Comparing the efficiency of Austrian universities

Summary In this paper we apply DEA to compare the efficiency of Austrian universities. It turns out that those universities that are most frequently publicly accused of working inefficiently are efficient. The Universities of Vienna and Linz and the Technical University of Graz — all three not usually the target of such attacks — show inefficiencies. We also show how to determine the changes that would have to be effected in order to make the inefficient universities efficient.     

The efficiency change of Italian public universities in the new millennium: a non-parametric analysis

The paper assesses the evolution of efficiency of Italian public universities for the period 2000–2010. It aims at investigating whether their levels of efficiency showed signs of convergence, and if the well-known disparity between northern and southern regions decreased. For this purpose, we use a refinement of data envelopment analysis, namely window analysis, which allows for measuring efficiency in cross-sectional and time-varying data. We find that the efficiency of most universities registered only marginal changes in the period, although a notable re-ranking occurred. However, changes in the management of universities, consequential to the reform processes, did not affect the long-run tendencies, such as the persisting difference in performance between north and south.     

Comparing state hegemonies: Chinese universities in postwar Singapore and Hong Kong

After World War II, Chinese residents of Singapore demanded the establishment of local Chinese universities. The ruling regime, however, which was under the shadow of the neighboring Malay‐dominated Malay Peninsula, was forced to suppress the development of such schools. In Hong Kong, the British needed to install a Chinese university to counter Beijing’s and Taiwan’s campaigns for recruiting students from the colony. As Hong Kong was a monoracial Chinese society, the government, not having to worry about the reaction of other indigenous groups, met this challenge by founding a fully recognized Chinese university. This research demonstrates that under diverse backgrounds of racial politics, state authorities have unequal latitudes to accommodate the educational institutions of subordinated racial groups. It also reveals that state education policies in small and dependent settings, unlike those in big and sovereign nations, are more susceptible to pressures from external powers and influences from the metropolis. These findings urge scholars to pay more attention to the factor of race and use comparative methods when employing the theories of state and hegemony to investigate education and power.     

Measuring the efficiency of teaching activities in Italian universities: An information theoretic approach

The measurement of teaching efficiency of Italian universities has become a topic of much interest and debate in recent years. The aim of this study is to fully explore the potential of panel data in the analysis of teaching efficiency both by modelling human capital formation in the university as a series of sub-processes and by using various models to account for observed and unobserved factors which generate heterogeneity. The new approach for estimating a stochastic frontier model based on the Generalized Maximum Entropy method provides further insights into the measurement of university teaching performance. The evolution of efficiency throughout the entire study period was also analyzed.     

论法治视野下高校机关行政效能的提高

该文从法治角度切入（法,在文中指学校的规章制度等管理规范）,从影响行政效能主要因素及相应对策两方面对高校机关行政效能的提高做了探讨。     

e-university: a cross-case study in four Italian universities

This paper describes the aims, the methods, the stages and the results of the research project 'e-University. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a factor of change in Italian universities', undertaken between 2003 and 2006 by the Universities of Trento, Perugia and Sassari and the Catholic University of Milan.
The characteristics of the four institutions' subjects and objects of the investigation are analysed as case studies and then compared as a cross-case study in the light of the factors that we feel constitute the main areas of concern in the four institutions as to the implementation of ICTs in the teaching/learning process, ie, the characteristics of the governance strategic plan, the choices relating to technology and the choices related to pedagogy. The paper describes the collaborative effort characterising the community of researchers through the different stages of the research. It also analyses how the individual features of each university—relating to its history, the number of students, the range of faculties, the diffusion of e-learning, the driving factors for innovation, the institution's policies—have fostered a lively and fruitful discussion between different view points, thus engendering deeper reflections for each context.     

Assessing efficiency in the Spanish public universities through comparative non-radial and radial data envelopment analysis

In this study we have used data from Spanish public universities to assess their efficiency in a longitudinal framework between 2008/9–2014/15. To carry out the analysis, two windows data envelopment analysis and intertemporal, non-radial and radial analysis methodologies were compared. The main results show a significant deterioration in university efficiency from the 2012/13 academic year for the three proposed frontiers, with both methodologies. Some factors may explain these results, such as the ageing of teaching force and its low replacement rate of 10%, and the lack of incentives for young researchers who wish to pursue a research career, influenced by the presence of endogamy, in hiring or promotion. Finally, the resources necessary for the good governance of the Spanish public university with the consequent accountability of these, in terms of teaching, research and its transfer to society, could become a strategic issue that should be taken into account by all the actors involved.

     

Strategic management accounting in universities: the Italian experience

This paper presents an investigation of management accounting in four major Italian universities, which have been struggling to build their strategy in a context of significant change. Following many OECD countries the Italian government has been changing its higher education system by giving more autonomy to universities. These changes pose a number of challenges for management and accounting systems in Italian Universities. Drawing on self-referential theory and its applications to accounting research the paper analyses the construction of Strategic Management Accounting (SMA) in four Italian universities, which are immersed in a similar context of change. The focus is specifically on two aspects of decisions: (1) resource allocation and (2) new academic programme.

Comparing university performance by legal status: a Malmquist-type index approach for the case of the Spanish higher education system

New public management and increasing levels of competition driven by global rankings are bringing the managerial practices of public and private higher education institutions closer together. However, these two types of institutions still maintain different objectives and traditions and enjoy different degrees of autonomy that are reflected in their internal organisational structures. We study the relative efficiency and productivity performance of private and public universities in Spain through two adaptations of the Malmquist Index. Results show that, in 2009/2010, the greater flexibility of private universities meant a better adjustment between inputs and outputs in the private sector. However, in 2013/2014, public universities had caught up with private universities. Because of the economic crisis, the inputs of public universities have decreased, but this decrease had not fully impacted their results in 2013/2014.     

创新人才培养与大学教学思想的变革:国际比较的视角

在世纪之交兴起的高等教育改革运动中。世界各国大学都不约而同地把培养创新人才作为大学的培养目标。为了培养创新人才，各国大学普遍注意普通教育与专业教育的平衡，重视能力培养。倡导启发武教学。强调探究性学习，提倡教学的个性化。     

Implementing transfer and articulation: A case study of community colleges and state universities

This study examined the cultural aspects of a transfer articulation policy between public community colleges and state universities enacted by a newly consolidated state governing board for higher education in a northeastern state. A qualitative multisite case study design explored how key stakeholders, faculty, administrators and staff viewed the transfer policy from their unique perspectives. Tierney’s (2008) cultural analysis of governance was used to examine the effectiveness of communication and decision-making on the part of the board. The study also applied Handel’s (2011) theory of a transfer affirming culture along with Jain, Herrera, Bernal, and Solorzano’s (2011) research on the requisite services for pretransfer and posttransfer success of nontraditional students. The use of several theoretical frameworks provides “a more powerful lens than when using only one in helping to interpret and understand culture” (Kezar &; Eckel, 2002, p. 440). The study was guided by the following question: How do community college and state university faculty, administrators and staff perceive the Transfer Mobility Policy in relation to their campus cultures? The findings identified difficulties with community college curricula and student transfer advising as well as a cultural gap between the community colleges and the state university. They underscored the politics that surrounds higher education governance reform and resultant clash between political and academic cultures. This study may help policy makers promote statewide transfer and articulation initiatives and be instructive for faculty, administrators, and staff as they seek to improve the success of students who transfer from community colleges to four-year colleges and universities.     

Analysis of the system of practicum in Spanish universities

The analysis focuses on an area of the university system that is considered to be important for its potential as an element addressed appropriately to raise the level of the quality of education and of the university formation. We refer to the ‘System of Practical Formation’ (practicum) used in the development of the future professionals that will join the world of the work from the university classrooms.

Firstly, the different programmes and their performances that are taken in the different Spanish universities are compared. The judgements obtained from the experts are considered, and thinking about their results I reflect on the reality of our approaches with the purpose of enriching and improving the system of practical formation.

El análisis que llevamos a cabo se centra prioritariamente en un ámbito del sistema universitario que consideramos importante por su gran potencial como elemento con capacidad propia para elevar el nivel de calidad de la enseñanza y de la formación universitaria. Nos referimos al ‘Sistema de Formación Práctica’ (Practicum) utilizado en la formación de los futuros profesionales que se incorporarán desde las aulas universitarias, al mundo del trabajo.

Nos interesa, en un primer momento, comparar los distintos programas y actuaciones que, en tal sentido, se llevan a cabo en las diferentes universidades españolas, así como, recabar el juicio de expertos para, apoyándonos en sus resultados, proceder posteriormente a reflexionar sobre nuestra propia realidad con la finalidad de enriquecer y mejorar el propio sistema de formación práctica.     

The British universities and the state: A comment

This article comments on the relationship between British universities and government departments with special reference to the work of the University Grants Committee and the role of its Chairman. The extent to which universities are free to exercise discretion is delineated and the place of lay (i.e., non-academic) people in university government is described. The future would seem to call for increased political adroitness on the part of those who govern universities if the unusual freedom at present possessed by British universities is to be retained.A lecture given at the University of Lancaster on May 28, 1979. Sir Charles Carter was formerly Vice Chancellor, University of Lancaster.     

Critical factors in the use of evaluation in Italian universities

The use made of evaluation output is crucial for understanding the position and effectiveness of evaluation systems. This article examines the development of evaluation in the Italian university system from the 1990 s onwards where serious problems have been and continue to be addressed in the use of evaluation output to improve academic activities and make universities accountable for their behaviour. There is a tendency for evaluation to generate inappropriate or undesired effects and for those being assessed to adopt opportunistic behaviour. Underestimation of the universities’ organisational features is the main reason for so many difficulties.     

Transitions in the manifestations of the research culture of Spanish universities

Universities must adapt to the challenges of social competitiveness and its new demands but there is still little evidence of how these changes are perceived by the academics. This paper provides insight on this matter and analyses the research culture of five Spanish universities from the perspective of the different academic bodies. A qualitative methodology was employed in the study based on 43 in-depth interviews with institutional leaders (vice-rectors and managers), responsible for research activity, (directors of research centres) and individual researchers (doctoral and postdoctoral researchers). The results point to a clear change in the institutional mission that moves from an institutional model where teaching and research cohabitate together towards another where research activity intensifies. The manifestations of the new research culture is characterised by the quest for efficiency and competitiveness at all levels and bodies. Despite the changes in the university model, participants perceive that the traditional and new models coexist and affect the university structure, the functioning of the centres and departments and the dynamics of the research teams which causes dissatisfaction of the researchers that in this context have to deal with the increasing pressure to publish and obtain external funding to assure ‘survival’. The research culture is also characterised as one that moves towards the scarcity of support measures for training, the confusion perceived between the political discourse and academic practice and the attempt to reposition the university in a social context, through redefining its role and fostering transfer activities.     

增强高校思想政治教育实效性的思考与实践

当前形势下,增强高校思想政治教育的实效性刻不容缓。高校思想政治教育实效性不足的主要原因是,对新时期大学生群体特质认识不足,高校思想政治教育难以跟上实际要求甚至脱离实际,网络信息平台缺乏有效的管理和引导等等。因此,针对这些原因进行积极探索,是增强思想政治理论课教学的实效性的有效途径。