| CODE | ACA5063 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Governance and Management of Open and Networked Higher Education | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Arts, Open Communities and Adult Education | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Governing and managing a higher education institution is complex, laborious and dynamic. The way in which governing bodies, academic units, regulatory units and management support units may possibly be compared to an engine that needs to be well-oiled to help institutions operate in the best possible manner, especially in an open and networked higher education environment. If any part of the engine is not functioning properly, the engine will stop working and could possibly bring everything to a halt. Institutional governance and management function in a similar manner helping institutions to perform efficiently and effectively. Ensuring an effective interlink between context, strategy, governance and management is extremely challenging given that the context changes rapidly, at times faster than the way in which institutions change their governing arrangements and management support. This interlink is further complicated with the influence that external stakeholders have on higher education institutions (HEIs). HEIs deal with a multitude of stakeholders through a dynamic multi-level agency model. This scenario entails that HEIs face tensions and limitations to implement their respective strategies and to perform at a national level and on an international platform. Achieving national and international results entails the coordination of policy frameworks in a continuum of policy areas. Study-Unit Aims: The main aims of this study-unit is to analyse in-depth the following: - The transformation of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) into a perfoming organisation; - The contribution of structures and of the 'managerial engine', including the use of digital technolgies, to achieve a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); - The resulting influence of performance-oriented HEIs on the outcomes achieved at an institutional and a national level; and - The state-institutional relationship and how this relationship has evolved across time to include a continuum of stakeholders that has created an elaborate platform of networks. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Identify the main characteristics impinging on contemporary higher education environments; - Discuss the evolving higher education scenario and how this influences governance and management from a global perspective; - Critically consider how governance and management are interlinked; - Appreciate how national and institutional governing bodies, academic units, regulatory units and management support units have evolved to respond to changing higher education landscapes; - Deepen discernment of higher education as a public good concurrently neo-liberalism transforming higher education into a commercial enterprise; - Critically discuss how a strategic process in higher education institutions is conducted. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Discuss the contribution of external stakeholders to national and institutional indicators in contemporary higher education settings; - Identify essential academic-oriented and management-oriented indicators and how these are related to each other; - Discerningly consider the tensions that exist in the institutional governance stemming from the external stakeholders versus internal stakeholders, academic objectives versus managerial actions to central vs local objectives which may lead to needs and costs; - Critically consider the strengths and limitations in the use of information technologies in consideration of higher education governance and management; - Discuss differences and commonality patterns between public and private institutions operating in the contemporary higher education area. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Altbach, P. (2016). Global Perspectives on Higher Education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. - Austin, I., and Jones, G. A. (2016). Governance of Higher Education: Global Perspectives, Theories and Practices, London: Routledge. - Shattock, M., (2010). Managing successful universities. 2nd ed. London: Open University Press. Supplementary Readings: - Hénard, F. and Mitterle, A. (2009). Governing and Quality Guidelines in Higher Education, A Review of Governance Arrangements and Quality Assurance Guidelines. 1st ed. [ebook] Paris: OECD. - Huisman, J. (2010). International Perspectives on the Governance of Higher Education – Alternative Frameworks for Coordination. New York: Routledge. - Rowlands, J. (2017). Academic Governance in the Contemporary University: Perspectives from Anglophone nations. Singapore: Springer. - Shattock, M. (2006). Managing Good Governance in Higher Education, Managing Universities and Colleges: Guides to Good Practice. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. - Shattock, M. (2002). Re-balancing Modern Concepts of University Governance. Higher Education Quarterly, 56 (3), pp. 235–244. - Jarzabkowski, P. (2003). Contradiction and Coherence: Managerial Contributions to Strategic Activity. Aston Business School Working Paper RP0305, Birmingham: Aston University. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-requisite Qualifications: First Degree (MQF 6) at Second Upper Level or better (as per requirements of the postgraduate study programmes it relates to). | ||||||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Independent Study and Online Learning | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Colin Borg Maria Cutajar (Co-ord.) |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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