Leadership in Higher Education Management

​EU experience shows that the process of good university manag​ement is very complex. It needs an attitude of respect, tolerance and open-mindedness. The setting up of a virtual network where university leaders, management and executives from EU and partner countries can discuss, compare and learn about new management tools, methods and attitudes can be a highly efficient methodology for raising awareness and standards. At present, there is a number of such networks in Europe. A work package was set up by a network of University leaders to discuss, advise and learn about issues that will affect Universities of the 21st Century. This is a scoping activity which was led by the Leadership Foundation and assisted by the external experts Andris Barblan and John Davies. Each country was visited in turn (the university partners and the Ministries) and data was collected in relation to the needs for each country. This was all collated by the Leadership Foundation and presented as a report to the consortium. If formed the basis of the work in years two and three.

This is a scoping activity which was led by the Leadership Foundation and assisted by the external experts Andris Barblan and John Davies. Each country was visited in turn (the university partners and the Ministries) and data was collected in relation to the needs for each country. This was all collated by the Leadership Foundation and presented as a report to the consortium. If formed the basis of the work in years two and three.​​​

A work package was designed for university personnel at Dean and Vice Dean level of responsibility. It used the Adaptive Learning Technology developed by Bari University, Italy. People using this facility were asked to complete a personal profile which included not only existing skills but also areas where learning was needed. Many learning activities were produced by the course teams in this work package and a learning path was identified. The exact nature and tide of this material came from the results of the scoping visit and was agreed at the consortium meeting in Cairo at the end of the first year.​

The previous virtual material and the best practice from the network was assembled into modules which was used at masters level at the partner institutions. Typical modules include: creative learning, systems thinking, financial management, management of change, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Each partner was provided with a centre called the Leadership Centre to handle all three different levels. The centres are equipped with video conferencing equipment to facilitate the leaders network. They also have the required hardware and software to provide the adaptive learning module for the second level. Each centre now has a full time manager each of which provide an excellent facial point for all leadership activities.

The role of the club is to identify, develop, encourage, advance, link and support women leaders in HE and encourages world wide participation. The club organised annual meetings for women leaders in HE and also gave annual awards. The awards recognise outstanding and innovative programs, colleges, universities, governing boards, search firms, and individuals who have contributed significantly to the advancement and support of women or women's issues in HE. This is an innovative outcome since female participation and appreciation in HE management in the MENA region demands a great deal of attention.

A set of performance indicators were developed to provide a consistent set of measures and provide reliable information on the nature and performance of the HE sector in the partner countries governance. The capacity to take binding decisions for a collective is seen as one of the most popular concepts in social sciences. In this veritable growth industry new forms of governance have come into focus, immediately raising intriguing questions about the ‘old’ and ‘new’ forms of governing. A good metaphor is that the national government should be steering, not rowing. Instead, HE organisations and their stakeholders should have ‘maximum’ autonomy to reach these nationally set goals and that is what this project is all about.