scholarly journals Between the Managerial and the Democratic University: Governance Structure and Academic Freedom as Sites of Political Struggle

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalie Giroux ◽  
Dimitrios Karmis ◽  
Christian Rouillard
Keyword(s):  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Canadian Association ◽  
Normative Evaluation ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
Democratic Life ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

In this article we argue that the university cannot fully contribute to democratic life without being both an institution whose governance is collegial and based on principles of equality, equity, inclusion, transparency, and accountability, and a vector of critical thinking closely linked to academic freedom. Based on this understanding of the ‘democratic university,’ we seek to highlight some of the key tensions between the ‘managerial university’ and the democratic university, as reflected in institutional structures, regulations, legal frameworks, and principles. In order to achieve this objective, we identify two sites of political struggles from which it is possible to examine the interaction between a managerial and a democratic conception and practice of the university. The first of these sites is the bicameral governing structure, membership, rules, and regulations of the University of Ottawa. The second site is academic freedom in Canada, which we will discuss by comparing the Canadian Association of University Teachers’ (CAUT) Statement on Academic Freedom (CAUT, 2011) with the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada’s (AUCC) Statement on Academic Freedom (AUCC, 2011). By stressing the necessary link and positive relationship between democratic governance and academic freedom, the article offers a normative evaluation of the impact the managerial reengineering of Canadian universities has had on the possibility and practice of a more democratic university.

scholarly journals Staff appraisal in university libraries

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (60) ◽  
pp. 34-38
Author(s):  
Andrew Green
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Appraisal System ◽  
World War ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Staff Appraisal ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Second World ◽  
Shed Light

Staff appraisal was an American invention that emerged at the time of the Second World War. It only came to general notice two years later with the publication of the twenty-third report of 'Committee A' of the University Authorities' Panel (UAP) and the Association of University Teachers (AUT). Only one major study of the functioning of the universities' appraisal system has been published (3), and very little has been written on the experience of libraries(4). The purpose of this study was to shed light on the impact of appraisal on the 'old'university libraries and their staffs,s and to try to assess its benefits and disbenefits.

scholarly journals The integrated curriculum, university teacher identity and teaching culture: the effects of an interdisciplinary activity

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Israel Alonso Sáez ◽  
Naiara Berasategi Sancho
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Integrated Curriculum ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Teaching Culture ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
The People ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Investigative Process

The results of an investigative process are reported that centre on the impact that modular curricular organization and its interdisciplinary activity are having on the teaching culture in the Degree in Social Education at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). This understanding of the curriculum is a seminal change for teaching staff and affects their professional identity by encouraging co-responsibility throughout the process. Communicative methodology is employed, which assists in the integration of the people in the investigation, so that they form part of the process of study under equal terms. The production of data was done through in-depth interviews, discussion groups, and documental analysis. The Interdisciplinary Activity Module (IAM) was developed in small groups, of 12-15 individuals, through active methodologies, and the university teachers needed to incorporate it into their discourse and relations with other colleagues and with their students. The results show that an integrated curriculum provides a worthwhile training opportunity to achieve learning of greater significance and depth, and that it happens through changes in their ways of relating and acting as teachers.

scholarly journals What do university teachers do all day (and often into the night)?'

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-23
Author(s):  
Josie Arnold ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Personal Narrative ◽  
University Research ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Teaching and the student experience are interlocked. This paper takes a personal look at the pleasures and pressures of teaching in contemporary higher education. In doing so it adds to the definition of teachers’ work in higher education, surveys some of the creative and positive sides of University teaching and shines a light upon the impact of increased commercialisation and managerial approaches upon academic work. It focuses upon the teaching and learning activities that academics undertake in the service of the university, including the research that adds to and updates their own knowledge, and hence underpins their teaching, so as to enable and enrich the learning journeys of their students. This paper has been written as a personal narrative, as what I have come to call a ‘subjective academic narrative’. The ‘subjective’ refers to acknowledgement of the inevitability of the personal being an integral part of research; the ‘academic’ refers to the analytical and the intellectual ambience in which university research takes place; and the ‘narrative’ refers to the story, that is, the way in which we re-tell all of our research. Above all, this paper contributes to a sense of understanding some of the elements of teaching that are involved in student engagement.

Censure List from the American Association of University Professors and Canadian Association of University Teachers

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (04) ◽  
pp. 834
Keyword(s):  
Academic Freedom ◽  
American Association ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
Educational Organizations ◽  
University Professors ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Canadian Association

Investigations by the American Association of University Professors of the administrations of the institutions listed below show that, as evidenced by a past violation, they are not observing the generally recognized principles of academic freedom and tenure approved by this Association, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and more than two hundred other professional and educational organizations which have endorsed the1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure.

Joseph Kinmont Hart and Vanderbilt University: Academic Freedom and the Rise and Fall of a Department of Education, 1930–1934

2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deron R. Boyles
Keyword(s):  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Apparent Contradiction ◽  
University Professors ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
College And University ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Intellectual Integrity ◽  
The University

No one can follow the history of academic freedom … without wondering at the fact that any society, interested in the immediate goals of solidarity and self-preservation, should possess the vision to subsidize free criticism and inquiry, and without feeling that the academic freedom we still possess is one of the remarkable achievements of man. At the same time…one cannot but be disheartened by the cowardice and self-deception that frail men use who want to be both safe and free.Discussions of academic freedom inevitably elicit revolutionary and conservative forces concurrendy. This conflict is apparent, for example, in the 1916 report of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). On one hand, the university is an “inviolable refuge” from various tyrannies, including the “tyranny of public opinion.” Here, professors are part of a revolutionary “intellectual experiment…where new ideas may germinate and where their fruit, though … [possibly] distasteful to the community as a whole, may be allowed to ripen.…” Accordingly, no professor “can be a successful teacher unless he [sic] enjoys the respect of his students, and their confidence in his intellectual integrity. It is clear, however, that this confidence will be impaired if there is suspicion on the part of the student that the teacher is not expressing himself fully or frankly, or that college and university teachers are in general a repressed and intimidated class who dare not speak with that candor and courage which youth always demands in those whom it is to esteem.” On the other hand, the liberty of the scholar “is conditioned by there being conclusions gained by a scholar's method and held in a scholar's spirit; that is to say, they must be the fruits of competent and patient and sincere inquiry, and they should be set forth with dignity, courtesy, and temperateness of language.” How to rectify the apparent contradiction between expressing oneself “fully” and “frankly” while at the same time being “temperate” in language is, perhaps, a key feature in the long history of, and the various debates about, academic freedom.

scholarly journals Online discussion boards: Improving practice and student engagement by harnessing facilitator perceptions

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 86-100
Author(s):  
Tracy Douglas ◽  
◽  
Allison James ◽  
Louise Earwaker ◽  
Carey Mather ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Online Discussion ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Discussion Boards ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Learning Content ◽  
Training And Support ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

This research explores the perceptions of facilitators in asynchronous online discussion to improve practice and student engagement in Higher Education. Traditional didactic delivery of learning content may fail the expectations of student and academic stakeholders. The pressure to teach within constrained resources presents challenges, but also provides stimulating opportunities for optimising use of educational technology. Fostering student engagement requires rethinking traditional classroom and online delivery. The study explores the challenges and benefits experienced, resulting in the identification of key themes from which implications for practice are discussed. In doing so, it broadens conceptual understandings, while offering recommendations for university teachers, administrators and leaders. The impact of facilitated online discussion boards on student engagement and participation was investigated from the experiences and perceptions of facilitators of online discussion boards in a Health Science subject at the University of Tasmania. After the semester was completed, all facilitators were invited to participate in one-to-one, semi-structured interviews. Interview questions were grouped to produce both descriptive and reflective responses about roles as a facilitator, and about preparation, training and support. Findings suggest that, with appropriately trained and prepared facilitators, online discussion can improve student engagement, enhance learning outcomes and satisfy stakeholder expectations.

Universities and Colleges: A Very Short Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Palfreyman ◽  
Paul Temple
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Tuition Fees ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Exploring the origins, concept, and the idea and ideal of the university and college, Universities and Colleges: A Very Short Introduction discusses one of the world’s oldest, most resilient and adaptable institutions. Considering links between universities and colleges and the economy, and the role of the former within society, it asks how the university and college can be politically accountable for their taxpayer funding, if they need autonomy to be effective, and what the impact will be of digital and distance learning. With rising tuition fees, what is the relationship between the teaching professors and the increasing expectations of student customers? And what does ‘academic freedom’ for their faculties really entail?

scholarly journals Gendered perceptions of professional development in academia: evidence from a Ukrainian university

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 394-404
Author(s):  
Svitlana Tsymbaliuk ◽  
Lina Kurchenko ◽  
Volodymyr Tokar ◽  
Oksana Vinska ◽  
Tetiana Shkoda
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Perceptions And Attitudes ◽  
National Economic ◽  
Degree Of Satisfaction ◽  
Significant Divergence ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

The aim of the article is to study the impact of gender on the professional development of university teachers and their motivation for professional advancement. The article analyzes gendered perceptions of the professional development in the Ukrainian academic sector based on the survey of teachers from Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman (KNEU) (Ukraine). The respondents provided their assessment of conditions that support or destroy their academic careers. The findings showed significant divergence in gendered perceptions and attitudes toward motives, conditions and results of professional development at the university. Although all staff members were unanimously confident in their professionalism, the degree of satisfaction, perception of fairness and willingness to engage in management through initiatives was significantly lower among women. Female academics expressed a greater need for mentoring, while men showed greater interest in material incentives. Impressively, 11% of women versus 0% of men believe that their gender is an obstacle to their career. The study findings require the inclusion of gender aspects in the university’s development strategy and ensuring equal opportunities at all stages of HR management in academia.

Evaluation of the Academic Setting in Spain 1This study was financed by the University of Oviedo.

1995 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Fernández ◽  
Miguel A. Mateo ◽  
José Muñiz
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Climate ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Academic Setting ◽  
Teaching And Research ◽  
Evaluation Questionnaire ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
The University

The conditions are investigated in which Spanish university teachers carry out their teaching and research functions. 655 teachers from the University of Oviedo took part in this study by completing the Academic Setting Evaluation Questionnaire (ASEQ). Of the three dimensions assessed in the ASEQ, Satisfaction received the lowest ratings, Social Climate was rated higher, and Relations with students was rated the highest. These results are similar to those found in two studies carried out in the academic years 1986/87 and 1989/90. Their relevance for higher education is twofold because these data can be used as a complement of those obtained by means of students' opinions, and the crossing of both types of data can facilitate decision making in order to improve the quality of the work (teaching and research) of the university institutions.

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