How Do International Students Study for Their University Degree Programme Using Technologically-Assisted Tools and Platforms?

Due to the current education trend, many students, including traditional-age, non-traditional, returning, evening, and adult students, move from traditional on-campus study to distance learning and online education. The current COVID-19 pandemic offers opportunities for these colleges and universities to expand their channel to international students who cannot come on-campus due to the recommendation of social distancing and the self-quarantine policy. However, it is important to capture the students' comments and opinions, particularly international students who are looking for the living experience in an overseas country. With the tools of qualitative inductive survey and interview sessions, the researcher collected 63 valid data from the Chinese international students. This study provided the blueprint for school leadership, department heads, policymakers, faculty members, and students who are interested in reforming the current curriculum and instruction.

The Necessary Competencies for Selecting Academic Leaders in the Sultanate of Oman in Light of the Vision of the Education Strategy 2040

This study aims to search for the necessary competencies to choose academic leaders in the Sultanate of Oman in light of the vision of the 2040 education strategy. To achieve this aim, a qualitative approach is used, by preparing an interview card that includes five main questions. The sample of the interview consists of nine individuals who occupy leadership positions at the university and whose work is related to the educational field. The sample consists of (the dean of the faculty and his assistants, a sample of department heads, the dean of admission and registration, directors of centres, and the head of the Quality and Accreditation Unit). The data collection period took about one month. The qualitative method is used to analyse the responses of the corresponding sample using the coding system NVivo according to the study fields. The results of the study show that one of the most important competencies mentioned in the responses is the following competencies: personal competencies, professional competencies, communicational competencies, planning competencies, adequacy of practices, and technological competencies, in addition to the importance of academic leaders possessing the cognitive ability in two main dimensions (academic specialization and professional specialization). Furthermore, there is the importance of having a cultural horizon that helps them deal with various groups of society. As for the factors that influence the academic leader's success and make him distinguished, these are his ability to work with others, to take responsibility, to have the drive for accomplishments, to have the ability to negotiate and conclude deals, and to have the ability to deal with crises or risks. Based on the results of the study, several recommendations and proposals are developed.

A nationwide web-based survey of oncologic surgeons to clarify the current status of preoperative assessment for elderly cancer surgery patients in Japan

Elderly cancer patients requiring surgical treatment are increasing, and the deterioration of quality of life and shortening of healthy life expectancy due to postoperative complications represent major problems. This study investigated the current status of medical treatment, including perioperative evaluations, for elderly cancer patients requiring surgical treatment at cancer treatment facilities nationwide. A total of 436 cancer care facilities around Japan were invited to participate in this web-based survey regarding management of cancer patients ≥ 65 years old who had undergone surgical treatment in 2018. A total of 919 department heads from 245 facilities agreed to participate. Although most respondents answered that performance status, preoperative examinations, and comorbidities were important when deciding on a treatment plan, age, Geriatric Assessment (GA), and guidelines were "not important" for > 10% of all respondents. GA was familiar to 195 department heads (21%), and awareness of GA was significantly lower among respondents from medical education institutions than the other types of hospitals (18.5% vs 26.3%; P = 0.006). This large survey revealed that the use of GA is not widespread, and its awareness in medical education institutions remains low. We believe that accumulating evidence of geriatric oncology surgery is an urgent issue in Japan.

Departmental leadership and peer pressure on academic research performance at universities in emerging countries: An empirical study in Vietnam

Research performance of lecturers in higher education institutions has become an important topic but many variables are still largely unexplored in current literature. The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of four leadership behaviors of department heads and coworkers on the lecturers’ research performance and the moderating effects of achievement value. A survey was conducted with a sample of 408 Vietnamese lecturers at economics and business management focused universities. Our findings contribute to the literature of job performance in higher education from an organizational behavior perspective by explaining the mid-level impacts of departmental factors affecting research performance. We also discuss potential implications and make recommendations for future research.

Comparative analysis of opinions of staff of gynecological and surgical departments on professional safety of nursing practice

The purpose of the study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the opinions of employees about professional safety in order to identify problems and implement measures to improve the working conditions of nursing professionals. Results. The main problem in solving the issues of safe work of nursing personnel remains: insufficiently equipped workplace of a specialist, insufficient wages, the influence of chemicals, carrying heavy loads, exposure to radiation, contact with infections, psychotraumatic factors, etc. Conclusion. Senior nurses and department heads carry out activities to facilitate or improve the working conditions of nurses. Create, as far as possible, comfortable conditions for the work and rest of nurses. They also oversee workplace safety compliance. The proof is the absence of cases of industrial injuries.

THE DEGREE OF CREATIVE LEADERSHIP PRACTICE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL EPILEPSY AMONG DEPARTMENT HEADS FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF FACULTY MEMBERS AT WASIT UNIVERSITY

The study aimed to identify the relationship between creative leadership and organizational conflict management among department heads from the viewpoint of faculty members at Wasit University. In order to find out the differences according to the variables of gender and specialization, the study sample consisted of (200) male and female teachers from the study population, they were chosen by the simple random method, and the researcher adopted the descriptive correlative approach to conduct the study. The two tools of the study consisted of a questionnaire of (40) items to measure lateral leadership and (36) items to manage organizational conflict prepared by the researcher. The results of the research data were analyzed using the (SPSS) program, The results of the research showed that the degree of creative leadership practice of academic department heads was high, and the results indicated that the level of organizational conflict management for academic department heads was high, and there was a positive relationship between the practice of creative leadership and the level of organizational conflict management for department heads from the viewpoint of faculty members at Wasit University and in In light of the results of the research, the researcher presented a number of recommendations, including continuity in maintaining the degree of practice of creative leadership and management of organizational conflict, as well as deepening and increasing awareness of the importance of creative leadership, and continuity in raising awareness of organizational conflict management methods through training and informing them of the advanced and renewable global experiences and proposing to conduct similar studies in Iraqi universities‎. Keywords: Practice, Creative Leadership, Organizational Conflict Management, Heads of Departments, Wasit University

Connecting University Students, Faculty and Administrators through an Online SMS Service

King Saud University (KSU) created an online Short Message Service (SMS) called “Tawasul”, developed in house, to connect administrators, faculty, and students. The KSU rector, deans, department heads and program coordinators send group season’s greetings and notifications to the mobile phones of faculty members, staff, and students. Instructors can send course notifications to their students regarding exams and other issues. There are currently 380 SMS groups for department staff, T.A.’s, workshop participants, course enrollees and others. Students and faculty surveyed indicated that the KSU online SMS Service is easy to use. It is faster and more efficient than paper memos and e-mails, especially in emergency situations. It helps conserve paper. Students and faculty can be reached anytime, anywhere and 7 days a week. Unused SMS in the user’s account can be added to his/her balance. SMSs are archived. Those interested to join a group can send a message to the group’s mobile number. Students’ mobile phone numbers are entered manually once and saved as a group. However, some faculty indicated that the allocated 200 free SMSs per month are not enough when class enrollees are more than 50. They also indicated that it is not possible to send a reply, a comment, or a query to the sender of the SMS. Sometimes the service cannot be used when it is under maintenance or when there is a technical problem. It is time-consuming to enter students’ mobile phone numbers manually particularly in large classes. Further results and recommendations are given.

Emotional Intelligence and Job Performance of the Teaching Employees at University of Bohol, Tagbilaran City

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to appraise and express one’s emotions, appraise and recognize the emotion of others, regulate one’s emotion, and use the emotion to facilitate one’s performance. Job performance of teaching employees refers to the instructional skills, personal & social qualities, educational leadership, and executive ability of the teachers, which is evaluated by the employees and their respective department/office head. This study was designed to examine the correlation between EI and job performance of the teaching employees. The study utilized a descriptive quantitative survey method using standardized questionnaires in gathering the data. The study respondents comprised 111 full-time teaching regular employees in different departments of the University of Bohol. This study used the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale with overall reliability between 0.77-0.91, which measured the EI of the respondents. Results displayed a significant positive correlation between EI and job performance. This study implies that as EI increases, the job performance of the teaching employees also increases. Moreover, the job performance between self-evaluation and office head evaluation does not significantly differ. This research indicates that the evaluation scores have no difference in how the teaching employees rated themselves and their respective office/department heads.

Crew endurance training in the united states navy: Lessons learned from senior leadership, prospective commanding/executive officers, and department heads

The Crew Endurance Team at the Naval Postgraduate School led a 3-year project to develop and deliver crew endurance and sleep hygiene training to support the US Navy’s implementation of circadian-based watchbills. As part of this effort, 16 training sessions were delivered to 362 active-duty service members (ADSMs) of the USN, including senior Navy leaders (n=249), prospective commandingIexecutive officers (PCOIPXOs) (n=30) at the Surface Warfare Officers School (SWOS) and students (n=83) attending SWOS Department Head School. Overall, responses from all audiences were positive indicating a high level of satisfaction with the training. We identified the need to expand two parts of the training: stimulants and sleep-promoting medications, and tips for sleeping in military environments. We will continue to tailor the training to the specific needs of ADSMs. We continue to train military audiences to increase awareness of the critical importance of sleep for operational performance and resilience.