1st Global Convention of UNESCO Chairs in Higher Education

Diversification and differentiation of higher education

SUMMARIES OF UNESCO CHAIRS CURRENT ACTIVITIES AND FUTURE PLANS

Centre for Advanced Academic Studies Dubrovnik, 14-15 October 2011

UNESCO CHAIR EVALUATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN ALGERIA Chair holder: Prof. Nabil Bouzid Algeria
University Lecturer and Head of the department Of Social Sciences at the University of Oum.El.Bouaghi Address: B.P 2019, Oum.El.Bouaghi 04000, Algeria E-mail: chaireunesco25@yahoo.fr Phone: 00 213 772 88 95 44

Summary of the current activities and future plans

Our UNESCO-Chair, entitled Evaluation of higher education in Algeria was established in 2005. In fact the central objective of this chair is the evaluation of tertiary education in Algeria with regard to the great tendencies and internationalization of higher education.

1- Principal objectives of the chair : Reinforcement of the dynamic of network, partnership and cooperation in the field of higher education (national, regional and international wide). Elaboration and implementation of research, training and evaluation projects, individually and with the chair partners, in the field of higher education in Algeria, mainly in the context of quality assurance, with regard to the international tendencies of higher education and the internationalization of quality. Organization of meetings and national, regional and international conferences around the topic of evaluation of the quality of higher education and its internationalization, and publication of the chair works.

2- Essential activities of the chair since its creation in 2005 ( past and present activities) : Setting the UNESCO - chair team and a national and international partnership for a cooperation in the field of higher education ( evaluation, quality assurance, training, teaching , research ); Participation in the elaboration and evaluation of higher education training courses; Participation in the training of those postgraduate students preparing a research in the field of higher education;

Organization of an international conference (April 2008 ) entitled : Evaluation of the university courses in Algeria in the era of internationalization of higher education and globalization . Have participated to this conference , the minister of Algerian higher education and several Algerian and foreign research teachers among which our UNESCO-Chair partners from France (Universities of Paris 8 and Paris 12) , from Morocco ( University of Casablanca ), from Tunisia ( University of Tunis) and from Syria (University of Damascus) ; Participation in research projects in the field of higher education; National and international publications and paper presentations in the field of higher education .

3- Future plans (programmed activities) : Reinforcement of partnership and cooperation, national, regional and international wide; Participation of the chair in the training of quality assurance teams in some Algerian higher education institutions; Participation in the audit of a number of Algerian higher education institutions with regard to the recent higher education reform BMD (Bachelor-Masterdoctorate), to the quality assurance and to the international tendencies of higher education; Participation in the implementation of quality assurance network in the Maghreb (north African) countries; Organization by the chair team, with the collaboration of national and international partners, of an international conference on the implementation and evolution of the quality assurance system in higher education in Algeria; Publication of the selected conference presented papers; Supervision of research work of those postgraduate students working in the field of evaluation of higher education; Publication of a collective document on the basis of those well qualified postgraduate students dissertations and theses in the field of higher education.

UNESCO CHAIR AND NETWORK ON EDUCATION MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING Chair holder: Prof. Nerses Gevorgyan Armenia
National Institute of Education Address: 67 Tigran Mets Str, Yerevan 375010, Armenia Phone: +37410 572100 Fax: +3741 55 92 98 Nerses Gevorgyan Email: nerses.gevorgyan@fulbrightmail.org Cell: +37493 838044 Date of establishment: 2005 Partner institutions: Armenian State University of Economics Address: 128 Nalbandyan Street, Yerevan, Armenia Phone: +37410 521720 Main contact(s) at UNESCO (names + departments: S. Bahri, Senior Programme Specialist, Sector Executive Office (EO) H.Tortian, Programme Specialist, Division for basic to Higher Education and Learning (BHL) I. Nichanan, Secretarial Assistant,The Section of Higher Education (ED/BHL/HED)

Objectives, activities, results and impact of the Chair/Network

The goal of UNESCO Chair is to promote an integrated system of research, training, information in the field education management and planning to support educational reforms and integration of Armenia into worldwide educational processes. Chair targeting the following main objectives: 1. Support for development of high level human resources in the field of education management and planning through relevant programs development and teaching 2. Development of research-based policies in education and foster scientific advancement through research in relevant disciplines to increase the availability of outstanding specialists. 3. Facilitation collaboration between high-level, internationally recognized researchers and teaching staff of the Institute and other institutions in the Republic of Armenia and establishment of cooperation and network in higher education and to promote the regional co-operation between South Caucasus Countries. 4. Support to reform process implementation by communication of reforms in education both with academic community and society at large. Type of activity: Post-graduate Teaching Program in Masters level, high-level training courses, Inservice Teacher Training, Research and Visiting professorships.

Target beneficiaries: Students, Policy makers, Academic managers, Administrators from Ministry of Education and Universities, Regional educational administrators, Academics, Teachers and Professionals. Summary of the current activities and future plans

In 2010-2011 all activities of the Chair have been originated by the Chairs Objectives: Support for development of high level human resources in the field of education management and planning through relevant programs development and teaching. Support for reform process implementation by communication of reforms in education both with academic community and society at large. At the present stage of Educational reforms, the Chair fulfilling his mission was focused on support for Higher Education reforms in Armenia. Chair conducted activities in the following fields: Academic/ Teaching In 2009-2010 academic year Chair starts Master program of Education Management at Yerevan State University of Economics. In 2010-2011 academic year ASUE granted Masters of Education Management Degree to first graduates of the Chair. First year students of 2010 class successfully completed the academic year. Chair is ready for 2011-2012 admission. Chair asks US Embassy to invite Visiting professor in the framework of Fulbright Program. Professor Anna Gill-Garcia from Illinois University, USA spent a semester in ASUE teaching Research methods course. Professor Gill-Garcia also contributed to National Institute of Education providing consultations on Teacher's performance assessment.

Legislation Advisory support was provided to the improvement of educational legislation in Armenia. Ministry of Education and Science requested expertise and advice for the draft law on secondary education and legislative process on establishing high school system in Armenia. Staff of Chair worked closely with the drafting groups, providing recommendations and comparative analyses. Recommendations for legislative changes provided for amendments of higher education law as well. Chairholder was participated in preparation of Bologna national report of Armenia as a National Preparatory Group member. Chair members participated in Learning Outcomes and National Qualifications Framework development processes for Armenia, organized by the Ministry of Education and Science.

Educational Policy Setting In 2011, based on a request from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia, UNESCO Chair participated in development of five-year development program for education system. UNESCO Chair staff worked with the working group of the MoES on development of Quality Assurance system and Qualifications Framework setting. Awareness rising Chair launched Awareness rising campaign to support higher education reforms towards the Bologna Process at Armenian state University of Economics. Through its various Conferences, Round Tables, educational interventions etc, the UNESCO Chair manages to attract a variety of audiences and to raise public awareness on Educational reforms. The Chair Participated in Bologna follow up conference organized by the Ministry of Education and Science in June 2011. Curricula reform Chair started to develop new courses based on ECTS and Dublin descriptors as well as Education management and Qualification descriptors based on European overarching Qualification Framework. Recommendations and model of new course descriptors (competences) and Qualification standard has been presented to the Ministry of Education and Science for system wide implementation. Research In 2009-2010 Chairs staff participated in conduction of a number of discovery workshops and a feasibility study on current situation in Education System. Result of research conducted is provision for recommendations for the implementation of new approaches of Quality Assurance Assessment of Higher Education Institutions, preschool education renewed database. Recommendations of legislative changes to define new European Concept of Quality Assurance also submitted to the Government. UNESCO Chair conducting research also in the field of Integrity Education. Publications Book Title: Higher Education Author(S): Editors, N. Ghukasyan, N. Gevorgyan and others. Publisher(s): National Institute of Education, Armenia Year: 2010 Language(s): Armenian Academic Manual "Integrity in Public Administration" Author(S): H. Alexanyan, V. Tserunyan Publisher(s): "Edit Print", Yerevan, Armenia Year: 2011 Language(s): Armenian 6

International Projects Staff of UNESCO Chair actively participated in anti corruption and Integrity Education project launched By Jerusalem and UK based International NGO "Tiri". Chair organized and implemented Conferences and workshop with the Cooperation of Tiri on Integrity Education. Expected results of the Project is enabling education institutions to benefit and integrate experiences from each other and to implement the European and international best practices in the field of Integrity Education and to develop new education policy guidelines and practices and academic courses.

Chair is organized visit of Magna Charta Observatory Delegation to Armenia. Future cooperation and projects has been discussed.

The added value of the Chair according to the University Chair is sole conductor of research and academic activities in the field of Education management at the Armenian State University of Economics- partner University. The chair is developing research-based policies in education and preparing specialists in Education management. Chair is facilitator in collaboration between high-level, internationally recognized researchers and teaching staff of the University: for example Chair invited Fulbright professor from US to conduct research and teach Education Administration at the Partner University-Armenian State University of Economics. Chair members are providing consultations on educational reform process.

Forthcoming activities The core activities will continue to be research to support to Educational reforms in Armenia, Support for development of high level human resources in the field of education management and planning through relevant programs development and teaching. The action plan of the UNESCO Chair for the current biennium 20011-2012 has the following main directions: Support for reform process implementation by communication of reforms in higher education both with academic community and society at large;

Development of new Master's courses in the field of Education Management; Conducting academic program; Conducting training for education professionals on Education Governance, Strategic Management and Human Resource Management; Invite visiting Professor; Initiate a seminar series for educators and policy makers on aspects of Bologna Process; Initiate new research programmes in the area of Conflict management and teaching peace; Develop international cooperation; Continue to advice the MoES and Universities on Quality Assurance issues; Liaise with parallel Chairs; Explore opportunities for further cooperation with UNESCO-CEPES 7

Development prospects Agreement between UNESCO and the National Institute of Education is the framework defining the status and operation of the UNESCO Chair as a department of the Institute. This fact will affect the stability of the Chairs existence in the long term. The Chair was expanded academic activities and shifted this part of activities into partner University (Armenian State University of Economics) establishing an academic Chair. Operating in the University would give it a stable and permanent status and would ensure the sustainable operation of the Chair in the University organizational structure. This will allow to multiple resource usage and expansion.

Short and medium term

To complete Educational standard on Qualification of Management of Education at Master's level; Develop concept papers related to the: o Universities Governance; o Internal Quality Assurance System o Qualification framework on the level of Education Management; o Learning outcomes for management o University Management

Long term Fulfilling the mission to support the reforms underway the Chair will continue research and expertise in the field of legislation and development of Quality Assurance System and Strategy for the Ministry of Education and Science as well as Armenian State University of Economics and provide academic/methodological support to the Universities in Armenia at large. Expanding activities Broadening partnerships: Establishment of joint and interuniversity partnership is one of the main areas of Chairs activity: Discussed and agreed to start partnership with: Innovative schools in Armenia, providing methodological support; UNESCO Chair on Higher education management in Friendship University of Russia is underway. Cooperation with UNESCO Chairs in related field of education;

UNESCO CHAIR IN MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE OF HIGHER EDUCATION Chair holder: Prof. Aleksa Bjeli/Ass. Prof. Pavel Gregori Croatia
University of Zagreb Trg marala Tita 14 HR-10000 Zagreb Phone: 00 385 1 4698 110 E-mail: unesco@unizg.hr

Summary of the current activities and future plans

The UNESCO Chair of Governance and Management of Higher Education was founded at the University of Zagreb in 2003 with the aim of fostering quality culture in our higher education system, transforming the governance system of Croatian universities in accordance with European trends and practices, and connecting the higher education system with industry, entrepreneurship and civil society at large. The UNESCO Chair was inaugurated by The UNESCO Chair of Governance and Management of Higher Education was founded at the University of Zagreb in 2003 with the aim of fostering quality culture in our higher education system, transforming the governance system of Croatian universities in accordance with European trends and practices, and connecting the higher education system with industry, entrepreneurship and civil society at large. The UNESCO Chair was inaugurated by the then Rector of the University of Zagreb, Professor Helena Jasna Mencer, in Bucharest, Romania, the site of the UNECSO CEPES central. The University of Zagreb's UNESCO Chair is one of the few existing Chairs with this mission in Europe. Until 2007, the Chair was held by Prof. Vlasta Vizek Vidovi. At the initative of the current Rector, Professor Aleksa Bjeli, the Chair was restructured in 2008 into a think-tank group composed of academics and staff of varying profiles, ages, career tracks and levels of experience. The group scrutinizes local, regional and global issues and trends in higher education and research, formulates goals and suggests strategies for the advancement of the higher education and university-based research system. Members of the group are: Matko Barii, Pavel Gregori, Ksenija Grubii, Helena Jasna Mencer, Anita Peti-Stanti, Marko Rogoi, Hrvoje iki and Ksenija Turkovi. By December 2010, the UNESCO Chair has organized three international round tables, with esteemed keynote speakers. The first was dedicated to the issues of integration or fragmentation of the University of Zagreb (May 2009). The second dealt with an assessment of achievements and failures of the Bologna process to date in Croatia and abroad (March 2010), and the third one explored the issue of financing research universities in times of economic recession (December 2010). All three round tables had an outreach to policy makers, executive officials, politicians and wider academic public, and received significant media coverage. The presentations, discussion summaries and conclusions of all three round tables were published on the Chair's web-page (http://www.unizg.hr/unesco-chair/).

The plan of the current UNESCO Chair is to continue probing burning issues for our University as well as for the entire system of science and higher education in Croatia, to keep track of the current trends in science and education policy in the region, across Europe and globally, and then to filter and present these trends to the University government and policy makers through consultations and international round tables, respectively. We believe that our plan can be better realized, and possibly expanded in new and creative ways, if we establish a network of UNESCO Chairs connected with higher education in the region and around the world. Such a network, we hope, will provide a platform for common projects and agendas, as well as a valuable resource for current activities of the present UNESCO Chairs, but also to facilitate the work of the future UNESCO Chair-holders. Therefore, we were delighted to co-organize the 1st Global Convention of UNESCO Chairs in Dubrovnik.

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UNESCO CHAIR IN QUALITY MANAGEMENT OF HE AND LIFELONG LEARNING Chair holder: Prof. Constantin Oprean Romania
Dr. Silvia Florea Deputy Chair Holder Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu Tel: 0040 269216062/ext.225 or 218; Mobile : 040724365912 E-mail: silvia.florea@ulbsibiu.ro

Summary of the current activities and future plans

The UNESCO Chair in Quality Management of Higher Education and Lifelong Learning was established at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu with the purpose of developing and promoting an integrated system of research, training, information and documentation in the fields of lifelong learning and quality assurance and management. Under the broad perspective of lifelong learning and quality assurance in higher education, the mission of the UNESCO Chair of LBUS is to build capacities, promote and cooperate with other HEIs in Central and South Eastern Europe on identifying and sustaining actions needed for the strengthening of higher education-graduate employment/employers links, the increased assurance of the quality of learning and competencies provided by higher education in the country and the region, the provision of skills for lifelong learning as well as the improvement of the employability rate among graduates. The Chair is formed around interested extant academics and researchers from LBUS and European partnering institutions, students and faculty pursuing post-graduate studies and training, visiting professors, experts as well as guest speakers involved in the UNESCO Chair research and activities. The UNESCO Chair in Quality Management of Higher Education and Lifelong Learning of Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu was formally launched on the occasion of the joint UNESCO.CEPES-LBUS International Conference which was held in Sibiu, May 19-21, 2011. The following achievements are expected for the first 4 year period: To promote HE policy development, positive legislation on lifelong learning and the creation of qualitative environments conducive to lifelong learning (LLL); To provide 20 training courses for providing skills for LLL over the term of the Chair for 300 persons; To conduct and complete research on graduate employment and publish a study on the research findings; To benchmark with existing practices at other HEIs at national, regional and international levels so as to identify best practices and learn how to remedy systemic shortfalls, increase quality, and improve outcomes;

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To organize 2 regional workshops on graduate employment and one international joint UNESCO-CEPES/ Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu international conference (Life After Graduation: The Role of Graduate Employment and Tracking Systems for Continuous Curricula Development and Quality Enhancement in HE) for interested policy makers, researchers and practitioners; To conduct and complete research on graduate-tracking systems and then create a practical tool kit for other institutions to use; To organize and promote 4 graduate job fairs for a minimum of 300 students; To improve the relevance of university curricula by introducing BA and MA studentcareer counselling courses; To train 20 faculty in HE Quality Management and mentoring activities; To contribute to the production, defense and publication of 3 PH.D thesis on Higher Education Quality Management issues.

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UNESCO CHAIR OF THE UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING OF THE URAL FEDERAL UNIVERSITY NAMED AFTER THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA B. N. YELTSIN Chair holder: Prof. Klyuev Alexey Russia
Ural Federal University named after the first President B. N. Yeltsin Tel: 791 222 060 38 Fax: (343) 350 74 33 E-mail: akluev56@mail.ru

Summary of the current activities and future plans UNESCO chair in university management and planning was created at the Ural State University on October 15, 1998. The Chair serves as: 1. Expertise center for managerial decisions in the field of education, 2. Discussion ground for reviewing education development challenges 3. Consulting and training center in the field of education management for education managers on different levels. Main priorities of the Chair activities are:

Cooperation: Regional Russian and international cooperation in different areas of research and consulting on the most relevant aspects of education management. Chair members actively participate in international conferences, symposiums, forums devoted to problems in higher education and cooperate with education management authorities.

Discussions in educational community: The Chair initiates new developments in the field of education management. Innovations are proposed and discussed on the platform of the magazine University management: practice and analysis, published with the participation of the Chair. An example of this is the discussion Third mission of the university: aims, forms and implementation which was held on the pages of the magazine. The magazine presents and discusses the challenges of managing academic innovative activities of higher education institution, quality management, instruments of managing social climate at the university, relations between the university and its region, etc. Relevance and importance of the problems under discussion had a major role in creating stable professional interest to the magazine among university management community.

Projects in the field of higher education institution development: Consultants and experts of the Chair took part in the development of strategies for more than 20 universities in Russia.

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Upgrading the quality of management in higher education sphere: The Chair acts as teaching center on upgrading qualification for higher education managers of Ural Federal Area. The project is implemented within the framework of the Federal target program of education development for 2006 2010. The program worked with 148 trainees heads of education management bodies from Ural federal Area, 73 trainees from Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Tyumen regions and Khanty Mansy autonomous district. The Chair trains heads of professional and higher education from such cities as Ekaterinburg, Nizhny Tagil, Serov, Salda, Pervouralsk, etc. During the last year more than 300 people took an upgrading qualification course. In most cases this promoted their professional and career development.

Perspective cooperation areas We are interested in cooperating with universities, research teams, UNESCO chairs on the following topics: 1. Development and implementation of training managers for education system. 2. Conducting research on mechanisms of integrating universities into regional systems. 3. Preparing publications on higher education institution management challenges for the magazine University management: practice and analysis. 4. Conducting research on university integration and mergers. 5. Joint conferences, seminars, round tables on relevant topics of university management. The Chair offers the participants of the 1st Global Convention of UNESCO Chairs in Higher Education Diversification and Differentiation of Higher Education a project proposal on research in the field of university mergers.

Mergers in higher educational institutions: efficacy evaluation At present we witness active process of higher education system transformation by means of mergers of universities. Relevance of mergers in higher education institutions is not random and has profound social and economic background. 1. Development of economy requires universities to shift their positions in social systems in relation with concentration of intellectual, research and technical resources, creation of major centers of innovation generation and implementation. 2. Establishment of human capitalism acts as a major factor of facilitating mergers in higher education [1]. Development of educational markets and their globalization creates environment for solutions in the field of strengthening competitiveness of the universities by means of their consolidation. Stability of integrated higher education institution systems development can be provided by means of avoiding competition on local level as a result of mergers and competition on regional and global level [2.20]. 3. We should not forget the mass character of higher education. In all countries of the world higher education has lost its elite characteristics and became mass institution which has lead to the shift in financial support of education from state to private investors represented by students and their parents. Decrease of state financing in the context of significant increase of higher educational institutions gives particular importance to the task of introducing effective usage of financial resources, in particular by means of consolidation and increased administration scope at all levels of the university. 14

4. Economic development tasks, new dynamically changing requirements of the labor market also motivate mergers of activities and resources of educational institutions at different educational levels. Due to that the educational system in general has come to understanding of the need in changes including those related to structure and function: improving efficacy of existing material and technical base; upgrading efficacy of using academic and pedagogic potential of educational institutions; attracting additional financial resources to the educational sphere; implementation of continuous education concept, increase of the number of potential education trajectories to be chosen by trainees; improvement of educational content in educational institutions. Despite that academic and practical understanding of university merger is at its initial stages due to a certain number of reasons: 1. Complexity of university reorganization as a particular type of organization makes it highly difficult to evaluate the feasibility and results of the merger. 2. Research on university merger is usually conducted in the form of case-study, including description and generalization of individual cases. There is almost no quantitative data for comparative analysis [4.65], which definitely limits opportunities for theoretical analysis and practical application of analyzed university merger models. 3. Major number of mergers in higher education sphere is initiated by the government and acts as art of major state program on education reform. This creates problems for conducting independent critical analysis of merger experience due to its closed character and accompanying tension. Because of that the task of developing mergers efficacy evaluation system becomes major research and practical task aimed at upgrading the quality of integration process management in higher education. Evaluation system can be designed and tested as part of joint work of international research team working on analysis of planned and factual higher education institutions mergers. Developed method of evaluating efficacy of higher education institutions merger can serve as the basis for monitoring this process by interested stakeholders including the state.

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UNESCO CHAIR IN DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION: RESEARCH AND INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING Chair holder: Prof. Srbijanka Turajli Serbia
Center for Education Policy Svetozara Markovia 22, IV sprat 11000 Belgrade Tel/Fax: (011) 32 30 105 E-mail: srbijanka.turajlic@gmail.com

Summary of the current activities and future plans

General introduction The overall objective of the Chair is to contribute to the social, economic and cultural development of Serbia and the Western Balkans. This includes strengthening capacity for research in the field of education and science, supporting education and science policy development and disseminating information and knowledge to various stakeholders in Serbia and the region of the Western Balkans. Current activities of the Chair include targeted analysis and studies on various issues in education and science, both in Serbia and in the region. These are often commissioned by partners, e.g. the World Bank, Fund for an Open Society, or supported by the EU programmes or other mostly international funders. Apart from this, the Chair is also involved in own research projects (e.g. studies on financing of education, teacher education, governance etc.), which, in most cases result in publications. The list of Chairs independent publications is available at http://www.cep.edu.rs/en/izdanja. In addition, the Chair supported the work of its host institution Centre for Education Policy (CEP) in publications commissioned by various partners. The Chair also organises annual seminars on vital educational issues for participants from Serbia and from the region (Seminar 2010) and actively supports the work of CEP in various campaigns about education issues (e.g. inclusive education campaign in Serbia, recognition of foreign qualifications). By conducting high quality analysis of education and science, through publications, seminars and other activities, the Chair and its host institution have become an important partner in policy development both in Serbia and in the region. This is demonstrated by increased confidence of relevant stakeholders in the expertise provided by the Chair and the host institution, through commissioning reports and also interim hosting of the ERISEE (Education Reform Initiative in South Eastern Europe) agency, as well as an intensive cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science and other relevant stakeholders. The Chair has established good cooperation with the public authorities in Serbia and the region of the Western Balkans, such as the ministry responsible for education, other crossectoral government structures focusing on inclusion and poverty reduction, buffer structures such as the national councils for education and higher education and the Quality Assurance and Accreditation Commission. The Chair also closely cooperates with higher education institutions in Serbia and the region of the Western Balkans, as well as higher 16

education institutions from other European countries. Moreover, the Chair has established a solid cooperation through various projects with the Fund for an Open Society, Serbia, European Training Foundation, the World Bank office in Serbia, Council of Europe, OECD, Regional Cooperation Council, European networks such as the European University Association, the European Students Union, etc.

Current activities Hereby we provide a short overview of the major projects in the field of higher education the Chair participates in, either as the project leader or as one of the partners, followed by a selection of current projects related to other levels of education. European Integration in Higher Education and Research in the Western Balkans seeks primarily to strengthen the capacity of partner institutions in the Western Balkan countries in the area of educational research in general, and higher education and research policy analysis in particular, as well as to strengthen the basis for evidence based policy making in the area of higher education and research in the Western Balkans. The project is financed by the Norwegian Research Council through the NORGLOBAL programme and implemented in partnership with the Department of Educational Research of the Faculty of Educational Sciences and the Centre for European Studies (ARENA) at the University of Oslo, University of Zagreb, the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Belgrade and the Norwegian Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFUSTEP). The Knowledge Economy research project is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the education system in Serbia, at all level, as well as scientific research, which will result in a separate publication on the research policy, financing and performance in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. Autonomy of Higher Education Institutions in the Countries of Former Yugoslavia analyses the institutional conditions of university autonomy in the higher education systems of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia (former Yugoslav republics). It addresses four dimensions of autonomy, namely, organizational structures and institutional governance, staffing, finances and academic matters and it looks into them through the lens of university and faculty leadership in the countries under study. Preliminary results of the research were presented at the 24th annual CHER (Consortium of Higher Education Researchers) conference in Iceland in June 2011. Apart from these, the Chair participates in a number of EU TEMPUS projects, in consortia with higher education institutions from the country and abroad, as well as the Ministry and other stakeholders. Within the TEMPUS project Education Policy Study Programme in Serbia and Montenegro, the partners involved are jointly developing a Master programme on education policy which is to meet the demand for the knowledge on education policy, both with the decision makers and education providers. TEMPUS project Building Capacity for Structural Reform in Higher Education of Western Balkan Countries is to strengthen capacity for higher education structural reform in Western Balkan countries. The wider objective of the TEMPUS project Conducting Graduate Surveys and Improving Alumni Services for Enhanced Strategic Management and Quality Improvement is to enable higher education institutions in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina to continuously conduct graduate surveys for the purpose of enhancing study offerings and facilitating permanent modernisation processes. It is expected to contribute to the 17

improvement of institutional self-evaluation processes by collecting systematic and reliable information on the links between study offerings and subsequent employment of graduates, as well as enable the evidence based evaluation of higher education reforms and curricular changes in the last decade. The results of this project will be exploited through the development of an action plan for future graduate surveys including other higher education institutions in the Western Balkans. Finally, the TEMPUS project Equal access for all: strengthening the social dimension for a stronger European Higher Education Area strives to combat limited access, social exclusion and inequalities in higher education and hence diversify and enlarge the student body to mirror the society structure in Serbia. The Chair also regularly attends CHER conferences and last year its host institution, Centre for Education Policy, was entrusted by the CHER Governing Board with organising the 25th CHER conference, together with the Centre for Education Policy Studies of the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education. The 25th annual CHER conference will be held in Belgrade, on 10-12 September 2012. The conference theme is Higher Education and Social Dynamics. Importantly, for the first time since its foundation, the CHER conference will be held in this part of Europe and it will gather eminent researchers in the field of higher education in Europe and beyond. The following projects address education in general, yet their focus largely lies with preuniversity education. Campaign for Inclusive Education aims to contribute to the creation of an inclusive culture and practice for all children - increasing the enrolment rate of children from marginalized groups and improving the quality of education that they receive in preschool, primary and secondary education. The project is done in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the Centre for Interactive Pedagogy, Teachers Union of Serbia and the Fund for an Open Society. Teachers Attitudes towards Their Profession is a project striving to contribute to the development of the teaching profession, as well as creating a solid empirical base on teachers' attitudes and perceptions on key educational topics (teaching profession and its improvement, responsibility, quality of education, cooperation of teachers within the school, at the municipality level etc.) for the purpose of further in-depth analysis and research. The project also aims at creating the pre-conditions for the development of education policies based on research and with participation of teachers as key actors in the educational process; providing teachers with the information on modern trends in education and their role in improving the quality of education and, finally, providing teachers with the information about opportunities for self-organization at the municipality level and the possibilities of strengthening teachers' associations. Monitoring Inclusive Education is part of a larger national project which is to monitor the implementation of inclusive education policy, which should provide regular reports and feedback needed in order to enable the education system to generate quick corrective actions of different actors involved in the implementation of the inclusive education policy. Advancing Teacher Professionalism and Stakeholders Participation in Education is designed in such a way as to contribute to the professionalization of teachers and their continuous professional development in South East Europe; to empower teachers as active members of school governance and partners in education reform and finally to contribute to the development of evidence based policy making South East Europe.

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Future plans Apart from organising CHER 2012 and continuing with its work on the projects mentioned above, the Chair will also seek to strengthen current partnerships, establish new ones, as well as position itself as a leader in higher education research and analysis in the region. Among the future project, it could be mentioned that the Fund for an Open Society, Serbia, shall soon launch a campaign on the universitys role in the society, with the focus on Serbia. The role of the Chair within this project shall be to conduct a comprehensive research on the current state of affairs as regards the matter. The universitys so-called third mission has been recognised as a weak point of the Serbian higher education system and is therefore in need of being addressed both by researchers and decision makers. Another project which is expected to commence in the coming months is titled Mapping of Regional Capacities in Evidence Based Policy Making in Education and aims to look into the research in the field of education in the region and the way these are being communicated to the policy makers. The project is commissioned by the Joint Cluster of Knowledge of the Task Force Fostering and Building Human Capital and ERI SEE. The Chair will continue its active participation in national and regional projects and partnerships, as well as to contribute to the strengthening of capacities for institution building in the country and the region.

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UNESCO CHAIR IN MANAGEMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION Chair holder: Prof. Xavier Llinas Spain
Tel : + 34 93 401 58 46 E-mail : xavier.llinas@upc.edu Ms. Marisa Juste Subdirectora Tcnica Deputy technical director Jordi Girona, 31 Edifici Tillers Planta 2 Barcelona Tel: 93 401 10 30 Fax: 93 401 07 71 marisa.juste@upc.edu / www.cudu.upc.edu

Summary of the current activities and future plans

(see Presentation)

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UNESCO CHAIR IN HIGHER EDUCATION MANAGEMENT Chair holder: Prof. Richard Mawditt United Kingdom
University of Bath Tel: +44 1225 464 213 Mobile: 44 7740 393 224 E-mail: richardmawdittinbath@btopenworld.com

Summary of the current activities and future plans

Purpose/Objectives of the Chair The nature and structure of higher education around the world has changed more in the past sixty years than at any time over the six hundred years since the foundation of the university as we now know it. Higher education the world over has evolved with demand outpacing supply. Progress in science and medicine has had no boundaries and often driven on by the activities of war and disease; technology and engineering has transformed from the industrial to the knowledge revolution; whilst the Arts and Humanities have changed as cultures and politics have been remodelled. All of which has necessitated universities and technological institutions to dramatically change in the wave of demand with often with inadequate resource and human capacity to support them. Although the problems of growth are vastly different in magnitude in the global South than in the global North, the benefits of international relationships, inter-university seminars, workshops and training programmes has been hugely successful. In the wake of this change in higher education The UNESCO Chair in Higher Education Management was conceived contributing towards research and building capacity in governance, management structures, resource and financial management at higher education institutions and government departments especially in the field of leadership and performance of institutions and their personnel. Specifically the UNESCO Chair evolved in developing twinning and other co-operative linking arrangements between the University of Bath in the UK and universities in subSaharan Africa, as well as developing sub-regional and regional cooperation networks based at the participating institutions. It also focuses on developing centres of excellence of specialised postgraduate studies and advanced research by agreement between the parties, with international support and hopes to foster scientific advancement through research in relevant disciplines, and to increase the availability of outstanding specialists within the participating institutions. Within the framework of the UNITWIN / UNESCO Chairs Programme the objectives of the Chair in Higher Education Management Programme, which was established in 2000, have been: To develop twinning and other co-operative linking arrangements between the parties (in 2000 the University of Bath in the UK; the University of South Africa {UNISA}; and the National University of Lesotho); To develop sub-regional and regional cooperation networks based at the participating institutions; 21

To develop centres of excellence of specialised postgraduate studies and advanced research by agreement between the parties, with international support. These centres could assist in bridging training and research needs across national frontiers; To foster scientific advancement through research in relevant disciplines, and to increase the availability of outstanding specialists within the participating institutions.

In order to achieve this framework the universities: Facilitate the transfer of knowledge to promote independent educational research capabilities; Develop joint advanced postgraduate study programmes and advanced research (the Doctorate in Higher Education Management [DBA] at the University of Bath is the prime example); Focus on higher education management

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