Management development in Australian colleges and universities

Management development is a relatively recent concern in Australian higher education. Historically, management of colleges was deemphasized; instead, a gentlemen's approach to academic governance has predominated. Recently, as a result of an emerging administrative crisis, colleges and universities have started experimenting with new approaches to management. This article explores the applicability of a general management development model to the Australian context. The model, which identifies a dynamic relationship between the structural characteristics of an institution and its management needs, was developed from research on American colleges and universities. Based on the analysis of three case studies the model appears applicable to the Australian setting, especially for large and complex institutions which confront simultaneous pressures to develop the planning and management capability in basic units, and to increase coordination and planning at the institutional level.     

Where are we now? Auditing the implementation of an equal opportunities policy ‘on the ground’ in a new university

Abstract

A strongly held belief in the importance of individual merit makes it difficult for universities to move beyond a limited liberal interpretation of equal opportunities, which emphasizes equality of opportunity focusing on the absence of overtly discriminatory practice. Using the findings of a faculty equal opportunities’ audit, this paper demonstrates the conflict at ground level between traditional notions of academic excellence and the more radical aspirations of equality of outcome. It also reveals that an exclusive focus on conventional generic areas of discrimination such as gender, ethnicity and disability can obscure more contextually specific issues such as the perceived devaluing of ‘non‐academic’ staff by their academic colleagues.

The faculty audited was sited in a new university and comprised four departments with an overall total of 1115 students and 153 staff. Data was gathered in four stages namely (a) compilation of a demographic data base, (b) semi‐structured interviews with heads of departments, (c) two course audits including questionnaires to staff and students, and (d) semi‐structured interviews with administrative and technical staff. Findings were also related to those being generated by simultaneous audit activity in other parts of the university.     

The perception of participation in executive governance structures in Dutch universities

In 1997 a new governance act, based on the principles of New Public Management (NPM) was introduced at Dutch universities. The aims were to realise integrated management, to strengthen the position of executives at the central (executive board) and faculty (dean) levels, to introduce a Supervisory Board at the institution’s central level, and to increase the leeway for universities to design its own governance structure. This article reports on a large-scale evaluation of the governance act and focuses on student and staff participation in decision-making and on the actual appraisal of different actors within the universities (leaders, managers, staff, students) of the governance structure of their university. The empirical data reveal a mixed picture regarding the appreciation of the new governance structure, but overall—in contrast with many critical reviews of NPM in higher education—there seems to be considerable endorsement for the present situation.     

“洪堡模式”去与留:德国大学治理改革中制度同形与路径依赖

制度主义中的制度同形与路径依赖理论是理解高等教育变革的有力工具。进入20世纪70年代以来,德国高等教育环境发生了巨大的改变,主要体现在高等教育系统扩张,高等教育日益国际化,民众对政府管理方式的质疑以及市场化办学意识盛行。为了面对新的高等教育环境,德国大学引入了新的治理手段,如签订目标协定、引入绩效拨款、加强大学校长权力、设立大学理事会等。综观德国大学治理制度改革,其存在着向新公共管理制度靠近的趋向,也存在着明显的改革路径依赖,即沿着传统的洪堡大学模式在缓慢前进,国家和教授的权力依旧在大学治理中发挥着重要作用。     

新形势下高校师生关系问题及优化

高校师生关系是高校最重要最基本的人际关系。当前,高校的师生关系呈现出一定程度的疏离、功利化和矛盾对立倾向,突发事件时有发生。社会转型期的到来、高等教育大众化和网络时代的到来都给传统的师生关系带来深刻的变化,师生关系的优化需要更新教育理念,加强师生道德自律,注意运用新型网络科技,完善相关法律法规,也有赖于高校治理的完善,从而在法律的框架下,实现不同主体间关系的平衡,使师生关系朝着民主平等的方向行进。     

Towards a micro foundation of leadership,governance, and management in universities

Leadership, governance, and management are frequently conceptualized as conflictory institutional logics. The recent shift to a ‘new managerialism’ in universities, for example, clearly favors business-like leadership and management styles over collegial governance practices. This article provides a micro foundation of leadership, governance, and management in universities based on the underlying communication of strategic issues among governing bodies. Reporting on a longitudinal case study of a comprehensive reorganization of a German university, it illustrates how institutional logics translate into micro patterns of communication. The findings suggest that leadership, governance, and management are not necessarily conflictory but reflect in four complementary micro patterns. Rather than ‘managerialism’ replacing ‘collegialism,’ organizational change unfolds in oscillating sequences of these four micro patterns. The findings furthermore indicate that the strategic issues of research and teaching at the university’s core remain largely autonomous, despite their increasing managerial regulation.     

Marketing of Further and Higher Education: an equal opportunities perspective

abstract

College and universities are wanting to recruit more students from a wider base giving them access to further and higher education. This requires institutions to market their courses effectively to prospective consumers. In educational terms the consumer is the student. This article explores the links between marketing models and the ways that colleges and universities have addressed the issue of equality of opportunity and wider access.     

Scandinavian Approaches to Gender Equality in Academia: A Comparative Study

This study investigates how Denmark, Norway, and Sweden approach issues of gender equality in research differently. Based on a comparative document analysis of gender equality activities in six Scandinavian universities, together with an examination of the legislative and political frameworks surrounding these activities, the article provides new insights into the respective strategies for governing and promoting the advancement of women researchers. In doing so, it exposes some interesting disparities among the cases and shows how Norwegian and Swedish gender equality activities revolve around a broader span of different approaches than the Danish. The study draws upon existing knowledge on the efficacy and implementation success of diversity policy programmes to gain a more profound understanding of implications of these differences.     

增强高等教育第三方评估组织合法性的审思

高等教育第三方评估组织作为独立于高校和政府的社会第三方,对于推进管办评分离,构建政府、高校和社会协同的高等教育治理新格局具有重要意义,其通过满足国家宏观治理的需求、高校对办学自主权的诉求以及社会参与高等教育治理的期望来获得合法性。但现实中高等教育第三方评估组织由于宏观层面缺乏立法保障、中观层面缺乏认证维护、微观层面缺乏专业团队,导致其独立性和中介性缺乏,专业性、业务水平和合法性基础受到质疑。为此,需通过落实法律身份、建立健全认证机制、打造专业化的团队构建高等教育第三方评估组织的合法性。     

学校治理现代化:意义探寻与实践推进

学校治理现代化是学校改革发展的一次深刻变革,要准确理解学校现代化的涵义,认识“治理”与“管理”的联系和区别尤为必要。与其他领域的治理相比,学校治理现代化有着综合性系统性强、公平公正要求高、治理成效显现慢、治理环节转化多等特点。学校治理现代化从不同角度分类,可以呈现出多种不同形态。新时代之所以大力推进学校治理现代化,是建设现代化强国的需要,是办人民满意教育的需要,是实现立德树人办学目标的需要,是探索形成学校治理“中国经验”的需要。要把学校治理现代化落到实处,需要把握治理领导权、治理体系现代化、治理能力现代化三个基本问题。     

“双一流”背景下地方高校治理中社会参与的基本路径及其优化策略

"双一流"建设背景下,面对国际、国内高等教育的激烈竞争,地方高校治理中迫切需要更加紧密的高校与社会关系,高校和社会对互动的诉求也日益增强。高等教育领域的主要矛盾引发的主要任务已发生根本性变化,与部属高校相比,是否具备吸收社会资源有效参与治理的能力是地方高校内涵式发展的关键所在,社会参与地方高校治理的发展决策支持、产学研用合作、科教协同育人、质量监督评估和高校社会捐赠等路径优化的重要性日益凸显。新时代,亟须全面深化高等教育领域改革,进一步更新理念、重构关系、型塑主体和完善制度,全面优化地方高校治理社会参与的基本路径,助力政府依法宏观管理、学校依法自主办学、社会有序参与、各方合力推进的格局更加完善。     

Academic work within a mode of mixed governance: perspectives of university professors in the research context of western China

Chinese higher education institutions have been subjected to the intensive bureaucratic governance led by the central authorities since 1949. Since the new public management has been a burgeoning social discourse, some reforms have been conducted recently, centering on the competitive contract-centered employment of staff, integration of industrial sectors, universities, and research institutes, and the evaluation of teaching quality at the undergraduate level. By embracing the ideas of new public management, a mode of mixed governance has evolved within the larger milieu of Chinese higher education. By in-depth interviews with 36 university teachers from a university in western China, this study finds that the distribution of income within the academic community has been polarized, so that the career development of new teachers and those in low priority disciplines is curtailed. Additionally, research is assigned more priority than teaching; institutional service has made distracted academics from knowledge. Lastly, Chinese academics’ work has been greatly affected by a mixed mode of governance spawned by the unique integration between paternalistic governance, bureaucratic management, and new public management.     

“Big is Beautiful.” Organisational Change in Universities in the United Kingdom: New Models of Institutional Management and the Changing Role of Academic Staff

In recent years, pressures for change in universities in the United Kingdom have stimulated the emergence of new models of institutional governance and management. In turn, these new models have led to significant changes in the position of academic staff in the running of their institutions. This paper looks at change within four leading UK universities, the motivation for change, the new models that have developed, some of the issues which have emerged and the impact upon academic staff.     

Higher Education Governance as a Key Policy Issue in the 21st Century

Governance is currently a key issue not only for higher education institutions but for society as a whole. The way organizations are managed, the directions they take and the values they hold send clear signals about their role and functions in society. For this reason, the governance structures of universities were unquestioned for most of the twentieth century. Yet in the final decades of that century significant changes were starting to be felt. The most important of these changes related to the way universities were viewed by governments. In particular, the role of universities in contributing to national economies was being recognized. Greater accountability and more intense scrutiny from the outside meant that the traditional values of universities were being challenged. The task of universities, and for society as a whole, is to develop strategies that will retain the best of what universities have traditionally stood for while responding positively to new pressures and priorities. This paper advances the concept of `deliberative partnerships' as one way to reconstruct university governance in a positive way for the future. Key Words: accountability, education policy, higher education, management, organizational efficiency, public sector, university governance     

高校物理实验室管理和建设探索

本文主要探索高校物理实验室管理和建设的理念、手段、方法,力求提高高校实验室的管理效率和管理水平.     

基于CIPP模型的高校仪器设备全生命周期管理评价机制构建

提高仪器设备的管理水平,有助于推进高校治理体系和治理能力建设以及“双一流”建设目标的实现。基于全生命周期思想分析了我国高校在仪器设备的计划、购置、使用、处置等方面的不足。运用CIPP模型构建了贯穿高校仪器设备全生命周期管理的评价机制,对于提高仪器设备的管理水平有积极作用,适用于高校宏观层面的资产配置管理和单台套仪器设备管理的评价。     

Political Culture and Higher Education Governance in Chinese Societies: Some Reflections

Over the past decades, higher education governance and university management have become increasingly complex worldwide in a context of unprecedented expansion and diversification. Driven by both external and internal pressures, higher education reforms in different nations have often been reported to follow a similar pattern: shifting from the control model to the supervisory model in nearly all aspects of their relationship with universities. While such a trend in Chinese societies has been well documented in the literature, few people have been able to identify the sticking point of higher education governance there. As a result, the concept of a doomed cycle continues to linger obstinately, viewing power delegation as leading to market disorder which, in turn, leads to tighter control. This article points out the neglect of Confucian political culture and its importance for studies of higher education governance reforms in Chinese societies. It aims to demonstrate that Western theories of and approaches to governance and autonomy in higher education cannot be simply applied to other societies of highly different historical and cultural traditions. By so doing, it attempts to shed some light on debates over governance and autonomy in higher education in a much wider context.     

论理工科大学社科科研管理的改革

STS所倡导的是一种跨学科、跨专业领域的意识和精神,可指导高校社科科研管理工作的改革。根据当前高校社科科研管理面临的新形势,理工科优势大学社科科研以STS理论和方法为指导,引证举例,提出了理工科大学社科科研体制改革的方法及途径。     

高校纪检干部“跟岗锻炼”的实践意义及路径探究

全面从严治党对包括高校在内的纪检队伍建设提出了新要求。高校纪检干部“跟岗锻炼”是提升干部素质和业务水平的重要途径,具有很好的实践意义。高校“跟岗锻炼”的纪检干部必须做好角色定位,学会沟通,主动融入工作;发挥特长,实现双方共赢;多方兼顾,注重工作衔接。强化纪检监察机构的主导地位、认真做好选派人员把关工作、激发干部工作活力、建立科学合理的考评机制,是高校纪检干部“跟岗锻炼”的有效路径。     

从集权规制到分权共治： 法国大学法权治理模式的演进逻辑与启示

法国大学经历了从双重集权管理向分权下的共同治理模式的转变,彰显了外部干预与学术自由的矛盾冲突,表现为政府权力、大学的行政权力与学术权力的复杂博弈与动态平衡,潜藏着经营主义和官僚主义的风险。科层组织治理的边界与行会组织治理的复归是公立大学规避制度风险、实现公共服务目标的必由之路。我国公立大学的法权治理模式应借助市场化改革潮流,建构多元衡平的法权治理结构。