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Department of Education, Unit Catalogue 2007/08


ED50201 Higher education management, governance and organisation

Credits: 9
Level: Masters
Semester: 2
Assessment: CW 100%
Requisites:
Before taking this unit you must take ED50203
Aims:
* To provide participants with a critical understanding of the nature of governance, organisation and management in higher education.
* To enable participants to develop an understanding of the differing conceptual bases of management in higher education.
* To consider the impact of a wide range of policy developments on the management of higher education at both national and system level and from the point of view of individual institutions.
* To understand the way in which human and financial resources influence the management of higher education institutions.
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the unit, participants will be able to:
* Analyse and compare the various forms of governance, organisation and management across nations and between different types of universities.
* Understand the way in which human and financial resources influence the academic policies and strategic management of institutions.
* Analyse the characteristics of management processes appropriate for particular organisational and cultural settings.
* Apply conceptual insights of management processes in an appropriate manner for particular organisational and cultural settings.
* Analyse and assess critically the emerging management issues for higher education in the early twenty-first century.
Skills:
Intellectual:
* Planning and management in a university setting (T/F/A)
* Ability to think strategically about university management and governance (T/F/A)
* Synthesise information from a number of sources in order to gain a coherent understanding of theory and practice (T/F/A)
* Demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems (F)
* Apply strategies for appropriate selection of relevant information from a wide range of sources and large body of knowledge (F/A)
* Deal with complex academic issues both systematically and creatively (T/F)
* Evaluate research and a variety of types of information and evidence critically, also making informed judgements in the absence of complete data (T/F/A)
* Analyse, evaluate and interpret the evidence underpinning practice critically and initiate change in practice appropriately. (T/F/A)
Professional
* Enhance their professional practice in higher education for example through analytical planning (F)
* Better contribute to professional debate in the field of higher education (T/F/A)
* Act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional level. (F)
Practical/key
* the executive roles of management (T/A)
* fundamental allocation of resources: money, staff, estates (T/F/A)
* communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences (T/F/A)
* evaluate their own academic and professional performance (F)
* utilise problem-solving skills in a variety of theoretical and practical situations (T/F)
* manage change effectively and respond to changing demands (F)
* continue to advance their knowledge and understanding (F)
* manage time, prioritise workloads and recognise and manage personal emotions and stress (F)
* understand career opportunities and challenges (F)
* develop new or higher level skills, for example in IT (T/F)
Content:
To achieve the aims stated above, the unit will consider the following areas:
* models of institutional governance; institutional cultures and micro-politics in a range of national contexts
* interface with stakeholders
* strategic and operational planning
* Human resource management
* Financial management
* Evaluation and performance indicators
* centralisation and devolution
* corporate management; leadership and change management
* management of Faculties and Departments; professional services.