staff management in african universities -...

H E P Contributions No.7

Staff m a n a g e m e n t in African universities

by Bikas G . Sanyal in association with

Michaela Martin

International Institute for Educational Planning

Included in the same series:

1. New strategies for financing diversified forms of education and training Sylvain Lourié

2. Educational planning: reflecting on the past and its prospects for the future1

Jacques Hallak

3. Education for all : high expectations or false hopes? Jacques Hallak

4. Educational planning looks towards the year 2000х

Françoise Caillods

5. Partnership in education: the role of universities in the Pacific Rim Bikas С S any al

6. Educational policies in a comparative perspective: suggestions for a research agenda Jacques Hallak

7. Staff management in African universities Bikas C . Sanyal

1. Also published in French and Spanish.

H E P Contributions N o . 7


by Bikas С Sanyal

in association with Michaela Martin

This document was presented at the meeting of the DAE Working Group on Higher Education in Dakar, Senegal, 26-27 June 1991

International Institute for Educational Planning (established by U N E S C O )

The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of U N E S C O or of the П Е Р . The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of U N E S C O or П Е Р concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries.

The publication costs of this document have been covered through a grant-in-aid offered by U N E S C O and by voluntary contributions made by several M e m b e r States of U N E S C O , the list of which will be found at the end of the document.

This volume has been typeset using IIEP's computer facilities and has been printed in IIEP's printshop.

International Institute for Educational Planning 7 - 9 rue Eugène-Delacroix, 75116 Paris

© U N E S C O November 1991

Contents

Page

1. Identification of major problem areas I

2. Conceptual clarification of staff management 2

3. Deficiencies in staff mangement in African universities 3

4. Measures to improve staf management 5

4.1 Identification of needs/requirements in quantitative

and qualitative terms 5 4.2 Recruitment of staff 7 4.3 Delegating responsibility 8 4.4 Provision of conducive working conditions 9 4.5 Appraisal of staff performance 10 4.6 Staff development 12

5. Conclusions and recommendations to donor agencies 13

Tables 17

References 23

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by Bikas С . Sanyal in association with Michaela Martin

1. Identification of major problems areas

Higher education in Africa has made remarkable progress in supplying high level manpower during the last three decades. Enrolment at third level education in Africa (excluding the Arab States) has increased at the highest rate among all the regions of the world both during the period 1975-80 (at 14.6 per cent) and later during 1980-88 (at 7.1 per cent). Total enrolment increased from 193,000 in 1975 to 658,000 in 1988 according to the latest available statistics of U N E S C O . 1

This rapid expansion m a y have apparently contributed to the solution of the problem of scarcity of high level manpower but has been accompanied with at least four interrelated deficiencies.2 First, there has been an inappropriate mix of output. This is revealed by (i) the excessive number of graduates in certain areas; (ii) very little activity in research resulting in little output in knowledge and innovation and (iii) still less public service for the community through consultancy and advisory activities. The second deficiency is the low quality of the education provided, which will, be elaborated later. The third deficiency is the relatively high cost of African higher education: cost of a graduate of Sub-Saharan Africa, according to one estimate is eight times G N P per capita whereas it is only 3.7 times the G N P per capita for all the developing countries combined.3 The ratio between unit costs in higher and in primary education varies between 30:1 and 50:1 in African countries as against 10: 1 in Asia or Latin America.4 The fourth deficiency is the inefficiency in financing higher education, revealed by public funding of all education including, very often, the living costs of students.

It must, however, be mentioned that all these deficiencies also exist in other developing regions of the world but the extent of the deficiencies is larger in Africa than in other continents.

The concern n o w for all governments and donor agencies is to increase efficiency and utilization of resources and reduce wastage. However, the notion of management and its components have not received enough attention not only in Africa but in all other developing

1. U N E S C O . Statistical Yearbook 1990. U N E S C O , Paris, 1990.

2. Habte Aklilu. "Support for Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Where does the World Bank Stand?" In Higher Education Policy, Vol. 2,1989.

3. Mingat, Alain and G . Psacharopoulos. "Financing education in Sub-Saharan Africa: issues of equity and efficiency of investment ~ some policy alternatives." In : Finance and Development, Vol. 22 (March), pp. 35-38,1985.

4. Hinchliffe K . Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. London, Croom Helm, 1987.

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Staff management in African universities

countries, in any sphere of activity, not to speak of higher education alone. It seems that the

present economic crisis, especially in Africa, is partly due to management problems. The

symptoms are however most prominent in the area of higher education.

It should, however, be noted that the situation varies largely from one country to another. The nature of the State, its development strategy, the size of the higher education system and its institutional arrangements and distribution of authority, among other things,5

are important parameters both with regard to the state of higher education in each particular country and the feasibility of targeted reform initiatives. The complexity and the political character of the decision-making process in higher education systems in general, and in African higher education in particular contributes to the difficulties in finding solutions.

Despite this obvious variety and complexity, one can derive some basic tools for better utilization of resources. This led the International Institute for Educational Planning to launch a research project on 'Improving the effectiveness of higher education institutions: studies of the management change'6 in its n e w medium-term plan (1990-95). The project focuses on institutions rather than on systems or national bodies because of the following reasons: (i) success of management policy depends on the implementation capacity of the institutions; (ii) higher education institutions in most countries have a large degree of autonomy; and finally, (iii) in periods of financial crisis the institutions of higher education have to decide themselves where to concentrate cuts or allocate real declining resources or improve management effectiveness.

2 . Conceptual clarification of staff m a n a g e m e n t

According to Peter Drucker,7 management involves the tasks of planning, organizing, leading, controlling and developing. A n y manager should have these skills to different degrees for different levels of organizations and responsibilities.

The task of planning involves aim-setting, scheduling, judging time needed for completing a job.

The task of organizing means designing a job (the job's responsibilities and the abilities needed to perform it), dividing a whole range of work into different jobs and providing the co-ordination and controls needed to m a k e the work less costly and less difficult.

5. Lillis, Kevin M . Training for planning and management: improved management systems in higher education in developing countries in international development programmes in Higher Education, Special Papers, Commonwealth Secretariat, London, 1989.

6. International Institute for Educational Planning. Improving effectiveness of higher education institutions: studies of the management of change. An HEP research programme. IIEP, 1990.

7. Drucker, Peter. The practice of management, London, Heinemann, 1969.

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HEP Contributions No. 7

The task of leading involves getting things done willingly and with good support by others. Specifically it needs understanding people, motivating them, building teams, and encouraging communication a m o n g colleagues.

The task of controlling involves creating controls (measures of progress, acceptability of results, and utilization of resources), supervising and recognising problems.

The task of developing needs the skill of managing the w a y people develop their abilities through experience and n e w knowledge. This involves defining the standards of performance, recognising what can be learned, appraising people, and creating opportunities.

The staff management in an institution of higher education, which, according to the present paper is defined as performance of the tasks of planning, organizing, leading, controlling and developing staff for the effective functioning of the institution. With regard to the categories of staff in a university: academic and non academic, there are m a n y different levels which vary from university to university. Managing the academic staff would imply organizing the work of teaching/research/public service done by them economically. The people involved in managing academic staff in a particular university are the head of institution, deans and the heads of academic departments. Managing the non-academic staff would m e a n having the administration of financial and physical resources, maintenance of physical facilities, provision of service facilities for students and staff including library and all kinds of support functions needed for the development and management of the university, performed by the relevant staff economically. The people involved in managing these staff in a particular university m a y be the registrar (and deputy), bursary (and deputy), librarian and heads of sections employing clerical, technical and maintenance personnel.

A good managerial system can often face the challenge of scarcity of financial resources and maintain the performance of the institutions to a reasonable standard. W h e n such a system does not exist, the situation can only worsen. Absence of a good staff management system in the institutions of Africa has been partly responsible for wastage of resources.

3 . Deficiencies in staff m a n a g e m e n t in African universities

The lack of an appropriate staff management system can be revealed by the following deficiencies:

(i) Lack of an appropriate planning of staff needs in quantitative terms, has resulted in continued dependence on costly expatriate staff mainly in senior academic positions of teaching and research. According to one U N E S C O study (see Table 7) of the early eighties, the m e d i u m percentage of national teaching staff in higher education was 50.1, i.e. half of the staff were expatriates. Although more recent statistics show signs of improvement and several universities have created staff development programmes yet there is a critical shortage of national staff in senior positions. The problem also has a qualitative dimension. Because of the lack of analysis of skill needs supported by identification of job

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profile and corresponding qualification and training needs recruitment of staff m a y become inappropriate.

(ii) Lack of a staff management system has led to misallocation of staff for different functions. Africa, excluding Arab States has the lowest student/staff ratio a m o n g all the regions of the world. While the developing countries on the whole show a ratio of 14:1. Africa (excluding Arab States) has a ratio average of 12.4:1 (see Table 2)8. Individually, for universities and equivalent institutions, Mauritius and Tanzania were at the bottom of the list with 4:1 (in 1987) and 5.7:1 (in 1988) and Madagascar had the highest student/teacher ratio at 37:1 in 1988 according to U N E S C O statistics.9 O n e m a y note that on average, the francophone countries use their teaching staff more efficiently than the anglophone countries. (See Table 3).

T h e universities of the region also employ large numbers of non academic-staff. According to one source in 1980-81, universities in Nigeria employed 52,000 staff for 72,000 students. According to the same source non-teaching staff in three universities in Ghana outnumber students. Although the comparison is difficult it m a y be indicated that in a typical British university there are six non-teaching staff for one teaching staff. The university and student services in Africa engaged most of the non teaching staff in the roles of guards, junior lecturers, canteen personnel, etc. Although the situation is improving, even in 1990, at the University of Ghana, the number of junior staff almost equals the number of students.10

In a period of financial crisis it is frustrating to observe such a low student/staff ratio on the one hand in universities ~ the largest reservoirs of expert knowledge of the countries and continued recruitment of expatriates for technical tasks in the public and private sector organizations on the other.

(iii) Lack of staff management has resulted in under-utilization of staff time. Despite a low student/staff ratio, very often the staff is not given enough responsibilities for proper utilization of their time in different activities such as: teaching, research, consultancy, student advice, seminar/tutorial work, etc. D u e also to the erosion of the purchasing power of the teacher salaries, m a n y teachers give very little time to the universities. They take a second m o n e y earning activity such as undertaking private tuition. Lack of proper monitoring and accountability also cause corruption a m o n g the staff in m a n y developing regions including Africa.

(iv) Lack of a staff management system also results in poor promotion and retention policies of good staff in the face of high demand from oil rich countries,

8. Although Latin America and Caribbean has the same ratio, a large proportion of teachers work on a part-time basis in many Latin American countries.

9. U N E S C O . Ibid, Table 3.11.

10. Association of African Universities, Study group on cost effectiveness and efficiency in African universities: summary of findings and recommendations for future action, Preliminary Draft for Discussion, December 12,1990.

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П Е Р Contributions N o . 7

economical ly better off countries a n d also f rom multinational enterprises within the country. M a n y African universities h a v e suffered from this 'brain drain'.11

(v) L a c k o f staff m a n a g e m e n t results in continued lack of qualified staff especially because o f the absence o f a staff d e v e l o p m e n t plan. Inspite o f the fact that m a n y universities n o w h a v e staff d e v e l o p m e n t units a n d are twinning with counterparts in deve loped countries, the situation is far from satisfactory: the latest statistics o f U N E S C O s h o w that a m o n g reporting African countries only half h a v e post-graduate training facilities.

4e M e a s u r e s to improve staff m a n a g e m e n t

T o i m p r o v e quality of higher education, better m a n a g e m e n t of both academic and n o n - a c a d e m i c staff is essential. T h e tasks involved in m a n a g e m e n t o f staff12 are m o r e or less the s a m e for both categories of staff and these are listed b e l o w :

(i) identification of needs/requirements in quantitative and qualitative terms; (ii) recruitment o f a c a d e m i c a n d n o n a c a d e m i c staff; (iii) delegation a n d allocation o f responsibilities; (iv) provision o f conducive w o r k i n g conditions; (v) assessment of staff performance; (vi) facilitating development of staff through in-service training.

W e shall discuss each of these tasks and give examples of application wherever w e can.

4.1 Identification of needs/requirements in quantitative and qualitative terms

In quantitative terms the academic staff requirement is usually estimated and projected o n the basis of student contact hours in a particular discipline, level and m e t h o d of instruction (e.g. lecture, seminar, tutorial, individual advice, practical w o r k , field visit, etc.). T h e s e requirements are c o m m o n l y expressed in full time equivalent terms. T h e n o r m s vary in general f rom discipline to discipline and for different levels of study as well as teaching m e t h o d . T h e y m a y also vary be tween universities within a country and be tween countries. S o a critical diagnostic analysis of the state of affairs b e c o m e s necessary to establish the o p t i m u m n o r m s . In o n e particular developing country, n a m e l y E l Salvador, a study has been conducted in 1 9 8 8 to establish such n o r m s for different levels and m e t h o d s of instruction.13

Tables 4 a n d 5 provide an e x a m p l e of institutionally set guidelines for the utilization of staff time. It should b e underlined that the establishment of such n o r m s needs not only collection

11. Association of African Universities. Ibid.

12. Bukhala, J. Roles, Functions and Competencies of Facilitators in Professional Development in Towards Academic and Professional Excellence in Higher Education, Report on the Sub-Regional Workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe, 29 M a y to 9 June, 1989. German Foundation for International Development, Bonn, 1990.

13. Groot T . C . M . La Carga Académica, N U F F I C , Netherlands, 1990.

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of detailed data on actual utilization of time by students and staff, but also consensus-building on these a m o n g the students, the instructors and the managers.

Based on full time equivalent instructional staff, one can estimate quantitative staff needs for different levels and types. In the university of El Salvador, for six levels of instructional staff the norms are taken as follows: Senior Professor:Professor:Asst. Professor:Lecturer:Asst. Lecturenlnstructor = 1:1.5:2:2:1:1

This means that if there is a need for 85 full time equivalent instructors, there will be 10 Senior Professors, 15 Professors, 20 Assistant Professors, 20 Lecturers, 10 Assistant Lecturers and 10 Instructors. These norms were derived on the basis of a critical analysis of the actual utilization of time by academics.

Another case experience of creating institution based student staff ratios is provided by G h a n a University where over-staffing of non-academic in relationship to academic staff has been noted by the University Rationalisation Committee. The Committee recommended in its 1989 report a 20:25:55 ratio, it was suggested to employ one senior administrator for every five academic staff, one senior technician to every four academic staff.14

For non-teaching staff the estimates m a y be based on the number of students as well as the number of academic staff. In the United K i n g d o m , as indicated in Section 3, there are six students for each m e m b e r of the non-teaching staff and the ratio of non-teaching to teaching staff is 1:6. Again, such norms are certainly not easily transferable. These depend on the m o d e of operation of the university. In m a n y African universities, at present m a n y services are provided for the students particularly as regards residential facilities, therefore norms will be significantly different. They have to be established on a case-by-case basis, keeping a critical eye on proper utilization of every man-hour of the staff.

Regarding need analysis in qualitative terms, it has been observed that no clear job description is provided w h e n a staff m e m b e r joins the university.15 It is suggested that before a decision be taken on recruiting a n e w staff m e m b e r , an analysis of the real need for skills should be done based on the roles and functions of the staff, derived from an analysis of the job and the tasks involved. This will reduce the mismatch between the needs of the job and the background of the staff to be recruited. T h e task, which is called "ability specification", involves defining and identifying factors that are "essential" and "desirable" to perform the job. There are three performance factors, each one of which has several elements which can be categorised as "essential" and "desirable" for the n e w staff. These factors and elements are:

(1) K n o w - h o w : job knowledge and skills, leadership and social skills, communication skills, knowledge of methods and techniques, general knowledge, work habit and career record.

14. University Rationalization Committee. 1989 Report. Accra, Ghana, 1989.

15. J. Bukhala. Ibid.

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ПЕР Contributions No. 7

(2) Commitment : personal ambitions, personal values, attitude to others, attitude towards work, and career record.

(3) Calibre: maturity, learning and thinking ability, relevant aptitude and career record.

All elements of the above performance factors will have variable use for the job ~ some of them will be 'essential' and others 'desirable'. The manager should be able to specify them.

In addition to the above a fourth performance factor, the personal circumstances, should also play a role in the analysis of needs, namely age, sex, family characteristics, health background etc.

The ability specification will, of course, take into account any legal requirement imposed by the state.16

4.2 Recruitment of staff

Staff management becomes an easy task if one is sure to have the right people. Getting the right people is the most important task in staff management. In m a n y countries the process of recruitment is not rational. It is important that the staff manager (i.e. the head of department or institution) has a say in the decision of recruitment, all the more so as in m a n y African universities recruitment decisions are m a d e by the competent public authorities. Before a recruitment is undertaken, the managerial question is already answered through the analysis of the needs discussed above along with the qualitative need for skills through ability specification.

T h e problem n o w is h o w to attract the right people for the post. T h e job advertisement should include: (i) a brief note on the institution and its programmes, (ii) a short description of the needs of the job with possible future potential in an objective unbiased form, (iii) a description of the ability specification defined earlier and (iv) the rewards in specific terms, and (v) instructions for applying for the job.

T o attract the right people it m a y be desirable to depend on a specialist's advice about the drafting of the advertisement and the right media.

T h e method of selecting the staff is usually a combination of (i) a written application with a personal statement about competence, experience, career ambition and any special expectation and (ii) personal interview of a selected short list of people matching most nearly the need of the job listed in the ability specification. While interviewing, the manager should note that the interview "is not a grilling. Not a quiz. Not a kind of oral examination. Not an exhibition of the interviewer's superiority or the interviewee's submissiveness. The

16. Scott John and A . Rochester. Effective Management Skills -- Managing People, Sphere Books Ltd., London,1989, pp 206-209.

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interviewer has to be natural, as courteous and considerate as in a conversation with a friend".17 The manager, while interviewing, should be careful not to ask a question in a w a y that suggests the sort of 'good' answers, because if the candidate finds the interviewer's preference, he m a y tailor his/her response towards what the manager wants to hear and not to what the candidate himself feels. Patient listening and an open mind allow all the evidence to c o m e forward from the candidate to help m a k e a good decision. Once the mind is set for selection, it is useful to discuss very frankly the details of the job, with its challenges, potentials, and the difficulties. It is always better to keep more than one on the selected list, to avoid going through the whole process again, in case the most preferred candidate does not turn up.

In addition to the interview, a multiple assessment process m a y also be adopted for selection of a candidate. The process involves a group of participants (candidates) taking part in a variety of activities deserved by a team of trained assessors w h o jointly evaluate a number of predetermined job-related abilities.18 The activities are designed to simulate the job for which assessment is being m a d e . For an academic job lectures/seminars are organized to assess the candidate's competence. The assessors are normally the potential superiors of the candidate and their combined judgement helps take the decision. This method has been found to be consistently accurate.

43 Delegating responsibility

Although most of the universities in Africa appear to have substantial autonomy in the operation of their academic programmes and the internal allocation of resources, it is the governments and not the universities that appoint the important staff of the university as noted in one study.19 A s it is necessary for the government to delegate the responsibility of recruiting the relevant key staff to the university, so does a staff manager in the university need to adopt the process of 'deciding-what-to-let-your-subordinates decide', i.e. the process of delegating decision-making.

There are three fundamental principles of delegation. First is the principle of management responsibility, i.e. the manager has accepted personal responsibility for everything he has delegated to his subordinates. Second is the principle of management authority, i.e. any manager, whatever his level, must feel that he has a right and the duty to manage the things he is responsible for. There is, therefore, a difference between the delegation of responsibility and that of authority. W h e n a manager delegates responsibility for something, he is still personally responsible for it; w h e n he delegates authority he loses the right to m a k e the decisions involved. Third is the principle of management accountability, i.e. the manager can be held accountable for anything he has authority over. Accountability should match with authority; if it does not, authority is being dumped , not

17. Scott, John and A . Rochester. Ibid.

18. Scott, John and A . Rochester. Ibid.

19. Association of African Universities. Ibid.

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delegated. The manager's authority does not exist unless he exercises it. His responsibilities do not exist unless he accepts them. But he has no choice over his accountability in general ~ that is the counterpart asked for by his superior in return for the authority that he has delegated to him.

In a university, for a favourable atmosphere and effective implementation of teachingAearning programmes, delegation of decision making becomes an important requirement, and the above three principles m a y provide the guiding rules.

4.4 Provision of conducive working conditions

Creation and maintenance of conducive working condition is an important element of good staff management. The staff should feel that the work is needed in order to maintain a sense of self respect and purpose in their lives and not only to earn a living. The staff should not feel that they are being 'over-managed' through constant intervention in decision-making or in the implementation of the task. The manager should m a k e sure that the different activities performed by different staff are properly co-ordinated, the conflicts of personality between the different individuals is minimised and each person's work is matched with his competence, seniority and experience. The staff should k n o w what is expected of them and should be rewarded for better performance and punished for breach of discipline according to rules agreed between the organization and the staff union.

The present working conditions of university staff in Africa have been the subject of several studies and workshops. They depict a gloomy picture. In Malawi, the university is unable to retain staff because the salary is lower in the universities than in the private sector or in the neighbouring countries.20

A similar situation is observed in Nigeria where staff turnover is high in disciplines such as accounting and business administration where industry pays higher salaries,21 as well as in Tanzania and Mozambique.2 2

In addition, unbalanced teaching load, less time for research, lack of training in management skills and lack of incentives for professional development are the c o m m o n characteristics of the working conditions of the university staff in Africa.23 S o m e universities are, however, taking measures to retain academic staff by reducing the number

20. U N E S C O . Malawi, Higher Education : Problems, Needs and Priorities, 1988.

21. Oshagbemi, T . Leadership and Management in universities, de Gruyter, N e w York, 1988.

22. Wohlgemuth, L . University Minimum Requirements ~ the cases of Mozambique and Tanzania, (mimeo), SIDA, Stockholm, Sweden, 30 October 1990.

23. British Council. Workshop on Higher Education, London, 1989.

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of non-academic support staff and using the savings to support travel and research of faculty as in the case of the University of Ghana. 2 4

In Makerere University, Uganda, the university staff is n o w being motivated by output-based payments. For each lecture given above the m i n i m u m number, an additional payment is m a d e for a limited number of lectures.25

S o m e other universities have started providing additional incentives to their staff by allowing them to work as consultants to industry, business and government and also by establishing their o w n consultancy companies. Examples are: Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration and the University of Lagos. While individual consultancy contracts have created some administration problems, consultancy contracts administered by university research outfits or consultancy have a lot of promise.26

Working conditions in laboratories, classrooms and workshops are also being improved in some African universities through effective equipment maintenance policy. Nigerian universities are n o w required to meet 'eligibility criteria' in order to qualify for grants. A programme with the same objective but different organizational pattern has also been launched in S A D C C countries.27

Donor agencies are channelling funds for research and travel to university faculty through research networks in Africa ~ thus contributing to staff retention. However , it is observed that networks such as the Network of African Sciences Organization ( N A S O ) , of the African A c a d e m y of Sciences ( A A S ) could not serve as the substitute for the development of research capacity in the university departments.

4.5 Appraisal of staff performance

Performance of a university depends principally upon the performance of its staff. O n e of the objectives of appraisal of staff performance is to improve each members performance in the present job and another is to see what potential each m e m b e r m a y have for other jobs in the institution including a higher level one. Performance should preferably be appraised by the staff member ' s immediate superior, and its standards should be as objective as possible. In the case of academic staff, performance m a y also be appraised by the students and the peers. Appraisal of performance functions well when the staff m e m b e r participates in planning goals for self improvement and in planning specific actions that will develop his abilities.

24. Saint, W . S . Personal communication to the author, 7 January, 1991.

25. Personal communication to the author.

26. Coombe , Trevor. A Consultation on Higher Education in Africa, Department of International and Comparative Education, Institute of Education, University of London, January, 1991.

27. Coombe , T . Ibid.

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Setting performance standards is a complex task, but the purpose of the standard specification is to motivate staff to perform well. Both the staff and the appraiser should agree on the standards. Standards are the m i n i m u m conditions of acceptable performance. The aim of appraisal is to raise the ideas of staff about the norms of performance generally considered acceptable in the institution.

The indicators of standards m a y be either measurements (objectively countable) or assessments (subjective judgements); they m a y be either comparative or engineered (based on calculations, what is inherently possible given the situation); they m a y be either positive (based on the existence of some desirable output levels, good quality work, etc.), or negative (based on the absence of some undesirable feature of performance: wastage, poor quality work, etc.); they m a y be either periodic (regular features of performance: number of lectures per week, publications per year, etc.) or unique (isolated features of performance: completion of a special project or report by a specific date); they m a y be either results (features that can be reckoned only at the end of a period or task) or activities (to be done, the requirement is that they are done).

T w o criteria should apply to the choice of the indicator: (i) Both the staff m e m b e r and for each to k n o w independently that the standard has or has not been met.28

S o m e of the universities in Africa are n o w using criteria for evaluation of the staff as a part of the evaluation procedures used to measure the efficiency of higher education systems and institutions.29 A detailed method of appraising academic staff is used in Indonesia. The country has developed a system of credits measuring the performance of an academic staff m e m b e r in six areas: (i) education and instruction, (ii) scientific publications, (iii) public service, (iv) loyalty to university/institute, (v) other activities and (vi) experience.30 Table 6 gives the list of credits for each activity within the six areas. It should be noted that some refinement is necessary as some of the specifications are vague and open to subjective interpretation, especially concerning the credits assigned for publication.

In Europe, the best k n o w n example of evaluation of academic staff is prevalent in the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, since 1977. The University Education Service ( D U O ) has developed several instruments for student evaluation of individual faculty; one each for evaluating lecturing behaviour (called E V A D O C ) , practical sessions ( E V A P R A C ) , clinical teaching for medical students ( E V A K L I N ) , and probation terms ( E V A S T A G ) . 3 1

The focus of the evaluation is to provide feedback to the individual instructor for

28. Adapted from: Scott, J. and A . Rochester. Ibid.

29. Ojerinde, Abedibu. " A study of the evaluation in procedures used to measure the efficiency of higher education systems and Institutions: a case study of Nigeria", Institute of Education, Obafemi Awolow University, Ife-Ife, Nigeria. In: New Papers on Higher Education, № 1, U N E S C O , Paris, 1990.

30. Soeito, S. Staff and faculty development in Indonesia, R I H E D , Singapore, 1981.

31. D e Neve, Hubert M P . Instructional Evaluation at the Leuven University, Catholic University of Leuven, University Education Service, Leuven, Belgium, September, 1990.

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consultation and/or create evidence for a more profound investigation and diagnosis of

teaching quality.

O n e should be extremely cautious in implementing a strategy for assessment of staff performance intended for personnel decisions. Reliability and validity of the assessment techniques must be ensured beforehand.

4.6 Staff development

The last task involved in management of staff listed in the beginning of this section is facilitating development of staff through in-service training. While the programmes of staff development will be dealt with by other speakers, w e shall consider only those aspects which are part of staff management, i.e. managing the w a y the staff members develop their abilities through experience and in-service training. The task needs at least four skills. First, the manager should be able to define the quality of performance he expects from his staff. Here, one should emphasize standards of performance and not necessarily of results which depend not only on the ability of the staff. Second, the manager should be able to recognise what can be learned by his staff to improve their performance. Third, the manager should be able to judge his staffs capacity to improve their abilities and potential strengths and finally, the manager should be able to find ways for his people to develop their abilities on-the-job or through further training. H e must be able to create opportunities for his staff to develop themselves. H e can deliberately allocate tasks a little beyond the present experience of the staff. H e can involve his people in investigating regular problems in his area.

A large number of in-service programmes are n o w being launched in African universities for development of their staff-both academic and non academic. The International Institute for Educational Planning, through its Annual Training Programme and Visiting Fellows Programme in Paris and sub-regional intensive training courses held in M e m b e r States, is planning to offer training in institutional management. Training materials in three areas: staff management, space management and finance management are in preparation which after pretesting and revision will be made available for use in M e m b e r States. The British Council and the German Foundation for International Development (DSE) offer courses and organize workshops for improving academic and professional excellence in African universities. D S E has initiated in 1988, a Med ium-Term Programme on Staff Development in Eastern and Southern African countries involving ten partner universities in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.3 2 The Commonweal th Secretariat has launched the Commonwealth Higher Education Support Scheme ( C H E S S ) which has as its objectives the improvement of managerial capacity of university staff, especially in the areas of repair and maintenance of equipment. Improving the capacity of senior w o m e n administrators in Eastern and Southern Africa is also on their programme.33 U N E S C O ' S U N I T W I N project also attempts to improve the managerial

32. Matiru, Barbara. Towards Academic and Professional Excellence in Higher Education, Part I, Report on the Sub-Regional Workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe, 29 M a y to 9 June, D S E , Bonn, 1990.

33. Commonwealth Secretariat. Eleventh Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers. Progress Report on Preliminary Studies and Pilot Projects under CHESS, Barbados, 29 October - 2 November 1990.

12

IIEP Contributions No. 7

capacity of university staff by twinning a selected number of African universities with some

developed country universities.

Whatever is the programme, the guiding principles in any staff development

programme should be those mentioned above.

5. Conclusions a n d r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s to d o n o r agencies

It has been argued34 that the reshaping of the staff management system of a university cannot be conducted without the provision of supplementary financial resources. It requires a carefully designed long-term oriented strategy developed by institutional leaders and conducted in accordance with the competent public authorities. W e have argued that staff management is a key factor in any institutional strategy aiming at improving the quality of instruction, research and service activities. It is however directly linked with other management sectors such as financial and physical resource management and appeals to holistic approaches in institutional management.

W e want to underline however that a holistic development project does not necessarily m e a n modifying the strategic goals of an institution. O n the contrary, given the deficiencies in routine task management, w e would argue for setting up projects which pay also particular attention to an improvement in the execution of routing tasks in the higher education institutions.

With regard to priority fields of action of donor agencies in African higher education,

the following recommendations are submitted for discussion:

(1) T o improve staff management, training of staff managers at different levels and occupying various functions should become one of the priority areas of donor activity. Such training should focus on skills necessary to analyse staff needs in quantitative and qualitative terms, allocate functions and responsibilities, improve working conditions in a context of financial austerity, create and rationalize an incentive structure and assess performance. Training provided to middle-level managers responsible for conducting specific tasks is particularly important since they play a key role in the implementation process of any change in management practice. It is planned to extend the training provided by the International Institute for Educational Planning to educational planners and managers in this direction. Donor agencies m a y take initiative in enhancing such training for different levels and types of university managers in Africa. They m a y help in developing training materials adapted for different contexts and different types of higher education institutions.

34. Hallak, Jacques. Investing in the Future. Setting Educational Priorities in the Developing World. IIEP-UNESCO/Pergamon Press, Paris/Oxford, 1990.

13


(2) Overlap and lack of co-ordination in activities conducted by donor agencies should be avoided. A n inventory of the various activities of the donors should be created in the areas of staff management which would be an important instrument for setting up a joint plan for action. Networking on a national and sub-regional basis in collaboration with the U N E S C O regional offices, the African Association of Universities and the governmental services would be useful.

(3) Co-ordination of donor-funded research activities is also needed aiming at the provision of an equitable distribution of tasks and benefits a m o n g African university staff and for a rational choice of the research topics. Proliferation of donor-funded research organizations calls for a data base including information on the evaluation of the functioning of the different networks. U N E S C O m a y play an important role in this area.

(4) Development of computer-based management information systems will facilitate preparing some of the staff management tasks. Donor agencies m a y help set up such systems following the lines of ODA/British Council programme in Nigerian universities.

(5) Staff skills aiming at a better maintenance of physical facilities and equipment could be improved through technical assistance and training organized by donors as is already done by Switzerland and some Nordic countries and suggested by the C H E S S programme of the Commonweal th Secretariat.

(6) Donor agencies m a y also help in sensitizing staff to establish linkage with the private sector in order to be able to diversify funding sources. A good example in terms of instruments represents the the c o m m o n U N D P / D u t c h government/World Bank project on consultancy development in Africa.

(7) Staff morale and productivity could be improved substantially if the donors could provide financial support to the university for study visits, conferences and sabbatical leave. The D S E sponsored multi-year programme for ten African universities mentioned earlier is a good example. Donors m a y also support the publication of research results of academic staff by facilitating co-operation with other developing countries as carried out by the Dutch government for the university of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. The ' m i n i m u m requirement' approach advocated by S I D A also deserves attention.35

(8) Twinning arrangements as considered by U N E S C O ' s U N I T W I N project should be particularly facilitated by a co-operative effort of donor agencies.

(9) Library facilities directly linked to working conditions of staff and students need particular attention by donor agencies. Donor agencies should envisage projects

35. Wohlgemuth, L . Ibid.

14


aiming at upgrading library technology as currently done by the Nigerian Federal University Commission ( N U C ) and the International Development Association (IDA).3 6

(10) Finally, donors m a y sponsor research on staff management through case studies on successful changes in staff management practice in developing countries. These case studies could also be used as instructional material for the training of staff managers and provide examples of 'good staff management practice'.

The case studies undertaken by D E P in the Philippines, Kenya, Niger, Uganda, Mexico and Venezuela on the reorganization of teaching/learning strategies resulting in better utilization of resources and in China and Australia on the merger of institutions to achieve economies of scale are expected to provide important inputs in this area. The periodically-updated 1 Ш Р computerized information base documenting good management practices in higher education institutions around the world, available free of charge to all universities in the developing world on request, is another modest attempt to m a k e the task of institutional management in general, and staff management in particular, easier for the universities in Africa.

36. Coombe, T. ibid.

15

Tables


Table 1. Percentage of nationals among the staff in higher education

Country Year Percentage

Benin Botswana Central African Republic Gabon Gambia Ivory Coast Mali Rwanda Senegal Togo

Average Median

1979 1976 1978 1977 1979 1978 1978 1979 1978 1979

66.7 21.4 34.2 16.5 85.7 51.7 40.5 52.3 49.0 77.0

49.5 50.1

Source: U N E S C O (1982).

Table 2. Student/teacher ratio for different regions of the world at the third level of education

Region

Developed

Developing

Africa (excluding Arab states)

Asia (excluding Arab states)

Arab States

North America

Latin America and the Caribbean

Year

1975 1980 1988

1975 1980 1988

1975 1980 1988

1975 1980 1988

1975 1980 1988

1975 1980 1988

1975 1980 1988

Enrolment (thousands)

26 714 29 305 32468

12 842 18 097 25 572

193 381 658

10 028 13 457 18 046

896 1468 2 229

12 003 13 069 14 009

3644 4 872 6 978

Teaching staff (thousands)

1883 2091 2311

948 1298 1889

17 31 53

768 999

1404

44 75

125

722 757 775

302 388 563

Student/teacher ratio

14:2 14:0 14:0

13:5 14:0 13:5

11:3 12:3 12:4

13:0 13:5 12:9

20:4 19:6 17:8

16:6 17:3 18:1

12:1 12:6 12:4

Source: U N E S C O . Statistical Yearbook, 1990, U N E S C O , Paris.

19


Table 3: Frequency distribution of student/teacher ratio for 35 African countries (excluding Arab States) reporting

Class № of francophone countries

№ of anglophone countries

Total

<5

5-10

10-15

15-20

20+

2

13

10

7

3

19 16 35

Source: U N E S C O , Ibid, Table 3.11.

Table 4 : Actual and proposed supplementary time of academic staff in the area of teaching (supplementary time in hours per contact hour)

Activities Results Proposals

Lecture

Working group

Practical

Laboratory work

Discussion

Progr.consultation

Seminar

prep* couns eval prep couns eval prep couns eval prep couns eval prep couns eval prep couns eval prep couns eval

2.00 1.00 1.00 2.50 1.00 0.80 1.80 0.60 0.40 1.60 0.60 0.40 1.13 0.47 0.73 1.86 2.28 0.89 0.53 0.08 0.00

1.70 0.85 0.85 2.13 0.85 0.68 1.53 0.51 0.34 1.36 0.51 0.34 0.96 0.40 0.62 1.58 1.94 0.76 0.45 0.07 0.00

*prep = supplementary time needed for preparation of classes couns = supplementary time needed for individual student counselling eval = supplementary time needed for student evaluation

Source: Groot T . C . M . La Carga Académica, N U F F I C , Netherlands, 1990.


Table 5: Actual and proposed allocation of time in percentage of available staff time of academic staff among different types of activities

Activities Results Proposals

65.0 % 3.0%

10.0 % 10.0 % 7.5% 5.0%

Total activities 100.0 % 100.0 %

Source: Groot T . C . M . Ibid.

Teaching Thesis supervision Research Social service Administration Prof, development

88.0 % 2.0% 1.5% 1.5% 7.0% --

21


Table 6: List of activities and credits for appraising academic staff in Indonesian universities

Activities Credits Activities Credits

(a) Education and instruction

1. Teaching load m o r e than normal duty per semester 0 .5

2 . Conducting laboratory practice, etc. m o r e than normal duty per semester 0 .5

3 . Conducting seminar per year 1 4 . Conducting workshop per year 1 5 . Guiding thesis-writing (ready for publication) 1 6. M e m b e r of examination committee (under

graduate and graduate level) per year 1 7 . Guiding assistants to b e c o m e instructors 1 8. Activities in curriculum building with

approval of department concerned 1 9. Writing textbooks:

original (author) 4 (co-author) 2

modified (author) 2 (co-author) 1

translation 2 editor 2

10 . Writing textbooks for students (mimeographed) author 2 co-author 1

(b) Scientific publications

1. Doctor's dissertation: cum laude 25 good 20

2 . Publication in: scientific b o o k 5 -10 scientific periodical 3-5 semi-scientific periodical 2

3 . Additional degree 5 4 . Research, not published, but registered

at the university library 2 5. Co-author 1 6. Paper for a seminar:

international 3 national/regional 2

1. Scientific presentation or speech: international 5 national 2

(c) Public service

1. Upgrading 2 . Guidance 3 . Participation b y m e a n s of campaign or

practice 4 . Consultation 5 . Non-profit application of one ' s specialization

(d) Loyalty to university/institute

1. Appointed as head or leader: university faculty, department, etc.

2 . Giving evidence: to favour duties in university rather than outside with m o r e material profit

3 . Appointed as m e m b e r of ad hoc committee 4 . Appointed as m e m b e r of inter-university

committee 5 . Producing a paper concerning innovations

at university

(e) Other activities

1. Appointed as m e m b e r of national professional organization

2 . Appointed as m e m b e r of international professional organization

3 . Requested to b e m e m b e r of national professional organization

4 . Requested as m e m b e r of international professional organization

5 . Active participation in scientific activities: national/regional international

6 . M e m b e r of delegation to an international meeting

7 . A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t of one ' s specialization 8 . Getting the order of merit for good services:

Triharma Perguruan Tinggi (Three Services of Higher Education

9 . Other activities, to b e evaluated b y the university

(f) Experience

1. Years of service in university after graduation 2 . Years of service in university before graduation 3 . Years of service as a civil servant

2 1

1

0.5

Source: S . Soeito, Staff and faculty development in Indonesia, R I H E D , Singapore, 1981.

22


References

Association of African Universities. Study Group on Cost Effectiveness and Efficiency in African

Universities: Summary of Findings and Recommendations for Future Action, Preliminary Draft for

Discussion, December 12, 1990.

British Council. Workshop on Higher Education, London, 1989.

Bukhala, J. Roles, Functions and Competencies of Facilitators in Professional Development in Towards

Academic and Professional Excellence in Higher Education, Report on the Sub-Regional Workshop

in Harare, Zimbabwe, 29 M a y to 9 June, 1989. German Foundation for International Development,

Bonn, 1990.

Commonwealth Secretariat. Eleventh Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers. Progress

Report on Preliminary Studies and Pilot Projects under CHESS, Barbados, 29 October -

2 November 1990.

Coombe , Trevor. A Consultation on Higher Education in Africa, Department of International and

Comparative Education, Institute of Education, University of London, January, 1991.

D e Neve, Hubert M . F . Instructional Evaluation at the Leuven University, Catholic University of Leuven,

University Education Service, Leuven, Belgium, September, 1990.

Drucker, Peter. The Practice of Management, London, Heinemann, 1969.

G r o o t T . C . M . La Carga Académica, N U F F I C , Netherlands, 1990.

Habte Aklilu. "Support for Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Where does the World Bank

Stand?" In : Higher Education Policy, Vol. 2,1989.

Hallak, Jacques. Investing in the Future. Setting Educational Priorities in the Developing World.

I IEP-UNESCO/Pergamon Press, Paris/Oxford, 1990.

Hinchliffe K . Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. London, Croom Helm, 1987.

International Institute for Educational Planning. Improving effectiveness of higher education institutions:

studies of the management of change. An HEP research programme. H E P . 1990.

Lillis, Kevin M . Training for planning and management: improved management systems in higher

education in developing countries in international development programmes in Higher Education,

Special Papers, Commonwealth Secreteriat, London, 1989.

Matiru, Barbara. Towards Academic and Professional Excellence in Higher Education, Part I, Report on

the Sub-Regional Workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe, 29 M a y to 9 June, D S E , Bonn, 1990.

23


Mingat, Alain and G . Psacharopoulos. "Financing education in Sub-Saharan Africa: issues of equity and efficiency of investment - some policy alternatives." In : Finance and Develoment, Vol. 22 (March), pp. 35-38, 1985.

Ojerinde, Abedibu . " A Study of the Evaluation in Procedures used to Measure the Efficiency of Higher Education Systems and Institutions: A Case Study of Nigeria", Institute of Education, Obafemi A w o l o w University, Ife-Ife, Nigeria. In : New Papers on Higher Education, № 1, U N E S C O , Paris, 1990.

Oshagbemi, T . Leadership and Management in Universities, de Gruyter, N e w York, 1988.

Saint, W . S . Personal communication to the author, 7 January, 1991.

Scott, J. and A . Rochester. Effective Management Skills - Managing People, Sphere Books Ltd., London, 1989.

Soeito, S. Staff and faculty development in Indonesia, R I H E D , Singapore, 1981.

U N E S C O . Malawi, Higher Education: Problems, Needs and Priorities, U N E S C O , Paris, 1988.

U N E S C O . Statistical Yearbook, 1982. U N E S C O , Paris, 1982.

U N E S C O . Statistical Yearbook, 1990. U N E S C O , Paris, 1990.

University Rationalization Committee. 1989 Report. Accra, Ghana, 1989.

Wohlgemuth, L . University Minimum Requirements - the cases of Mozambique and Tanzania, (mimeo), S I D A , Stockholm, Sweden, 30 October 1990.

24

H E P publications and documents

More than 650 titles on all aspects of educational planning have been published by the International Institute for Educational Planning. A comprehensive catalogue, giving details of their availability, includes research reports, case studies, seminar documents, training materials, occasional papers and reference books in the following subject categories:

Economics of education, costs and financing.

Manpower and employment.

Demographic studies.

The location of schools (school map) and sub-national planning.

Administration and management.

Curriculum development and evaluation.

Educational technology.

Primary, secondary and higher education.

Vocational and technical education.

Non-formal, out-of-school, adult and rural education.

Copies of the catalogue m a y be obtained from the П Е Р on request.

The International Institute for Educational Planning

The International Institute for Educational Planning (1ШР) is an international centre for advanced training and research in the field of educational planning. It was established by U N E S C O in 1963 and is financed by U N E S C O and by voluntary contributions from M e m b e r States. In recent years the following M e m b e r States have provided voluntary contributions to the Institute: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, India, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland.

The Institute's aim is to contribute to the development of education throughout the world, by expanding both knowledge and the supply of competent professionals in the field of educational planning. In this endeavour the Institute co-operates with interested training and research organizations in M e m b e r States. The Governing Board of the 1 Ш Р , which approves the Institute's programme and budget, consists of eight elected members and four members designated by the United Nations Organization and certain of its specialized agencies and institutes.

Chairman: Victor L . Urquidi, (Mexico) Research Professor Emeritus, El Colegio de México, Mexico.

Designated Members: Alfredo H . Costa Filho, Director-general, Latin American and Caribbean Institute for

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Faculty, University of Alexandria. Kabiru Kinyanjui, (Kenya), Senior Programme Officer, Social Sciences Division,

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Development Authority, Stockholm.

* (two vacancies)

Inquiries about the Institute should be addressed to: The Office of the Director, International Institute for Educational Planning, 7-9 rue Eugène-Delacroix, 75116 Paris

П Е Р Contributions

With the objective of devising a set of recommendations for the donors to African Education ( D A E ) in the area of staff management, the paper discusses key issues in African higher education with special reference to institutional management. The paper highlights the importance of human resources and their management at institutions of higher education for improving the quality of instruction, research and services. It is argued that efficient staff management is particularly important in the context of financial crisis. The paper presents the components of a staff management system aiming at effective use of human resources. Based on a set of programmes for action, the paper lists a number of recommendations to donors derived from an analysis of the current situation and a discussion of the literature on staff management.

T h e authors

Dr . Bikas C . Sanyal is a Senior Staff M e m b e r of the International Institute for Educational Planning ( U N E S C O ) , Paris, and at present responsible for the IIEP research project on 'Improving the effectiveness of higher education institutions: studies of the management of change'. H e was previously responsible for the IIEP research projects on 'Higher education and employment' and 'Technological development and educational planning'.

M s . Michaela Martin is an associate expert in IIEP. She was previously a staff m e m b e r of the European Centre for the Strategic Management of Universities in Brussels.

staff management in african universities -...

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