HUMANE
Heads
of University Management & Administration Network in
SEMINAR
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PAVIA
Friday
15th to
Governance
|
|
‘The
Role of the Registrar in the
The
Indeed, while
great hopes were pinned on the granting of autonomy to individual universities,
including the faculty to freely choose their own Registrar and Senior
Management staff, what we have seen in terms of results are either the
installation of the same old-style managers of yore who in reality do no more
than carry out orders and maintain status quo, or the inability of a truly
innovative manager to implement serious change in the face of resistance on the
part of the University itself and/or it various components.
In the end,
what we are faced with is a situation where those afraid of change would like
to stay still or even turn back, while those interested in change are being held
back by a number of constraints, primary among them the serious ongoing
economic crisis in Italy today. But could it be that this apparently chaotic
and negative combination of events might lead to a new collaboration between
the positive forces present in the Association of Italian University
Chancellors (CRUI), the Association of European University Chancellors (CRE),
the Association of Italian University Senior Managers (CODAU) and HUMANE?
‘The function of the Secrétaire-Général in
Jean-Pascal
Bonhotal, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon1 (FR)
Monique
Ronzeau, Université René Descartes-Paris V (FR)
Introduction
-
some context issues :
history and recent creation of French universities.
-
head of
administration : a government’s representative within the institution or a representative appointed by the President ?
-
I-
Head of
administration as an actor of French university management
1)
A recent and
imperfect status
-
historic background
from 1970 onwards
-
some comparisons with
others higher executive positions in the
public sector.
-
management of
compulsory mobility à
temptation of “spoil system”.
2)
Decisive role
in the implementation of the university policy
-
a global competence
settled by the law.
-
head of
administration : expert or manager ?
II-
Governance :
Precarious balance between “managers” elected and “political” administrators
1)
Perfect tandem
: President /Head of administration ?
- appearance of the
notion of “presidential team”.
- co-management between President / head of administration :
disputed competencies? a privileged relationship ?
- political role of
Head of administration in the institution strategy.
2)
A function
that meets difficulties to be recognized
-
universities
changing, increasing self-government, evolution of the head of administration’s
tasks.
-
training and
improvement of abilities.
-
a more professional
recruitment process.
Conclusion
-
important and crucial
tasks at the heart of the institution, close to
decision–making tasks, in
university ‘s organization.
-
highly variable and delicate tasks. To get official recognition as an
executive position, the role of head
of administration should be clearly understood in its professional and
legitimate dimensions.
‘Clerks, consultants, policemen or
entrepreneurs: The role of the Secretary
and Registrar in a
Steve Cannon,
The deadly
dull issue of university administration?
Or
Clerk,
Consultant, Policemen or Entrepreneur?
Or
the University
Secretary IS confused?
OR
The role of
the Secretary and Registrar in a UK University
In 1998 John
Dearlove wrote
“When
universities were well resourced elite institutions much internal university
organisation involved little more than the limp administration of dull, steady
state, routines. Tighter times in the
1980s encouraged the call for more efficient management and in the 1990s the
issue of good university governance has been pushed to the fore. Efficient management and good governance are
important but the nature of academic work and the professional sentiments of
academic workers mean that management, bureaucracy and governance can only take
universities so far in the organisation of teaching and research in turbulent
times that call for change and entrepreneurship”
This session
will explore the changing role of the Secretary and Registrar over recent years
and will, with reference to some classic management texts, propose a series of
checklists suggesting the qualities, both personal and professional, required
of the modern registrar.
‘The role of the Gerente in Spanish universities. Is it
possible to put order in chaos?’
Fernando Casani, Universidad Autonóma de Madrid (ES)
The gerente is the person in charge of the
management of the administrative and economic services of the university. He or
she is appointed by the Rector in agreement with the Social Council. It is a
full time position and the gerente
cannot perform teaching activities. Law does not require any kind of academic
degree to become a gerente, but most
universities have established that the gerente
has to have a university degree. He can be either a public official or work
under an employment contract. Moreover, he can come from inside or outside the
university.
In practice,
the mission of the gerente is to
balance different powers in order to achieve the institutional goals. The main
political difficulty comes from the university governance structure, based on
university autonomy. On one hand, the gerente
has to manage, by the Rector’s mandate, issues that affect the interests of
working people (teaching and administrative staff) who are the voting body to
elect the Rector. On the other hand, agents who are not responsible for revenues
take the decisions on expenditures.
Traditionally,
administrative and economic services have been entrusted to vice-rectors with
different denominations. It is not always an easy task to establish a division
between administrative procedures, responsibility of management, and academic
decisions, responsibility of vice-rectors, especially when decisions on the
allocation of resources are involved. Moreover, the difficulty of the gerente’s mission increases when we take
into account the fact that he can have responsibilities over other legal
institutions (foundations, companies, etc.) that depend on university.
Is it possible
to put order in chaos? The gerente
does not control incomes or the allocation of expenses. He does not have power
on teaching staff and he has to lead the administrative and services staff by
mandate, without the possibility of incentives. He must establish management
procedures that guarantee social accountability and increase administrative and
financing efficiency. And he must do all these, without forgetting that the
Rector cannot loose the support of the teaching, administrative and services
staff that assures his continuity.
As a
conclusion, we can say that the gerente
is neither a general manager nor a simple executor as it is expressed in the
title of another communication, but a network manager who has to balance the
different interests of the agents, so that they can be included in the
objectives established by the institution. The mission of the gerente is to manage the network,
establishing equilibrium between the different forces, so that the activities
flow to achieve the institutional goals, by means of negotiation and agreement.
Elisabeth
Freismuth, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (AT)
Universities
are fascinating organisations: Feudal in their appearance, utopian in their
objectives, slow to change, lasting centuries and in times of crisis always
essential for society.
So why did I
choose the title "
The following
three main bodies form the autonomous universities: University council -
strategy Senate - curricula Rector's office - entitled to delegate tasks and
responsibilities concerning teaching to the teaching body and other tasks to
the administration. Internal structures were formed autonomously without
external influence. The administration was structured into flat hierarchies. By
law university directors do not exist any more and the majority of the
universities do not have this position any longer. The department heads of the
administration, who are responsible for special areas report to the rector or
up to four vice rectors. The rector's office is not solely responsible for
strategic matters but also of operational tasks, functioning, in the absence of
university directors as a resource for the administration. Most universities do
not have a single governing administration unit any more.
The
presentation portrays the historical role of the university director, the current
situation in
‘
John
Fürstenbach,
Elisabeth
Freismuth will give us insights in drastic real changes in the position of the
Austrian Kanzlers, which followed changes in the legal system. The same legal
changes came about in
In my
presentation I will outline he historic background and try to identify factors
that explain why there was no Big Bang in