Interesting opinion article in the Independent from Susan Bassnett, PVC at University of Warwick, on the pressure of expectation of multi-tasking (researching, teaching, administration, business management) within the modern university, and the related tension between collegiality and executive management:
‘The reality is that universities today are hybrids. The old model was based on collegiality, and entailed management through layers of committees, supported by professional administrators. This model is still there to some extent, though now it coexists with a more hard-nosed business model of top-down management by a small, powerful team. These two systems can be in conflict, resulting in confusion all round. The trend now is towards a more commercial model of management, with income generation a key objective, either from overseas student fees or private sources, and with government funding so low and so many institutions sailing close to the wind, collegiality seems pretty antiquated in this harsher climate.’
Professor Bassnett challenges us to find a new model of University management for the 21st century.
I agree there is a challenge here – for me, it is not just a managerial challenge, but also, to pick up on the point about collegiality, a challenge to think about how to maintain effective governance. Furthermore, coming from an institution where the membership of the community is defined under statute as including staff and students, it would be helpful to give further emphasis to think more broadly about what we mean about academic citizenship in the 21st century – for staff, students and administrators.
