Autonomy of Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan
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Public Policy and Administration Research ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online) Vol.3, No.12, 2013
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Autonomy of Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan: A Case Study of University of Education, Lahore
Muhammad Imran Mueed; Dr. Aamir Saeed; Mr. Ghalib Ata 1. 2. 3. Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Asst. Prof., Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan Lecturer, Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan [email protected] m; [email protected]; [email protected]
Abstract The study encompasses the concept of university autonomy in the context of higher education reforms of Pakistan in 2002. It uses case study research methodology and explores two core dimensions of university autonomy namely ad ministrative autonomy and financial autonomy. The study aims to describe the nature and extent of administrative and financial autonomy at Un iversity of Education, Lahore. The data collected is of qualitative in nature and is collected mainly through observations, in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyses of the availab le documents. The research emp loys amalgamation of judg ment and snowball sampling techniques. The respondents included members of ad min istrative staff and the senior facu lty of the university. The conclusions drawn fro m analysis of data tell that university enjoys sufficient amount of admin istrative autonomy as it can set its future direct ion, appoint faculty and staff to meet its present and future needs of human resources and can award or revoke affiliations to various educational institutions for the purpose of awarding degrees, but has low levels of financial autonomy as it is heavily dependent on government funding for its recurring/non-developmental and developmental expenditures. Key Words: ad min istrative autonomy, financial autonomy, nature of autonomy, extent of autonomy, higher education reforms. Introduction The world is rapid ly moving towards knowledge-based economy and due to fast developments in the field of informat ion technology the world is shrinking and thus the idea of a globalized world has emerged. Knowledge is the guiding force in this rapid ly changing globalized economy. The quality of human resources plays critical role in the global market. As the process of globalizat ion is knowledge-based the success of every economic reform strategy essentially depends upon the capability of human resources. Therefore, education is fundamental to every nation and the quality of h igher education decides its progress in this globalized age (Ran i, 2004). As a result in recent times it has become imperative for the governments to engage in higher education reforms more rigorously than ever before. The past two decades have seen that the governments all over the world have been involved in strategic planning in the higher education sector (The Boston Group, 2001). In this globalized age it is essential for higher education institutions to become mo re flexib le so they can adapt to the extremely turbulent and ever changing external environment. For this purpose they need certain degree of autonomy and it is absolutely essential for the governments to provide these institutions with certain degree of autonomy to achieve their objectives (Felt and Glanz, 2002). In recent t imes there has been a world wide trend to increase the autonomy of public-sector institutions of higher education and learn ing to make them independent and self-governing bodies for their better governance and management (Fielden, 2008). Influenced by these changes abroad and based on the ideas presented in 2000 by World Bank-UNESCO Task Force on Higher Education in Developing Countries the Govern ment of Pakistan constituted a Task Force (common ly known as Pakistan Task Force) for revamping the higher education sector in Pakistan (The Boston Group, 2001). On reco mmendations of Pakistan Task Force in March 2002 the Govern ment of Pakistan decided to award autonomy to its higher education institutions and introduced ‘Model University Ord inance’ in all public-sector institutions of higher education in the country (Jahangir, 2008). The basic aim was to have a uniform governance and management structure in all public-sector institutions of higher education in the country so they can become mo re efficient and economical to cope-up with modern day demands of knowledge-based economy and globalization.
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Public Policy and Administration Research ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online) Vol.3, No.12, 2013
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University Autonomy University autonomy is defined as “the freedo m of an institution to run its own affairs without direction or influence from any level o f government” (Anderson and Johnson, 1998, p. 8). Löscher (2004) tells that university autonomy was introduced as a strategy so that universities become more efficient and effective and it allo wed universities to appoint faculty and staff without external influences, enabled them to decide about admission criteria and nu mber of students to admit, allowed them to decide about the contents of the curriculu m and teaching methods, and enabled them to establish their own priorities for universities’ future growth and development. According to De Boer, Jongbloed, Enders and File (2010) institutional autonomy is a much debated concept and carries different meanings in different contexts and thus may hold d ifferent dimensions. Mostly it denotes the managerial ability of an institution to set its own goals and priorities, and determining its own means and set of standards to achieve these goals without external influences. They have given following dimensions of institutional autonomy: • • Organizational Autonomy: if the public-sector universities are free to decide their internal administrative structures. Policy Autonomy: if the universit ies are autonomous to take decisions regarding appointment of staff and have the ability to lay-down their pay scales. If the universities can decide about their academic programs and areas of research without external influences. Interventi onal Autonomy: if universit ies have the autonomy to do strategic planning and are autonomous to evaluate their teaching and research. Financi al Autonomy: if the public-sector universities have the authority for distribution of funds (public and private) with their own d iscretion. If they are authorized to borrow fro m the ‘Cap ital Market’. If they have autonomy to carry unused funds from one fiscal year to another fiscal year and they are autonomous to decide how to spend these funds.
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According to Estermann and Nokka la (2009) autonomy is a concept that is understood differently in different parts of the world but there seems to be some similarit ies that educational institutions need to be more autonomous while recruit ing staff, deciding on wh ich programs to offer and which not, choosing areas of research, being able to raise their own funds without support fro m the govern ment and being able to establish structures to achieve their objectives. They have operationalized university autonomy into following dimensions: • Organizational Autonomy: includes the ability to create governing bodies, establish admin istrative structures, and the chain of command. • Financi al Autonomy: includes raising and spending of funds, authority to charge tuition fees, authority to invest and borrow ‘Cap ital’ fro m the market and to raise funds from different sources other than the government, and to have its own assets and to able to utilize its assets e.g. buildings and land. • Staffi ng Autonomy: includes the ability to recruit and appoint academic and ad ministrative staff, and the capacity to define employment conditions such as pay and allowances. • Academic Autonomy: includes the ability to start and terminate academic programs, the authority to take decisions regarding structure and content of degree programs, to be able to take decisions regarding ad mission of students, to be able to set admission criteria for the students and the ability to ensure quality assurance and accreditation of various degree programs. Objectives of the Study 1. To describe the nature of administrative and financial autonomy at University of Education, Lahore. 2. To measure the extent of administrative and financial autonomy at University of Education, Lahore. Literature Review The recent trend in the world has been to increase the autonomy of h igher education institutions through reforms so that they have an increased capacity to respond to the ever changing external environ ment (Felt and Glan z, 2002). The basic rationale behind this is that the institutions should become mo re innovative and flexib le to cope with demands of changing environment. According to Löscher (2004) the demand that the institutions of higher education should adopt market-like approaches for governance and management was recognized in the
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Public Policy and Administration Research ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online) Vol.3, No.12, 2013
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mid-1980s and init ially this transformation was started by reducing the budgets of the universities so that they should be forced to find new sources of funding. The aim was to make these institutions more independent in financial matters. However, the scholars throughout the world have argued that even though in recent times universities are run like private organizations but this only means that they should become more efficient and effective so that they can help in reducing the financial burden of the State and when remodeling these institutions it is not the aim of the State to make them pro fit-making or money-making organizations like in the corporate sector because these institutions have certain social and ethical obligations towards the societies (Nybom, 2008). Global Experience of Higher Education Reforms Majority of the education reforms introduced throughout the world have given institutions of higher education increased autonomy so that they can better achieve their objectives. There has been a trend to shift the government control of these institutions fro m Min istry of Education (MOE) to an independent or buffer body (Fielden, 2008). Paradeise, Reale, Bleiklie and Ferlie (2009) tell that U.K. has strong traditions of university autonomy when co mpared to the other countries of the world. The universit ies in U.K. are not under direct control of MOE and are only facilitated by it and after the early 1980s there has been a marked shift in U.K.’s higher education sector from strong bureaucracies to New Public Management (NPM) style of management. Many other European countries have also gone through major education reforms in recent years. In Sweden there has been devolution of power fro m the central government to the individual institutions. The Danish government has decreased the total time taken for graduation by decreasing the length of courses. German government has amended the law and provided mo re autonomy to its institutions of higher education and learning. It has also remodeled the decision making structures of its universities who now enjoy more freedom in decision making (Anderson and Johnson, 1998). The situation is a little different in the Asian countries. In Malaysia the govern ment has changed the structure of its higher education institutions and made them less hierarchical. In china there has been delegation of powers from federal to provincial governments. In other countries like Pakistan and India there have been delegation of powers to buffer bodies and this trend is now being followed in other parts of the world as well (Fielden, 2008). Pakistan’s Higher Education Reforms Experience Pakistan has a prolonged history of failed reforms (Barber, 2010). The successive governments of Pakistan introduced several reforms in the education sector and Education Co mmission of 1959 was one such move when ‘Sharif Report’ introduced very large-scale education reforms in the country. The Commission putforward quite a number of valuable and practical recommendations but it did not achieve its objectives. Lack of political will and inadequate allocation of funds were the two major reasons for its failure (Jahangir, 2008). Then there were Education Po licies of 1970, 1972, 1979, 1992 and 1998 and there were also Eight Five-year Plans all of which failed to achieve their objectives. The governments of Pakistan, whether military or democratic, never gave priority to the education (Bengali, 1999). In 2001 the Govern ment of Pakistan realized the importance of higher education in the economic and social development of the country and established a ‘Task Force’ to look into the matters pertaining to higher education in Pakistan. Its agenda included to investigate the previous policies and plans and to establish reasons for failu res and to come up with concrete and workable solutions to revitalize the higher education sector in Pakistan. ‘Task Force’ presented its ‘Report’ in March 2002 and reco mmended that University Grants Co mmission of Pakistan (UGC) was an ineffectual body and should be replaced by a more effective body which they named as Higher Education Co mmission of Pakistan (HEC). It also identified several structural and functional anomalies in the higher education sector of Pakistan and gave a detailed plan to resolve these issues (Jahangir, 2008). Under the reco mmendations of ‘Task Force’ HEC was established in 2002 by a Presidential Ordinance. Its primary aim was to improve the overall quantity and quality o f h igher education in Pakistan (The State of Education in Pakistan, 2005). HEC was established as an autonomous body to supervise the higher education sector of Pakistan. It is a federal body working under the jurisdiction of Federal Govern ment of Pakistan. The main contribution of HEC is that it has increased the budget of the public-sector universities of Pakistan manifo ld. In co mparison with the UGC the HEC is fu lly empowered to ensure compliance fro m the institutions of higher education in matters where UGC previously had no say whatsoever. Noncomp liance with HEC d irectives can lead to budget cuts. It is fully empowered to formu late policies fo r the institutions of higher education, evaluate their performance, and give them directions in matters regarding academics, ad min istration and management of financial resources. It also provides guidelines to the institutions regarding recruit ment, selection, performance and compensation management of the faculty and staff (Jahangir, 2008).
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A little over a decade since its inception the performance of HEC has been a topic of great concern among scholars of Pakistan. Notable among them is distinguished Pakistani physicist Hoodbhoy (2009) who has raised many questions about the credibility of HEC. According to him after the creation of HEC there has been litt le wo rk done in reforming the higher education sector of Pakistan. He opines that the quality of teaching in Pakistani universities has not improved and there has been no concrete mechanism developed to judge the performance of the institutions as well. Jahangir (2008) takes this discussion further and informs that HEC so far has also failed to address matters regarding university autonomy. Before the establishment of HEC the universities of Pakistan were functioning under various provincial governments and enjoyed considerable financial and ad ministrative authority wh ich in the presence of strong UGC was not possible. The universities did not allow UGC to dictate them in the policy matters. The universities in Pakistan have traditionally enjoyed considerable autonomy and do thin k that HEC as a facilitat ive body should not invade their autonomy by giv ing them orders in areas of faculty hiring, appointment of PhD supervisors, awarding scholarships and telling them what to do and what not to do in areas of university governance and management. So there is great resentment among the indiv idual universit ies that majority of the decisions are imposed on them by HEC without their consultation. Research Methodolog y The researchers opted for case study research methodology because they wanted to do an in-depth study of a single o rganizat ion and wanted to study the governance and management processes of University of Education, Lahore (UE). Yin (2003) informs that “the case study method allows investigators to retain the holistic and meaningful characteristics of real-life events such as individual lifecycles, organizational and managerial processes, neighborhood change, international relat ions and the maturation of industries” (p. 2). Furthermore, he states that the case studies are done when researcher wants to answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions and he has very little control over the social events (Yin, 2003). Population and Unit of Analysis This is a case study done on a single organization and for this purpose the researchers selected the University of Education, Lahore, wh ich is unit of analysis. The population of the study included the members of the administrative staff and the senior faculty of the university. Sample and Sampling Technique The researchers conducted twelve detailed semi-structured interviews of various admin istrators and senior faculty members of the university. The nature of study required that samp ling should be done fro m all the administrators and senior faculty members who are involved in the admin istrative and financial affairs of the university. The researchers started with the judgment sampling because data had to be gathered from all those who are involved in governance and management of the university. Sekaran (2003) states that judgment/purposive sampling is done when information is gathered from all those people who are in the best position to provide the required info rmation. Eventually during the course of data collection the researchers used snowball sampling because every interview seemed to provide some sort of lead for further probe and investigation and this combination of techniques proved very effective for data collection. Researchers (Brown, 2005; Tran and Perry, 2003) inform that “sometimes snowball samp ling, which is asking an informant to suggest another informant, fo llo ws purposive sampling” (as cited in Tongco, 2007, p. 152). The researchers kept on interviewing the respondents until they found out that all the necessary information has been gathered and the interviewees had nothing new to offer. Instrument for Data Collection The researchers opted for in-depth semi-structured interviews for data collection because it allowed them with the litheness to cover all the areas of the study. For this purpose the researchers after extensive study of the topic formulated an interview-guide for their assistance during the interviews. Semi-structured interviews are beneficial when one is doing research on policy matters and for th is purpose a guide is used by the interviewer. In these types of interviews the questions are in some order to ensure that researcher covers the relevant aspects of research and are mostly used when researcher wants to do an in-depth study of a topic Harrell and Bradley (2009). Data Collection The researchers started data collection with the Office of Reg istrar which provided them with useful informat ion about the governance and management structure of the university, informat ion regarding various divisions and campuses of the university, and the composition of d ifferent ‘Authorities’ of the university. The Office of Registrar also gave them access to various documents regarding the role and functions of various Authorities, which helped researchers a great deal in understanding the governance and management structure of
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the university. Marvasti (2004) points out that the analyses of documents in social research give the researchers leverage to capture details of happenings in its real context. Considering that the respondents of researchers mainly included senior faculty members and members of the ad ministrative staff, the researchers followed the strategy of making an appointment with every respondent one day prior to the interview. Th is strategy paid dividends because it helped the researchers to make an early contact with the respondent before the interview and they were also able to brief him/her about his work. During the course of interviews the researchers allowed the respondents to fully express their views without any interruptions and remained very flexib le with their approach. Zikmund (2003) informs that in case study method the researcher should be very flexib le with his/her approach to obtain the required information. Although the researchers allowed the interviewees to express their views freely and at t imes they drifted away fro m the topic, but the researchers redirected the respondents towards the topic, and made sure that all the dimensions of their study are fully covered. Considering the context and nature of study the researchers decided not to audio-record the interviews because in Pakistani context most of the people hesitate as they think that it might be used against them at some other point of time. Even if someone allows audio-record ing subconsciously he/she becomes very cautious and does not express his/her views freely. Saeed (2012) confirms this approach by saying that in order to build an environment of trust and to fully capture the views of the respondents in Pakistani context it is better not to audio-record the interv iews and it is better for the researchers to opt for some other appropriate method i.e. hand written notes. So the researchers opted for hand written notes. The data collected during the interviews was of qualitative in nature and it is now well docu mented that the data thus collected have the same amount of validity and reliability as the data collected through quantitative means. The ind ividuals interviewed were professionals, having the relevant designations and qualifications and had vast professional experiences so their annotations expand and compensate large nu mber of respondents. Saeed (2012) advocates that qualitative data collected by interviews is as reliab le as data collected by quantitative means, experienced and technically sound people know more than the others, and are in a better position to provide the most relevant information. Data Analysis and Discussion Data Analysis and Discussion consist of following steps: Data Preparation The data gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews was in shape of hand written notes. Later in day the researchers expanded these notes to the full interviews to completely capture the views of the respondents. For this purpose the researchers followed the strategy of conducting only one interview in a day and this strategy allowed them to transcribe the interview on the same day and there was only minimal loss of data. Data Reduction and Coding During the explo ration phase of the data analysis the transcribed data was read again by the researchers to highlight important areas and significant points, which were noted down in the form of memos. The important narratives were also identified and highlighted. Data reduction entails coding of data and it is also done in the exploration phase of data analysis. According to Hesse-Biber and Leavy (2006) data reduction is a strategy emp loyed in data analysis that helps to identify different themes, categories and patterns that exist in the data. The technique used for data analysis was generating categories and developing themes. Similar patterns and themes were identified in the transcribed interviewees and similar views were p laced under these categories. Contrasts/comparisons were also identified and noted. The most important narratives were also identified and noted to be used as evidence. This practice made it quite easy for the researchers to summarize and interpret data. The key areas identified were placed under the majo r themes. The data was analyzed and interpreted using these themes and categories and conclusions were drawn based on these findings. The narratives supporting themes were also quoted in data analysis. Discussion The study explores two core d imensions of university autonomy i.e. admin istrative autonomy and financial autonomy and aims to describe the nature and extent of autonomy at University of Education, Lahore. For interpretation of data the researchers have chosen the framework developed by Chawla, Govindaraj, Needleman and Berman (1996) wh ich is known as Methodological Gu idelines for Evaluating Autonomy. The guidelines developed by Chawla et al. provide a logical and practicable framework to be used for this study.
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Administrative Autonomy The dimension of administrative autonomy was further divided in the following areas: 1. Ability to do strategic planning After conducting the detailed interviews of various administrators and senior faculty members of the university the researchers came to the conclusion that the university has the ability to do strategic planning. The Syndicate is the apex body of un iversity governance and management and is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the institution. It is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of the university. The Vice-Chancellor is the ‘Ch ief Executive Officer’ o f the university and enjoys vast administrative authority. These views were quite evident from the following excerpts, The strategic planning is done at UE and the Syndicate is the competent authority for strategic planning of the institution. It is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of the university. There are representatives of the general public in the Syndicate. Then there are people from the university administration and member of the faculty as well. It is a comprehensive body and looks into all the matters pertaining to the administration, human resource management, finance, admissions, examinations and academics of the university. It is the competent authority to plan for the future of the university and also gives approval of the annual budget of the university. 2. Ability to create new entities After talking to the various members of faculty and administrative staff the researchers inferred that although University of Education, Lahore is autonomous to establish new Divisions/Colleges, but considering the fact that it is a newly raised institution and is heavily dependent on government funding, its autonomy in this regard is very contained. Therefore, before planning of establishment of any new entity the university has to consider its financial position. These findings were corroborated from the following excerpts, Although it was possible for UE to establish new divisions and colleges but it mainly depends on the financial position of the university and the university administration requires substantial help from the government in this respect. 3. Staffing autonomy After going through the responses of different interv iewees the researchers concluded that the institution enjoys considerable autonomy in matters regarding appoint ment of faculty and staff. It can create and fill teaching and nonteaching posts to meets its present and future requirements of hu man resources. For positions of grade 17 and above there is ‘Selection Board’ and for positions lower than grade 17 there are ‘Selection Committees’. According to its Ordinance, It can create posts for research, publication, extension, administration and other related purposes and to appoint persons (UE Ordinance 2002, clause I, paragraph 4) . This was also established by these excerpts, The university can create teaching and nonteaching posts according to its needs. In case of a new post Terms of Reference (TOR) have to be approved by the Syndicate. It is fully authorized to fill these posts as well. The university has to follow government rules e.g. it has to advertise positions and follow the government pay- scales etc., but is fully authorized to create and fill these positions. The Vice-Chancellor of the university enjoys immense authority in staffing matters and is fully authorized to fill teaching and nonteaching posts as required. He has to get approval fro m the Syndicate but considering the fact that he chairs the Syndicate his decisions are mostly upheld by the Syndicate. Furthermore, the law provides him with the discretionary powers to fill a post for six months and for this he does not need approval from the Syndicate. The Ordinance states that Vice-Chancellor, Can create and fill temporary posts for a period not exceeding six months (UE Ordinance 2002, clause a, subparagraph 4). This was also evident fro m the views of different respondents during the course of data collection. A deputy director of administration comprehensively elaborated the situation by stating, Vice-Chancellor has a lot of staffing powers. He can create and fill a post for six months. He is fully authorized by the government in this respect. Beyond this period he has to take it to the Syndicate, but normally his decisions are vetted by the members of the Syndicate as well. Of course, he has to regularize the process and it goes to the Finance Committee for remunerations. If it is an existing
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vacancy then there are no problems. In case of a new post the Terms of Reference (TOR) have to be approved by the Syndicate. 4. Authority to award or revoke affiliations After analysis of data the researchers came to the conclusion that the University has ample autonomy in matters related to award ing affiliations to both public and private sector institutions for the purposes of award ing degrees. It is also autonomous to revoke or suspend such affiliations if it is not satisfied with the performance of these institutions. A member of the Affiliation Committee confirmed these observations by stating: Yes, we can award affiliations to both public and private institutions for awarding degrees. Government gives us instructions for the purpose. Assistant Director Administration (Establishment) is the Secretary of Affiliation Committee headed by the Chairman. Administration of that institution is their responsibility. There is certain criterion to be fulfilled before we give affiliation to an institution. In infrastructure there should be adequate classroom capacity, laboratories, number of books in the libraries and then there are requirements of human resources. There should be PhD faculty or minimum MPhil faculty available to the students. 5. Ability to develop infrastructure and improve research facilities On university’s ability to develop its infrastructure and improve its research facilitates the researchers inferred that the university being a public-sector institution is hugely dependent on the government for development of its infrastructure and research facilities. The newly raised status of UE also contributes to the fact that it needs a lot of financial support fro m both the federal and provincial govern ments to develop its infrastructure and research facilities. So its autonomy in these matters is very limited. The situation was also clear from following excerpts, For development of infrastructure and research facilities the UE is dependent on HEC and the Government of Punjab. But the Funds given by HEC and the Government of Punjab are very less. Another thing is that UE is a newly established university and it had to start from the scratch. It will take time and more allocation of resources fro m the government to improve the infrastructure and research facilities of the university. Financial Autonomy The dimension of financial autonomy was further categorized in the following areas: 1. Sources of funds to the university After the analysis of data the researchers inferred that university has three sources of funds which are: • HEC • Government of Punjab • Own sources The HEC and the Govern ment of Punjab allot funds to the public-sector universities based on their size and number of emp loyees and UE being in early days of its life gets small share when co mpared to other institutions because it still has relatively small structure as co mpared to other higher education institutions of the country, therefore, it has very limited financial autonomy. It is also facing financial constraints due to change in government policy regarding allocation of funds to the public-sector universities. The university was established as a result of reforms of 2002 and at that time the federal government under General Musharaf increased the budget of public-sector universities many times. But with the change of regime in 2008 the then government reduced its funding to the universities and as a newly raised institution UE suffered mo re than the other old institutions of the country who have more financial resources at their disposal. 2. Ability to raise and utilize funds After analysis of the data the researchers inferred that the university is fully authorized to raise and utilize funds. The bulk of revenue generated by UE is through different evening programs and a big chunk of it is used for salaries of faculty and staff. Other than that it has very meager resources at its disposal and that also contributes to its limited financial autonomy. Junaid (2011) while talking about the issue of financial autonomy in public-sector universities of Pakistan says, There is a positive relation between the source of income of the university and the chances of autonomy enjoyed by it i.e., greater proportion of money generated independently will imply high chances of
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autonomy at disposal of university. If the university is unable to generate any amount of income itself, and its survival depends upon a big budget, the superior body giving grants is likely to control the university to a large extent. (p. 137) Apart from income of evening programs the management of the university up-till now has failed to tap sources other than the government to improve its financial health. Almost a decade since its inception the university has yet to come-up with a p roper plan to improve upon its Endowment Fund. The point was emphasized by Boston Group (2001) as well, it stated: Universities’ effort towards mobilizing external resources could include taping into short-term sources such as International donor agencies and public philanthropy, which tend to be particularly useful in terms of raising endowments, expanding on buildings, and creating scholarships. (p. 13) 3. Ability to re-appropri ate funds On university’s ability to sanction re-appropriat ion of funds the researchers concluded that the university has substantial autonomy in matters regarding re-appropriation of funds. Vice-Chancellor can sanction re-appropriation of funds but the majo r head should remain the same. In case of t ransfer of expenditures fro m one major head to another majo r head the Syndicate is appropriate sanctioning authority. A senior financial officer substantiated the analysis by saying, As far as matters of re-appropriation are concerned, in universities over-expenditures are always expected. Vice-Chancellor has the authority which is delegated to him by the government to sanction re-appropriation from one head to another head, but the major head should remain the same. In fact you can re-appropriate it to another major head, but in that case the matter goes to the Syndicate and they give approval for it. But overall the university has the authority to sanction re-appropriation of funds as required. 4. Authority to revise fee structure After talking to the respondents the researchers concluded that the university’s autonomy in terms of revision of fee structure is close to zero. Although by law it is fully empo wered to determine its fee structure and the Ordinance of the university states that the university, Can charge and receive such fees and other charges as it may determine (UE Ordinance 2002, clause r, paragraph 4). But the university being a public-sector institution has to fulfill certain obligations towards the society and hence it cannot revise its fee structure like p rivate-sector institutions of higher education. It was also clear from the following excerpts, The university can revise its fee structure. The summary has to go through the Vice-Chancellor’s Office to the Finance and Planning Committee and then finally to the Syndicate, which gives the final approval, but UE is a public-sector university and it has to provide education to general public of Pakistan, which is poor. It cannot increase its fees according to the market conditions and there are also Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) in the Syndicate who are political people and they do not allow the university administration to make major increase in its fee structure. 5. Ability to conduct audit systems After analysis of data the researchers inferred that incompatible with its limited financial autonomy the university has to maintain strict financial discipline in shape of internal and external audit systems. As pointed out by Orberg and Wright (2008) that government’s legal duty to carry-out audit is basically a key strategy emp loyed by the governments to exhib it their control over institutions of higher education and learning. In fact governments are not just ensuring financial discipline of the institutions in this way but are also probing that whether the institutions are fulfilling their conditions of its funding. Nybom (2008) fu rther supports this by saying that if the general policy is set by the government and financial resources are allocated according to these objectives this is probably the most powerful means to exert influence and authority on the decision making process of higher education institutions without taking much of the responsibility. It was also quite evident fro m following excerpts of the interview of a respondent: There are 2 types of audits at UE 1) Pre-audit/Internal Audit 2) Post-audit/External Audit. The preaudit is done by our Resident Auditor. He is appointed by the Government of Punjab. Each and every voucher goes through him. He audits that voucher and then payments are made after his clearance. He comes on deputation from Finance Department o f Government o f Punjab. Post-audit or External Audit
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is conducted by Director General Audit Punjab. Their team comes once in a financial year and performs this task for that particular year. Conclusions The higher education reforms of 2002 are the biggest effort by any Pakistani government in the 66year-old h istory of the country. What also makes these reforms different fro m other efforts of the past is that these reforms were followed by an effect ive implementation strategy. As a result the existing apex body of higher education in Pakistan the UGC was rep laced by a more powerful body the HEC. The HEC was g iven the powers and mandate to in itiate the whole reform process. The reforms of 2002 included that all public-sector universities should be given autonomy in areas of ad min istration and finance to imp rove the overall performance of higher education institutions of the public-sector. University of Education, Lahore was also established as a result of reforms of 2002 and was granted autonomy by its Ordinance. After analysis of the data the researchers conclude that traditionally the higher education institutions of Pakistan have enjoyed considerable autonomy in the p resence of a relatively weak UGC but after the refo rms of 2002 the HEC has emerged as more powerfu l and authoritative body than UGC. It uses top-down strategy for implementation of its policies and since its establishment has curtailed the autonomy of higher education institutions in the country. Noncompliance with HEC d irectives can lead to server penalties to the institutions of higher education and learn ing. Therefore, in broad-spectrum after the reforms of 2002 the h igher education system of Pakistan has moved away from more autonomy towards more control. On aspect of admin istrative autonomy the researchers came to the conclusion that UE enjoys sufficient autonomy in this respect. It is empowered to do strategic planning and the Syndicate is the appropriate authority for setting the future direct ion of the university. The Syndicate is chaired by the Vice-Chancello r who enjoys vast administrative powers. The university is autonomous to create and fill teaching and nonteaching posts to meets its present and future requirements of human resources. It can also award affiliat ions to various educational institutions for awarding degrees. Ho wever, the university’s authority to establish new division/colleges and to improve upon its infrastructure and research facilit ies largely depends upon the financial support from the government. In financial matters the researchers came to the conclusion that UE has very limited financial authority. It is heavily dependent on the government for its recurring/non-developmental and developmental expenditures. Its own source of inco me is revenue generated through various evening programs, which is mostly spent on its non-developmental expenditures. Its authority to revise is fee structure is also close to zero because being a public-sector university it has to provide education on subsidized and affordable rates to the common people of Pakistan who are underprivileged. However, the university is quite autonomous to spend the allotted funds and has the authority to sanction re-appropriation of funds. In contrast to its limited financial authority the university has to maintain strict financial discipline in shape of internal and external audit systems. References Anderson, D. & Johnson, R. (1998). University Autonomy in Twenty Countries. Canberra: Depart ment of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. Barber, S. M . (2010). Education Reform in Pakistan: This time it’s going to be different. Pakistan Education Task Force. Government of Pakistan. Bengali, K. (1999). History of Education Policy Making and Planning in Pakistan. Working Paper Series No. 40 . Sustainable Development Policy Institute Islamabad, Pakistan. Bro wn, K. M. (2005). Reconciling Moral and Legal Collective Ent itlement: Imp lications for Co mmun ity-Based Land Reform. Land Use Policy 2:4. Chawla, M ., Govindaraj, R., Need leman, J., & Berman, P. (1996). “Evaluating Hospital Autonomy: Methodological Guidelines”, Data for Decision Making Project, Harvard University, Boston, MA. De Boer, H., Jongbloed, B., Enders, J. & File, J. (2010). Progress in Higher Education Reform across Europe: Governance Reform. Brussels: European Commission. Estermann, T. & Nokkala, T. (2009). University Autonomy in Europe I: Exploratory Study. European Un iversity Association. Felt, U. & Glan z, M. (2002). University Autonomy in Europe. Changing Paradigms of Higher Education Policy. Bologna: Magna Charta Observatory. Fielden, J. (2008). Global Trends in University Governance. World Bank Education Working Paper Series 9. Washington: The World Bank. 23
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Harrell, M. C., & Bradley, M. A. (2009). Data Collection Methods: Semi-Structured Interviews and Focus Groups. RAND National Defense Research Institute, Santa Monica, CA. Hesse-Biber, S. N., & Leavy, P. (2006). Emergent Methods in Social Research : Sage Publications Inc. Hoodbhoy, P. Pakistan’s Reform Experiment. Nature, vol. 461, p. 38. 3rd September 2009. Jahangir, K. (2008). Management of Higher Education Reforms in Pakistan: An Implementation Perspective, PhD thesis, Utrecht School of Governance, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. Junaid, R. (2011). Governance and Management in Public Sector Universities: A Case Study of University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Löscher, A. (2004). Developments in University Autonomy in England . Master’s dissertation, Centre for British Studies Humboldt University at Berlin, Germany. Marvasti, A. B. (2004). Qualitative Research in Sociology: An Introduction . Sage Publications Inc. Nybom, T. (2008). University Autonomy: A Matter of Political Rhetoric. Orebro University, Sweden. Orberg, J. W. & Wright, S. (2008). Autonomy and Control: Danish University Reform in the Context of Modern Governance. Berghahn Journals, 1(1): 27–57. Paradeise, C., Reale, E., Bleiklie, I., & Ferlie, E. (Eds.) (2009). University Governance: Western European Comparative Perspective. Springer: Heidelberg, Germany. Rani, P. G. (2004). Economic Reforms and Financing Higher Education in India. National Institute of Education Planning and Administration, New Delhi, India. Saeed, A. (2012). Making Sense of Policy Implementation Process in Pakistan: The Case of Hospital Autonomy Reforms, PhD thesis, Utrecht School of Governance, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. Sekaran, U. (2003). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons Publishing, NY. The Boston Group, (2001) Higher Education in Pakistan: Towards a Reform Agenda. A Contribution to the Task Force on Improvement of Higher Education in Pakistan. The State of Education in Pakistan 2003-2004, Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan March 2005. Tongco, M. D. C. (2007). Purposive Sampling as a Tool for In formant Selection. A Journal for Plant, People and Applied Research, 5: 147-158. Tran, V. M. & Perry, J. A. (2003). Challenges to using Neem (Azadirachta indica var. siamensis Valenton ) in Thailand. Economic Botany, 57: 93-102. University of Education Lahore, Ordinance 2002. Yin, R. K. (2003). Case Study Research : Design and Methods, Sage Publications Inc. Zikmund, W. G. (2003). Business Research Methods (7th ed.). Thomson: South Western, Ohio.
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Autonomy of Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan: A Case Study of University of Education, Lahore
Muhammad Imran Mueed; Dr. Aamir Saeed; Mr. Ghalib Ata 1. 2. 3. Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Asst. Prof., Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan Lecturer, Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan [email protected] m; [email protected]; [email protected]
Abstract The study encompasses the concept of university autonomy in the context of higher education reforms of Pakistan in 2002. It uses case study research methodology and explores two core dimensions of university autonomy namely ad ministrative autonomy and financial autonomy. The study aims to describe the nature and extent of administrative and financial autonomy at Un iversity of Education, Lahore. The data collected is of qualitative in nature and is collected mainly through observations, in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyses of the availab le documents. The research emp loys amalgamation of judg ment and snowball sampling techniques. The respondents included members of ad min istrative staff and the senior facu lty of the university. The conclusions drawn fro m analysis of data tell that university enjoys sufficient amount of admin istrative autonomy as it can set its future direct ion, appoint faculty and staff to meet its present and future needs of human resources and can award or revoke affiliations to various educational institutions for the purpose of awarding degrees, but has low levels of financial autonomy as it is heavily dependent on government funding for its recurring/non-developmental and developmental expenditures. Key Words: ad min istrative autonomy, financial autonomy, nature of autonomy, extent of autonomy, higher education reforms. Introduction The world is rapid ly moving towards knowledge-based economy and due to fast developments in the field of informat ion technology the world is shrinking and thus the idea of a globalized world has emerged. Knowledge is the guiding force in this rapid ly changing globalized economy. The quality of human resources plays critical role in the global market. As the process of globalizat ion is knowledge-based the success of every economic reform strategy essentially depends upon the capability of human resources. Therefore, education is fundamental to every nation and the quality of h igher education decides its progress in this globalized age (Ran i, 2004). As a result in recent times it has become imperative for the governments to engage in higher education reforms more rigorously than ever before. The past two decades have seen that the governments all over the world have been involved in strategic planning in the higher education sector (The Boston Group, 2001). In this globalized age it is essential for higher education institutions to become mo re flexib le so they can adapt to the extremely turbulent and ever changing external environment. For this purpose they need certain degree of autonomy and it is absolutely essential for the governments to provide these institutions with certain degree of autonomy to achieve their objectives (Felt and Glanz, 2002). In recent t imes there has been a world wide trend to increase the autonomy of public-sector institutions of higher education and learn ing to make them independent and self-governing bodies for their better governance and management (Fielden, 2008). Influenced by these changes abroad and based on the ideas presented in 2000 by World Bank-UNESCO Task Force on Higher Education in Developing Countries the Govern ment of Pakistan constituted a Task Force (common ly known as Pakistan Task Force) for revamping the higher education sector in Pakistan (The Boston Group, 2001). On reco mmendations of Pakistan Task Force in March 2002 the Govern ment of Pakistan decided to award autonomy to its higher education institutions and introduced ‘Model University Ord inance’ in all public-sector institutions of higher education in the country (Jahangir, 2008). The basic aim was to have a uniform governance and management structure in all public-sector institutions of higher education in the country so they can become mo re efficient and economical to cope-up with modern day demands of knowledge-based economy and globalization.
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University Autonomy University autonomy is defined as “the freedo m of an institution to run its own affairs without direction or influence from any level o f government” (Anderson and Johnson, 1998, p. 8). Löscher (2004) tells that university autonomy was introduced as a strategy so that universities become more efficient and effective and it allo wed universities to appoint faculty and staff without external influences, enabled them to decide about admission criteria and nu mber of students to admit, allowed them to decide about the contents of the curriculu m and teaching methods, and enabled them to establish their own priorities for universities’ future growth and development. According to De Boer, Jongbloed, Enders and File (2010) institutional autonomy is a much debated concept and carries different meanings in different contexts and thus may hold d ifferent dimensions. Mostly it denotes the managerial ability of an institution to set its own goals and priorities, and determining its own means and set of standards to achieve these goals without external influences. They have given following dimensions of institutional autonomy: • • Organizational Autonomy: if the public-sector universities are free to decide their internal administrative structures. Policy Autonomy: if the universit ies are autonomous to take decisions regarding appointment of staff and have the ability to lay-down their pay scales. If the universities can decide about their academic programs and areas of research without external influences. Interventi onal Autonomy: if universit ies have the autonomy to do strategic planning and are autonomous to evaluate their teaching and research. Financi al Autonomy: if the public-sector universities have the authority for distribution of funds (public and private) with their own d iscretion. If they are authorized to borrow fro m the ‘Cap ital Market’. If they have autonomy to carry unused funds from one fiscal year to another fiscal year and they are autonomous to decide how to spend these funds.
• •
According to Estermann and Nokka la (2009) autonomy is a concept that is understood differently in different parts of the world but there seems to be some similarit ies that educational institutions need to be more autonomous while recruit ing staff, deciding on wh ich programs to offer and which not, choosing areas of research, being able to raise their own funds without support fro m the govern ment and being able to establish structures to achieve their objectives. They have operationalized university autonomy into following dimensions: • Organizational Autonomy: includes the ability to create governing bodies, establish admin istrative structures, and the chain of command. • Financi al Autonomy: includes raising and spending of funds, authority to charge tuition fees, authority to invest and borrow ‘Cap ital’ fro m the market and to raise funds from different sources other than the government, and to have its own assets and to able to utilize its assets e.g. buildings and land. • Staffi ng Autonomy: includes the ability to recruit and appoint academic and ad ministrative staff, and the capacity to define employment conditions such as pay and allowances. • Academic Autonomy: includes the ability to start and terminate academic programs, the authority to take decisions regarding structure and content of degree programs, to be able to take decisions regarding ad mission of students, to be able to set admission criteria for the students and the ability to ensure quality assurance and accreditation of various degree programs. Objectives of the Study 1. To describe the nature of administrative and financial autonomy at University of Education, Lahore. 2. To measure the extent of administrative and financial autonomy at University of Education, Lahore. Literature Review The recent trend in the world has been to increase the autonomy of h igher education institutions through reforms so that they have an increased capacity to respond to the ever changing external environ ment (Felt and Glan z, 2002). The basic rationale behind this is that the institutions should become mo re innovative and flexib le to cope with demands of changing environment. According to Löscher (2004) the demand that the institutions of higher education should adopt market-like approaches for governance and management was recognized in the
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mid-1980s and init ially this transformation was started by reducing the budgets of the universities so that they should be forced to find new sources of funding. The aim was to make these institutions more independent in financial matters. However, the scholars throughout the world have argued that even though in recent times universities are run like private organizations but this only means that they should become more efficient and effective so that they can help in reducing the financial burden of the State and when remodeling these institutions it is not the aim of the State to make them pro fit-making or money-making organizations like in the corporate sector because these institutions have certain social and ethical obligations towards the societies (Nybom, 2008). Global Experience of Higher Education Reforms Majority of the education reforms introduced throughout the world have given institutions of higher education increased autonomy so that they can better achieve their objectives. There has been a trend to shift the government control of these institutions fro m Min istry of Education (MOE) to an independent or buffer body (Fielden, 2008). Paradeise, Reale, Bleiklie and Ferlie (2009) tell that U.K. has strong traditions of university autonomy when co mpared to the other countries of the world. The universit ies in U.K. are not under direct control of MOE and are only facilitated by it and after the early 1980s there has been a marked shift in U.K.’s higher education sector from strong bureaucracies to New Public Management (NPM) style of management. Many other European countries have also gone through major education reforms in recent years. In Sweden there has been devolution of power fro m the central government to the individual institutions. The Danish government has decreased the total time taken for graduation by decreasing the length of courses. German government has amended the law and provided mo re autonomy to its institutions of higher education and learning. It has also remodeled the decision making structures of its universities who now enjoy more freedom in decision making (Anderson and Johnson, 1998). The situation is a little different in the Asian countries. In Malaysia the govern ment has changed the structure of its higher education institutions and made them less hierarchical. In china there has been delegation of powers from federal to provincial governments. In other countries like Pakistan and India there have been delegation of powers to buffer bodies and this trend is now being followed in other parts of the world as well (Fielden, 2008). Pakistan’s Higher Education Reforms Experience Pakistan has a prolonged history of failed reforms (Barber, 2010). The successive governments of Pakistan introduced several reforms in the education sector and Education Co mmission of 1959 was one such move when ‘Sharif Report’ introduced very large-scale education reforms in the country. The Commission putforward quite a number of valuable and practical recommendations but it did not achieve its objectives. Lack of political will and inadequate allocation of funds were the two major reasons for its failure (Jahangir, 2008). Then there were Education Po licies of 1970, 1972, 1979, 1992 and 1998 and there were also Eight Five-year Plans all of which failed to achieve their objectives. The governments of Pakistan, whether military or democratic, never gave priority to the education (Bengali, 1999). In 2001 the Govern ment of Pakistan realized the importance of higher education in the economic and social development of the country and established a ‘Task Force’ to look into the matters pertaining to higher education in Pakistan. Its agenda included to investigate the previous policies and plans and to establish reasons for failu res and to come up with concrete and workable solutions to revitalize the higher education sector in Pakistan. ‘Task Force’ presented its ‘Report’ in March 2002 and reco mmended that University Grants Co mmission of Pakistan (UGC) was an ineffectual body and should be replaced by a more effective body which they named as Higher Education Co mmission of Pakistan (HEC). It also identified several structural and functional anomalies in the higher education sector of Pakistan and gave a detailed plan to resolve these issues (Jahangir, 2008). Under the reco mmendations of ‘Task Force’ HEC was established in 2002 by a Presidential Ordinance. Its primary aim was to improve the overall quantity and quality o f h igher education in Pakistan (The State of Education in Pakistan, 2005). HEC was established as an autonomous body to supervise the higher education sector of Pakistan. It is a federal body working under the jurisdiction of Federal Govern ment of Pakistan. The main contribution of HEC is that it has increased the budget of the public-sector universities of Pakistan manifo ld. In co mparison with the UGC the HEC is fu lly empowered to ensure compliance fro m the institutions of higher education in matters where UGC previously had no say whatsoever. Noncomp liance with HEC d irectives can lead to budget cuts. It is fully empowered to formu late policies fo r the institutions of higher education, evaluate their performance, and give them directions in matters regarding academics, ad min istration and management of financial resources. It also provides guidelines to the institutions regarding recruit ment, selection, performance and compensation management of the faculty and staff (Jahangir, 2008).
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A little over a decade since its inception the performance of HEC has been a topic of great concern among scholars of Pakistan. Notable among them is distinguished Pakistani physicist Hoodbhoy (2009) who has raised many questions about the credibility of HEC. According to him after the creation of HEC there has been litt le wo rk done in reforming the higher education sector of Pakistan. He opines that the quality of teaching in Pakistani universities has not improved and there has been no concrete mechanism developed to judge the performance of the institutions as well. Jahangir (2008) takes this discussion further and informs that HEC so far has also failed to address matters regarding university autonomy. Before the establishment of HEC the universities of Pakistan were functioning under various provincial governments and enjoyed considerable financial and ad ministrative authority wh ich in the presence of strong UGC was not possible. The universities did not allow UGC to dictate them in the policy matters. The universities in Pakistan have traditionally enjoyed considerable autonomy and do thin k that HEC as a facilitat ive body should not invade their autonomy by giv ing them orders in areas of faculty hiring, appointment of PhD supervisors, awarding scholarships and telling them what to do and what not to do in areas of university governance and management. So there is great resentment among the indiv idual universit ies that majority of the decisions are imposed on them by HEC without their consultation. Research Methodolog y The researchers opted for case study research methodology because they wanted to do an in-depth study of a single o rganizat ion and wanted to study the governance and management processes of University of Education, Lahore (UE). Yin (2003) informs that “the case study method allows investigators to retain the holistic and meaningful characteristics of real-life events such as individual lifecycles, organizational and managerial processes, neighborhood change, international relat ions and the maturation of industries” (p. 2). Furthermore, he states that the case studies are done when researcher wants to answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions and he has very little control over the social events (Yin, 2003). Population and Unit of Analysis This is a case study done on a single organization and for this purpose the researchers selected the University of Education, Lahore, wh ich is unit of analysis. The population of the study included the members of the administrative staff and the senior faculty of the university. Sample and Sampling Technique The researchers conducted twelve detailed semi-structured interviews of various admin istrators and senior faculty members of the university. The nature of study required that samp ling should be done fro m all the administrators and senior faculty members who are involved in the admin istrative and financial affairs of the university. The researchers started with the judgment sampling because data had to be gathered from all those who are involved in governance and management of the university. Sekaran (2003) states that judgment/purposive sampling is done when information is gathered from all those people who are in the best position to provide the required info rmation. Eventually during the course of data collection the researchers used snowball sampling because every interview seemed to provide some sort of lead for further probe and investigation and this combination of techniques proved very effective for data collection. Researchers (Brown, 2005; Tran and Perry, 2003) inform that “sometimes snowball samp ling, which is asking an informant to suggest another informant, fo llo ws purposive sampling” (as cited in Tongco, 2007, p. 152). The researchers kept on interviewing the respondents until they found out that all the necessary information has been gathered and the interviewees had nothing new to offer. Instrument for Data Collection The researchers opted for in-depth semi-structured interviews for data collection because it allowed them with the litheness to cover all the areas of the study. For this purpose the researchers after extensive study of the topic formulated an interview-guide for their assistance during the interviews. Semi-structured interviews are beneficial when one is doing research on policy matters and for th is purpose a guide is used by the interviewer. In these types of interviews the questions are in some order to ensure that researcher covers the relevant aspects of research and are mostly used when researcher wants to do an in-depth study of a topic Harrell and Bradley (2009). Data Collection The researchers started data collection with the Office of Reg istrar which provided them with useful informat ion about the governance and management structure of the university, informat ion regarding various divisions and campuses of the university, and the composition of d ifferent ‘Authorities’ of the university. The Office of Registrar also gave them access to various documents regarding the role and functions of various Authorities, which helped researchers a great deal in understanding the governance and management structure of
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the university. Marvasti (2004) points out that the analyses of documents in social research give the researchers leverage to capture details of happenings in its real context. Considering that the respondents of researchers mainly included senior faculty members and members of the ad ministrative staff, the researchers followed the strategy of making an appointment with every respondent one day prior to the interview. Th is strategy paid dividends because it helped the researchers to make an early contact with the respondent before the interview and they were also able to brief him/her about his work. During the course of interviews the researchers allowed the respondents to fully express their views without any interruptions and remained very flexib le with their approach. Zikmund (2003) informs that in case study method the researcher should be very flexib le with his/her approach to obtain the required information. Although the researchers allowed the interviewees to express their views freely and at t imes they drifted away fro m the topic, but the researchers redirected the respondents towards the topic, and made sure that all the dimensions of their study are fully covered. Considering the context and nature of study the researchers decided not to audio-record the interviews because in Pakistani context most of the people hesitate as they think that it might be used against them at some other point of time. Even if someone allows audio-record ing subconsciously he/she becomes very cautious and does not express his/her views freely. Saeed (2012) confirms this approach by saying that in order to build an environment of trust and to fully capture the views of the respondents in Pakistani context it is better not to audio-record the interv iews and it is better for the researchers to opt for some other appropriate method i.e. hand written notes. So the researchers opted for hand written notes. The data collected during the interviews was of qualitative in nature and it is now well docu mented that the data thus collected have the same amount of validity and reliability as the data collected through quantitative means. The ind ividuals interviewed were professionals, having the relevant designations and qualifications and had vast professional experiences so their annotations expand and compensate large nu mber of respondents. Saeed (2012) advocates that qualitative data collected by interviews is as reliab le as data collected by quantitative means, experienced and technically sound people know more than the others, and are in a better position to provide the most relevant information. Data Analysis and Discussion Data Analysis and Discussion consist of following steps: Data Preparation The data gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews was in shape of hand written notes. Later in day the researchers expanded these notes to the full interviews to completely capture the views of the respondents. For this purpose the researchers followed the strategy of conducting only one interview in a day and this strategy allowed them to transcribe the interview on the same day and there was only minimal loss of data. Data Reduction and Coding During the explo ration phase of the data analysis the transcribed data was read again by the researchers to highlight important areas and significant points, which were noted down in the form of memos. The important narratives were also identified and highlighted. Data reduction entails coding of data and it is also done in the exploration phase of data analysis. According to Hesse-Biber and Leavy (2006) data reduction is a strategy emp loyed in data analysis that helps to identify different themes, categories and patterns that exist in the data. The technique used for data analysis was generating categories and developing themes. Similar patterns and themes were identified in the transcribed interviewees and similar views were p laced under these categories. Contrasts/comparisons were also identified and noted. The most important narratives were also identified and noted to be used as evidence. This practice made it quite easy for the researchers to summarize and interpret data. The key areas identified were placed under the majo r themes. The data was analyzed and interpreted using these themes and categories and conclusions were drawn based on these findings. The narratives supporting themes were also quoted in data analysis. Discussion The study explores two core d imensions of university autonomy i.e. admin istrative autonomy and financial autonomy and aims to describe the nature and extent of autonomy at University of Education, Lahore. For interpretation of data the researchers have chosen the framework developed by Chawla, Govindaraj, Needleman and Berman (1996) wh ich is known as Methodological Gu idelines for Evaluating Autonomy. The guidelines developed by Chawla et al. provide a logical and practicable framework to be used for this study.
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Administrative Autonomy The dimension of administrative autonomy was further divided in the following areas: 1. Ability to do strategic planning After conducting the detailed interviews of various administrators and senior faculty members of the university the researchers came to the conclusion that the university has the ability to do strategic planning. The Syndicate is the apex body of un iversity governance and management and is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the institution. It is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of the university. The Vice-Chancellor is the ‘Ch ief Executive Officer’ o f the university and enjoys vast administrative authority. These views were quite evident from the following excerpts, The strategic planning is done at UE and the Syndicate is the competent authority for strategic planning of the institution. It is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of the university. There are representatives of the general public in the Syndicate. Then there are people from the university administration and member of the faculty as well. It is a comprehensive body and looks into all the matters pertaining to the administration, human resource management, finance, admissions, examinations and academics of the university. It is the competent authority to plan for the future of the university and also gives approval of the annual budget of the university. 2. Ability to create new entities After talking to the various members of faculty and administrative staff the researchers inferred that although University of Education, Lahore is autonomous to establish new Divisions/Colleges, but considering the fact that it is a newly raised institution and is heavily dependent on government funding, its autonomy in this regard is very contained. Therefore, before planning of establishment of any new entity the university has to consider its financial position. These findings were corroborated from the following excerpts, Although it was possible for UE to establish new divisions and colleges but it mainly depends on the financial position of the university and the university administration requires substantial help from the government in this respect. 3. Staffing autonomy After going through the responses of different interv iewees the researchers concluded that the institution enjoys considerable autonomy in matters regarding appoint ment of faculty and staff. It can create and fill teaching and nonteaching posts to meets its present and future requirements of hu man resources. For positions of grade 17 and above there is ‘Selection Board’ and for positions lower than grade 17 there are ‘Selection Committees’. According to its Ordinance, It can create posts for research, publication, extension, administration and other related purposes and to appoint persons (UE Ordinance 2002, clause I, paragraph 4) . This was also established by these excerpts, The university can create teaching and nonteaching posts according to its needs. In case of a new post Terms of Reference (TOR) have to be approved by the Syndicate. It is fully authorized to fill these posts as well. The university has to follow government rules e.g. it has to advertise positions and follow the government pay- scales etc., but is fully authorized to create and fill these positions. The Vice-Chancellor of the university enjoys immense authority in staffing matters and is fully authorized to fill teaching and nonteaching posts as required. He has to get approval fro m the Syndicate but considering the fact that he chairs the Syndicate his decisions are mostly upheld by the Syndicate. Furthermore, the law provides him with the discretionary powers to fill a post for six months and for this he does not need approval from the Syndicate. The Ordinance states that Vice-Chancellor, Can create and fill temporary posts for a period not exceeding six months (UE Ordinance 2002, clause a, subparagraph 4). This was also evident fro m the views of different respondents during the course of data collection. A deputy director of administration comprehensively elaborated the situation by stating, Vice-Chancellor has a lot of staffing powers. He can create and fill a post for six months. He is fully authorized by the government in this respect. Beyond this period he has to take it to the Syndicate, but normally his decisions are vetted by the members of the Syndicate as well. Of course, he has to regularize the process and it goes to the Finance Committee for remunerations. If it is an existing
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Public Policy and Administration Research ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online) Vol.3, No.12, 2013
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vacancy then there are no problems. In case of a new post the Terms of Reference (TOR) have to be approved by the Syndicate. 4. Authority to award or revoke affiliations After analysis of data the researchers came to the conclusion that the University has ample autonomy in matters related to award ing affiliations to both public and private sector institutions for the purposes of award ing degrees. It is also autonomous to revoke or suspend such affiliations if it is not satisfied with the performance of these institutions. A member of the Affiliation Committee confirmed these observations by stating: Yes, we can award affiliations to both public and private institutions for awarding degrees. Government gives us instructions for the purpose. Assistant Director Administration (Establishment) is the Secretary of Affiliation Committee headed by the Chairman. Administration of that institution is their responsibility. There is certain criterion to be fulfilled before we give affiliation to an institution. In infrastructure there should be adequate classroom capacity, laboratories, number of books in the libraries and then there are requirements of human resources. There should be PhD faculty or minimum MPhil faculty available to the students. 5. Ability to develop infrastructure and improve research facilities On university’s ability to develop its infrastructure and improve its research facilitates the researchers inferred that the university being a public-sector institution is hugely dependent on the government for development of its infrastructure and research facilities. The newly raised status of UE also contributes to the fact that it needs a lot of financial support fro m both the federal and provincial govern ments to develop its infrastructure and research facilities. So its autonomy in these matters is very limited. The situation was also clear from following excerpts, For development of infrastructure and research facilities the UE is dependent on HEC and the Government of Punjab. But the Funds given by HEC and the Government of Punjab are very less. Another thing is that UE is a newly established university and it had to start from the scratch. It will take time and more allocation of resources fro m the government to improve the infrastructure and research facilities of the university. Financial Autonomy The dimension of financial autonomy was further categorized in the following areas: 1. Sources of funds to the university After the analysis of data the researchers inferred that university has three sources of funds which are: • HEC • Government of Punjab • Own sources The HEC and the Govern ment of Punjab allot funds to the public-sector universities based on their size and number of emp loyees and UE being in early days of its life gets small share when co mpared to other institutions because it still has relatively small structure as co mpared to other higher education institutions of the country, therefore, it has very limited financial autonomy. It is also facing financial constraints due to change in government policy regarding allocation of funds to the public-sector universities. The university was established as a result of reforms of 2002 and at that time the federal government under General Musharaf increased the budget of public-sector universities many times. But with the change of regime in 2008 the then government reduced its funding to the universities and as a newly raised institution UE suffered mo re than the other old institutions of the country who have more financial resources at their disposal. 2. Ability to raise and utilize funds After analysis of the data the researchers inferred that the university is fully authorized to raise and utilize funds. The bulk of revenue generated by UE is through different evening programs and a big chunk of it is used for salaries of faculty and staff. Other than that it has very meager resources at its disposal and that also contributes to its limited financial autonomy. Junaid (2011) while talking about the issue of financial autonomy in public-sector universities of Pakistan says, There is a positive relation between the source of income of the university and the chances of autonomy enjoyed by it i.e., greater proportion of money generated independently will imply high chances of
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Public Policy and Administration Research ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online) Vol.3, No.12, 2013
www.iiste.org
autonomy at disposal of university. If the university is unable to generate any amount of income itself, and its survival depends upon a big budget, the superior body giving grants is likely to control the university to a large extent. (p. 137) Apart from income of evening programs the management of the university up-till now has failed to tap sources other than the government to improve its financial health. Almost a decade since its inception the university has yet to come-up with a p roper plan to improve upon its Endowment Fund. The point was emphasized by Boston Group (2001) as well, it stated: Universities’ effort towards mobilizing external resources could include taping into short-term sources such as International donor agencies and public philanthropy, which tend to be particularly useful in terms of raising endowments, expanding on buildings, and creating scholarships. (p. 13) 3. Ability to re-appropri ate funds On university’s ability to sanction re-appropriat ion of funds the researchers concluded that the university has substantial autonomy in matters regarding re-appropriation of funds. Vice-Chancellor can sanction re-appropriation of funds but the majo r head should remain the same. In case of t ransfer of expenditures fro m one major head to another majo r head the Syndicate is appropriate sanctioning authority. A senior financial officer substantiated the analysis by saying, As far as matters of re-appropriation are concerned, in universities over-expenditures are always expected. Vice-Chancellor has the authority which is delegated to him by the government to sanction re-appropriation from one head to another head, but the major head should remain the same. In fact you can re-appropriate it to another major head, but in that case the matter goes to the Syndicate and they give approval for it. But overall the university has the authority to sanction re-appropriation of funds as required. 4. Authority to revise fee structure After talking to the respondents the researchers concluded that the university’s autonomy in terms of revision of fee structure is close to zero. Although by law it is fully empo wered to determine its fee structure and the Ordinance of the university states that the university, Can charge and receive such fees and other charges as it may determine (UE Ordinance 2002, clause r, paragraph 4). But the university being a public-sector institution has to fulfill certain obligations towards the society and hence it cannot revise its fee structure like p rivate-sector institutions of higher education. It was also clear from the following excerpts, The university can revise its fee structure. The summary has to go through the Vice-Chancellor’s Office to the Finance and Planning Committee and then finally to the Syndicate, which gives the final approval, but UE is a public-sector university and it has to provide education to general public of Pakistan, which is poor. It cannot increase its fees according to the market conditions and there are also Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) in the Syndicate who are political people and they do not allow the university administration to make major increase in its fee structure. 5. Ability to conduct audit systems After analysis of data the researchers inferred that incompatible with its limited financial autonomy the university has to maintain strict financial discipline in shape of internal and external audit systems. As pointed out by Orberg and Wright (2008) that government’s legal duty to carry-out audit is basically a key strategy emp loyed by the governments to exhib it their control over institutions of higher education and learning. In fact governments are not just ensuring financial discipline of the institutions in this way but are also probing that whether the institutions are fulfilling their conditions of its funding. Nybom (2008) fu rther supports this by saying that if the general policy is set by the government and financial resources are allocated according to these objectives this is probably the most powerful means to exert influence and authority on the decision making process of higher education institutions without taking much of the responsibility. It was also quite evident fro m following excerpts of the interview of a respondent: There are 2 types of audits at UE 1) Pre-audit/Internal Audit 2) Post-audit/External Audit. The preaudit is done by our Resident Auditor. He is appointed by the Government of Punjab. Each and every voucher goes through him. He audits that voucher and then payments are made after his clearance. He comes on deputation from Finance Department o f Government o f Punjab. Post-audit or External Audit
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Public Policy and Administration Research ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online) Vol.3, No.12, 2013
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is conducted by Director General Audit Punjab. Their team comes once in a financial year and performs this task for that particular year. Conclusions The higher education reforms of 2002 are the biggest effort by any Pakistani government in the 66year-old h istory of the country. What also makes these reforms different fro m other efforts of the past is that these reforms were followed by an effect ive implementation strategy. As a result the existing apex body of higher education in Pakistan the UGC was rep laced by a more powerful body the HEC. The HEC was g iven the powers and mandate to in itiate the whole reform process. The reforms of 2002 included that all public-sector universities should be given autonomy in areas of ad min istration and finance to imp rove the overall performance of higher education institutions of the public-sector. University of Education, Lahore was also established as a result of reforms of 2002 and was granted autonomy by its Ordinance. After analysis of the data the researchers conclude that traditionally the higher education institutions of Pakistan have enjoyed considerable autonomy in the p resence of a relatively weak UGC but after the refo rms of 2002 the HEC has emerged as more powerfu l and authoritative body than UGC. It uses top-down strategy for implementation of its policies and since its establishment has curtailed the autonomy of higher education institutions in the country. Noncompliance with HEC d irectives can lead to server penalties to the institutions of higher education and learn ing. Therefore, in broad-spectrum after the reforms of 2002 the h igher education system of Pakistan has moved away from more autonomy towards more control. On aspect of admin istrative autonomy the researchers came to the conclusion that UE enjoys sufficient autonomy in this respect. It is empowered to do strategic planning and the Syndicate is the appropriate authority for setting the future direct ion of the university. The Syndicate is chaired by the Vice-Chancello r who enjoys vast administrative powers. The university is autonomous to create and fill teaching and nonteaching posts to meets its present and future requirements of human resources. It can also award affiliat ions to various educational institutions for awarding degrees. Ho wever, the university’s authority to establish new division/colleges and to improve upon its infrastructure and research facilit ies largely depends upon the financial support from the government. In financial matters the researchers came to the conclusion that UE has very limited financial authority. It is heavily dependent on the government for its recurring/non-developmental and developmental expenditures. Its own source of inco me is revenue generated through various evening programs, which is mostly spent on its non-developmental expenditures. Its authority to revise is fee structure is also close to zero because being a public-sector university it has to provide education on subsidized and affordable rates to the common people of Pakistan who are underprivileged. However, the university is quite autonomous to spend the allotted funds and has the authority to sanction re-appropriation of funds. In contrast to its limited financial authority the university has to maintain strict financial discipline in shape of internal and external audit systems. References Anderson, D. & Johnson, R. (1998). University Autonomy in Twenty Countries. Canberra: Depart ment of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. Barber, S. M . (2010). Education Reform in Pakistan: This time it’s going to be different. Pakistan Education Task Force. Government of Pakistan. Bengali, K. (1999). History of Education Policy Making and Planning in Pakistan. Working Paper Series No. 40 . Sustainable Development Policy Institute Islamabad, Pakistan. Bro wn, K. M. (2005). Reconciling Moral and Legal Collective Ent itlement: Imp lications for Co mmun ity-Based Land Reform. Land Use Policy 2:4. Chawla, M ., Govindaraj, R., Need leman, J., & Berman, P. (1996). “Evaluating Hospital Autonomy: Methodological Guidelines”, Data for Decision Making Project, Harvard University, Boston, MA. De Boer, H., Jongbloed, B., Enders, J. & File, J. (2010). Progress in Higher Education Reform across Europe: Governance Reform. Brussels: European Commission. Estermann, T. & Nokkala, T. (2009). University Autonomy in Europe I: Exploratory Study. European Un iversity Association. Felt, U. & Glan z, M. (2002). University Autonomy in Europe. Changing Paradigms of Higher Education Policy. Bologna: Magna Charta Observatory. Fielden, J. (2008). Global Trends in University Governance. World Bank Education Working Paper Series 9. Washington: The World Bank. 23
Public Policy and Administration Research ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online) Vol.3, No.12, 2013
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Harrell, M. C., & Bradley, M. A. (2009). Data Collection Methods: Semi-Structured Interviews and Focus Groups. RAND National Defense Research Institute, Santa Monica, CA. Hesse-Biber, S. N., & Leavy, P. (2006). Emergent Methods in Social Research : Sage Publications Inc. Hoodbhoy, P. Pakistan’s Reform Experiment. Nature, vol. 461, p. 38. 3rd September 2009. Jahangir, K. (2008). Management of Higher Education Reforms in Pakistan: An Implementation Perspective, PhD thesis, Utrecht School of Governance, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. Junaid, R. (2011). Governance and Management in Public Sector Universities: A Case Study of University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Löscher, A. (2004). Developments in University Autonomy in England . Master’s dissertation, Centre for British Studies Humboldt University at Berlin, Germany. Marvasti, A. B. (2004). Qualitative Research in Sociology: An Introduction . Sage Publications Inc. Nybom, T. (2008). University Autonomy: A Matter of Political Rhetoric. Orebro University, Sweden. Orberg, J. W. & Wright, S. (2008). Autonomy and Control: Danish University Reform in the Context of Modern Governance. Berghahn Journals, 1(1): 27–57. Paradeise, C., Reale, E., Bleiklie, I., & Ferlie, E. (Eds.) (2009). University Governance: Western European Comparative Perspective. Springer: Heidelberg, Germany. Rani, P. G. (2004). Economic Reforms and Financing Higher Education in India. National Institute of Education Planning and Administration, New Delhi, India. Saeed, A. (2012). Making Sense of Policy Implementation Process in Pakistan: The Case of Hospital Autonomy Reforms, PhD thesis, Utrecht School of Governance, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. Sekaran, U. (2003). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons Publishing, NY. The Boston Group, (2001) Higher Education in Pakistan: Towards a Reform Agenda. A Contribution to the Task Force on Improvement of Higher Education in Pakistan. The State of Education in Pakistan 2003-2004, Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan March 2005. Tongco, M. D. C. (2007). Purposive Sampling as a Tool for In formant Selection. A Journal for Plant, People and Applied Research, 5: 147-158. Tran, V. M. & Perry, J. A. (2003). Challenges to using Neem (Azadirachta indica var. siamensis Valenton ) in Thailand. Economic Botany, 57: 93-102. University of Education Lahore, Ordinance 2002. Yin, R. K. (2003). Case Study Research : Design and Methods, Sage Publications Inc. Zikmund, W. G. (2003). Business Research Methods (7th ed.). Thomson: South Western, Ohio.
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