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COOPERATION IN FRENCH SPEAKING UNIVERSITIES
A network between the heads of administration in French-speaking universities
GISGUF(Groupement International des Secrétaires Généraux
des Universités Francophones)
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1 - The GISGUF network (goals, organization, topics, achievements…)
2 - A cooperation with Moroccan universities as part of an agreement between the French and Moroccan governments
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1 - The GISGUF network
French-speaking heads of administration (HoAs)
started an informal cooperation in 1977.
The purpose was -- and still is -- Build permanent linksbetween HoAsWithin French-speaking universities
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The NAME given to this network
Groupement International des Secrétaires
Généraux des Universités Francophones
(GISGUF) Association (« loi 1901 ») Now a member of « AUF »: Agence
Universitaire de la Francophonie (association for rectors, presidents, deans, researchers)
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GOALS
Exchange and establish professional training to accompany pending changes in higher education and research
Coordinate skills and abilities of members Organize meetings on special topics Organize exchanges of « best practices »
between HoAs
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MEMBERS
HoAs from totally or partially French-speaking universities
« friends » 140 members from 21 countries
Africa : 15 + 13 (Northern Africa) Belgium : 6 Canada : 26 Lebanon : 3 Switzerland : 15 France : 62
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ORGANIZATION
General assembly (every 2 years) Round Table (Board) : 11-14 members elected
for 2 years (by the different constituencies as HUMANE does)
President elected for 2 years (Michel Quimper from the University of Montréal)
5-member executive committee
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15 CONFERENCES SINCE 1977
Belgium : 1987, 1997 Canada : 1979, 1989, 2001 France : 1977, 1985, 1991, 2003 Lebanon : 1999 Morocco : 2005 Switzerland : 1983, 1995 Tunisia : 1981, 1993
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TOPICS
1977 : decision-making process and procedures
1979 : role and responsibility of HoAs as regards official information
1981 : participation and management (the role of trade unions…)
1983 : new decentralization laws (1982 in France) and role of local authorities in higher education development
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1985 : university management in difficult economic contexts
1987 : assessment : liberating or confining? 1989 : international collaboration 1991 : the new university ( problems
encountered because of huge enrolment increases)
1993 : students, partners or customers ? 1995 : Funding and autonomy of higher
education institutions
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1997 : partnerships 1999 : risk management 2001 : the role of HoAs in implementing and
managing changes 2003 : autonomy and assessment 2005 : HoAs and governance
Presentations can be found on the web site :
http://www.gisguf.org/15e-colloque/conference.htm
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2007 : « Quality, the role of HoAs »
Initiatives toward quality involve teaching, research and administrative procedures : how can HoAs contribute to improving quality ?
Geneva 20-24 June 2007
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Unfamiliar backgrounds (history, economy,
geography, culture …) can lead to certain difficulties in understanding presentations from other countries: it is useful to take time to obtain information before meetings or training sessions (e.g. training session on human resources management with African colleagues in 2005).
« Best practices » in a country can prove to be difficult to implement in other places (Canada is not France, e.g. evaluation of teachers …)
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Attending meetings costs time and money and
we lack both ! We must try to find a good balance between too little and too much (conference every 2 years)
Can a Canadian from Quebec easily understand a colleague from Meknès or Bouaké (and vice versa )? We all speak French but ….
Proceedings take too much time to be produced and distributed to members (not enough time and means) and therefore are less useful than they could be
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Broad-mindedness is necessary in our job to be
able to anticipate changes and manage new partnerships : GISGUF - and HUMANE - are valuable training grounds for understanding what might soon take place in higher education
Continuing education is provided through the network
The network is recognized by our rectors and presidents ; conferences are sponsored by the minister of education and local authorities
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We can exchange doubts about our job and position: it helps !
Last but not least : we derive a lot of pleasure in meeting new colleagues and discovering new places in the world ( we deserve this break sometimes…)
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2 - Cooperation with Moroccan universities
An agreement between Moroccan and French governments was signed for the period 2002 – 2005
The agreement was overseen by the associations of university presidents in both countries
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GOALS
Support the implementation of the reform to be headed in Moroccan universities
Get French universities to understand the purpose and contents of the reform
Create institutional relationships between the 2 associations of university presidents
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The Moroccan BACKGROUND in 2002…
The reform of the 14 universities in Moroco was urgent :
The number of students was increasing rapidly : they had to build facilities in a very short time
Morocco wanted its students to be able to attend courses in European universities : they had to adapt curricula to European standards
Departments were autonomous : universities needed a new form of governance and a centralized administration to lead the reform
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The reform included :
1 Pedagogy and curricula
2 Research and technology transfer
3 Governance and administration
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The administrative aspects of the project were assigned by the presidents to the French association of « secrétaires généraux »
We were asked to help the Moroccan colleagues be ready in September 2004
They had very little time to :
- recruit and train new staff (mostly scientists at doctorate level, often chemists)
- get information technology and necessary hardware and software
- conceive and implement central administration
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The method used : January 2003 : French HoAs went to Morocco to
learn about the Moroccan higher education system
October 2003 : the 14 Moroccan colleagues worked for a week in 6 French universities to get acquainted with our system
February 2004 : 9 French colleagues led a 4- day training seminar in 3 Moroccan cities : workshops were organized to deal with student information and careers, human resources management, finance and space management .
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The workshops brought together 50 people, which included representatives from all departments of one particular university as well as from several other universities (breaking down walls )
June 2004 : administrative heads of departements stayed for a week-long training session at French universities
September 2004 : they did it ! Students started a new academic year (no holidays for our Moroccan colleagues and staff…)
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They did it ! ?
Well done, hats off to our Moroccan colleagues I think the method was efficient ; I particularly
appreciated the time we all took to get acquainted with both educational sytems before proceeding further (we often lack this knowledge in other situations of cooperation)
This gave the Moroccan HoAs the opportunity to work together – something they had never done before – and create a network in their country
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But what next ?
We don’t really know…. 2/3 of HoAs have changed recently The programme, headed by presidents,
focused on curricula and research
But I am still in touch with a colleague from Rabat University : he is an academic and is now in charge of international affairs …
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WELCOME TO GISGUF
Next GISGUF conference
GENEVA
20 – 24 June 2007
« Quality, the role of HoAs »
web site : http://www.gisguf.org