HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE AND QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEMS: EXPERIENCES FROM UGANDA

Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership (TGSL) Annual Public Lecture 2014, 17th September 2014, University of Limpopo, South Africa

Professor Venansius Baryamureeba, VC UTAMU, barya@utamu.ac.ug

Overview• Higher Education (HE)• HE Governance• Corporate Governance in HE• Quality Assurance (QA)• QA Systems/Frameworks • Experiences from Uganda • Way Forward

Higher Education• Education beyond high school• Education that occurs after secondary education• Post-secondary education• Tertiary education• Third level education• Often delivered at universities, institutes,

colleges, schools, academies, seminaries

Governance

• Focuses on the rules and mechanisms by which various stakeholders influence decisions, how they are held accountable, and to whom

• Emphasises on the process of setting policies and long- term goals as well as the strategies for reaching these goals

• Encompasses ‘the framework in which an institution pursues its goals, objectives and policies in a coherent and coordinated manner’ to answer the questions: ‘Who is in charge, and what are the sources of legitimacy for executive decision-making by different actors?

HE governance• HE Governance is the means by which institutions for

higher education are formally organized and managed/operated

• HE Governing structures are highly differentiated throughout the world

• Governance of HEIs traditionally has been a responsibility shared by faculty, administrators, governing/supervisory boards

• Good Governance calls for specification of areas of primary responsibility for supervisory boards, governing boards, administrators, and faculty

• HE Governance Policies, Structures, Funding, and Faculty

Alfred, (1998) suggests that...• HE Governance is “the process for distributing

authority, power and influence for academic decisions among campus constituencies– The supervisory/governing board– Administrators– Faculty– Students– Staff– The academic or education council/senate, and unions– Committees and sub-committees that include these

representatives may also play a role.

HE Governance Model, de Boer, Enders and Schimank (2007)

• State regulation by directives through the government. It measures the detail and the rigidity of government direction

• Stakeholder (industry, unions, govt) guidance through goal setting and advice

• Academic self-governance through collegial decision-making and the self- steering of academic communities based on peer review

• Managerial self-governance involving the degree and development of inner HEI managing hierarchies and the internal goal setting, regulation and decision-making power of key actors, such as Rectors, Presidents, VCs, Principals and Deans

• Competition dealing with the construction of quasi-markets and the competition for scarce resources (money, staff and through quality measures such as rankings, performance evaluations, customer satisfaction etc.) and their impact on university governance

Structures of HE Governance • Supervisory Board/Board of Trustees –Overseer

body • Governing Board/Council – Institutional decision

making body• In some institutions the roles of the Board of

Trustees and Council are merged into one organ• Academic Board/Senate – Supreme academic

organ

Better governance = more trust = less regulation

Management• The process of dealing with or controlling things

or people• The process of ensuring that an organization is

able to operate in both the immediate and near future

• Comprises planning, organising, staffing, leading or directing and controlling an organization to accomplish a goal / objectives

• Managers are charged with making decisions that will impact an organization on every level

HE Management • Refers to the implementation of a set of

objectives pursued by a HEI on the basis of established rules/policies. – It answers the question ‘how are the rules/policies

applied’ and is concerned with the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of services provided for internal and external stakeholders

• Management is led by the CEO (VC, President, Rector etc)

HE Public Funding Models are based on:

• Use of funding formulas• Allocation of block grants • Performance indicators based on students'

results are used in funding formulas in the majority of countries;

• Public funding is awarded in accordance with a performance contract

• Public funds for research are allocated according to various mechanisms

HE Private Funding Models are based on:

• Fees (e.g. Tuition fees, Functional fees)• Fees from service provision• Donations and legacies from private entities• Partnerships resulting in research contracts

between HEIs and private contractors• Loans, revenues from property, sponsorship of

posts, investments and the creation of companies are also authorised and common in many countries

Tenets underpinning Codes of Governing/Supervisory Board Members

• Leadership• Selflessness • Integrity • Objectivity • Accountability • Openness and transparency • Honesty • Fairness • Independence • Efficiency and effectiveness • Value for money• Quality

Governing/Supervisory Board

• Need for clear responsibilities in: – Formulating an institutional mission or/and strategic

plans and policies – Supporting the executive/management in its work

• Need to draw lines between day-to-day management, strategy and policy formulation

• Need to uphold board’s independence• Need to avoid mingling in operational matters

Governing/Supervisory Board

• Committees– Delegate authority to committees – Delegate duties only if there is an advantage – Clearly explain what can be delegated and to whom

• Chairperson – Define the role clearly

Governing/Supervisory Board • Members – Decide on the number of internal/external

stakeholders involved– Establish clear rules for remuneration– Decide on the role of members: are they stakeholders

or representatives of the public?– Decide on whether specialists (finance, etc.) are

needed– Make sufficient information available to the members

and if appropriate use key performance indicators – Avoid conflicts of interest

Governing/Supervisory Board • Transparency– Decide what should be available to the public– Assure clear internal transparency for sufficient

deliberation, trust and support for the institution‘s mission

– Standardize available information and improve its readability

Governing/Supervisory Board

• Supervision– Risk management system– Sound financial accountability– Self-evaluation– Internal quality assurance system– Supervision of the institution

Governing/Supervisory Board • Head of Institution/CEO– A clearly defined role – Clearly defined tasks as head of the institution – A clear election/selection process of appointment– Accountability to the governing/supervisory board

• Academic Board– A clearly defined role– Clear responsibilities

Governing/Supervisory Board

• External Stakeholders– Clearly articulated relationships with the community

and industry – Definition and evaluation of policies towards external

stakeholders (e.g. donors, alumni)

Governing/Supervisory Board • Institution– To ensure deliberation so that all constituencies have been

consulted in decision- making processes– To identify actors in HEI governance and, if necessary, propose

policies (e.g. affirmative action)– To establish grievance and whistle-blowing procedures – to define values (such as academic freedom and consideration

of a code of conduct) – To determine clear delegation of authority and limits of

discretion for positions and their accountability structure– To promote consistency and transparency in internal actions

and decision-making by comprehensive internal policies and procedures, e.g. committee review, moderation processes for assessment

Corporate Governance• The system of rules, practices and processes by which

a company/corporation is directed and controlled• Provides the framework for attaining a company's

objectives• Encompasses practically every sphere of management,

from action plans and internal controls to performance measurement and corporate disclosure

• Essentially involves balancing the interests of the many stakeholders in a company - these include its shareholders, management, customers, suppliers, financiers, government and the community

While applying corporate governance,…

• As Hoare (1995:41) noted, universities must recognize they have important differences from other public and private sector enterprises-they need to maintain autonomy and protect and enhance academic freedom of staff

• Universities, represent several professions which make it even harder to get cohesion in a set of goals.

However…..• The commonly agreed elements of good

governance in any organization apply to universities:–Accountability– Transparency– Efficiency– Equity–Participation, and – Effectiveness

In a university:

• Supervisory/Governing Boards: Supreme organ (final authority);

• President/Vice-chancellor/Rector: holds delegated authority with his team of administrators

• Academic Board –supreme academic organ• Faculty: Creators of new knowledge. In practice,

faculty is supreme in academic matters such as curriculum, appointment of academic staff, admission requirements, etc.

In a University cont’d • Students: Key partners in the university, variously

described as consumers or customers in the academic enterprise;

• Unions: Sometimes referred to as network leaders; and

• Non-academic staff, particularly senior administrative and professional staff.

Quality Assurance (QA)• Maintenance of a desired level of quality in a service or

product, especially by means of attention to every stage of the process of delivery or production

• A process-centered approach to ensuring that a company or organization is providing the best possible products or services

• Administrative and procedural activities implemented in a quality system so that requirements and goals for a product, service or activity is fulfilled

• The systematic measurement, comparison with a standard, monitoring of processes and an associated feedback loop that confers error prevention

• Two principles in QA: Fit for purpose’’ and ‘’Right first time’’

• QA cycle consists of four steps: Plan, Do, Check and Act (PDCA)

Enforcing QA• Institutional assessment (evaluation & outputs)• Institutional audits • Value for money audits• System audits (qualitative description of processes)• System accreditation (comprehensiveness of

programmes/systems)• External Audits e.g. by Regulatory Bodies • External stakeholder involvement (professional

bodies, potential employers, government departments, alumni, parents, local communities)

• Internal stakeholder involvement (faculty, students)

QA Indicators• Quality indicators are statistical measures that

give an indication of output quality and can also give an indication of process quality

• Quality indicators are formally recognised figures or ratios used as yardsticks to judge and assess quality performance

QA Frameworks/Policies• There are QA policies/frameworks at:– HEI level e.g. University QA policies/frameworks– National/Country Level e.g. NCHE of Uganda– Regional Level e.g. Inter-University Council of EA– Continental level –AU Commission– Global level e.g. UNESCO/OECD Guidelines on “Quality

Provision In Cross-Border Higher Education”: UNESCO’s Capacity Building Activities In Qualifications Recognition, Quality Assurance And Accreditation-- Towards A Coherent Framework

• QA Frameworks/policies guide HE at these levels• QA frameworks/policies provide QA indicators that

are used to measure quality

Experiences from Uganda• Externally HEI work with the National Council for

Higher Education (NCHE) on a variety of functions

• NCHE mandate is to regulate higher education and guide the establishment of institutions of higher learning as well as ensure that quality and relevant education is delivered

• NCHE has structures through which it operates• NCHE has several statutory instruments:

www.unche.or.ug

Experiences from Uganda Cont’d• National Council for Higher Education (NCHE)– Composition – more than 50% of the members are

from tertiary institutions and Universities it regulates– Since inception NCHE is chaired by one of the Vice

Chancellors from one of the institutions it regulates– Since inception the Quality Assurance and

Accreditation Committee is chaired by a Vice Chancellor from one of the institutions it regulates

– The above composition compromises independence of NCHE and presents a serious conflict of interest

Experiences from Uganda Cont’d • In all Universities, Governing Board is University

Council– Public University Councils

• Composition – more than 50% are internal members (staff and students)

• Making independent decisions is not easy as the majority of the members are internal to the institution

– Private University Councils are subject to oversight from a supervisory board/board of trustees

– Private University Council composition varies from institution to institution

– Councils of both public and private Universities perform similar functions• Responsible for directing the academic, administrative and

financial affairs of the University

Experiences from Uganda Cont’d• Supervisory Board– Public Universities have the University Council that

serves as both the supervisory and governing board – For private Universities, the Supervisory Board is the

Board of Trustees (BoT)– The BoT oversees the University Council– The BoT is not involved in policy and strategy

formulation– BoT is not involved in directing the academic,

administrative and financial affairs of the University– The BoT main function is to provide advisory services

and oversight to the University council

Experiences from Uganda Cont’d • The Academic Board/ Senate is the Supreme

Academic organ and is chaired by the VC or equivalent

• The chairperson and Vice Chairperson of Council are external to the institution (they are neither staff nor students of the institution)

• All the members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) are neither staff nor students of the institution

• Bi-annual and annual reports of the University are the basis the BoT uses to provide guidance and oversight to the University council

Way Forward for Uganda• Need for Management, Senate, Council and Board of

Trustees Manuals– Conflict and poor relations may arise from

• Lack of clarity on the mandate of the different organs • Lack of clarity on how the different organs relate to each other• Lack of clarity on the implementation strategy of the different mandates

• Manuals aside, there is need to have experienced and strong CEO/VC, Chairperson of Council and Chairperson of BoT to ensure the independence of the different organs and ensure that mandates of the different organs are not commingled

• Need to define the role of the faculty and students in governance of the HEI– For example should students be represented on the governing

councils?

Way Forward for Uganda• The Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions, the law

governing HEI in Uganda needs an overhaul• Need to review the composition of the National Regulatory

Body (NCHE), BoT, Council and Senate– Majority of NCHE members should be independent and external

to the institutions it regulates– Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and Committee Chairpersons of

NCHE should be independent and external to the institutions it regulates

– BoT should comprise 100% of independent and external members to the institution

– Majority of University Council members should be independent and external to the institution

– Senate should comprise of at least 1/3 of independent and external members to the institution knowledgeable in HE matters

Way forward: Regional • Some of the recommendations on way forward

for Uganda are applicable regionally• Need for national and regional qualifications

frameworks; Not yet in place in EAC• Need for harmonized national and regional QA

frameworks• Need for legislation to integrate corporate

governance principles in HE governance

Way Forward: Globally • Some of the recommendations on way forward for

Uganda are applicable globally • Need to have global Governance standards in HE

like it is in other sectors • Corporate Governance in HE is a necessity that

should be embraced• Quality Assurance (QA) policies/frameworks at

global level are needed to guide frameworks at continental, regional, national and institutional level

• Effective QA policies/frameworks will ensure a competitive global workforce

Till we meet again!

I THANK YOU