
  consumers of higher education

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Guardian, March 2002

• Reporting on HEFCE promise that by 2008,
  institutions would be both more diverse and
  interconnected - working more closely with
  industry and the community

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THES, April 2003

• Employers are calling for universities to be
  harnessed to local, regional and national
  economic needs, even if this comes at the expense
  of institutional autonomy and academic freedom

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Changing face of HE in Republic of Ireland

• 7 Universities diverse origins
• Institute of Technology (IT) Sector
• Irish Times, 11/2/02
• Dept of Education expressed concern about
  universities and ITs not responsive enough to
  needs of economy, industry and students
• Several ITs refused permission to offer
  humanities-based course (mission drift)
• President of DCU, Jan. 2003 (Irish Times article)
  
• Wants state to see the universities as full
  strategic partners in a national strategy for
  economic and social development
• Universities more than just education providers

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Chief Executive of Industrial Development
Authority (IDA) (March 2003)

• Globalisation, technology advances etc-
  businesses re-inventing themselves- are
  universities?
• Critical of lack of debate on education- usually
  providers involved, and usually about resources!
• Build stronger links between businesses and the
  research efforts of universities
• Case for asking universities to concentrate more
  at fourth level, giving Institutes of
  Technology more of the third level space

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Chairman of the Higher Education Authority (HEA)
(Sept 02)

• Major challenges for Irish HE Institution-
  demographic changes- stakeholder concerns-
  elearning- public policy push for more RD-
  internationalisation
• mode 2 model of research- transdisciplinarity
  - research collectives, transient teams
  Requires new organisational and funding
  arrangements
• Old boundaries between disciplines have begun to
  look questionable in the light of new
  discoveries, calling into question university
  organisation and structures President of DCU,
  Jan.2003, Irish Times

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Skilbeck Report

• The University is no longer a quiet place to
  teach and do scholarly work at a measured pace
  and contemplate the universe as in centuries
  past. It is a big, complex, demanding,
  competitive business requiring largescale ongoing
  investment
• The demands and expectations that are being
  placed on higher education institutions by
  Government, industry, social partners, parents,
  students, professional bodies and other
  interested parties are formidable
• Some university leaders and policy analysts now
  question the survival of the university in
  anything like its present form

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Skilbeck - Six general (not specific to Irish HE)
factors that are re-shaping long-held values and
institutional priorities

• Individual social demand for access to study
• Governments push for more economically and
  socially responsive education and research
• Improve quality raise overall standards
• Changing priorities for public expenditure
• Requirement to improve efficiency and raise
  productivity
• Shift to technology-facilitated learning

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Skilbeck - Some actions needed by Universities

• Improve governance management
• Increase diversify sources of income
• Recognise reward good teaching
• Build/strengthen partnerships and alliances
• Strategies for lifelong learning
• Broaden enlarge student intake
• More collective, less individual
• Review appraise - national policy initiatives
  etc

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SECTION 2

• Increased demands on Universities

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Quality Assurance (England)

• Heavy-handed HEFCE/QAA model - why?
• Move to less intensive model to replace teaching
  quality assessments- institution wide audits on
  cyclical basis, replacing TQA periodic
  institution-wide audits
• National survey of student opinion- Australian
  experience (THES, 21/3/03) low feedback,
  results meaningless?
• Summaries of external examiners reports

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Quality Assurance (Republic of Ireland)

• Emphasis on self-regulation and quality
  improvement
• There is no detailed organisational or
  prescriptive regime for quality assurance
  Chairman of Higher Education Authority
• Each university decides how much emphasis to
  place on this area
• 7 universities work together in terms of a
  framework, joint guidelines etc
• Overview by Higher Education Authority
  meta-reviews!

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Quality Review Procedures at D.C.U.

• School/Unit write Self Assessment Report
  (SAR)SAR confidential to School/Unit / Peer
  Review Team / Senior D.C.U. Officers
• SAR sent to Peer Review Group (PRG)PRG comprises
  external and internal members
• Site visit by PRG (2/3 days) - then PRG submit
  report
• School/Unit produces Quality Improvement Plan
  (QIP) in response to its own SAR and the PRG
  report
• Summary of PRG Report QIP considered by
  Governing Authority
• Full PRG Report QIP placed on website

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Marketing

• Branding now a major issue - values in your
  logo
• More professional and legitimate in recent
  years - is it still the poor relation?
• Who should do it?
• Collaborating and competing

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Accountability

• Stakeholders Who are they?
  Some are more important than others
• Value of academic freedom and institutional
  autonomy - enshrined in 1997 Universities Act
• Too much central control can lead to abrogation
  of responsibilities, or avoidance of decisions

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SECTION 3

• Leadership, Management Strategic Planning

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Leadership, Management Strategic Planning

• Businesses should be more like universities
  (Charles Handy)
• University as a competitive business Skilbeck
  2002)
• Businesses universities should work more
  closely together (earlier slides)
• Different roles of leaders managersMost
  corporations are overmanaged and underled
  (Prof. J.Cotter, Harvard Business Review, 1990)
  do universities fit this
  description?

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Concerns expressed about weaknesses in leadership
management

• One core issue identified for 2003-08 strategic
  plan was developing leadership, governance
  management and people Sir Howard Newby
• Leadership Foundation - who will benefit?
• Universities need to improve governance and
  management through leadership programmes
  (Skilbeck Report)

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Challenges for leaders managers

• Individual culture - academic loyalty to
  discipline- collective ethos, participative
  decision-making
• Lack of appreciation for good bureaucracy
• Are these issues for leaders or managers, or
  both?
• The President VS the Professors UCC experience

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Contrast UK Irish HE

• UK - flexibility sanctions especially in
  managerial culture- possible danger of reduced
  risk-taking?- pre-eminence of the successful
  rather than the effective manager
• Ireland- heavily dependant on discretionary
  behaviour- authority of leaders easy to
  usurp? eg. in implementing the
  strategic plan?

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Strategic Planning

• Strategic Planning - enjoys a mixed
  reputationKey pointers- its a means to an
  end- be realistic visions and strategies do
  not have to be brilliantly innovative- how
  translatable into implementation

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University strategic plans I have seen evolve

• Major issue

a) Strategy driving structures
or
b) structures driving strategy
b) is easier, more conservative
a) Requires flexibility, change, reacting quickly
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Strategic Planning Reality

• Dealing with emerging factors and being honest
• Recognise some/a lot of intended strategy will
  not materialise and other strategy, not planned
  for, will come into play
• This must be communicated to staff, otherwise the
  strategic plan may be seen as a failure
• Requires courageous leadership and an ability to
  react to changing circumstances

Deliberate Strategy
Intended Strategy
Resolved Strategy
Mintzberg
Unrealised Strategy
Emergent Strategy
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SECTION 4

• Moving to a devolved / executive
• Faculty structure at D.C.U.

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Restructuring move to
devolved/executive Faculties

• Key issue redistribution of power authority
• A shift in two directions- bottom up and top
  down
• Bottom up reactions from Faculty staff
• Top down - more challenging -
  power plays
• Central services - how are they affected?

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Interim Faculty Board

• Ensuring there is clarity about what devolved
  status means eg. Issue of space management-
  position of Executive Dean in university
  decision-making arrangements- extent of
  budgetary autonomy
• Some elements of brinkmanship at this stage!

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Comments and Questions