Challenges of University Administration and Management in West Africa

Transcription

1 Challenges of University Administration and Management in West Africa Prof Clifford N. B. Tagoe Former Vice-Chancellor University of Ghana, Legon, Accra 1

2 Introduction Outline Managing today s HEIs Challenges Autonomy, Governance, leadership and management efficiency Students and staff issues, and academic matters Funding Internationalisation, world-classness, ranking Responses to challenges 2

3 Introduction The HEI landscape in WA has changed dramatically in many ways in recent years. Key among which are: Numbers, types and missions of institutions have changed Unprecedented increase in student numbers Rise of private participation in delivery on the increase [DATA] 3

4 Managing Today s University 1 Managing today s university is a complex task Universities have created an entity to facilitate the process governing body Unitary structure (uni-cameral) Dual structure (bi-cameral) Dual structure (in most WA universities) Governing council or board Academic board or senate 4

5 Managing Today s University 2 Council/Board guides the overall direction of the university Academic Board/Senate steers the academic programmes Governance sets strategy, policy and objectives for the institution Policies relate to teaching, research, public service, financial and staff matters, university property 5

6 Managing Today s University 3 Management sets tone and deploys people and other resources ( doing the right thing ) What constitutes Management or Leadership in HE? Principal Officers? Vice-Chancellor/Rector Pro-/Deputy Vice-Chancellor/Vice Rector Librarian Finance Director (Bursar) 6

7 Managing Today s University 4 Administration bureaucratic or operational performance of tasks based on the policies ( doing things right ) What constitutes Administration in HE? Academic administration Provosts, Deans, Heads of Department Bureaucracy Registrar, Finance Director, /Administrative Directors 7

8 Managing Today s University 5 In West Africa colonial legacy remains a central factor Anglophone and Francophone and influence governance, administration and management of HEIs, both structures and processes The challenges of university administration and management are however common, albeit, in different forms and degrees 8

9 Challenges Institutional Autonomy Balance between Governance, Management and Administration Efficiency in management and administration Student and Staff issues undergraduate and postgraduate Ensuring quality and relevance of academic programmes Inadequacy of Funding Internationalisation, World-classness and University ranking 9

10 Institutional Autonomy 1 Most of the largest universities in WA are public institutions (publicly funded) Relationship with government (through Ministry of Education, regulatory bodies) has implications for institutional autonomy, affecting Power to organise structure and institutional governance To decide University leadership For many, Head of State Is Visitor or Chancellor, and Is involved in appointing Rector or Vice-Chancellor, (security of tenure?) 10

11 Institutional Autonomy 2 In Ghana No Visitor Council elects Chancellor (Head of State is constitutionally barred from being Chancellor) Council appoints Vice-Chancellor Autonomy over staffing matters? Recruitment Terms of employment Like civil service? 11

12 Institutional Autonomy 3 Autonomy over academic matters? Academic profile Degree programmes Admissions QA Approval of regulatory bodies (NUC, NCTE, NAB) Autonomy over financial issues? Ability to charge fees, borrow money for projects Salaries who pays Accountability? For use of public funds 12

13 Need for adequate administrative and governance model for the private universities In many African countries, the provision of higher education by private institutions is a growing phenomenon. When compared to other parts of the world, however, most African countries have been slow to expand the private The trend toward private higher education has been enhanced by a number of factors... If some of them are well organized however most of private universities are not managed as it should be...there is the need of business model for the administration and governance of university public or private 13

14 Efficiency in Management and Administration 1 Council vs Management Freehand for management to manage? How to achieve an effective relationship between the policy making role of the governance structure and the task of management in implementing those policies The leadership/management Visionary? Corporate or collegial (committee system) Style of leadership 14

15 Leadership and Management 2 Capacity, competence of the academic leaders at faculty and department levels Deans and Heads of Department Manner of appointment appointive, election, rotation Preparation for position? Monitoring and evaluation of work of Deans and HoDs Do they work to set targets? Performance contracts? Subject to annual evaluations? 15

16 Inefficiency Administrative Issues 1 Efficient management and administrative systems are of paramount importance to productivity and effectiveness of any enterprise; academic institutions are no exception Many of our universities suffer from poor, inefficient, inordinately large and highly bureaucratic management systems No training for HE management - poorly trained and poorly qualified personnel 16

17 Administrative Issues 2 Excessive non-academic staff: The teaching and research staff in quite a large number of African institutions is smaller than the non-academic or administrative staff. For example Togo has 1,136 administrative and technical staff in higher education, yet the academic staff numbers fewer than 730 In Ghanaian universities the ratio of non-academic to academic staff is close to 4:1 as against approved norm of 1:1. 17

18 Large Student Numbers 1 Universities are Between a rock and a hard place Demand vs. Access dilemma HE is now seen as a private good In all W. African countries, demand for HE has grown exponentially in the past two decades; reflected in escalation in enrolments Public HEIs bear the brunt of this demand. Private universities though more in numbers take up fewer (26% in Ghana; 8.3% in Nigeria) UG received 6859 applications in 1992; in 2010 it was 33,865; in 1993 it enrolled 2056 new students but in 2010 the number was 12,730 18

19 Large Student Numbers 2 In 2000, Nigeria had 448,000 university students; rose to 732,687 in 2010 Students have had to be admitted into institutions originally designed for much fewer students Institutions have exceeded their carrying capacities but financial resources have not kept pace. 19

20 Large Student Numbers 3 Effects of massification Overstretching of facilities lecture rooms/halls, laboratories, equipment, reagents, student accommodation Lowered quality Success (completion) & drop-out rates? On-campus security (who is a student) 20

21 Numbers Inadequate Academic Staff High student:lecturer ratios in many disciplines Qualifications How many have terminal degrees, PhD or professional? Remuneration/conditions of service - poor Brain drain/ migration of talent 21

22 Gender Imbalance 1 A common phenomenon in the continent s educational institutions. Cultural, sociological, economical, psychological, historical, and political factors foster these inequalities. In universities: Student population (Nigeria 36% female in 2010; Ghana 40% female in 2012) 22

23 Gender Imbalance 2 Female academic staff are even smaller in proportion than female students in African institutions In Ghana females constituted only 26% of academic staff in 2012 In Guinea, out of 1,000 academic staff members only 25 (a mere 2.5%) are female (Sylla 2003) A number of initiatives are now underway to rectify gender imbalances, much still remains to be done across all of the educational sectors Affirmative action? 23

24 The curriculum: Academic Matters Do institutions have control? What is the relevance? To what extent is industry involved? Balance between market driven and intellectual programmes Science and technology vs. Humanities (60:40%) Stability of academic calendar staff and student strikes Quality assurance in face of large student numbers and deterioration of facilities 24

25 Academic Matters PhD training How many are we training? In which disciplines? Quality of doctoral education? System in place Capacity of supervisors Quality of the work 25

26 Research and Publications What is the institution s research agenda? Who controls research agenda? Does the research agenda dovetail with national aspirations? Relevance? Inadequate research facilities Academic freedom? Quality of publications? Playing the numbers game? Prolific in publication but poor quality 26

27 Inadequate Funding 1 The central reality for all African higher education systems at the beginning of the twenty-first century is severe financial crisis. : The pressures of expansion and massification that have added large numbers of students to most West African academic institutions and systems The economic problems facing many West African countries that make it difficult to adequately finance HE Oundougou, Nov. 4-8,

28 Inadequate Funding 2 Allocation policies in favour of lower levels of the education ladder Eventual allocations not cover costs of general administration, teaching and learning facilities, infrastructure The inability of many students to afford the tuition rates necessary for fiscal stability Inability of institutions to impose tuition fees due to political or other pressure 28

29 Internationalisation Higher education is now an integral part of the globalisation process Universities are not only national and local institutions, but also global (Glonacal) Internationalisation includes the policies and practices undertaken by academic systems and institution and even individuals to cope with the global academic environment.(altbach and Knight, 2007) Why should your institution internationalise? Rationale? Strategies? 29

30 World-classness & Rankings World-class university? Every institution dreams of being one Requirements (Salmi, 2009) Abundant resources Favourable governance Concentration of talent To not try to be is not an option 30

31 World-classness & Rankings University ranking is here to stay Only 14 WA universities (out of over 200) in top 100 in Africa of July 2013 webometrics ranking of world universities Desire to rank high Cost of not trying could be high for some 31

32 Responding to the Challenges Share good practices and harmonize processes under auspices of AWAU and ECOWAS Good governance practices Capacity-building training in management and administration of HEIs eg. Senior Academic Leadership Training (SALT) funded by Carnegie Gender eg. affirmative action in admissions Academic ICT, open access, MOOCs 32

33 Responding to the Challenges Student numbers capping admissions? Funding Education Funds (GETFund, TET Fund), scholarships, student loans, financial aid, more contribution from parents Learn to Do more with less Internationalisation Develop appropriate policies and support with necessary resources World-classness and Ranking innovative ways of improving resources 33