The history of UTAUT model and its impact on ICT acceptance and usage by academicians

This paper started with the review of the history of technology acceptance model from TRA to UTAUT. The expected contribution is to bring to lime light the current development stage of the technology acceptance model. Based on this, the paper examined the impact of UTAUT model on ICT acceptance and usage in HEIs. The UTAUT model theory was verified using regressions analysis to understand the behavioral intention of the ADSU academic staffs’ acceptance and use of ICT in their workplace. The research objective is to measure the most influential factors for the acceptance and usage of ICT by ADSU academic staff and to identify the barriers. Two null hypotheses were stated: (1) the academic staff of ADSU rejects acceptance and usage of ICT in their workplace. (2) UTAUT does not predict the successful acceptance of ICT by the academic staff of the Adamawa State University. In summary, our findings shows that the four constructs of UTAUT have significant positive influence and impact on the behavioral intention to accept and use ICT by the ADSU academic staff. This shows that university academic staff will intend to use ICT that they believe will improve their job performance and are easy to use. The facilitating conditions such as appropriate hardware, software, training and support should be in place by the management. In the Adamawa State University, EE and SI are found to be the most influential predictors of academic staff acceptance of ICT and use among the four constructs of UTAUT. The greatest barriers are time and technical support for staff. Knowledge gained from the study is beneficial to both the university academic staff and the Nigerian ICT policy makers.     

A case study of academic staff integration in a post-merger Chinese university

The aim of this study was to discover and better understand through a case study, the phenomenon of academic staff integration in a post-merger Chinese university. The analysis was undertaken by using a cultural framework derived from relevant literature. The results indicate that adjustments to academic values and beliefs, the cultural dimension, are crucial in the integration process. This study also identified factors, which could affect academic staff integration, such as leadership, organisational objectives, regulations, geographic division, and cultural differences. Being aware of these factors could provide university managers with useful guidelines on how to facilitate the integration of academic staff members from different pre-merger institutions.     

Organisational cultures in public and private Portuguese Universities: a case study

Perceptions of organisational culture made by three categories of staff playing managerial roles in each of two Portuguese Universities (one public and the other private) were compared using a questionnaire adapted from the Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument and translated into Portuguese. The four scales of the questionnaire, designed to measure the Cultures of Clan, Adhocracy, Hierarchy and Market orientation were found to have adequate internal reliabilities, though a factor analysis raised doubts about the construct (factor) validity of two of the scales (Clan and Adhocracy). Application of a MANOVA to scores on the four scales of organisational culture showed, as hypothesised, that the private university was perceived to have significantly stronger cultures of Market orientation and Hierarchy than the public university. No overall difference was found between the universities for the cultures of Clan and Adhocracy. However, general managerial staff in both Universities perceived the cultures of Clan and Adhocracy to be stronger than was the case for technical managerial staff.     

Attitudes of Academic Staff Towards their Job and Organisation: An Empirical Assessment

The relationships and differences in how academic staff perceive their work and organisation are of great importance for human resource strategies in the higher education sector. The present study examines work-related attitudes of academic staff, namely job satisfaction, self-efficacy and organisational commitment. The purpose is to analyse how these attitudes differ among groups of individuals. Results show that there is an alternative way of classifying academic staff into distinct groups based on work-related attitudes apart from the conventional classification based on position alone. Findings suggest that university managers should be careful in balancing between different systems of control or incentive.     

Attitudes of academic staff towards their job and organisation: An empirical assessment

Abstract

The relationships and differences in how academic staff perceive their work and organisation are of great importance for human resource strategies in the higher education sector. The present study examines work‐related attitudes of academic staff, namely job satisfaction, self‐efficacy and organisational commitment. The purpose is to analyse how these attitudes differ among groups of individuals. Results show that there is an alternative way of classifying academic staff into distinct groups based on work‐related attitudes apart from the conventional classification based on position alone. Findings suggest that university managers should be careful in balancing between different systems of control or incentive.     

International staff contributions to their host institution: a case study in South Africa

The mobility of academic staff to South Africa is expected to benefit higher education institutions through teaching-research collaboration and capacity building. However, South African institutions do not always have the adequate organisational processes to facilitate host and international staff collaboration. Drawing on individual interviews with 16 lecturers from 12 different countries, all of them teaching in one South African university, this article analyses lecturers’ perceived contributions to their host university and the challenges they encountered. Recommendations revolve around the development of appropriate induction programmes and faculty forums to promote cross-cultural collaboration and the cross-fertilisation of ideas.     

Understanding academics’ resistance towards (online) student evaluation

Many higher educational institutions and academic staff are still sceptical about the validity and reliability of student evaluation questionnaires, in particular when these evaluations are completed online. One month after a university-wide implementation from paper to online evaluation across 629 modules, (perceived) resistance and ambivalence amongst academic staff were unpacked. A mixed-method study was conducted amongst 104 academics using survey methods and follow-up semi-structured interviews. Despite a successful ‘technical’ transition (i.e. response rate of 60%, similar scores to previous evaluations), more than half of respondents reported a negative experience with this transition. The results indicate that the multidimensional nature of ambivalence towards change and the dual nature of student evaluations can influence the effectiveness of organisational transition processes.     

Stress,Coping Strategies and Job Satisfaction in University Academic Staff

This study aims to identify sources of stress and consequent stress levels in university academic staff, to identify the coping strategies used by staff, and to examine the relationship between stress levels and job satisfaction. The study sample, consisting of 414 (305 males and 109 females) academic staff, was asked two open‐ended questions which invited them to specify the five main causes of stress in their lives in general and at work. The Life Stress Scale (LSS) was used to assess academics’ stress levels. A coping strategies list was used to identify the strategies used by academic staff during stressful periods. Two questions were asked to assess the level of satisfaction felt by academics with their jobs. The results indicated that academic staff rate work as the most significant cause of stress in their lives (74%) and conducting research (40.3%) was the main cause of stress at work. Results showed also that 74.1% and 10.4% of the academic staff fall into the moderate and serious stress categories respectively, and that there were no significant differences between males and females in stress levels. There were significant differences between the four academic rank groups in stress levels, with lecturers as the most stressed group. The results also indicated that academic staff use a wide range of coping strategies. A negative significant correlation between stress and job satisfaction (r= – 0.444) was found, indicating an inverse relationship between stress level and satisfaction.     

Problem Solving Academic Workloads Management: A University Response1

Universities are challenged to maintain a work environment where academic staff fulfil traditional academic duties while responding to a diverse student population, a competitive research environment, and an escalation of administrative tasks within an accountability‐based climate. This paper analyses the development and implementation of a workloads policy at a New Zealand university through a joint university management and staff union initiative. The workloads policy was built on the principles of equity, transparency, reasonableness, safety and acceptability to staff. The integrity and effectiveness of adoption is evaluated through analyses of work requirements, workloads models and the findings from case studies of implementation by six diverse units from across the university. Based on our evaluation, we highlight aspects of the policy and procedures that have promise and suggest modifications where particular processes and outcomes fell short of stated goals for institutional change.     

Relationships and Values Among Students and Staff in British and German Higher Education

Financial stringency and neo-liberal influences in higher education are impacting upon relationships and academic values in higher education. The aim of the present paper was to analyse how these forces operate differentially in the UK and Germany. The British students were significantly more satisfied than were their German counterparts with the intellectual and personal relationships that they had with their university teachers; this could, however, be attributed more to country-specific factors, predating marketization, than to the effects of globalisation. Students in both countries clamoured for more practical experience during their university courses; but a number of UK students and almost half the UK staff thought that that insufficient justice was being done to theory in the HE programmes. Though ‘the market’ might be assumed conducive to efficiency, the British respondents (both staff and students) were especially dissatisfied with organisational aspects of their institutions. Many of the German staff believed that the old order of the university as they had known it was passing away and this awareness was painful to them. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Peer partnership to enhance scholarship of teaching: a case study

This paper reports on the outcomes of a peer partnership program trialled at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. The program was designed based on a community of practice methodology to bring together academic staff for the purpose of advancing teaching practice. The program encouraged professional and supportive environments for the purpose of critical reflection and personal development. The belief was that quality teaching is core business and vital to university organisational goals. Peer partnership programs support improvement in teaching and learning. Participants in the program reported the program enhanced their commitment and insight into teaching and that there is willingness to be involved if supported by colleagues and an organisation. Feedback from participants in the program was positive and outcomes arising from the QUT Peer Partnership Project were the development of an online peer partner tool-kit, staff development training, an instructional DVD and integration of the project goals within QUT staff development programs.     

Protecting academic freedom in changing times: the role of Heads of Departments

In changing times for higher education that are dominated by a neoliberal ideology, we set out to uncover how Heads of Departments (HoDs) perceive their role with respect to supporting their staff and their academic freedom. Freedom to pursue academic research is seen as key to the generation of new knowledge yet it is potentially constrained by funding regimes and university accountability systems. As HoDs operate at the interface between university systems and individual academic projects, how they perceive their role can have a profound influence on the working environment of their departmental staff. The research study is located in two successful departments in a research intensive university in England. The study shows that the HoDs were not captured by the neoliberal discourse and aimed to protect their staff so they could ‘get on with their work’. In so doing they interpreted university demands to the best advantage of their departments but were not active in challenging university driven changes, thus raising questions about the effects of accommodating to change, so risking incremental change, and of how less successful departments might be able to protect their staff and their academic freedom.     

Using organisational theory in the promotion of evaluation — a case study

This paper discusses the use of organisational theory in a research and development project at the University of Queensland. It focuses on the introduction of a student evaluation of teaching scheme for feedback purpose and for use in annual appraisals, as well as for tenure and promotion decisions. It is a case study of planned change introduced into a traditional university within the framework of the literature on change, university systems and the academic profession. The paper demonstrates that organisational theory helps (a) to clarify the context and the conditions which facilitate introduction of change in a traditional university, and (b) to evaluate strategies to initiate and implement change. When the student evaluation of teaching system was developed and first promoted in Semester 2, 1982, 37 staff members had their teaching evaluated. Since then it has grown to a regular evaluation of teaching in over 300 class sessions, with 150–200 staff members participating each semester, and about 15,000 students returning questionnaires. This makes it a unique scheme in Australian universities.     

Higher Education Mergers: Integrating Organisational Cultures and Developing Appropriate Management Styles

Research evidence indicates that an unusually broad range of issues take on strategic significance in a merger and that organisational cultures are critical to the successful integration of staff, students and other stakeholders within a newly combined higher education institution (HEI). This study was based on two specialist higher education (HE) colleges seeking to expand through merger in order to meet the revised criteria for university status in England. It sought a better understanding of the similarities and differences between the management styles and organisational cultures of the two colleges and an assessment of the significance of these for the proposed merger. The main conclusion of the study was that management styles and initiatives needed to be mindful of the existing cultures and subcultures of the two colleges, otherwise there was a risk that the status and efficiency of the new HEI might be improved at the expense of its academic and scholarly development.     

Benchmarking Academic Research Output in Australia

In higher education the uptake of benchmarking has been slow, despite its recognition elsewhere as an important tool in the pursuit of continuous quality improvement. The need for national benchmarks of research productivity and quality will be felt intensely in Australia in 1995 as the Committee for Quality Assurance in Higher Education focuses on research evaluation. This paper presents benchmarks for publications productivity for Australian academic researchers based on an empirical study of all reported publications output from the Australian university system in 1991. ‘Publications productivity’ in this paper is defined as the number of publications per 10 equivalent academic staff members. Benchmarks for aggregate publications output per staff member, and for each of 13 types of publications, are reported for the highest performing institution, and highest performing organisational units within any institution. Applicability within Australian higher education of citation impact indices as an indicator of research quality is discussed.     

Developing teaching and changing organisational culture through grass-roots leadership

Much of the literature relating to organisational change within academic departments focusses upon the role of the academic leader in creating an appropriate environment and process for change. Often scant attention is paid to the role of other individuals in impeding or facilitating change. This paper provides a case study of teaching development and change based in considerations of organisational culture as conceptualised by Schein (1985). It details the strategies used by a small group of junior academics to challenge the existing organisational culture and, through a focus on teaching improvement, achieve personal reward, organisational growth and the creation of a new but complemtary organisational culture. From the case study is drawn a list of key factors of relevance to academics or staff developers interested in initiating or supporting a grass-roots movement for change.     

Assessing Research Performance of University Academic Staff: Measures and Problems

Under the federal government's current policy on funding university research, institutions which can best identify and encourage the higher performers amongst their academic staff will fare better than others. However, in order to secure a strong position in competing for these government funds universities will need to know more about the research activity of their academic staff and how staff in different disciplines are likely to respond to the increased use of performance indicators. This paper reports the views of staff from one Australian university on such issues. One of the main findings is that potential research output is influenced by a range of factors including the differences in research styles, methods and strategies and the degree of dependence on funds. Such findings favour the differential use of performance measures depending on the nature of the research undertaken rather than the use of measures which are intended to standardise research output within or across disciplines.     

The changing racial profile of academic staff at South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), 2005–2013

South Africa has undergone transformation since the end of apartheid governance in 1994. Legislatively enforced, this transformation has permeated most sectors of society, including higher education. Questions remain, however, about the extent to which transformation has occurred in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in general, and across the academic staff body in HEIs in particular. In this study, we examine the transformation of academic staff profiles at HEIs throughout the country. Initially, we graph the racial profile of academics across multiple positions (junior lecturer to professor) from 2005 to 2013. We then use correlational analysis to identify which characteristics of universities in South Africa can be used to explain the racial inequities evident in South African HEIs. Our results indicate that world university ranking; percentage black African staff; percentage black African student body; and whether the university is ‘historically disadvantaged’, all influence the racial profile of the academic staff body to varying degrees. The size of the overall staff and study body does not appear to influence the racial profile of universities’ staff component. We conclude that transformation of the academic staff body of HEIs in South Africa is indeed occurring, albeit slowly. Rather than seeing this as a negative, we argue that the pace of ‘academic’ transformation in the country needs to be interpreted within the framework of academic governance.     

The I3E model for embedding education for sustainability within higher education institutions

This paper presents an evidence-based model (the I3E model) for embedding education for sustainability (EfS) within a higher education institution. This model emerged from a doctoral research that examined organisational learning and change processes at the University of Southampton to build EfS into the university curriculum. The researcher aimed to learn from real practice through acting as a facilitator for curriculum development in EfS within an interdisciplinary group of academic staff members. A critical friend position was also acquired within a community of practice to implement a programme which attempted to embed sustainability within the student experience. The I3E model identifies four overarching components that can support universities in their aim to embed EfS within the undergraduate curriculum. These integrated components are: Inform the university community about sustainability; Engage the different university stakeholders in the change process towards sustainability; Empower individuals and groups to make change happen within their sphere of influence and action; and Embed sustainability within existing university structures.