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The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Laila El Baradei
January 25, 2019
When you deal with faculty you have to know that you are dealing with a different group of people. Managing faculty, and managing an academic institution, is different than managing employees in government, or in the private sector. This claim has been researched before, and some scholars have tried to come up with explanations for how governance in academic institutions is different than governance elsewhere. In 2017, Peter Maassen warned that reform agendas sometimes fail to understand how universities have “unique” historical and structural features, while in 2018, Anna Saiti is quoted making the point that: “Universities are not enterprises.” Figuring out how academics are different, and what works and does not work for them, is important for the effective management of any academic institution.
From my experience as a faculty member in both public and nonprofit universities for more than twenty years, I can definitely attest to that. Faculty members usually have inflated egos for one thing, and do not accept orders, or directives easily. They are used to being in control in their classes and lecture rooms, so reversing this role is not easy for them. They also are ‘people of letters’, highly educated, well read, thinkers and analysts. This is the nature of their vocation, so do not expect them to say yes easily to any change introduced by the administration. Additionally, it becomes more complicated with tenured faculty. The latter group has worked hard to earn tenure after long years of teaching, service and research and they are not expected to yield to directives from fellow colleagues occupying administrative positions on a temporary basis, or from anybody else for that matter.
Every now and then universities tend to try hiring practice professionals to pass on their experience to students, and occasionally they may be given administrative positions, as department chairs or deans. If they come from the private sector, or even from government, they tend to use the same management strategies and tactics as those used in the institutions they came from, but more often than not, this may not work. Examples of failed, unfitting strategies borrowed from other sectors besides academia, include imposing excessively bureaucratic measures as is the case in the government sector, or alternatively focusing too much on profit making and quantitative measures, if they are coming from the private sector.
Is there a magic formula that needs to be applied to academia? I do not think so. However, there are some common characteristics and principles unique to the academic world that all new entrants to that sector should be aware of. These include:
To wrap up, a word of advice to the University administrators out there, you must realize that academics are a different animal and should be treated differently. A university is neither a business enterprise, nor is it a traditional government bureaucracy.
Author: Laila El Baradei, is a Professor of Public Administration, School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, the American University in Cairo, Egypt.
Robert L. Morrison
January 26, 2019 at 9:02 am
I would like to enter into a civil discussion sometime with Laila El Baradei as I disagree with some of her ideas. Perhaps in Egypt this may be the way to learn, but my work experience in the public sector says too much theory and not enough practicality in administrative practices can cause a University to go bankrupt.
Universities with professors who can teach are able to get the subject across and cause reasonable thinking on various sides of the issues. Purpose of teaching is to drive critical thinking and to have students look at many aspects to address their concerns and solutions.
This in no ways means that the professor cannot express his/her own thoughts and why he/she thinks that way.