scholarly journals Improving Institutional Stakeholder Governance Practices in the University Council: Membership Strategies and Policies

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-131
Author(s):  
Felix Omal ◽  
Amasa Philip Ndofirepi ◽  
Michael Cross

The post-1994 higher education dispensation has witnessed an increase in the number of institutional stakeholder groups striving to become members of university councils within their particular contexts. As such, they are constantly becoming coalitions of powerful constituencies who seek to influence the running of the council to satisfy stakeholder demands across the university and beyond. Consequently, there is a concern whether institutional stakeholder moves to become a part of the council and is bound to improving governance practices in the universities. This article argues that at the level of the university councils, the institutional strategies, policies and articulation with its different stakeholder groups are critical, using data obtained through the use of documentary sources, interviews and surveys. The results show that institutional stakeholders have strong inclinations towards the governance mechanisms of how individuals become members of the university council, calling for greater professionalization of the governance best practises for improving governance in strongly stakeholder-governed university councils and pointing out possible areas of further research.

Author(s):  
Olugbemiga Samuel Afolabi ◽  
Felix Omal

The introduction of cooperative governance in the post-1994 South African higher education system brought complex stakeholder dynamics in the leadership and governance of university governing councils. A major concern of these changes was to institutionalize quality management systems. However, these changes brought its own complexities. Key features of this complexity revolved around cooperation and information sharing in the university governance in spite of ideological differences. Using the concept of culture developed from a multi-theoretical approach and data collected from institutional documents available in the public domain, interviews with members of the university council, and surveys of university staff, the chapter examines the extent of the relationship between public tolerance and different stakeholders involved in the university governance. This is with a view to recommend the need for effective governance and quality management system based on the professionalization of governance practices and institutionalized quality management processes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Felix Omal

Today's higher education landscape can best be described as unpredictability. This places university governing councils in critical places to begin to think deeply in terms of forms positionality to provide effective governance. For instance, in the South African higher education scenario currently, there are urgent calls for university decolonisation as such university governing bodies have to show that they are on top of the game through demonstrating to their stakeholders that have in place a responsive habitus that supports stakeholder accountability and confidence in these times. This paper examines the relationship between stakeholder accountability and confidence in institutional values that underpin effective governance. Consequently, this paper was developed from a research project that looked at the role of the university councils in bringing about good governance in the former historically black South African universities grappling with such institutional realities. Utilizing the notion of micro-politics developed from the concept of cultures derived from a multi-theoretical approach, the paper examines the framing of good university governance by governing bodies. Data for this study was collected from institutional documentary sources in the public domain, interviews and surveys. This paper ends with suggestions of governance practices that would assist the university councils grappling with such institutional contexts to provide good governance and possibilities for further research.


E-Management ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 62-70
Author(s):  
A. I. Ukhova

The article considers the possibilities of developing marketing interaction of higher education organizations with stakeholders using digital marketing tools and technologies. The study presents an overview of the University stakeholder groups in Russia and their classification according to the quadrants of influence. The author provides the tools and means of digital marketing communications in the context of stakeholder groups and the prospects for their use for organizing marketing communicative interaction of the University. The paper studies in detail the possibilities of developing marketing interaction between the university and students on the basis of modeling the student’s experience on the path of his movement from the applicant to the graduate.The presented student experience includes six main stages, including the search for a University for admission; submission of documents and enrollment; educational and extracurricular activities; graduation and graduation; employment; career development. The author highlights within each stage of the student’s experience the main points of contact with the University. The paper presents opportunities for the development of marketing interaction between the University and students through the introduction of digital tools and marketing technologies, as well as their impact on the student experience model.The article considers the possibility of developing software services as promising digital tools and technologies for use in higher education organizations, including the functional requirements for such services at the level of user requirements, including the applicant and student, as well asthe possibilities of digital marketing communications with students, including both online and offline communications.Based on the study, the author makes a conclusion about the main advantages of the development of digital tools and marketing technologies in organizing marketing interaction between the University and students, as one of the key groups of stakeholders.


Author(s):  
Écio Portes

Estuda as trajetórias de estudantes pobres em cursos altamente seletivos da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, como Ciência da Computação, Comunicação Social, Direito, Engenharia Elétrica, Fisioterapia e Medicina. Explica o conjunto de circunstâncias que propiciaram esse sucesso escolar. Realiza esse intento investigando a história de estudantes pobres no ensino superior no século 20, nas Faculdades de Direito de Olinda/Recife e de São Paulo e a história do atendimento a estudantes pobres empreendido pela UFMG desde o momento de sua criação. Utiliza os trabalhos que lidam com trajetórias escolares, principalmente de sociólogos franceses, como Bourdieu, De Queiroz, Lahire, Laurens e Terrail, entre outros. Os resultados confirmam a existência de estudantes pobres no ensino superior desde a implantação deste, mesmo que pouco representativa; e, como conclusão, é afirmado que a inclusão e a permanência de estudantes pobres no ensino superior brasileiro são uma tarefa de difícil execução, que se deu sem a presença de ações desenvolvidas pelo Estado. No passado, esses estudantes desenvolveram estratégias próprias que se associariam, já no século 20, a estratégias filantrópicas e institucionais empreendidas no seio da própria instituição universitária, a exemplo do que vem fazendo a UFMG ao longo do tempo. Essas ações sustentaram um grupo de estudantes pobres no interior da universidade pública, mas não puseram fim às discriminações sofridas nem minimizaram os constrangimentos econômicos perpetuados historicamente e pelos quais outros vêm passando no cotidiano universitário. Palavras-chave: sociologia da educação; trajetórias escolares; estudantes pobres; ensino superior. Abstract This work gives priority to the historic and theoretical search necessary to the understanding of the object of study, the social and school trajectories of poor students, in the past and in the present. The new data and the proposed analyses lead us to believe that the fact of poor students being included in the Brazilian higher education and remaining at the University is not an easy task and took place without any government policies. In former times, these students developed their own strategies, which became associated, in the twentieth century, to institutional strategies, organised inside the University itself, following the example of what UFMG has been doing all this time. These actions supported a group of poor students in the public University but did not hinder prejudice nor diminished economical embarrassments, which they historically have been going through in their university routine. Keywords: sociology of education; school trajectories; university life; poor students; higher education.


2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia M. Christensen Hughes ◽  
Donald L. McCabe

Research suggests that the majority of U.S. undergraduate students have engaged in some form of misconduct while completing their academic work, despite knowing that such behaviour is ethically or morally wrong. U.S.-based studies have also identified myriad personal and institutional factors associated with academic misconduct. Implicit in some of these factors are several institutional strategies that may be implemented to support academic integrity: revisiting the values and goals of higher education, recommitting to quality in teaching and assessment practice, establishing effective policies and invigilation practices, providing educational opportunities and support for all members of the university community, and using (modified) academic honour codes. There is a dearth of similar research in Canada despite growing recognition that academic misconduct is a problem on Canadian campuses. This paper suggests that Canadian higher education can learn much from the U.S. experience and calls for both a recommitment to academic integrity and research on academic misconduct in Canadian higher education institutions.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek R Slagle ◽  
J.J. McIntyre ◽  
April Chatham-Carpenter ◽  
Heather Ann Reed

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the types of information that were shared by the institution, and faculty/staff responses to the information shared, with the goal of providing recommendations for other institutions facing concurrent crises.Design/methodology/approachThis mixed-methods case study examines a public university's experiences managing the Covid-19 pandemic crisis while simultaneously navigating financial challenges that had been building over time. Using data from university-wide mediated communications and a survey of on-campus stakeholders during the Covid-19 pandemic and university retrenchment process, this paper explores institutional communication, stakeholder response to organizational communication and faculty/staff reactions to information in the midst of concurrent crises.FindingsThe study found that the university used instructing and advising information within its messages from its top administrator but fell short of incorporating empathy for its stakeholders in its initial responses.Research limitations/implicationsUsing the situational crisis communication theory (Coombs, 2019), which recommends the use of an ethical base response to crises, implications are provided for other organizations facing concurrent crises during the Covid-19 pandemic, to also incorporate empathy in their messages to stakeholders whose livelihoods are being affected, across multiple platforms.Originality/valueWeathering the Covid-19 pandemic and long-term financial pitfalls have proven to be a disruptive phenomenon for higher education institutions. This research expands understanding of institutional communication and stakeholder reactions in a higher education institution facing both the Covid-19 crisis and a retrenchment.Peer reviewThe peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-09-2020-0415.


Author(s):  
Jonathan Sharp

This paper presents the latest phase in an ongoing project to develop and widen the scope of drama-based classes in the practical language section of a German university English department. A brief overview of the use of literature in the (English) language classroom is given, with examples of some recent models, before turning to a consideration of practical drama-based approaches in Shakespeare education. This forms the background against which the main report on practice is presented. The Sprachpraxis section of the University of Tübingen English Department is briefly introduced before the focus shifts to the most recent example: a course on Shakespeare’s Macbeth involving drama-based methods. Course design, assessment and literature choice are discussed, before the pre- and post-course expectations and impressions are explored using data gathered from student questionnaires and teacher diary entries. Based on this analysis, initial outcomes are suggested for the continued progress of drama-based elements in the Sprachpraxis curriculum.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 133-154
Author(s):  
Valéria dos Santos de Oliveira ◽  
Rodrigo Rossi Horochovski

A Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR) se mostrou uma das pioneiras na implementação da política de educação superior indígena, pois em 2004 já realizava discussões nesta temática, o que culminou na Resolução n. 37/2004 do Conselho Universitário (COUN). Considerando tal afirmativa, este artigo tem como objetivo analisar a política pública de ação afirmativa pelo viés da educação superior indígena na UFPR, considerando a atuação e experiência de uma Secretária Executiva nessa área e temática. Para tanto, realizou-se uma aproximação teórica entre os conceitos inerentes ao secretariado executivo, políticas públicas, ações afirmativas; política educacional superior indígena – específica de ingresso na instituição de ensino investigada. Na metodologia contemplou-se o Modelo de Múltiplos Fluxos, o Estudo de Caso e a abordagem da análise de conteúdo. O destaque foi dado à formação da agenda política, cotejando entrevistas com os gestores e informantes-chave da implementação da política na UFPR. Por fim, como resultado localizou-se a agenda nessa conjunção política considerando os elementos históricos e institucionais, a ocorrência da ação do governo no papel dos gestores da universidade, ainda a dos movimentos sociais, da comunidade acadêmica e verificou-se a mudança das ações políticas principalmente na gestão 2002/2006.   ABSTRACT The Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), proved to be a pioneer in the implementation of indigenous higher education policy, since in 2004, it already had discussions on this theme, that brought as a result the resolution number 37/04 of the University Council (COUN). Considering this statement, this paper aims to analyze the public policy of affirmative action by the bias of indigenous higher education at UFPR, considering the performance and experience of an Executive Secretariat in this area and thematic. Therefore, a theoretical approach was carried out between the concepts inherent to the executive secretariat, public policy, affirmative actions, indigenous higher education policy - the specifically of admission the educational investigated. In the methodology, we contemplated the Multiple Streams Models, Case Study and the Content Analysis approach. The emphasis was given to the agenda formation, collating interviews with managers and key informants of the implementation of the policy in UFPR. Nevertheless, as result, located the agenda in this political conjunction considering the historical and institutional elements, the occurrence of government action in the role of institutional managers, as well as the social movements, the academic community and there was a change in political actions mainly in the 2002/2006 management.  


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