Management and Administration of Higher Education Institutions at Times of Change

Over the past few decades, the higher education landscape underwent dramatic changes, causing strain on higher education institutions (HEI) worldwide. The academic debate is filled with very well-argued accounts of these developments. Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) add an additional layer to this already complex reality. Against this backdrop, it is necessary that the question of managing and administering HEI today be rethought. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive computing, augmented, virtual and mixed reality (R+), Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, bear the promise to effectively assisting HEI administrators in navigating their institutions through the period of profound change. This chapter offers a brief account of that.

A decade after the 2008 global financial crisis, economic growth is returning to many OECD countries and EU states. However, a “rising tide does not lift all boats” and there are currently 96.6 million people at risk of poverty and social exclusion in the EU (OECD, 2017). Addressing this concerning social situation, requires innovative approaches and it has been suggested that inclusive entrepreneurship may be part of the solution. Yet, many under-represented groups (in terms of entrepreneurial activity) face significant barriers to entrepreneurship. This research study identifies how Higher Education Institutions can utilise their multidisciplinary knowledge and expertise in partnership with government, industry and civil society to address the economic and social challenges within under-represented communities by engendering higher levels of enterprising behaviour. Emerging studies in the literature have demonstrated how some Higher Education Institutions are providing tailored and holistic enterprise support to under-represented groups in their communities. However, such initiatives are not common and there is little research on how other HEIs might replicate inclusive entrepreneurship initiatives. Through the presentation of a conceptual model, this chapter identifies how HEIs can move outside of their formal education setting and dynamically support the development of enterprising competencies and behaviours amongst people within their local communities. The findings highlight six key areas for consideration in such developments including: 1. Teaching and Learning; 2. Resources; 3. Infrastructure; 4. Multidisciplinary Approaches; 5. Stakeholders and 6. Culture. These findings highlight the requirements for impactful HEI-community engagement and suggest that HEI community engagement through entrepreneurial education is a novel way of adding value for both under-represented communities and HEIs.

‘Education for employability’ has been the mantra of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) since its inception. To attain that, the 28 participating countries agreed to implement reforms aimed at bridging higher education (HE) curricula and learning strategies and the labour market demands. Indeed, the global financial crisis and the euro area crisis and the surge in youth unemployment they led to have reconfirmed the validity of this policy imperative. Clearly, several challenges beset the transition from content- to competence-based HE. By elaborating on the case of the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) this chapter, identifies and discusses them critically. Recommendations relevant for HE leadership conclude the discussion.

The purpose of this study is to explore how the “New type of industry and research chain value creation project” promoted by the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan can help universities to achieve university social responsibility (USR), promote social innovation, and achieve sustainable development. The university social responsibility defined in this study is proposed through literature analysis. The study interviewed three professionals who actually participated in the project and served as core positions. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted. Key findings are drawn as follows. First, the term USR is multifaceted and needs further refinement in light of the changing and dynamic roles of universities. Second, the value creation plan helps universities achieve social responsibility. Third, the value creation team incorporates the concept of university social responsibility into the consideration of development factors, which contributes to the sustainability of the project. Fourth, the value creation plan faces the willingness of participants and the public's unclear understanding of university social responsibility. Finally, practical benefits include the joy of team members, the cultivation of talents and the dream of having a business.

It is a widely shared view among policymakers, as well as among higher education specialists that the development of the higher education sphere is a key to foster economic growth and to reduce the gap between Hungary and the more advanced Western countries. It is also believed that the underfunding of the Hungarian universities is the main reason why the Hungarian universities cannot climb higher up at the international ranking lists. This chapter takes issue with both of these propositions. It will be shown that at the current level of development more money will not help much. There are (at least) four structural obstacles in the way of improving the quality of Hungarian higher education.

The notion of ‘happy dean's office’ (DO) seems to be at best an oxymoron as these units are usually understaffed, overworked and perceived at the very bottom of university hierarchy. Contrary to these beliefs the article aims to identify and analyse DOs which could be labelled as ‘happy’, i.e. units which are good places to work in, according to their staff, and/or are valued high by their students. Happiness is treated symbolically rather than a psychological state of human being and refers to a workplace which provides its employees with satisfaction and well-being, and at the same time is perceived as efficient and effective. Our source material are 16 individual in-depth interviews with managers of DOs at Polish HEIs and 3 focus groups. In most cases we visited the DOs and so could also use some participant observation. These and other DOs at the same HEI share the same legal environment, infrastructure and are situated in the same manner in HEIs structure. What makes them different, and so might influence their level of happiness, are: (1) management style, (2) organisational culture, and (3) students. In our research we focus on the first two aspects, the last one, due to lacking data, is skipped. Basing on our research and practical experience – as one of us has been managing a DO for almost 20 years and the other has been serving as a vice-dean for six years – we want to provide recommendations on how a DO can be turned into a good place to work.

The higher education industry is experiencing fiscal, organizational, and competitive stress in today's competitive environment (Bowen, 2018; McCaferty, 2018). As educators and higher education leaders, we believe that our role in society is essential ecause our collective work inherently concerns student learning, research and service to our university and the broader society. Yet, with today's competitive higher education market, universities and colleges ask more and more of faculty, staff and administrators to ‘get the work done’, creating mental, physical, emotional and spiritual stress. This chapter shares insights, practices and research designed to help university and college workers become resilient in the face of this set of extreme challenges In particular, the focus of this chapter is resilience and its four dimensions including physical, emotional, spiritual and mental resilience. It is argued that by investing in our own resilience as leaders, we foster the resilience of our colleagues, peers, teams, and institutions such that we can thrive in today's higher education environment despite its ongoing challenges.

For Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to survive they need to be agile, to introduce innovations, and to effectively manage change. HEIs are guardians of the history, values and traditions that they reside within and represent. Effat University – established in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – is a successful case in point presents a female HEI that is working continuously on being agile, while striking the balance between innovation and change within a tight framework of solid traditional values to ensure higher quality performance and valued organizational outcomes. This case study is presented in four sections. First, the conceptual framework supporting the case study is outlined. Then, description of Effat University IQRA-Based Quality Model follows. Then, the application of Effat University IQRA-Based Quality Model on Effat College of Engineering as a case study is elaborated. Summary and conclusions ensue.

The aim of this chapter is to shed light on the perspectives of organizational innovation in higher education in light of socio-economic transformations as articulated in Vision 2030 for Saudi Arabia. A case study evaluating strategic innovation at the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) in Bahrain was conducted using Balanced Score Cards. A questionnaire was designed to capture enablers and barriers in organizational innovation in higher education. The chapter concluded that institutional inertia, limited implementation and evaluation processes are the key impediments for organizational learning and knowledge management. The study recommends to incorporate organizational innovation to foster entrepreneurship, strategic innovation and learning at higher education institutions (HEI).

In this chapter, we describe the challenge and experience to spread out information and communication technologies (ICT) and how to implement them progressively, in order to improve administrative, academic, and pedagogical issues. As a case study, institutional strategies to tackle these issues in the higher education institutions (HEI) that belong to the Instituto Politécnico Nacional of Mexico (IPN) are described. The main challenge of HEI to incorporate cutting-edge technology in order to form professionals according to educational models and needs of the worldwide is pointed out. Thus, the intended focus of this work is to elevate the discourse and generate awareness about information and communication technologies to translate the language for being legible and understandable to deans, directors, and general authorities of HEI so that they can clearly make decisions with respect to the benefits that current technologies bring to the education institutions, and thus they can keep in mind investing important economic resources in future and mature technologies. Nowadays, HEI of the IPN are facing problems regarding the allocation of budgetary resources, so the strategies and analytical discussion of how ICT can envision the growth of HEI is a very timely issue to be presented to the Mexican government.

Studies have shown various benefits of using technology especially digital games in making classroom learning more engaging and motivating. In Scotland, a new approach to education called the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) was implemented in 2010. This approach moves away from traditional ways of teaching to more active learning. One of the popular approaches among teachers is the use of digital games-based learning (DGBL). This chapter presents the findings from some interviews with lecturers of education, in charge of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) courses at Scottish Universities on how pre-service teachers are being prepared to embrace CfE in general and DGBL in particular, and also what are their views on DGBL and its role within the CfE. Although it was found that the characteristics of CfE, such as being less prescriptive, based on teacher's interpretation and context-based, allowed DGBL to fit well into the new curriculum, the lecturers in general do not see the need for emphasis on DGBL at university level. There is a lack of courses on DGBL and the pre-service teachers who are keen to take forward this approach are expected to do so in their own time. Based on the findings from the interviews, some recommendations are made for the role of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in promoting DGBL among the pre-service teachers.

The higher education world around us is changing fast. Mobile learning (M-learning) and apps in education are new and exciting. However, this does not mean that the faculty is less relevant. On the contrary, the faculty are an ever-important factor that is needed to increase student engagement. Disengaged students are in fact more problematic than low achieving students. This is because of the disruption disengaged student bring in the classroom. Therefore, increasing student engagement is a key challenge in higher education today. Research suggests that active learning, value and expectations are important factors that determine student engagement. Some of these factors can be indirectly influenced by the faculty and course designers. Against this background, the objective of this chapter is to examine if dwindling student engagement in higher education can be addressed with CURPA, i.e. a CURriculum and course planning (CURP) App. CURPA is the result of our efforts at Utrecht University to help design courses and curricula by using cards to account for different activities, with the strategic aim being to stimulate student engagement in higher education. Our expert interviews resulted in a MoSCoW-prioritised list of requirements that can be implemented over time, structured in line with Becker's student engagement model.