Association of African Universities -

ASSOCIATION OF AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
IN AFRICA HIGHER EDUCATION

CALL FOR GRANTS FOR CASE STUDIES [2009 - 2010]

1.0 Introduction

The Association of African Universities, AAU, is launching a series of case studies on African higher education in the areas of governance, leadership and management. The studies will be institution-specific, aimed at providing an in-depth identification, review and analysis of the vision and roles of the institution’s leadership and management and to showcase the institution’s best practices in respect to one or more of the themes outlined below. The studies should be of the rigour that meets the quality standards of the AAU and peer-reviewed journals on higher education. Besides being considered for publication, the AAU intends to use the results of the studies as African case studies in its leadership and management development workshop series.

Study Themes:

Theme 1 – Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Management.

In the last two decades, ICT has become a major driving force in all aspects of human endeavour, including universities and other higher education institutions. However, for various reasons, some related to the high connectivity costs, many higher education institutions in Africa are lagging behind the rest of the world. Studies under this theme will examine in depth the role ICT plays in the core functions of teaching, learning, research and community engagement of the institution under study and how the institution is responding to and coping with the connectivity challenge, the efforts made to bridge the digital divide with emphasis on lessons learnt from implementing such initiatives.

Theme 2 – Financial Management and Resource Mobilisation.

A major challenge African higher education leadership has faced in the past and continues to face today is grossly inadequate funding. Absence of commiserate funding has had far-reaching consequences for the higher education system in many African countries. Given its traditionally weak economic base, sub Saharan Africa has been hardest hit by the political and economic problems of its own and also of the global economic downturn the world has experienced recently. African universities have lost their best faculty though brain drain, due to poor remuneration and inadequate research funding, among other factors. Poor funding has also been seen as the major driving force behind staff and student strikes on many university campuses as staff demand better pay and students insist on good welfare services. However, through various imaginative initiatives, several institutions have managed to mitigate some of the worst negative effects of public under-funding.
The studies under this theme seek to explore the extent to which low-funding has impacted the institution’s ability to fulfil its mandate of providing quality instruction and research as well as its implication for service to the community; the innovative initiatives the institution has implemented to mobilise additional resources; the successes and failures and the good practices which the rest of Africa could emulate from the institution’s fundraising strategies and efforts. In particular, the study is expected to examine the role played by the institution’s leadership and management in these efforts and its effectiveness.

Theme 3 – Management Student Welfare and Service Outsourcing

It is often argued that for a university, which by tradition combines teaching and research, students are its major clients, be they undergraduates or graduates. That being the case, a university is not only expected to provide a conducive environment that promotes serious scholarship, it is also expected to care for the welfare of its students. The welfare services usually include provision of accommodation, local transport and catering, among others. Poor welfare services are usually the flash points that ignite student unrest and fully residential institutions are the most vulnerable. At considerable cost, many institutions employ and keep on their payrolls large numbers of workers whose only responsibility is to provide and manage student welfare services.
In recent years and as an attempt to cut costs, the trend has been to outsource the services to private providers, leaving the institution to deal with its core business only. Accommodation, local transport, cleaning and catering are the commonly outsourced services. The results seem to be mixed. In some institutions both students and workers unions have resisted service outsourcing, while in others, the change has been successfully implemented. However, only a few success stories are well documented. This study aims at examining in details the institution’s practice in respect of the student welfare; attempts, if any, at outsourcing some or all students services. How was the scheme implemented? What was the students and workers’ reaction? What is the attitude of the students and workers to service privatisation and outsourcing? The savings made. The intricacies of paying the bills for the services and any backstop measures the institution has put in place to mitigate the effects of failure on the part of the provider to deliver the services or failure to pay on time.. The study should also describe the institution’s best practices as showcases other institutions could learn from. The role the institution’s leadership and management played in the initiation and implementation of these initiatives has be highlighted.

Theme 4 – Quality Assurance Management

As a result of low funding, small faculty numbers and rising student enrolments, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as ‘massification’, in many African universities, the question of whether African higher education institutions are providing the right quality of education has become a topical issue and a matter for serious concern. Given the critical role higher education plays and is expected to play in the development process of the continent, serious attention has to be paid to the quality and calibre of graduates universities and other tertiary institutions pass out. The research outputs, particularly in the fields of Science and Technology, which are expected to translate into wealth creation, must also be of commensurate quality and applicability. Accordingly, many institutions in Africa have embarked on efforts, sometimes with external assistance, to improve the quality of instruction and research. The aim of this theme is to generate case studies that to examine and document initiatives the institution under study has constituted to address the issues of quality assurance; the outcome of such efforts so far and how they are measured; the benchmarks employed; the factors that led to instituting such measures, the role played by the institution’s leadership in these initiatives and the impact so far?

Theme 5 – Conflict Management on Campuses

As resources become scarce against the background of increasing demands on the instructional budgets, conflict becomes inevitable because of failure to meet expectations. Poor funding is one of the major factors that contribute to staff and student strife on many African university campuses. However there are other mundane factors as well. Conflict between staff and management can arise when the leadership is perceived to be undemocratic; not transparent; corrupt, particularly in matters of financial management and distribution of scarce resources or the leadership is seen as incompetent.
For the students however, conflict tends to revolve around welfare issues or what some call students power, a phenomenon where it becomes fashionable for every student leader to promise those electing him or her that he or she will lead a strike, under the guise of fighting for student rights but in reality simply for the sake of flexing muscle with the institution’s administration. It is equally true that some strikes in institutions of higher education in Africa are externally instigated. Usually, the national body politic plays a behind-the-scene role. However, there are new and emerging trends pointing to student strikes based on demand for quality instruction and value for money.
If not well controlled and resolved quickly, conflicts can paralyse the institution, which can translate into closure of the institution for prolonged periods of time, disruption of teaching and learning with serious financial implications. Constant conflicts can also dent the institution’s reputation.
This study is aimed at identifying the common causes of conflict in the institution under study, the coping mechanisms, how it pacts on gender issues (staff –staff, staff – students and student – student), conflict resolution structures and strategies in place, how the institution’s leadership and management resolved or resolves the conflicts, and at providing good examples of conflict resolution and management that can be shared with other higher education institutions in Africa.

3.0 Deliverables

At the end of the each study, the researcher or researchers will be required to provide in hard and soft copy a report of between 4,000 – 5,000 words, with an executive summary of the key findings and issues identified in the study. The report should be a critical analysis of the theme being studied, supported by the relevant statistical data, tables and pie charts.
The copyright shall be vested in the AAU.

4.0 Requirements

(i) Proposal

Interested researchers at an African higher education institution, either as a team or as individuals, are invited to submit to the undersigned a proposal for the case study not exceeding two pages, describing the area of study, the problem statement, and the methodology to be employed in the study. The AAU accepts up to a maximum of two proposals from each institution.

(ii) Grant

A grant of US$5,000 for the case study will be awarded to each accepted proposal. The grant will be channelled through the executive head of the institution, who will have a final say on how the grant is to be distributed to the researchers.

(iii) Statement of Institutional Support

As the case studies are institutional ones, a statement must accompany the application from the head of the applicant’s institution of affiliation giving approval for the application and an assurance of institutional support and general oversight of the project till the study is completed and a report submitted to the AAU.

(iv) Curriculum Vitae

The current curriculum vitae of the lead researcher should be attached to the proposal. The applicant, or in the case of a team, at least one member of the team, must show evidence of competence and experience in quantitative methods and data analysis. Ready access to computer facilities and electronic communications will be an advantage. Selection will take into account gender balance as well as the need for regional and linguistic diversity.

4.0 Deadline

Applications for the grants should be clearly marked ” Research Grant Application” and addressed to the undersigned to reach him not later than August 31, 2009

The Director, Research and Programmes,
Association of African Universities,
Aviation Road Extension,
Airport Residential Area,
P.O. Box 5744,
Accra-North, GHANA.
Tel: +233 21 774495/ 761588
Fax: +233 21 774821
E-mail:research@aau.org