INSTITUTIONAL AUTONOMY and DIVERSITY in HIGHER EDUCATION

STN ERGDER PROFESSOR EMERITUS AT SABANCI UNIVERSITY Istanbul, Turkey PRESIDENT, MAGNA CHARTA OBSERVATORY Bologna, Italy

1st Global Convention of UNESCO Chairs on Higher Education

Click to edit Master subtitle Diversification and Differentiation of style

Higher Education
Dubrovnik Croatia October 14, 2011

A Magna Charta Perspective: Institutional Autonomy and Diversity

A Historical look at institutional autonomy

and its significance for higher education. Will trace contemporary developments. Thoughts on impact on our institutions and institutional autonomy. subtitle Click to edit Master An style analysis of challenges Experiences as Rector of Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey.

THE UNIVERSITY: ONE OF THE OLDEST INSTITUTIONS IN THE WORLD

Clark Kerr, The Uses of the University. Harvard University Press, Boston, 1963. p.115.
About

eighty-five institutions in the Western world established by 1520 still exist in recognizable forms, with similar functions and with unbroken histories, including the Catholic church, the Parliaments of the Isle of Man, of Iceland, and of Great Britain, several Swiss Cantons, and seventy universities. Kings that rule, feudal lords with vassals, and guilds with monopolies are all gone. These seventy universities, however, are still in the same locations with some of the same buildings, with professors and students doing much the same things, and with governance carried on in much the same ways.

CENTRAL IMPORTANCE OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND INSTITUTONAL AUTONOMY FOR THE IDEA OF UNIVERSITY
The main idea behind the Humboldtian concept of university is that

society needs institutions dedicated to the search for truth and understanding where scholars and students work together in the pursuit of knowledge. (W. V. Humboldt, On the Spirit and the Organizational Framework of Intellectual Institutions in Berlin. Minerva, 1970

Michael Oakeshott in his Idea of a University emphasizes the

communitarian aspects of learning: What distinguishes a university is a special manner of engaging in the pursuit of learning. It is a corporate body of scholars, each devoted to a particular branch of learning: What is characteristic is the pursuit of learning as a cooperative exercise.

MAGNA CHARTA UNIVERSITATUM: Fundamental Principles (1 and 2)

1.

The university is an autonomous institution at the heart of societies differently organized because of geography and historical heritage; it produces, examines, appraises and hands down culture by research and teaching. To meet the needs of the world around it, its research and teaching must be morally and intellectually independent of all political authority and economic power. Teaching and research in universities must be inseparable if their tuition is not to lag behind changing needs, the demands of society, and advances in scientific knowledge.

1.

MAGNA CHARTA UNIVERSITATUM: Fundamental Principles (3)

3.

Freedom in research and training is the fundamental principle of university life, and governments and universities, each as far as in them lies, must ensure respect for this fundamental requirement. Rejecting intolerance and always open to dialogue, the university is an ideal meeting ground for teachers capable of imparting their knowledge and well equipped to develop it by research and innovation, and for students entitled, and able and willing to enrich their minds with that knowledge.

MAGNA CHARTA UNIVERSITATUM: Fundamental Principles (4)

4. A university is the trustee of the European

humanist tradition; its constant care is to attain universal knowledge; to fulfill its vocation it transcends geographic and political frontiers, and affirms the vital need for different cultures to know and influence each other.

ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND INSTITUTONAL AUTONOMY OFTEN CONFUSED

Academic freedom and university autonomy are

concepts that have evolved hand-in-hand over centuries in a mutually reinforcing fashion. But they are not identical:

Academic freedom is a personal privilege accorded to faculty members. University autonomy, on the other hand, is an institutional privilege.

At times they may be in conflict

EMERGENCE OF NATION STATE

The external authority also acted as an agent or channel for accountability. The various charters, bulls and edicts it issued also served as a licensing, accreditation and quality assurance mechanism. From the 19th century on, the external authority became the nation-state. Scott estimates that of the 1,854 universities founded between 1200 and 1985, three quarters were established since 1900, and 1,101 were founded between 1950 and 1985. Thus, the modern university, especially the modern higher education system is a creation of the nation state. P. Scott (ed.) The Globalization of Higher Education. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press, 1988. No wonder: Mostly European universities and academics feel comfortable under the protective shelf of the state.

Globalization
Decolonization first and globalization second has had a phenomenal

impact on the growth of the higher education sector. According to International Journal of Scientometrics, infometrics and bibliometrics, total number of universities in the world is now estimated to be17036. (www.webometrics.info/methodology.html). This figure may be debatable according to how one defines a university. Yet, it is an indicator that we are faced with a completely new paradigm where the number of universities has dramatically gone up in the world. With numbers you also get diversity and differentiation.

UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY AND THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE STATE

Before the mid 1980s

Regulatory state: Prescribes through input controls Trust based funding regimes (Sverker Srling, Funding Diversity in Higher Education Policy (2007:20). In the global knowledge economy: Performance Based Funding and the Rise of the Audit Society (Srlin) Evaluative state: evaluates outcomes and outputs Emergence of national and supranational agencies of quality and accreditation. Accountability becomes the third and complementary concept to academic freedom and institutional autonomy.

NEW ACTORS/AGENTS IN UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

International quality assurance networks such as

ENQA/EQAR, INQAAHE National accreditation agencies playing and international role (ABET) OECD-UNESCO guidelines Bologna Process GATS (General Agreement on Trade and Services) Magna Charta Observatory (MCO) as a watchdog of academic freedom and institutional autonomy

Gather information, express opinions and prepare documents relating to the respect for, protection and promotion of, the fundamental university values and rights laid out in the Magna Charta Universitatum

TRADITIONAL UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY: Freedom from (State) Interference

Who will teach? Who will be taught? What will be taught? Who will be awarded degrees? What will be researched?

Almost no emphasis on financial matters:

Freedom to (strategic planning, mission and vision)

OECD IDENTIFIES EIGHT CRITERIA

OECD, Education Policy Analysis 2003 .Chapter on CHANGING PATTERNS OF GOVERNANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Ownership of property: buildings and grounds Ability to borrow and spend Ability to make budgets and spend according to strategic

goals. To be able to make your academic design and set course structure Hiring and firing of academic and administrative personnel. Determining salaries. Deciding on student intake Setting tuition for students

RECENT EUA STUDY TO TAKE STOCK OF UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY IN EUROPE

Thomas Estermann and Terhi Nokkola, Unversity in Europe. An Exploratory Study.

Organizational Autonomy

Staffing Autonomy

Internal Academic Structures Governing Bodies Executive leadership Funding Framework Funding Capacity

Recruitment of staff Civil servant status

Financial Autonomy

Academic Autonomy

Institutional Strategy Academic Profile Degree Programmes Student admission

MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS/CHALLENGES IMPACTING THE GLOBAL HIGHER EDUCATION AGENDA: DIVERSITY?

Increasing demand and massification of higher education Demographic shift population explosion versus aging Non-traditional students The rise of market forces Impact of technology on our societies and universities being asked to lead in technology development New providers, private institutions and increasing competition Internationalization in response to globalization Universities in the service of society Decline in public spending and a corresponding need for income generation Fund raising Diffusion of lay governance : Burton Clark and his concept of Creating Entrepreneurial University

Rise of lay governance in some European countries.

A Paradigmatic Change: The Growing Diversity of Universities

(Hans van Ginkel calls it Copernican Change)
Are universities anymore in the safe cocoon of the national

systems?

Increasingly, universities must rely on their own in a highly competitive world (beyond the nation state)

Especially for funding research and high quality teaching Setting of missions in a highly competitive and diversified environment

What is the responsibility of the State?

Bottom line is to regulate (1) supply, (2) access and (3) quality???

Dimensions of diversity in higher education: Teaching Research Both Specialization Universities

Changes in the Role and Place of the University: The Diversification of Higher Education
Hans van Ginkels forecast:
1. 2.

3.

4.

The tasks of a University will concentrate heavily on guiding and combining flows of knowledge; In contrast: higher education institutions will develop their own (fundamental/basic) research to a lesser extent; A new concept of education is emerging: content in the initial formative stage will be more general and learning will be continued throughout ones entire life. The number and diversity of higher education institutions will grow rapidly!

What Universities Should Do: Initiatives to Improve Education and Research

Develop specific missions both in research and

teaching. Can we be all encompassing? An important case study from Turkey: Sabanc University

An interdisciplinary academic design Emphasis on applied research and university industry relations

Internationalization both in research and teaching.

CHALLENGES?
Preserving the integrity and the autonomy of the university.

Research Ethical values Malpractice Income generation and losing sight of basic values Intrusive quality processes

Reconciling managerial efficiency with collegialism.

A distinct type of executive leadership: Burton Clarks academic core. Burton R. Clark, Sustaining Change in Universities. New York: Open University Press, 2004.

Is Diversity a Threat to Institutional Autonomy and Academic Freedom?

Multiple sources of funding. Strategic planning dictating top heavy executive

leadership as a mode of governance. Running after money may hurt the essence of free inquiry. End of collegialism?
Yet, I see it as an opportunity to enhance

autonomy.

Importance of the Magna Charta Observatory

Act as a repository of the idea Monitor and keep values on the agenda of

higher education Network with other international organizations Publications Participate in conferences Be a part of reform efforts in different parts of the world