newuniversitiesstudy(tesfaye, s.)

8/14/2019 NewUniversitiesStudy(Tesfaye, S.)

1/51

NPU Capacity Building Needs Analysis - Final report - October 2008

A STUDY

on

Human capacity building needs analysis of Ethiopiannew public universities (NPUs)

April 1 - September 30, 2008

Final Report


2/51


3/51

2

List of Abbreviations

AA Addis AbabaAAU Addis Ababa UniversityADRC Academic Development and Resource CentreARM Annual Review MeetingBDU Bahir Dar UniversityBPR Business Process Re-engineeringCIS/VU Centre for International Cooperation (of the VU University Amsterdam)CPD Continuous Professional DevelopmentDAG Development Assistance GroupDfID Department for International Development (UK)DIF Development Innovation FundEdPM Department of Education Planning and Management, AAUEMI Ethiopian Management InstituteESDP III Education Sector Development Programme IIIGEQIP General Education Quality Improvement Project (incorporating TDP-II)GTZ/IT Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit

GmbH/International ServicesHD Higher Diploma Programme for Teacher Educators as supported through

TDP and GEQIPHEI Higher Education InstitutionHERQA The Higher Education Relevance and Quality Assurance Agency HESC The Higher Education Strategy CentreHE-TF Higher Education Task Force, a working unit that includes

representation of the MoE and the donor community

LAN Local Area (computing) NetworksLMDP Leadership and Management Development Project

LMCD Leadership and Management Capacity Development

MDGs Millennium Development Goals

MIS Management Information Systems

MoE Ministry of EducationMoFED Ministry of Finance and Economic DevelopmentMU Mekele UniversityNPU New Public UniversityPCU The Project Coordination Unit of the Ministry of Education

TDPTDP Teacher Development ProgrammeToR Terms of referenceUCBP University Capacity Building ProgrammeUNISA University of South AfricaVUA Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU University, Amsterdam)VSO Voluntary Service OverseasWAN Wireless Area Network


4/51

NPU Capacity Building Needs Analysis - Final report - October 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive summary ....................................................................................................................... 4 1. Introduction and background .............................................................................................. 10

1a. The purpose of the study ............................................................................................. 10 1b. Methodology and activities ......................................................................................... 11

2. An overview of the human capacity development requirements of the New Publicuniversities .................................................................................................................................. 14

2a. The context of the NPUs ............................................................................................. 14 2b. Capacity problems and needs as identified by the NPUs ............................................ 15

Contextual issues ................................................................................................................. 15 Leadership and management .............................................................................................. 15 Academic processes ............................................................................................................. 16 Administrative processes ..................................................................................................... 17 Human resources management ........................................................................................... 17 Cross cutting issues ............................................................................................................. 17

Needs per individual NPU ................................................................................................... 17 2c. Needs identified by the external stakeholders and donors .......................................... 18

3. Reflection by the study team ............................................................................................... 20 3a. General issues .............................................................................................................. 20 3b. Leadership and management ....................................................................................... 21 3c. Academic processes .................................................................................................... 23 3d. Administrative processes ............................................................................................. 25 3e. Cross cutting issues ..................................................................................................... 26 3f. General concluding remarks on the principles and philosophy ................................... 26

4. Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 27 4a. General ........................................................................................................................ 27 4b. Philosophical underpinnings for the recommendations .............................................. 28 4c. Leadership and management ....................................................................................... 29 4d. Academic processes .................................................................................................... 31

Academic staff qualifications .............................................................................................. 31 Teaching and learning ........................................................................................................ 32

Research .............................................................................................................................. 34 Community service .............................................................................................................. 35

4e. Administrative processes ............................................................................................. 36 4f. Cross cutting issues ..................................................................................................... 38

5. Costed funding scenarios ........................................................................................................ 40 5a. Shorter term interventions ........................................................................................... 40

Inventory and exchange of good practices .......................................................................... 40 Change agenda in higher education, including BPR .......................................................... 40

Learning from the Academic Development Resource Centres in the established universities............................................................................................................................................. 40 5b. Longer term interventions ................................................................................................. 41

Leadership and management .............................................................................................. 43 Administrative processes ..................................................................................................... 46 Cross cutting issues ............................................................................................................. 47

Annexes: ...................................................................................................................................... 49


5/51

4

Executive summary

The Federal Republic of Ethiopia recently established 12 new public universities. They admittedtheir first cohort of students in 2007. This development of the higher education system followeda period of rapid expansion of the pre-existing universities. The cumulative effect of theexpansion creates various strains within the system, especially in terms of the availability of atrained and experienced labour force. To address this situation, the Development AssistanceGroup (DAG) decided to commission a study of the human capacity building needs of theNPUs, to be administered and managed by UNDP. CIS/VU won the tender to conduct the study.The study started on April 1 and the work was completed by the end of September 2008. Itculminated in this report which maps the current status of the NPUs, identifies immediatehuman development needs and the means by which they may be met over a three-year periodwith support of government, the donor community and others.

The key questions that this report addresses are:1. What are the major human capacity buildings needs in the short and the longer term for

each of the NPUs?2. Are there separate capacity building priorities for each NPU and how may these be met?3. How can identified needs be met through credible programmes of action?4. How can identified needs be met with different levels of funding?

The methodology included: visits to each NPU and some longer established universities;

meetings with academic, administrative and management staff in each NPU andsome longer established universities; document and data collection from NPUs, some longer established universities and

the MoE; workshops for representatives of NPUs; meetings with key MoE staff; meetings with representatives of the donor community; reports of research conducted by Research Assistants in each NPU into their context

and interviews with the external stakeholders of their university.

It is clear from interviews with all stakeholders that there is a window of opportunity just nowfor government, donor 1 and other interventions with the NPUs that will make a real difference.It is evident that the NPU staff and management are ready and eager to change and to learn sothat these institutions can fulfil their role as engines of development in the country and in thereduction of poverty. The study team is of the view that it is essential that maximum use is madeof this window of opportunity before the present high levels of keenness, energy and driveinevitably diminish over time.

The study team identified various contextual issues that will need to be resolved with help of thedonor community, such as ICT connectivity and the establishment of local area networks(LAN), and resources for learning and research.

1 The term donor in this report should be un derstood in its broader, and more generic, sense that is to say, also including thosepartner organisations (and potential partners) that provide help, assistance and expertise in ways other than through direct transfer of funding.


6/51

5

The report makes clear the philosophical underpinnings that should inform any projects thatresult from the study. These include a focus on institutional and team learning; improving dailypractice: working together on a problem; peer learning; deep learning; and support for changesin behaviour over time.

Although many individual aspects have been identified by stakeholders, the report recommendsthat any projects should focus on relatively few higher order and important topics. It suggeststhat exchanging good practice is a key process in achieving development needs and proposesinterventions at university level with activities at national level. The report emphasises linkageswith existing structures and projects.

Priorities for action recommended in the study are based on leverage (the ability forimprovements in an area to impact positively on a number of problems), external drives derivedfrom the institutional context and a few quick wins (important aspects that can be achievedwith a modest outlay of time and money).

The study team identified four principal foci for interventions to develop human capacity;

Leadership and management Academic processes Administrative processes and Cross cutting issues (including HIV/AIDS, gender and the environment).

The report recommends that these should be translated into four separate projects 2 to besupported principally by donors (working in partnership with government) but also by otherssuch as the NPUs themselves, the MoE, the established universities, HESC and HERQA.Although the recommendation is that mainstreaming cross cutting issues should receive separateattention, we recommend that there should be cross cutting themes such as gender andHIV/AIDS in projects covering other areas.

Leadership and management

The report identifies management teams working effectively on the right issues as the key higherorder problem that, if dealt with, will impact positively on institutional performance.The report recommends strategic planning and implementation, HRM, management styles,decentralisation, maintaining quality, roles and responsibilities and team working as possiblepractical issues that, if explored and strengthened will enable the NPUs to achieve solutions tothe problem. It recommends interventions should include mentoring by experienced HEImanagers; workshops and certificated training; support for networking and exposure visits; andwork shadowing of managers in business and other universities All of the above should includetop and middle managers and key MoE staff. In addition, the report recommends qualitymanagement training for academic managers and training in their role for members of the NPUBoards.

Academic processes

The report identifies pedagogic skills development; curriculum review and development;developing a research culture; community service and academic staff qualifications as keyhigher order problems that, if dealt with, will impact positively on academic performance.

With respect to pedagogic skills development the report recommends problem-oriented learning,practical teaching and assessment in large classes; laboratory teaching, advanced skills forpedagogic mentors and basic skills for new instructors as possible practical topics for

2 Where appropriate, these four overarching projects could be made up of a number of sub-projects.


7/51

6

interventions that will enable the academic staff to develop pedagogic competence. Itrecommends interventions should include an EQUIP/HDP/CPD-type programme; setting upADRC-like structures; support by established universities; and short courses for new instructors.

With respect to curriculum review and development the report recommends development of national and institutional research strategies, principles and practice of curriculum development;subject specific content for a modern curriculum; transferable skills (communication skills,problem-solving skills, team building skills, etc.); attitudes; and ethics as possible practicaltopics for interventions. It recommends interventions should include support for centralcurriculum development by external subject experts; VSO-type placements and partnershipswith higher education institutions in Africa and the North.

With respect to developing a research culture the report recommends research epistemologyand methodologies; bidding for research grants, including writing research proposals; andwriting papers for publication as possible topics that are important to the development of aresearch culture. It recommends that interventions should include funding for a competitive

bidding process and its administration; seed corn funding for a few centres of excellence;proposal development; short courses; the provision of research-focused resources andpublications; and exchange programmes with foreign universities.

With respect to community service the report recommends a few quick win topics that maykick-start the development of this area beyond the existing extension courses: an inventory of good practice; work on foci for community service; how to work with the community; ethics;costing, pricing and marketing services; and quality control. It recommends that interventionsshould include short skills-and-awareness training; workshops; and expert facilitation of university task forces.

With respect to academic staff qualifications the report recommends that support for higher

degrees and supervision is necessary to enable quality interventions. It recommends thatinterventions should include so-called sandwich masters and doctoral trainings for the academicstaff, support to research for higher degrees locally at AAU and other existing universities, andsupport to supervisors and advisors from foreign universities.

Administrative processes

The report identifies establishing efficient and transparent systems and processes and s etting upand running an MIS in each of the NPUs as the key higher order problems that, if dealt with,will impact positively on administrative performance.

With respect to these, the report recommends supporting academic processes and managementfunctions; service cultures and their implications; how to specify, run and develop a goodsystem of support; and changes in practices to maximise the efficiencies as possible practicaltopics for interventions. It recommends that interventions should include national workshops;training key staff teams in individual NPUs; administrative management training in block grantmanagement; establishing networks and common interest groups and facilitating their operation;exposure visits to commercial enterprises and established universities; and TVET training andselective upgrading of staff to bachelors and masters degree level.

Cross cutting issues (equity - including gender, ethnicity, religion and others; special needs; HIV/AIDS;)

The report identifies attitude and behaviour change as the key higher order problems that, if dealt with will impact positively on institutional performance. It recommends that this should bea separate project. It recommends that interventions should include local or regional workshops;


8/51

7

specialist coaching; experience sharing networks, all facilitated by outside experts as well as thepurchase of resources and publications. Technical assistance to develop institutional andnational policies and strategies is also required.

With respect to HIV/AIDS and gender, the report recommends mainstreaming cross cuttingissues should also be an all embracing topic for interventions.

Conclusion

The report recommends that manuals, guidelines and good practice guides, should support all of the above.

The report includes suggestions on different partners who could take the main responsibility (orlead) for each of the recommendations above: the donors; MoE; NPUs; established universities,HESC and HERQA.

With respect to the elements supported by the donors, the report suggests some costings for

each of the projects above.

The following table summarizes the recommendations resulting from the study on the humancapacity building needs analysis of the new public universities in Ethiopia.

Project Area Focus Possible content foci Possible interventions Proposed LeadFunder(s)/Implementers

General issues ICTconnectivity

Access to the internetand LAN or WAN, E-Granary

Improvement of theinfrastructure andconnectivity

Donors and MoE

Philosophicalunderpinnings

Institutional and teamlearning; daily practice:working together on aproblem, to foster peerlearning and deeplearning; support forchanges in behaviourover time to ensuresustainability.Fewer higher order andimportant aspects.

Exchanging goodpractice a key process;priorities for actionbased on leverage,external drives andquick wins.Linkages with existingstructures and projectsInterventions atuniversity level withactivities at nationallevel.

All

Leadership andManagement

Managementteamsworkingeffectively onthe rightissues

Strategic planning andimplementation;HRM;managementstyles;decentralisation;maintaining quality;roles and responsibilitiesand team working.

Mentoring byexperienced HEImanagers.Workshops andcertificated trainingSupport for networkingand exposure visits.Work shadowing of managers in businessand other universities.All of the above for topand middle managersand key MoE staff.Training for Boardmembers on theirchanging role.

Donors

Quality assurancemechanisms foracademic processes;quality enhancement,

monitoring andevaluation.

Quality managementtraining for academicmanagers.

HERQA, NPUs andestablished universities


9/51

8

Change agenda in highereducation.

Dissemination of information, facilitatingdevelopment.

HESC

Academicprocesses

Pedagogicskillsdevelopment

Problem orientedlearning; practicalteaching and assessmentin large classes;laboratory teaching;advanced skills forpedagogic mentors; andbasic skills for newinstructors

EQUIP/HDP/CPD-typeprogramme, setting upADRC-like structures.Mentoring byestablished universities.Short courses for newinstructors.

DonorsEstablished universities(in terms of time)

Curriculumreview anddevelopment

Principles and practiceof curriculumdevelopment; subjectspecific content for amodern curriculum;transferable skills;attitudes; and ethics.

Support for centralcurriculum developmentby external subjectexperts.VSO-type placements.

DonorsHESC (in supporting thecentral curriculumdevelopment process)

Developing aresearch

culture

Research epistemologyand methodologies;

bidding; and writingresearch proposals,papers for publicationand bids

Funding for competitivebidding process and its

administration; seedcorn funding for a fewcentres of excellenceand proposaldevelopment;Short courses.Provision of resourcesand publications.Exchange and linkagesprogrammes withforeign universities.

Donors

Communityservice

Good practice inventory;possible foci forcommunity service;

working with thecommunity; ethics,costing, pricing andmarketing services;quality control.

Short skills andawareness training andworkshops.

Expert facilitation of university task forces.

Donors

Academicstaff qualifications

Subject and supervisionsupport for higherdegrees and for theirdesign and development.

Expert support forAAUs higher degreeprogramme.Additional part-timehigher degreeprogramme validated byforeign universities.

MoE, Donors

Administrativeprocesses

Establishingefficient andtransparentsystems andprocesses

Setting up andrunning a MIS

Supporting academicprocesses andmanagement functions.Service cultures andtheir implications. Howto specify, run anddevelop a good systemof support, includingMIS and HRM. Changesin practices to maximisethe efficiencies.

National workshops.Training key staff inindividual NPUs.Top and administrativemanagement training inblock grantmanagement

Donors, with practicalhelp from HESC andMoE

National workshop.Establishing networksand common interestgroups and facilitatingtheir operation.Exposure visits.

Donors

VSO-type placementsin consortia of NPUs.

Donors

Visits to commercialenterprises etc.

NPUs

Visits to establisheduniversities.

NPUsEstablished


10/51

9

universities(in terms of time)

Various contentdepending on the role.

TVET training andselective upgrading of staff to bachelors.

MoE

Cross cuttingissues

Attitude andbehaviourchange

Mainstreaming crosscutting issues in:curriculum; research;community service;student services;management; and HRM

Local or regionalworkshops; specialistcoaching; experiencesharing networks; allfacilitated by outsideexperts.Resources andpublications.

DonorsNPUs (in terms of time)

All of the above to be supported by manuals, guidelines and good practice guides.All of the above taking HIV/AIDS and gender as cross cutting issues.


11/51

10

1. Introduction and background

1a. The purpose of the study

In the past few years, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has embarked on a nation-wide reform in higher education with the aim of enhancing the relevance, strengthening thequality and increasi ng the contribution of the tertiary education sector to the countrys povertyreduction strategy and overall sustainable and accelerated national development. TheGovernments educational reforms have resulted in a significant increase in overall enrolment inall sub-sectors and have contributed to the increase in student population. It is in this contextthat the twelve new public universities (NPUs) are being established. The rapid expansion of thehigher education sector has taken place despite the shortage of well-qualified and experiencedstaff at all levels that also affect the existing sector. This means that the NPUs must developcapacity under extremely difficult circumstances, across all categories of staff and at all levels,

as they simultaneously increase the number of students and study programmes. This study istherefore timely in helping to develop plans to achieve this.

In spite of there being many highly educated and very able Ethiopian academics already in theHigher Education system, the capacity in the system as a whole to conduct the administrativeand academic work appropriate to the sector is significantly below what it needs to be for asystem of this size, especially during such a dynamic phase of its development. Althoughplanning continues to improve, it does not always manage to grapple with all of the realdilemmas faced by the institutions; implementation can then slip and monitoring is not alwayssufficiently on the timely realization of objectives and outcomes.

It was exactly this awareness that made the Development Assistance Group (DAG) decide to

commission a study on the specific human capacity building needs of the NPUs. The study aimsto map the current status of the NPUs and to identify immediate development needs. Theactivities of any project or projects that might arise out of the study should then strengthen thecapacity, and increase the capability, of the NPUs to deliver relevant, high quality teaching-learning, research and outreach to the local communities.

The Request for Proposals for this study was published in June 2007 and the contract for thiswork was finally awarded to the VU University Amsterdam, Centre for InternationalCooperation (CIS/VU) and this was signed on 28 March 2008. April 1 was agreed as the formalstart date of the study and the work was completed by the end of September 2008, therebycovering the agreed period of 6 months.

The key questions that this study has addressed are:1. What are the major human capacity buildings needs in the short and the longer term

for each of the NPUs?2. Are there separate capacity building priorities for each NPU and how may these be

met?3. How can identified needs be met through credible programmes of action?4. How can identified needs be met with different levels of funding?

This study focuses on human capacity building needs. Establishing new universities howeveralso relates to a range of other needs in the area of infrastructure, equipment and so forth.Notwithstanding the aim of the study, other urgent needs also came up during the interviewsand discussions. The most important ones (identified by the majority of the interviewees) aresummarized in Annex 4.


12/51

11

This report describes the outcomes of the study. The following section of this chapter describesthe methodology used and gives an overview of the activities carried out. Chapter 2 sketches thecurrent context of the NPUs and summarizes the main human capacity building needs. Themethodology has included a series of interviews with external stakeholders of the universities,conducted by Research Assistants appointed in each of the NPUs 3. The main findings of thispart of the study are described at the end of chapter 2.

Chapter 3 provides reflection from the study team on the results of the research based on theteams extensive experience in the analysis of, and contribution to, higher education institutes inEthiopia as well as in other parts of the world. These reflections are categorized as follows:

- General remarks- Leadership and management (all issues related to governance issues and managing the

university)- The academic processes (the core processes of the university; teaching and learning,

research and community services)- The administrative processes (all processes that are aimed at supporting the core

activities and the management of the university)

-

Cross cutting issues (in particular, gender, HIV/AIDS, special needs and theenvironment)The study team has used this grouping in all the chapters of this report.

In Chapter 4 recommendations for capacity building programmes are formulated while Chapter5 gives an overview of possible costed-scenarios for the execution of the recommendedprogrammes.

1b. Methodology and activities

In the original Request for Proposals the methodology was summarized as follows 4:

- visits to each NPU and some longer established universities- meetings with senior academic, administrative and management staff in each NPU and

some longer established universities

- document and data collection from NPUs, some longer established universities and theMoE

- workshops for representatives of NPUs

- meetings with key MoE staff

- meetings with representatives of the donor community

- meetings with an Advisory Committee

The study team has chosen an approach which emphasises partnership with the NPUs and otherstakeholders in which each of the partners brings in knowledge and experience relevant to thesituation. In addition to this, further research was conducted by Research Assistants appointedin each NPU looking into the background and context of their NPU and conducting interviewswith external stakeholders. The total analysis has thus been a joint assessment by the study teamtogether with stakeholders across the NPUs and others such as the MoE. After a series of initialinterviews with relevant stakeholders (MoE, established universities, support organisations anddonor community) the study proceeded with an initial workshop in which all Presidents andResearch Assistants of the NPUs participated as well as senior staff members of the MoE and

3 See Annex 1 B for a job description of the Research Assistants4 For the list of activities see the Request for Proposals in Annex 6


13/51

12

other stakeholders. The objective of this first workshop was to inform all involved about theobjectives of the study and the proposed programme of activities to achieve these. The logisticsof the planned visits were also discussed as well as the programme for these visits.

The workshop succeeded in achieving its objectives 5 and the commitment of the participantswas clear from the outset being illustrated by their request to hold and actively participate inan additional workshop half-way through the study to discuss the intermediate results.

Validation of results at several phases of the study was also an important aspect of themethodology used. The university visits included meetings and discussions with a range of groups across the university community including senior and middle management, academicstaff, administrative staff, students and others. At the end of each visit the results were sharedand discussed with the top management, who gave the study team additional feedback.

The programme for the visits can be visualized as follows:

Validation also took place during the second (interim) workshop (held on August 9 th, 2008). Apaper was prepared on the basis of the intermediate results. This was discussed during theworkshop and a first attempt to set priorities was undertaken. After completion of all the visitsto the NPUs, the draft final report was prepared and discussed during the final workshop (heldon September 24 th and 25 th 2008) and feedback from the participants and the donorsincorporated in this final report.

5 See also the inception report, annex 2a

Phase 4:

Workshop with top managementto discuss results and set priorities.

Meeting of top management with

middle management and a selectionof staff members to discuss results

and prioritisation of top management.

Phase 3:

Reflection

Consultants produce draft reportPPT format

Phase 1:

Collect background informationand study these. NPU staffmembers interview external

stakeholders

Phase 2:

Visit to the NPU

1. Top management2. Academic process3. Academic services4. Administrative services


14/51

13

Most encouraging has been the very high level of interest and commitment shown in the studyby the NPUs throughout the exercise. This was not only evident during the university visits,where large groups usually participated in the meetings, but also by the interest andcommitment of top management of the NPUs and the enthusiastic work of the ResearchAssistants in conducting external stakeholders analyses and organizing the site visits of thestudy team. During the final workshop, rather than the study team interpreting the needs of theNPUs on their behalf, the NPUs presented the results of the study to the donors themselves this providing the ultimate form of validation of the results of the study.

Lastly, an important part of the methodology has been the triangulation of the different sourcesof information (documents, interviews, discussions and observations) in order to assess theextent of agreement amongst these sources and to explore further wherever they might differ.The input of the Research Assistants in the NPUs, and the composition of the study team (6individual consultants from a variety of backgrounds) that operated in changing teamcompositions, increased the reliability of the results through their extensive analyticaldiscussions and the checks and double-checks at key stages along the way.

Although serious attempts were made by the study team to have a proper Advisory Committeeestablished through the good offices of the Higher Education Task Force (HE-TF), for a varietyof reasons this did not happen during the implementation phase. However, we hope that theMinistry of Education will be willing and able to take the outcomes of this study a step furtherand will take the lead in initiating future interventions (in cooperation with willing partners inthe donor community) as it considers necessary and appropriate.

During the final workshop the State Minister for Higher Education dr. Adhana Haile stated that:- He had not commissioned the report and therefore had waited to see its outcomes before

committing the Ministry to it- Although he had some initial reservations he now found the study generally useful, well

done and welcomed it- Support for the new universities is essential for the Go vernments policy on higher

education and he urged the donors to meet him to look at the way forward as soon as thefinal version of the report would be finished

The study team presents the results of this study as included in the present report as anaccurate overview of the main human capacity building needs of the NPUs. Based on this, setsof recommendations for actions and external support are proposed, both for the short and longterm.


15/51

14

2. An overview of the human capacity developmentrequirements of the New Public universities

2a. The context of the NPUs The plan to establish new university colleges was articulated in the third education sectordevelopment programme (ESDP-III) of the Ministry of Education in 2004. The ESDP states:...Thirteen new higher education institutions, which will ultimately grow to universities, will beestablished. At the end of the planning period each of these new institutions will have a capacityto enrol 9 10 thousand students. programmes in engineering and tech nology, computer sciences and IT, applied sciences, resource management, veterinary technology, etc. will beopened. The total annual intake capacity of institutions under the auspices of the Ministry isexpected to reach 110 thousand. (ESDP-III, p 37).

On the basis of this strategic plan, the locations for these NPUs, the programmes of study theyshould open and the possible number of total enrolment over a period of five years wereoutlined and specified. The locations were selected on the basis of a number of criteria, whichlargely take into account equity in geographic distribution relative to population and area,presumed size of the town in terms of population, accessibility and the possibility to providesome services to students and staff of the institutions being established.

On the basis of these criteria, Nekempt, Bale Robe, Debre Markos, Debre Berhan, andDessie/Kombolcha from Amhara, Dilla, Wollaita Sodo and Mizan/Tepi from Debub, Aksumfrom Tigray, Diredawa from Diredawa administrative council, Jigjiga from Somali, Semerafrom Afar were selected. While some institutions such as Dilla and Dire Dawa were establishedby building on existing infrastructure and a number of years of teaching experience, otherinstitutions were established from scratch. Some institutions, such as Dessie, Nekempt, and DireDawa, were established in towns which are better in terms of facilities such as food andrecreational services, internet connectivity and access to utilities, while others such as Samara,Robe and Mizan/Tepi have fewer of these services.

Following the selection of the site, and decisions on the programmes of study and the number of students to enrol, a decision was made to enter an agreement with GTZ/IS to manage theconstruction work of the institutions. Preparation for survey and procurement startedimmediately after the signing of the agreement in early 2005. The capital for the constructionworks, for consultants and supervision and procurement of goods was committed from theTreasury of the Government of Ethiopia. GTZ/IS was contracted to mobilize German expertise

and provide services at cost. The survey of the sites and design of buildings started in early2005, but actual construction work of the first of the three phases started only in 2006.

The first batch of students was placed to the NPUs in the 2007-08 academic year. Theexpansion programme is aimed at the:

provision of access to a larger number of secondary school completers, better distribution of higher education institutions that can contribute, through teaching,

research and community services, to local development in different parts of the country,and

development of centres of excellence, depending on the competitive advantages of eachlocality.


16/51

15

Although the criteria for selecting the different locations included accessibility and provision of services to the institutions communities, there are some challenges currently being faced bymany of these institutions. These include:

poor water and electricity services, poor or absent internet connectivity,

poor catering and recreational services in close proximity or surrounding theinstitutions, lack of trained and skilled human resources, particularly to manage departments and

university academic affairs, as well as working in cafeterias, libraries, and other studentservices areas;

in some institutions, inappropriate design that does not give sufficient consideration forclimatic and site context.

The critical challenge faced by these new institutions is the lack of qualified teaching staff.Although the Ministry has been recruiting teaching staff for the institutions this beingnecessary in the initial stages of establishment and is managing the training of these staff atmasters and doctorate levels, many of the institutions still lack the required number and quality

of teaching faculty.

With proper investment and prioritization in implementation, there is a great opportunity forthese new institutions. However, in the short to medium term the implementation of the policyof 70:30 without sufficient preparation in terms of laboratories, equipment and staff will be acritical challenge for these institutions. On the other hand, since they are in the establishmentstage they may more easily adjust the strategic plan to cater for the requirement of the policythan the more established universities. They can take advantage of curricula being developed atnational level and benefit from their involvement in preparing the framework with otherrelatively older universities and institutions.

2b. Capacity problems and needs as identified by the NPUs

Contextual issues To enable the NPUs to deal with the challenges described above, sound and clear strategic plansshould be available that will help the university community to work jointly towards realizing itsmission and vision. The stage of development (and therefore the availability) of longer-termstrategic plans differs across the universities. The use of such plans as an instrument fordevelopment and change vary as well. Where strategic plans are available and updated, moreattention could be paid to a further breakdown of the strategic aims to faculty and departmentlevel. This should result in a clearer description of objectives and ways to achieve these

(including indicators and monitoring mechanisms) to ensure that the strategic plan hasimplications for the day-to-day practices of the institutions. Although the NPUs have todevelop their strategic plans with the requisite involvement and participation of theircommunity, they will need support in developing such a strategic planning process including thenecessary benchmark-activities.

The generally observed limited autonomy in terms of human resources policy and flexibility inallocating budget is hampering the implementation of strategic options. Especially thedevelopment of centres of excellence, relevant community outreach, research and the 70:30policy requires more freedom to find solutions that fit the context of the individual university.

Leadership and management The top management often does not have sufficient experience, knowledge and skills to run acomplex organisation such as a university, especially in the current context of a very demanding


17/51

16

environment and a variety of challenges. The management feels that they need support withrespect to the following issues:

All academic managers need better understanding and skills upgrading in highereducation management and administration.

In the (near) future devolvement of responsibilities will have to be dealt with: this

requires senior and middle managers to be capable of doing their jobs and topmanagement to be able to devolve responsibilities in an appropriate way The organisational structure has to be adapted in the sense that it should be clearer

who is responsible for what (Deans, Heads of Departments and Heads of Administrative Sections) and the structure should also be simplified and includeclear rules and regulations and ways to hold people accountable for their actions

Change management is required not only now but also in the future. Theuniversities will be confronted with all kinds of changes in the environment,including changing Government policies. There is a lack of knowledge on how toplan and implement change in a participatory way that, for example, includes allmanagerial levels and has a specific role for the student council

Administrative procedures will also need to change and the management shouldsupport implementing these.

In terms of the interventions that will help to build capacity in the above mentioned areas, thoseinterviewed indicated that a priority should be the management development of the top andmiddle managers. Interventions should include short training, exposure and benchmark visits (inEthiopia and abroad), written support documents, team-based training on the job and work shadowing both aimed at the transfer of knowledge as well as at developing the necessary skills.Supporting the management to create a culture of openness, transparency and accountability,integrity and responsibility for the university community as a whole was mentioned severaltimes during the interviews. The Board of the NPU should oversee and guide this process andthey need training to do this. Team-based decision making and team responsibility wasmentioned as a valuable instrument in developing the universities.

When a culture of taking responsibility at all levels is implemented, the top management shouldnot be overloaded by issues that should be dealt with at another level or by another department.Combined with adequate secretarial support, they should be able to do what they are hired for inthe first place; leading and managing the university as a whole and guiding the implementationof their strategic objectives, based on clear guidelines and adequate monitoring mechanisms.

Academic processes The rapid growth has resulted in hiring young, often inexperienced staff with low academicqualifications for the work that they are expected to do. The main need is twofold; upgrade frombachelors to masters level, from masters to PhD and retention of senior faculty and management

staff. This will have a positive influence on the development of research programmes andprojects. In itself this may result in generating additional income for the universities.Establishing a more research orientated culture is required, but the current high teaching loadscombined with the lack of accessibility to journals, or linkage with other universities and thelack of experience with proposal writing to acquire research projects, hampers the realisation of such a culture.

The emphasis in all universities is on providing an adequate teaching and learning environmentso that students will graduate with a body of knowledge and skills that enables them tocontribute to the development of the country. Pedagogical skills of the teachers and knowledgeabout pedagogical methods are essential in any university, but especially in the NPUs becauseof the limited experience and skills deficiency of the teaching staff, lack of books and materials

and the challenges in teaching large groups of students. It was noted that curriculumdevelopment and review was another important issue and needs to be high on the agenda.


18/51

17

Administrative processes Administrative procedures, and the results of the efforts of administrative staff, are supposed tobe supportive of the core processes of a university (teaching, research and community service).This implies a service-oriented attitude and management information systems (MIS) that allowthe staff to do their job well with the necessary knowledge and skills. All these three issues have

to be addressed by any future intervention. A range of capacity needs are evident, such asEnglish proficiency, computer skills and behavioural aspects. Introducing an MIS will be madeeasier if pre-existing procedures and (manual) systems are perceived as adequate by providersas well as clients of these systems. Currently too little attention is paid to communication aboutthese issues because of the work load.

NPUs will acquire increasing autonomy once the block grant is introduced. This requires morecapacity in the form of adequate financial management and budgetary control, as well asefficiency and effectiveness in resource use. Capacities to diversify revenue and mobilizeresources are also critical in view of coming out of dependence on government resources and toleverage autonomy. The staff need to be upgraded to deal with these new challenges.

Human resources management Staff turnover is an important issue. Staff development has to be combined with adequatepolicies to retain and reward staff. Since salaries are low compared to the competitors in thelabour market, other incentives need to be developed. The institutional culture and organizationsand the current human resource managers are not able to develop creative methods for retainingstaff. For academic and administrative staff and for the management at all levels, policies needto be developed that enable an attractive working environment with fringe benefits so as toprevent unnecessary staff turnover. The human resources departments should not only beresponsible for personnel administration, but should also support the management inrecruitment and selection procedures, staff development plans and procedures for appraisal,including disciplining systems. In the future, the human resource department should be a true

partner working with senior management to realize cultural change. The majority of the humanresource staff and managers are not yet equipped to fulfil these roles.

Cross cutting issues It is felt that policies on equity and HIV/AIDS are still stand-alone activities that are notincorporated into the curriculum and everyday activities. The gender offices and studentcommittees are trying their best, but would benefit from external support in developingadequate ways of achieving their objectives. In some cases the focus should be extended moreto policies that include university staff as well as students. Policies to provide facilities forstudents and staff with special needs have not (yet) been developed.

Needs per individual NPU One of the issues that this study is called upon to address is the needs of each of the NPUs. Notsurprisingly, the study revealed some occasional differences between the universities. These canbe found in the reports that have been produced of each individual visit 6. However, regardinghuman capacity building needs the differences are relatively few and the similarities are great.We have therefore chosen to focus greatest attention on recommendations for interventions fromwhich all NPUs will benefit. We do acknowledge differences however and for this reason wewant to put emphasis on a process of working on real problems with teams at individualuniversity level whilst exchanging good practices in university management and other activitiesamongst the universities. We would also like to propose that these will be strategies embeddedwithin all projects that result from the study.

6 For the separate reports on the university missions see Annex 3 A


19/51

18

2c. Needs identified by the external stakeholders and donors

The stakeholder research 7 conducted by the Research Assistants in the universities is a valuableresource for this study. In addition, it is likely that the reports on the interviews of externalstakeholders will also be useful resource documents within the NPUs themselves.

It is interesting to note that stakeholders largely reflect the views of the universities themselvesin terms of the difficulties the NPUs face and their human capacity needs and priorities and sothe results and implications are reported here only to the extent that they differ from the rest of the report in tone or emphasis. The full stakeholder reports can be found in Appendix 3.

With respect to the student skills that stakeholders value, there is much overlap with theuniversity staff analysis, but with some notable differences in emphasis. Stakeholders emphasisevocational and practical skills (e.g. ICT skills) as being especially important for graduates, aswell as intellectual skills such as problem solving, critical thinking and communication. Theseseem to be given as much, or more, emphasis than knowledge, and will have implications forthe forms of pedagogic training given to instructors.

What is particularly interesting is the extent that stakeholders emphasise attitudes andbehaviours: ethics, work discipline, gender awareness, HIV/AIDS and environmental issuesseem to be very high up the agenda of stakeholders. They would also like to see students able toact as entrepreneurs, creating jobs and productive enterprises. Students who are committed tothe rural development of the country and who are able to act as local role models are needed.These are subtle and difficult matters to include in curricula in ways that will be effective. Theyshould also be an important element of pedagogic training: mere coverage of the issuestheoretically will not be effective in creating the changes needed and so special considerationand imaginative approaches will be important.

Some stakeholders noted the need to make the transition from secondary to university smootherfor students, especially in the light of the proposed 70/30 science and technology/social sciencescurriculum mix and the demands that this will make on students in terms of the standard of theirmaths and science. It has been suggested that a number of staff may need to be trained andguided into designing and running a type of freshman programme which is student-centred,understands where the students are coming from and makes provision for a lot of hands-onscience and problem solving (missing from students secondary education because of some of the plasma screen-based teaching that may be improved, poor school provision, etc). It issuggested that experience from Southern Africa of developing foundation (or bridging)programmes in the sciences provides a good model. As well as supporting the development andimplementation of these programmes more generally, the donors could also fund the necessaryequipment for the laboratories and technician training.

Stakeholders, like the university staff themselves, see the value of research mainly in terms of its application to the problems in society and the economy. They would like to see researchdeveloped that is evaluative and solution orientated. They emphasise dissemination as a keyfeature. This should influence the forms research capacity development take.

In terms of community service, stakeholders emphasise local skills development through longand short training and consultancies. They would like to see universities and their graduatesreally involved in cross cutting issues in their localities, especially in gender, HIV/AIDS and theenvironment.

7 See annex 1 for the assignment to conduct this research


20/51

19

Stakeholders appear to be willing to act generously in supporting their university. They areprepared to contribute directly to curriculum development and review; and to offer on-the-jobtraining to students, share their experience and facilities and even contribute in minor ways tothe teaching.

This implies that stakeholders might be a useful resource in the human capacity building of theuniversity and could usefully be seen as (minor) partners in this respect: for example, it may bethat instructors and university managers engagement in job shadowing in local businesses andpublic sector organisations would be one way of helping them to develop the awareness neededto design and review really practical programmes and develop some entrepreneurial awarenessand skills. It might help in areas such as developing a customer focus that the NPUs can thenincorporate into courses and their everyday practice.

One notable difference of emphasis between concerns of the stakeholders and the NPUs is theimportance stakeholders place when discussing teaching, research or community service on thelinkages to the local economy and needs and - most especially - to agricultural development andchange. Stakeholders see universities as a key resource in developing both the national and local

rural economy and would like to see this as an important focus and expressed their willingnessto support this development.

Some stakeholders see the Teacher Development Programme (TDP) as a good model for humancapacity development, but it may not be sustainable unless university staff leading it arerewarded. It may be helpful if the status of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD)would be increased. Thought could be given to CPD programmes being certified in the sameway as the Higher Diploma (HD). Donors could contribute by offering to support (regional)CPD offices and equipment.


21/51

20

3. Reflection by the study team

3a. General issues These reflections are based on the research undertaken for this study as well as on the wideexperience of the study team (in a variety of capacities), including knowledge andunderstanding of higher education in Ethiopia and in other international settings.

Higher education is the means by which the professionals that the country needs can be trained.Ethiopia needs engineers, teachers, health workers, agriculturalists, designers and many more if it is to emerge from poverty. It must develop beyond dependency on subsistence agriculture andpractices that tend to hinder development rather than to promote it. If its citizens are to enjoygood health, and sufficient prosperity and life chances, then higher education is part of thenetwork of improvements that will help bring about and underpin this progress. Thus, the

expansion of higher education should be seen as an important contribution to Ethiopiasachievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and it is essential that the humancapacity development projects that may emerge from this study are directed towards helping theNPUs to make their contribution to this end.

On the positive side, the expansion of higher education has provided thousands of youngstudents with the access to further education that they never had before. (The need for morebachelors and masters degrees will only increase in the (near) future calling for even furtherexpansion.) However, despite the very best efforts of all involved, the rapid developments withlittle provisions of all the necessary resources in its initial stages and skilled labour force, willalso lead to a poorer educational experience for at least some of the first generation of studentswithin the NPUs. Earlier in this report, the impressive and striking levels of dedication,commitment, and eagerness to learn on the part of the staff of the NPUs was stressed. However,there is a danger that these admirable qualities may not last forever and that a resource-poorenvironment may lead in time (perhaps sooner rather than later) to a long-term culture of acceptance of low standards and that poor performance may become embedded in the system.

The Higher Education sector is very much aware of this danger and takes every opportunity toprevent this from happening although it needs help and assistance in this regard. The countryneeds a generation of professionals who know their craft, can create good governance, healthand economic productivity and can contribute adequately to development. With investment now in facilities and staff by the government (as is currently happening) and in capacity building bythe donors (in partnership with government) there is an opportunity for the new universities tobecome engines of development. These universities can then produce the leaders of men andwomen that future generations will need.

It is the view of the study team that there is at the moment a rare, unusual and exciting windowof opportunity for training and development at the NPUs when staff, at all levels, are at theirmost receptive. The forthcoming period coincides with the time when the NPUs are beginningto establish working cultures, systems and procedures and so there is an opportunity to supportstaff in the NPUs to develop critical reflection and thinking about the ways in which theyorganise and run their institutions. The study team also is also of the view that at present thereappears to be very little of the resistance to change which generally characterize moreestablished universities, both in Ethiopia and elsewhere in the world. It is therefore very likelythat implementing a BPR-type process at each of the NPUs will have different characteristics

than the current implementation at the established universities. There will be fewer processes to


22/51

21

transform and more to develop and so processes will be well engineered from the start, ratherthan having to be re -engineered.

The study team calls on the donors, the Ministry of Education and others to capitalize on thiswindow of opportunity, before the risk that bad habits, and ineffective and inefficient systems,creep in and become embedded in the culture of the new universities. If the donors and othersupporting partners would offer their help in the short term, it is very likely that staff in the newuniversities will not become resistant to change because of the losses and effort such changesmay involve later on. They are just now ready and willing to move outside of their comfort zonebecause they can see clear benefits; for example administrative staff in many of the NPUsrecognize the advantages of establishing new systems and processes rather than importing theold ones and then going through a process of BPR at some point in the future. Young academicstaff members are eager to build up new curricula, new teaching and learning approaches andacquire the capacities to improve their teaching and research knowledge and skills.

The study team noted that the terms used to differentiate between established and newuniversities are not always entirely clear and unambiguous and the distinction itself is not

always helpful. Some universities, such as Dilla (first founded as Dilla College of TeacherEducation and Health Science in 1996), have been based on institutions that have beenestablished for some time and so already have some infrastructure and experience on which tobase their transformation and expansion. At the other extreme, some other NPUs, such asMizan/Tepi, are completely new institutions starting up with no existing infrastructure orsystems to build upon.

The study team met with representatives of the senior management from four of the nineestablished universities and in each case it was pointed out that they themselves are stillstruggling to fully establish their own institutions and that the term established is perhaps onlyadequate for some parts of their university or some faculties, while others are still in an earlystage of development. This has implications for the amount of support that these established

universities are able to offer to the NPUs.

In spite of the observation above, the senior managers of established HEIs that were interviewedfor this study generally expressed a willingness (on the part of themselves and their institutions)to offer support to the NPUs. In this respect, the study team has been informed that the MoE hassent out a letter detailing (potential) clusters where established universities are expected tosupport local and/or regional NPUs although in practice this does not seem yet to have to havedeveloped strong roots. This notwithstanding, many senior staff from the NPUs havenevertheless already visited some of the more established universities to learn from theirexperiences and practices. Support structures are certainly needed to encourage the moreexperienced universities (and more experienced university managers within the NPU groupitself) to share expertise with other less experienced ones, sometimes this will be ingeographical clusters, but in the view of the study team does not need to be restricted to this.

3b. Leadership and management

To help achieve the ambitions of the Governments policy in regard to the expansion of higher education and its contribution to the development of the country, training and support is neededto enable NPUs to take on increasing levels of autonomy and to manage the devolution anddecentralisation of resources and decision-making. With the increased expansion of highereducation in Ethiopia it will become increasingly difficult for the MoE to micro-manage whatgoes on in individual universities. Some devolution of management is therefore inevitable. TheMoE is very well aware of this and, in the New Proclamation, which is on the verge of being

approved by parliament, attention is paid to the issue of autonomy. However at present the


23/51

22

NPUs need to be provided with the support to enable them to better manage their own affairs ina way that reflects their own particular individual set of circumstances and needs.

Currently there is a lack of implementation capacity in the NPUs and this needs to be addressed;for example how to build teams that can identify and solve their own problems and how to makethe decentralisation/devolution of management and financial decision making sustainable acrossthe various management layers. Central to this is the function and appropriateness of thestrategic planning process, the setting of priorities that are translated into feasible activities,clear indicators, as well as the regular and systematic monitoring of progress. The StrategicPlans of the NPUs will then be living documents that steer activities of the NPU at all levelsrather than something that is more likely to end up unused in a drawer.

Effective team working at the top allows devolution of responsibilities to middle level managers(Deans, Heads of Departments). A set of interventions could take this as an aspect of teamworking and could help management teams to look at impacts on job descriptions andaccountability procedures. Effective interventions could be designed to encourage a differentstyle of management by the top managers and different indicators for good or bad performances.

Interventions should encourage them to move away from a traditional approach towards a morecoaching and learning attitude in which role-modelling is important and mistakes are allowed(as long as these are openly admitted and not the kind of mistakes that could have been easilyavoided).

The move to more devolution in a team-based system will lead to rule changes and managing byindicators that are accepted throughout the university. Decentralisation and devolution from theMoE to the institutions and then to the faculties and different units of the institutions willrequire changes in relationships and strengthened team capacity at different institutional levels.Any proposed interventions will have to support this process, drawing on experience fromoutside Ethiopia as to what can be devolved and how safeguards may work, always adaptingthese to the Ethiopian context by working with teams to develop processes and practices that

will enable safe, appropriate and effective devolution in their particular context.

Once relationships of trust and responsibility are established, an organisational structurebecomes possible that is as lean and simple as possible and at the same time very transparent.Based on devolution, this should be the outcome aspired to. Business process engineering ispresently being implemented across the Ethiopian system and institutions can be supported inusing the process to achieve better structures and clearer decision-making systems based on theprinciple of putting responsibilities as low in the organisation as possible and compatible withthe roles of managers at different levels: so (by way of example) a Dean could be maderesponsible for job appraisal, appointments and recruitment of staff members and/or proposalsfor disciplinary procedures (all HRM responsibilities) but also for a budget for teachingmaterials and a Head of Department could be responsible for teaching schedules and so on.Interventions could support people at the middle level in their responsibilities, but also the topmanagers in their own coaching and mentoring role for more junior managers.

Another of the key issues identified through the interviews conducted for the study is humanresource management. Seen in a broad context this implies providing positive role models,encouraging people to take more initiative without waiting for others to tell them what to do,setting up a more open and transparent culture as well as providing more creative policies formotivating, rewarding and retaining staff.

Getting teams working effectively will have a major impact on human resources management.A project on leadership and management can enable the teams to set up a proper humanresources policy that includes:

- Input: recruitment procedures that determine who is involved in what; not on the basisof hierarchy but based on the effectiveness of the process. This will influence salary


24/51

23

schedules and types of contracts (to the extent that they are within the universityscontrol)

- Throughput: promotion, demotion and incentive policies (e.g. basic training;community services like schools; health care; research facilities). If team workingbecomes transparent, accountable and participatory, job description and job appraisalprocedures will all be subject to change

- Output: dismissal procedures including disciplinary procedures, coaching methods forfinding another job etc. will equally be affected.

The NPUs have identified a long list of human capacity needs in relation to management issues.To deal effectively with these needs, an interdependent approach may be the most appropriate.A training programme should be part of this, but not set up solely as an independent set of isolated workshops (although the approach will undoubtedly include workshops) as this carriesthe risk of being too superficial to be effective. Therefore, in the recommendations chapter thatfollows, the study team suggested strategies that enable a more holistic and streamlinedapproach. This will facilitate Ethiopian solutions to Ethiopian problems, based on national andinternational data and experience, instead of importing strategies from abroad and trying to

shoe horn them into an Ethiopian context. Most of the dangers described above will bealleviated by a bottom-up approach that starts with the problems faced by each NPU.

All this implies that there must be a real focus on change management: strategies to implementthe required changes and mechanisms to monitor progress and address any challenges that mayoccur. Although there are many similarities, each NPU faces its own specific issues and mustwork as a team to solve them if the solutions are to be sustainable. This means that interventionsshould be targeted at university level in the first instance, within a national framework. Such abottom-up approach should achieve the Governments transformatio n agenda.

3c. Academic processes

Teaching, research and community services are each a part of the academic process and eachdepends upon the other although those interviewed agreed that management and teachingshould be seen as immediate priorities. At the same time, research and community serviceremain important and cannot be ignored. The study team have therefore based theirrecommendations on the assumption that research and community service will grow graduallyas academic expertise increases and that this growth should be reflected in the timing of activities.

The study team is of the view that it is essential that the curriculum offered by the NPUs isrelevant and contextualized as much as possible and that a process whereby subject groupingscome together should be supported. In the Recommendations chapter the study team has madesome suggestions as to how this might be achieved, particularly through external assistance.

Almost all universities expressed a wish to link with other universities to help them to setbenchmarks for their own programmes and activities. The study team feels that, despite theprogress that is being made in articulating the core intellectual skills and competences that allstudents should have acquired to move between the different stages of a degree and to graduatesuccessfully, the new higher education sector needs considerable help moving beyond thisarticulation. This support can help to create the conditions that students need to really develop:for example practising the transferable skills that are needed in employment. There is muchwork going on at national level on core knowledge that should be contained within differentsubject degrees, however this may not be enough to ensure standards do not fall. The

curriculum, and the skills contained within it, should be the basis on which staff members candevelop the skills to maintain standards and quality in practice. Staff needs to be clear about


25/51

24

what a graduate should look like (i.e. the knowledge, qualities and skills a graduate shouldpossess) and the processes that will develop them.

The Governments policy of moving forward on the 70:30 balance in the curriculum has alreadybeen mentioned in this report. This will have implications for the pedagogic approaches andtraining that are required. Instructors will need to refine their skills in practical pedagogy inlaboratories and workshops; technical assistants will need to become more knowledgeable andskilled in dealing with and repairing complex technology and helping students and staff use it,and many staff will need their qualifications upgraded. These are all areas where NPUs willneed help and support if they are to contribute properly to the development of the country.

In almost all the interviews with academic staff the issue of research was addressed. There isclearly a requirement for a better understanding of the different types of knowledge(epistemology in particular) as a basic concept of research before researchers in the NPUs canstart to develop research proposals, apply for external funding or develop equal linkages withinternational universities. The expertise to write proposals to generate necessary additionalincome should be developed. Whilst some NPUs do currently undertake research in the local

community and recognise the value of applied research, this needs to be enriched through theunderstanding and application of a variety of research methods, attitudes and skills (for exampleaddressing ethical dilemmas). Local community organisations are unlikely to be able to pay forthis, so a source of seed corn funding will be necessary to encourage links between theuniversities and their surroundings.

The study team were told of several examples of NPUs working with their community, forexample providing tailor-made training for a local town administration. It might be a useful (andrelatively simple and cheap) proposition to ask all the NPUs to make an inventory of the variouskinds of linkages that already exist. This would be a good example of how NPUs couldcooperate and share examples of good practice. Another idea might be the possibility of establishing group projects to undertake interdisciplinary research as part of a masters

programme supported by external supervisors. Learning from the experiences of otheruniversities was mentioned often during the university visits as a valuable way of improving

performance. It was stressed that asking for information on each others good practices,preferably documented in guidelines, is a very valuable exercise that has not been conducteddue to the overloaded agendas of the NPU staff.

Many of those interviewed expressed the desire to become centres of excellence in theirrespective fields, but as yet there does not appear to be a sufficiently solid knowledge base onwhich to build these centres of excellence. Currently, in every NPU there are some groupsand/or individuals that have experience and knowledge on certain areas of research. Initiallyperhaps, these groups could be identified for their potential to make the NPUs more relevant totheir communities and to address contextual challenges. For instance, one could envisiondifferent institutions being developed into centres of excellence in specific areas, such asindustrial technology at Kombolcha/Dessie, natural resources, spices and horticulture atMizan/Tepi, tourism and anthropology at Axum and so on.

All the NPUs have expressed the desire to build relations and linkages with universities abroadas a means of developing their human capacity. This is understandable and entirely appropriate.However, it may not prove quite as straightforward in practice in the short or intermediate termas the NPUs might hope, especially if the NPUs are thinking in terms of ivy-league institutionsand equal academic cooperation. The reason here is that for many (although by no means all)such potential international partners, this is likely to require a better established foundation inmost fields of study than currently exists during these early stages of development of the NPUs.

Important exceptions here are where the NPU is fortunate enough to have a so-calledcomparative advantage, such as a resource, or field of study, that others around the world do nothave and are likely to envy (by way of example, Axum and the fields of tourism, anthropology


26/51

25

and archaeology). Where such a comparative advantage exists, this can often be used to formthe foundation of what may lead to much broader and more varied international linkages.Notwithstanding these remarks, there is a need to have partnerships and linkages between NPUsand foreign institutions and these needs to be supported by financial allocation for exchange of teaching and research faculty, technical assistance to assist in curriculum development,preparation of specific manuals and guidelines, to compile and transfer good practices, developteaching materials, etc.

Just because establishing linkages with well-established universities abroad may not alwaysprove easy and straightforward, this should not, of course, deter any the NPUs from trying.There may, for example, be opportunities to develop twinning partnerships, or mentoring, frominternational universities using external funding (if this is available through e.g. the donorcommunity, or charitable foundations) to cover the costs of the international partner as well asthe Ethiopian NPU. Many institutions are willing, and even keen, to participate in suchinternational development cooperation. Such partnerships could provide support to the NPUs interms of building/developing their capacities in selected fields of study. Members of the

Ethiopian diaspora may also be willing to support one or more selected NPUs with expertadvice and guidance on a voluntary basis, forming the nucleus of an international link.

Taking another approach, if video conferencing facilities are available (perhaps using facilitiesat the established universities) then this may also provide a way of making external expertiseavailable to the NPUs.

In addition to the above, there may also be opportunities to look for mentoring from industryand the private sector.

Underpinning the quality of all the academic processes is the subject knowledge of the academicstaff. Most have been educated only to bachelors level. This is not enough to ensure quality

teaching, research or community service. This means that support for the countrys higher degree programme, and for some enrichment of this through free standing masters and PhDprogrammes elsewhere, will be important to the maintenance of standards in all of these areas.

3d. Administrative processes

The NPUs are in the process of designing and implementing their administrative systems andthere is an opportunity to create a new paradigm in the way that university systems are run: onethat looks to the future and is ICT-based rather than the paper-based systems being currentlyused in the NPUs as well as the established universities and the MoE. Some administrativemanagers interviewed also talked of the need to create a cultural shift towards greater efficiencywith perhaps a smaller but more highly qualified administrative staff, a customer orientation,and service level agreements to ensure that the system is client orientated and delivers what isrequired to the appropriate level. Such a shift implies that the administration system helpsmanagers and the academic staff to do their jobs better. It also implies a user-friendly service forstudents, who are seen as customers of the service as well.

This shift can be exemplified by a change of the term from administrative staff to supportstaff where greater emphasis is placed on the role of the support processes in strengthening andfacilitating the higher priority core processes. For example, improving the student supportservices could prevent these from taking much of the time of the senior management away fromfocusing on quality education, research and community services. Alternatively, if the Registry

would increase its performance, its output will simplify the lives of the department heads andthis will enable them to spend more time on teaching and less time on fire fighting. Again BPR


27/51

26

can assist in this process through careful design of the to be scenarios, but additional supportfor the administrative department heads is required to implement this shift.

It is widely acknowledged by senior managers in the NPUs (and the established universitiesconsulted) that the reform of funding mechanisms through a funding formula and/or block grantwould be a useful development that will be implemented in the near future. However, a block grant funding system requires efficient and adequate financial information procedures, systemsand controls. These have to be in place before the block grant is implemented in full, and thestaff need to be qualified to implement and monitor the new financial processes. This willrequire long term support starting now, but probably extending beyond the span of this study, toprepare NPUs for the introduction of the funding formula/block grant.

The issue of procurement was often mentioned by those interviewed as being very frustratingand time consuming, for example the requirement to provide three quotations even when theremay only be one supplier in the whole country. Some of the problems associated withprocurement may be related to a lack of planning capacity in the NPUs rather than to the

procurement regulations. Therefore some of the study teams recommendations try to address

the issue of building/developing planning and implementation capacities in the NPUs.

3e. Cross cutting issues

With respect to HIV/AIDS and gender mainstreaming, and to a lesser extent other cross cuttingissues such as special needs and education for diversity, the study team noted that they areusually defined as issues for students to deal with through offices and clubs supported by theuniversity. Although the importance of these issues was acknowledged throughout, we wouldhave hoped to see evidence of more reflection and understanding by staff and managers thatmainstreaming of these issues is also their concern, that they should be role models in terms of ethical and moral behaviour. This calls for a policy that any management or pedagogic humancapacity development will include these issues in a manner that enables staff and managementto reflect on their own attitudes and practices. There have been many projects in the past thattake these issues and claim to mainstream them. We would certainly advocate such an approach,since it has been proven to be effective elsewhere at least to an extent in raising awarenessand knowledge. However, we question whether such an approach will be enough in itself:attitudes and behaviour often remain resistant to change. In this regard, it may also be useful forthese issues also to have their own separate focus. This would involve engaging proven expertsin these subjects, who have worked successfully on attitude and behaviour change, to work withinstitutions to mainstream these themes across all functions. We return to this issue in the nextchapter.

3f. General concluding remarks on the principles and philosophy Finally, the study team would like to reiterate that many of the needs outlined above can not bemet through participation in various short training courses alone, instead a range of differentintervention methodologies and modalities is necessary. The recommendations listed in thefollowing section are based on a philosophy of training that in the broadest sense is practice-oriented, involves the sharing of strategies that work, and provides examples of good practiceand includes the training of trainers. This means that that new knowledge and experiences canbe cascaded down within NPUs and that the training is holistic and benefits the institutions as awhole rather than just the individual, some of whom may not remain in post for any length of time.


28/51

27

4. Recommendations

4a. General

Although this study is aimed primarily at mapping the human capacity needs, it is necessaryalso to pay some attention to the issue of ICT. Managing a university, improving administrativeprocedures and processes, introducing block grants, increasing pedagogical skills . , and manymore the necessity and importance of ICT applications cannot be over-stated, although thespeed and extent to which this is required may vary across the NPUs. Access to internet will notonly have a positive effect on the academic process (not only for the communication with peeracademics but also to access relevant material in the respective academic fields, not only for

staff but also for students) but will also be absolutely necessary to implement the recommendedinterventions. In our view a basic provision in this respect is essential for almost any sustainableintervention in human capacity building at university and for running a smooth, effective andefficient university administration.

In making our various recommendations we have tried to be as clear and as specific as possible,addressing the interests and needs of the various stakeholders, without being too prescriptive, orrestricting, in terms of how the eventual deliverers of any future interventions should deal withthe issues identified.

The above notwithstanding, it is important however, to reflect on the repeated emphasis of thoseinterviewed on the need for training and other interventions to be focused on real problemsfaced in institutions, on teams working together on the problems and on in-depth, long-termdevelopment of institutional and team learning. Such approaches take more time than thetraditional expert lecture, discussion and go off and apply kind of approach. In this regard,greater gains can be expected from an approach that focuses on a smaller number of fundamental issues - and doing this well - rather than covering a wide range of managementissues but in a more superficial manner. This approach will also allow the team and institutionallearning to be developed, relationships built and attitudes and processes agreed that can then beapplied to other problems and situations, not necessarily always requiring outside intervention.

This means that the foci of human capacity development recommended in this study must beprioritised with some rigour and some criteria developed t

newuniversitiesstudy(tesfaye, s.)

Documents