World Class Universities for African Development, What must Change? - A Case Study on Legon (The University as a State of Mind ver. 2)

Prof. Chris GordonInstitute for Environment and Sanitation Studies

Forum on Sustainable Development in Africa

12-14 June, 2012

CONTEXT

• “To rise to critical issues and attain the Millennium Development Goals, African countries need to apply innovation, science and technology in ways that address local problems. Universities are the best places for distilling such local solutions “

Gordon & Aryeetey (2012) Gordon C. & Aryeetey E. (2012) World Class Universities . D+C Development and

Cooperation (4) :

The Real University

• The real University … owns no property, pays no salaries and receives no material dues.

• The real University … is that great heritage of rational thought that has been brought down to us through the centuries and which does not exist at any specific location.

Read Three formative books in 1975/6:The Art of War (c. 500 B.C ) by Sun TzuThe Prince (1532) by Niccolò Machiavelli Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: an inquiry into values (1974) R. M. Pirsig

The Real University II

It's a state of mind which is regenerated throughout the centuries by a body of people who traditionally carry the title of professor, but even that title is not part of the real University.

The real University is nothing less than the continuing body of reason itself.

What happened to Legon?

Knowledge as a Factor in Income Differences between the Republics of Ghana and Korea (1956 to 1990)

Source: World Bank 1999 World Development Report 1998/1999: Knowledge for Development. Oxford University Press

Sankɔfa

N.B. : 20 – 30 year time lag for full impacts to be felt (now 2012 for 2030)

The case of Legon:

• Dearth of Research Output• Exodus of Key Staff (Academic, Admin. and Technical)• Collapsing Infrastructure• Lowering of Academic Standards (Loss of Reason!!)• Inefficient Administrative Procedures• No Systemic Implementation of Vision• Emergence of counterproductive cultures

D.E.C.L.I.N.E.

Making Legon a World Class University: the need for Accelerated Growth

2012 2030Timeline

Que

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TargetGlobal

Universities

TargetGlobal

Universities

Accelerated Growth

Normal Growth

Business As Usual

TargetGlobal

Universities

TargetGlobal

Universities

DECLINE

Recipe for a World Class University

based on Salmi (2009)

High concentration of talent : teaching staff, researchers, administrative and support staff, students.

Abundant resources: from public budget, tuition fees, endowments and research grants offering facilities to conduct advanced research,

Favourable governance : supportive regulatory framework, autonomy, academic freedom, leadership, strategic vision,. Kente: Holistic Approach

A world class university needs all three elements woven together in a balanced form

Fundamental Changes in Mind Set for a World Class University

• Attitudinal Change: Staff, Students, Parents, Alumina

• Succession and Mentorship as Core Values : these will regenerate and expand the state of mind which is the core of the real university that is, the growth of REASON.

Ask not “what the University can do for me”

Rather “what can I do for the University”

“Culture of mediocrity” “Culture of excellence”

Apathy and Inertia Proactive responses

World Class:

• Furthering Research Excellence• Understanding Communities; Relevance

Ghana & Beyond• Transforming Education, Learning and

Student Life• Upholding Staff Recruitment, Retention

and Development• Restructuring Governance, Finance and

Infrastructure• Enhancing Quality Assurance• Supporting International Standing

FUTURES

Seven Pillars

Furthering Research Excellence

• Create a research culture by financial incentives for productive faculty.

• Provide physical and technological infrastructure to conduct cutting-edge research; increase research productivity.

• Significantly increase the number of postgraduates - the proportion of both Masters and PhD students, and postdoctoral researchers.

• Link research advances with economic development through innovative technology transfer, business start-ups, corporate relations, investments in the community and consultation with community leaders and government officials.

Gordon & Ntiamoa-Baidu: Ecology Africa Research WARIMA 21 Nov 2009 12

Mentoring and Succession vs. Competitive Exclusion

Definition: Absence of group/individual (A) due to presence of group/individual (B) utilizing the same resources and outcompeting (A)

In the period 2001 -2008 there were five departments that had only one staff member of professorial rank. The average number of publication per non- professorial staff per year in such departments was 0.51 as compared to 0.64 in departments with more than five professors.

Usually one Silver Back Gorilla per group

Link to KSM Clip

If Comedians can Mentor - Why not Professors?

Understanding Communities: Relevance, Ghana and beyond

• Advance the quality of life of communities, particularly where we are located and in doing so improve the lives of Ghanaians by employing our core teaching, research and knowledge dissemination functions in our areas of academic strength.

• Implement University-wide community service programmes that apply our knowledge and expertise to community issues. Engagement activities should be supported with necessary logistics and rewarded.

• Engage alumni nationally and internationally.• Increase social engagement and become more visible in

influencing public and social policy. (e.g., ISSER Merchant Bank)

Understanding Communities: Relevance, Ghana and beyond - Floods as an example

October 2012 ???

26th October 2011Christian Village

2010

The Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies: Lessons for the Future

The IESS Graduate Environmental Science Programme (ESP) (established 1998) takes a multidisciplinary approach to tackling multi-dimensional research challenges. A significant proportion of research is dedicated to societal perceptions and responses to biophysical issues

The IESS is using a wide stakeholder base to develop and validate new courses to ensure relevance and employability of products– that is, Government MDAs, Private Industry and Civil Society

The approach follows that of the Boarder Impact Criteria as defined by the National Science Board (NSB) USA. Students and Staff are expected to carry out research that is responsive to broader considerations both within the scientific community as well as to society in general

Transforming Education, Learning and Student Life

• Offer increased access to the University through extended campus educational programmes and online education.

• Improve student support services and expand facilities to attract more regional and international students

• Develop key employment skills by providing students with co-curricular activities and opportunities – Alumni can offer internships

• Create and support a personalized learning community with opportunities for students to interact and engage formally and informally with teachers, advisors, mentors and faculty members.

Transforming Education, Learning and Student Life

Our students:

whose minds are the depository of

continuing body of reason where real University resides;

who, in turn will add on to and

impart reason to the next

generation

The Need for Relevance

• Without relevance of university education and research to national needs we have a lose-lose situation of unemployable university graduates and frustrated employers. The students lack the skills that employers expect from university graduates, such as critical thinking and the ability to base decisions on evidence.

Upholding Staff Recruitment, Development and Retention

• Attract top class individuals to the University and assist them in realising their full potential through internal learning and development sessions. (Rather than smothering them)

• Institute an ethos of professional development through appraisal and staff development programmes.

• Increase financial support for staff growth by the contributing to the staff development fund.

• Enforce applicable sanctions on non-performance (e.g., 20 years without a motion) and unprofessional conduct.

Inbreeding: Loss of Diversity• Potential staff are groomed (sometimes from undergraduate level) for

faculty positions. In itself, this practice is not an issue. The problem, however, is that many cases all degrees – bachelors, masters, PhDs – are from the same university, and in extreme cases even from a single department, with the same faculty supervising the student at BSc, M.Phil and PhD. The young staff members never get am opportunity to see how other universities operate.

• Another form of inbreeding results from donor-funded partnership agreements which twin a university department in a developing country with one in a rich nation. Over a period of three to five years, all staff for the developing country are thus likely to be trained in a single approach to university work at that University under the banner of partnership.

Restructuring Governance, Finance and Infrastructure

• Embrace technological advances in all aspects of University administration.

• Encourage contribution to the Endowment Funds by Friends, Alumni and corporate bodies.

• Increase capacity to generate internal funds especially from commissioned research.

• Improve the branding and marketing of the University. University of

Lagos Water

Enhancing Quality Assurance

• Create an open environment and atmosphere conducive to the exchange of knowledge and views, and innovative ideas among students, faculty, staff and visiting scholars. (ACADEMIC FREEDOM)

• Have proactive evaluation of success in achieving learning objectives, and use the evidence derived from these evaluations, including feedback from students and others, to improve performance.

• Assign roles and responsibilities within a comprehensive framework of policies and processes for the development and improvement of university programmes.

Supporting International Standing• Encourage interaction with external partners

individuals, companies and public agencies and particularly fostering South – South partnerships.

• Ensure that student learning is informed and delivered by international-quality research-active academic staff and staff with professional and pedagogical expertise.

• Attract high-quality international students and staff to create a diverse and vibrant university community.

• Support strategic partnerships with a limited number of prestigious international organisations

Post 2015 MDGs (or “X”DGs)Address Weaknesses:• Perception that MDGs are Donor Led• MDGs ignore critical dimensions of development• MDGs had insufficient focus on the poorest and most vulnerable

The Post -2015 Agreements should tackle the most pressing problems and these are NOT the same as in 1990.

• Urbanisation• Climate Change• Chronic Poverty and the rise of inequality• Jobs and equitable growth

Melamed, C. & Scott, L. (2011) ODI

Three Take home Messages (1)

1. If We fail in Education and Research, we fail in Everything.

The Post-MDGs will need to incorporate Food Security, Climate Change, Biodiversity and the Alleviation of Poverty as a UNIFIED agenda, and without the evidence base from research that is needed to guide policy, this agenda will never be addressed

Three Take home Messages (2)

2. Training and Research in Developing Countries needs a radically redesigned approach.

The approach needs to address issues of relevance and applicability to national development needs, with emphasis placed on knowledge creation and better understanding of processes and interaction as well as cost-effective innovation

Three Take home Messages (3)

3. Business as Usual is NOT an Option

World Class Education and Research has to be seen as part of the same development agenda, just as all the over-arching issues such as gender, sustainability and inter-generational equity

The End cgordon@ug.edu.gh

Not to worry because ...

This is how the Gorilla will look in the Future

... And the Gorilla?