EUA Autumn Conference 2007

Themes Print Email this page

Themes overview

Two working group sessions took place during the conference:

Work Group Session I: Autonomy and institutional governance

Friday 26 October 2007 11.00 - 12.30

The first round of WG sessions examined - through concrete examples - different facets of autonomy. The goal was to provide the first step in benchmarking the different elements of the autonomy of Europe’s universities.

WG1 Theme: Autonomy in relation to internal governance
C 13 building - Room 3.01

To what extent are universities able to define their internal structures (faculties/departments) and their decision-making bodies (e.g., senate, councils, etc)?

Chair: Jean-Pierre Finance, Vice President, Conference of University Presidents; President, University Henri Poincaré Nancy 1, France

Presentations:
Hans Weder, Rector, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Timothy O'Shea, Principal and Vice Chancellor, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Rapporteur: Lidia Borrell-Damian, EUA

WG2 Theme: Autonomy in relation to the development of an academic profile
C 13 building - Room 3.02

To what extent can universities define their own academic profiles, i.e., in relation to course content, or concentrating efforts on specific cycles?

Chair: Giuseppe Silvestri, Rector, University of Palermo, Italy

Presentations:
Pool Holm, Rector, Roskilde University, Denmark
Sascha Spoun, President, Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany
Rapporteur: Charoula Tzanakou, EUA

WG3 Theme: Autonomy in relation to staff recruitment and management
C 13 building - Room 3.03

To what extent are universities able to recruit and define the employment conditions of their national and international staff, i.e. set salaries, offer bonuses, transfer post etc?

Chair: Kerstin Noren, Rector, Karlstad University, Sweden

Presentations:
Ioan Panzaru, Rector, University of Bucharest, Romania
Jarle Aarbakke, Rector, University of Tromsø, President of the Norwegian Association of Higher Education Institutions (UHR), Norway
Rapporteur: David Crosier, EUA

WG4 Theme: Financial and legal autonomy
C 13 building - Room 3.04

WG4 benchmarked the financial autonomy of universities in different national contexts, e.g., the extent to which institutions are able to invest funds and carry over reserves, create internal legal entities to manage funds, and more generally have the capacity to manage their own budgets, including estates and staff, etc.

Chair: Howard Newby, Vice Chancellor, University of West of England, UK

Presentations:
Mats Ola Ottosson, Uppsala University, Sweden
Jim van Leemput, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium
Rapporteur: Thomas Estermann, EUA

Work Group Session II: Accountability and leadership

Friday 26 October 2007 16.00 - 17.30

WG Session II focused on new forms of accountability and their implications for changes in leadership and staff roles, governance structures, and funding issues.

WG5 Theme: Social accountability and new institutional governance models – The establishment of
university boards
C 13 building - Room 3.01

There have been major governance changes in some European countries reflecting in particular a move away from direct ministerial control of institutions towards new forms of autonomy and accountability in particular through the setting up of external governing boards. The session looked at different types of governing boards, their role and their impact within institutions, specifically in terms of leadership and academic staff roles on accountability.

Chair: Georg Schulz, Rector, University of Music and Dramatic Arts, Graz, Austria

Presentations:
David J. Drewry, Vice Chancellor, University of Hull, UK
Jens Oddershede, Rector, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Rapporteur: Michael Gaebel, EUA

WG6 Theme: Accountability and financial management – The move towards more transparency and full
costing of activities
C 13 building - Room 3.02

In some systems, universities have taken the initiative in moving to full costing, in particular of their research activities and, in some cases, of all their activities. WG 6 examined the challenges of such a change and the consequences in terms of institutional governance and internal and external accountability.

Chair: Mats Ola Ottosson, University Director, Uppsala University, Sweden

Presentations:
Pat Briggs, Executive Director - Planning and Resources, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
Willem Mattens, Director of Resources and Operations and Head of the Central Office of Maastricht University, The Netherlans
Rapporteur: Thomas Estermann, EUA

WG7 Theme: Accountability and institutional leadership – Embedding internal quality processes
C 13 building - Room 3.03

The rise of the ‘Evaluative State’ has been the countervailing aspect of greater autonomy granted to institutions. Today, an increasing number of universities are developing internal quality procedures, thus forcing QA agencies to adapt and change from a micro-examination of university activities to ‘light-touch’ institutional audits. The question, however, of who defines quality and the quality assurance procedures – whether these are external or internal processes – is often overlooked, leading to bureaucratic processes that alienate academic staff. Are there solutions in order to avoid these pitfalls? What should be the role of institutional leaders in embedding internal quality processes?

Chair: Mikulas Bek, Vice-Rector for Strategy and External Relations, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic

Presentations:
Jean-Marc Rapp, EUA Board member; Former Rector, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Màrius Rubiralta i Alcañiz, Rector, Universitat de Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Rapporteur: Karin Riegler, EUA

WG 8: Theme: Accountability and Competitiveness – Rankings and institutional strategies
C 13 building - Room 3.04

WG 8 explored the impact of rankings on institutional strategy and examine the extent to which these promote quality.