This dissertation investigates the role of public higher education institutions in state-level arts policy in the state of Virginia. The strength of public support for the arts historically has been measured by per capita arts spending, as determined by appropriations to state arts agencies. However, this is a very thin measure that misses an increasingly important contributor to the arts policy landscape - higher education institutions. As direct sources of funding for the arts decline, universities increasingly are contributing to the state arts landscape with the construction and operation of performing arts centers. Framed by resource dependency theory and rational choice institutionalism, this research sheds light on the motivations of actors contributing to the arts policy field in a resource-scarce environment. Evidence suggests that public higher education institutions invest in the co-curricular arts to capitalize on and acquire resources, including image and prestige, and to fulfill their public service missions. Although higher education institution performing arts centers are contributing to the state's arts landscape, they are only informally participating in arts policy formulation and implementation. These findings have financial and decision-making implications for arts policymakers, university administrators, and arts agencies as the inclusion of public higher education institutions in the arts policy field affords new opportunities and challenges for the state encouragement of the arts. / Ph. D.

Yes / This paper examines trends in the content of reporting within 135 UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It explores the extent to which Integrated Reporting (IR) content elements, reflecting integrated thinking, are disclosed voluntarily and whether HEI specific features influence the resulting disclosures. Existing IR guidelines given by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the adoption of content analysis have provided the opportunity to examine the trend and extent of IR content elements associated in HEI corporate reports. The evidence was obtained from 405 UK HEI annual reports covering the period 2014-2016. The results indicate a significant increase in the number of IR content elements embedded in HEI annual reports. The HEI specific characteristics examined, such as a) the establishment of HEI (before or after 1992), b) adoption of IR framework and c) size of HEI, are all significantly and positively associated with IR content elements disclosure. This paper argues that institutional theory, isomorphism and isopraxism are relevant for explaining the changes in the contents of HEI annual reports. The findings also suggest that universities are beginning to adopt an integrated thinking approach to the reporting of their activities. The study is based on IR content elements only and could be extended to include the fundamental concepts and basic principles of the IR framework. There are other factors that have a potentially crucial influence on HEI core activities (such as teaching and learning research and internationalisation) which have been omitted from this study. The findings will allow policymakers to evaluate the extent to which integrated thinking is taking place and influencing the UK HEI sector in the selection and presentation of information. A further implication of the findings is that an appropriate a sector-wide enforcement and compliance body, for instance, the British Universities Finance Directors Group (BUFDG), may consider developing voluntary IR guidance in a clear, consistent, concise and comparable format. Also, it may pursue regulatory support for this guidance. In doing so, it may monitor the compliance and disclosure levels of appropriate IR requirements. Within such a framework, IR could be used to assist HEIs to make more sustainable choices and allow stakeholders to better understand aspects of HEI performance. The research has implications for society within and beyond the unique UK HEI sector. Universities are places of advanced thinking and can lead the way for other sectors by demonstrating the potential of integrated thinking to create a cohesive wide-ranging discourse and create engagement among stakeholder groups. Specifically, IR builds on the strong points of accounting, for instance, robust quantitative evidence collecting, relevance, reliability, materiality, comparability and assurability, to explain the sustainability discourse into a ‘‘language’’ logical to HEIs organisational decision-makers. Consequently, IR may generate better visibility and knowledge of the financial values of exploiting capitals (financial, intellectual, human, manufactured, social, and natural) and offer a multifaceted approach to reassess HEIs organisational performance in various sectors that support the growth of integrated thinking.

A intensificação da globalização tem afetado diretamente organizações e pessoas, não é diferente quando se trata das instituições de ensino superior. Desta forma, a internacionalização do ensino superior vem se intensificando e os impulsionadores destes esforços vêm se tornado cada vez mais fortes nos últimos anos. Diante das demandas que surgem neste contexto de intensa globalização, esforços realizados em resposta a este fenômeno são empreendidos, mas muitas vezes sem o alcance dos resultados esperados. O propósito deste estudo é adaptar e propor o Balanced Scorecard (BSC) como ferramenta de auxílio ao processo de gestão da internacionalização do ensino superior às universidades públicas brasileiras. O estudo se justifica pela compreensão de que organizações precisam monitorar seus processos e resultados. Devem se esforçar para conhecer seus pontos fracos e fortes, bem como as possibilidades de correção de desvios e maximização de resultados, assim contribuindo para o alcance de seus objetivos, entende-se que uma ferramenta voltada ao auxílio das atividades relacionadas a internacionalização do ensino superior pode contribuir diretamente para a melhoria do processo. A metodologia adotada para a condução do estudo foi o estudo de caso, desenvolvido em cinco instituições públicas de ensino superior brasileiras de melhor reputação internacional, em acordo com cinco rankings internacionais. A análise dos resultados proporcionou a identificação de seis perspectivas a serem utilizadas no BSC proposto: 1. Perspectiva da mudança organizacional; 2. Perspectiva dos recursos materiais, financeiros e estruturais; 3. Perspectiva do desenvolvimento de pessoas; 4. Perspectiva da inovação curricular; 5. Perspectiva da mobilidade acadêmica e 6. Perspectiva dos stakeholders. A partir da definição destas perspectivas, apresentou-se o mapa estratégico a ser utilizado pelas universidades. / The intensification of globalization has directly affected organizations and individuals, is no different when it comes to higher education institutions. Thus, the Internationalization of higher education has been increasing and the drivers of these efforts has become increasingly stronger in recent years. Faced with the demands that arise in this context of intense globalization, efforts made in response to this phenomenon are undertaken, but often without achieving the expected results. The purpose of this study is to adapt and propose the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as a tool for the management process of higher education internationalization to the Brazilian public universities. The study is justified by the understanding that any organization needs to monitor their processes and results, should strive to know their strengths and weaknesses, as well as the correction of possible deviations and maximization of results, thus contributing to the achievement of its objectives, it is understood that a tool aimed to support activities related to internationalization of higher education can contribute directly to the improvement of the process. The methodology used to conduct the study was the case study, developed in five best international reputation public higher education institutions in Brazil, in accordance with five international rankings. The analysis provided the identification of six perspectives to be used in the proposed BSC: 1. Organizational change perspective; 2. Material, financial and structural resources perspective; 3. People development perspective; 4. Curriculum innovation perspective; 5. Academic mobility perspective and 6. Stakeholders perspective. From the definition of these perspectives, presented the strategic map to be used by universities.

A intensificação da globalização tem afetado diretamente organizações e pessoas, não é diferente quando se trata das instituições de ensino superior. Desta forma, a internacionalização do ensino superior vem se intensificando e os impulsionadores destes esforços vêm se tornado cada vez mais fortes nos últimos anos. Diante das demandas que surgem neste contexto de intensa globalização, esforços realizados em resposta a este fenômeno são empreendidos, mas muitas vezes sem o alcance dos resultados esperados. O propósito deste estudo é adaptar e propor o Balanced Scorecard (BSC) como ferramenta de auxílio ao processo de gestão da internacionalização do ensino superior às universidades públicas brasileiras. O estudo se justifica pela compreensão de que organizações precisam monitorar seus processos e resultados. Devem se esforçar para conhecer seus pontos fracos e fortes, bem como as possibilidades de correção de desvios e maximização de resultados, assim contribuindo para o alcance de seus objetivos, entende-se que uma ferramenta voltada ao auxílio das atividades relacionadas a internacionalização do ensino superior pode contribuir diretamente para a melhoria do processo. A metodologia adotada para a condução do estudo foi o estudo de caso, desenvolvido em cinco instituições públicas de ensino superior brasileiras de melhor reputação internacional, em acordo com cinco rankings internacionais. A análise dos resultados proporcionou a identificação de seis perspectivas a serem utilizadas no BSC proposto: 1. Perspectiva da mudança organizacional; 2. Perspectiva dos recursos materiais, financeiros e estruturais; 3. Perspectiva do desenvolvimento de pessoas; 4. Perspectiva da inovação curricular; 5. Perspectiva da mobilidade acadêmica e 6. Perspectiva dos stakeholders. A partir da definição destas perspectivas, apresentou-se o mapa estratégico a ser utilizado pelas universidades. / The intensification of globalization has directly affected organizations and individuals, is no different when it comes to higher education institutions. Thus, the Internationalization of higher education has been increasing and the drivers of these efforts has become increasingly stronger in recent years. Faced with the demands that arise in this context of intense globalization, efforts made in response to this phenomenon are undertaken, but often without achieving the expected results. The purpose of this study is to adapt and propose the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as a tool for the management process of higher education internationalization to the Brazilian public universities. The study is justified by the understanding that any organization needs to monitor their processes and results, should strive to know their strengths and weaknesses, as well as the correction of possible deviations and maximization of results, thus contributing to the achievement of its objectives, it is understood that a tool aimed to support activities related to internationalization of higher education can contribute directly to the improvement of the process. The methodology used to conduct the study was the case study, developed in five best international reputation public higher education institutions in Brazil, in accordance with five international rankings. The analysis provided the identification of six perspectives to be used in the proposed BSC: 1. Organizational change perspective; 2. Material, financial and structural resources perspective; 3. People development perspective; 4. Curriculum innovation perspective; 5. Academic mobility perspective and 6. Stakeholders perspective. From the definition of these perspectives, presented the strategic map to be used by universities.

<p>Theoretically, the role of higher education in national development has become clearer than before, while empirically the evidence is overwhelming. Elsewhere in the world, countries that have made tremendous strides in both social and economic development invested heavily and strategically in higher education. In Malawi, the role of higher education in national development has always been recognised by development policies since independence in 1964 <span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic">However, with the exception of the first 15 years of independence, Malawi&rsquo / s development path has registered abysmal results both on the social and the economic fronts despite undergoing significant socio-economic and political reforms. Malawi remains one of the most underdeveloped countries whether judged by Gross National Product (GNP) per capita, the UNDP&rsquo / s Human Development Index (HDI) or the Human Poverty Index (HPI). One of the factors that is considered as having contributed to low levels of development is the performance of education systems (primary, secondary and higher education) (World Bank, 2009).</span>It is against this background that this study sought to examine how Malawi&rsquo / s higher education institutions (HEIs) have responded to their roles as prescribed by the national development policies with a focus on the period between 2000 and 2010. Four questions guided the study: i) what specific roles do national development policies define for HEIs to ensure that higher education contributes to national development? ii) To what extent are these roles performed by HEIs in Malawi? iii) What factors determine the performance of HEIs in their expected roles? iv) What pattern of response to their (HEIs&rsquo / ) expected roles can be identified? Theoretically and analytically, the study was informed by the two perspectives of the open systems theory, namely the resource-dependency approach and neo-institutional approach. These two approaches contend that actions by organisations are limited and influenced by various pressures and demands emanating from their internal and external environments and that organisations often respond accordingly in order to survive. Methodologically, the study employed a mixed-method design (of qualitative and quantitative) with a dominant usage of qualitative methods. A multiple case study approach was used in which data were collected through unstructured interviews, semi-structured interviews and documentary review. For qualitative data, the analysis was done using a text method while quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel to provide simple descriptive analysis through charts, tables and graphs.<span style="mso-fareast-font-family:TimesNewRoman"> Overall, the study found that Malawi development policies expect HEIs to enhance access, equity, relevance, efficiency and quality of higher education as a way of ensuring that higher education contributes to the national development project. However, the study identified several patterns of response by HEIs (towards these expected roles) that tentatively explain the sub-optimal contribution of higher education in national development. These patterns of response include: inclination towards responding to the politically sensitive crises in the higher education system (for public HEIs) and profit-compatible roles (for private HEI) / use of sub-standard resources and methods antithetical to genuine teaching and learning / duplication by private HEIs of the &ldquo / soft&rdquo / roles being undertaken by public HEI / the abandonment of some of the HEIs&rsquo / original ideals and founding pledges, which are compatible with national development roles / and substitution of long-term coherent academic planning by short-term survival strategies. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:18.0pt / mso-fareast-font-family:TimesNewRoman / mso-bidi-font-family:Arial / color:black / mso-fareast-language:EN-US / mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">The study presents a number of implications, lessons and recommendations in the area of higher education and development. These include: the need for the government to recognise the importance and impact of intra-sectoral linkages in the entire education system on the performance of HEIs / the need to enforce the effective participation of private and public HEIs in national developmental project by establishing a proper regulatory framework / the need to enhance regional and internal collaboration among universities if they are to effectively respond to national roles / the need to reduce marginalisation of HEIs by maximising efforts that create linkages with the productive sector / the need to devise a robust public financing mechanism that broadly deals with issues of equity, relevance, quality and access of higher education / and the need to match education investment priorities and sequencing with development policies</span></p> <p>&nbsp / </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">&nbsp / </p> <p>&nbsp / </p>

South African higher education institutions are facing increasing competition from both local and global competitors. This increasing competitive pressure has forced them to become aware of the importance of building and sustaining a suitable competitive advantage. Adding to this, South Africa’s economy, together with the world economies, has witnessed changing circumstances in relation to consumers’ needs, tastes and preferences. In this light, service quality has been recognised as a means to meet these challenges. As service industries play an important role in many economies around the world, the significance of providing an adequate level of service quality has emerged. Higher education institutions too are now being called upon to account for the quality of the services they provide. As service quality is a key strategic issue and a pervasive strategic force, the methods deployed in measuring service quality is of concern. Traditionally, higher education institutions used measures to account for the academic standards they provide, together with accreditation and performance indicators of teaching and research. However, from the viewpoint of their primary consumers, higher education institutions need to put measures in place to account for their students’ perceptions of service quality as well. Higher education institutions need to concentrate their attention on what the students feel is important in delivering the service. In measuring service quality from the perspective of the students, higher education institutions will be able to improve their service delivery processes, which will help to create consumer loyalty and, in the long-term, build a competitive advantage. The primary objective of this study was to provide a comparative view on the undergraduate students’ perceptions of the service quality delivered by two South African higher education institutions. The study comprised a literature review and an empirical study, and a descriptive research design was employed. The literature review focused on service quality. The literature review did not focus specifically on examining service quality from higher education institutions perspective but rather looked at service quality from the perspective of general service industries. In addition, in order to shape the literature on service quality, an introduction to services and services marketing was provided. Within the empirical portion of this study, quantitative research was applied using the survey method. Two South African higher education institutions formed the two sample groups in this study. A self-administered questionnaire was administered on the relevant first-, second- and third- year business and marketing management students of each sample’s respective faculties. The findings obtained from the main survey questionnaire are discussed in order to provide insights as to how students’ evaluate the service delivery of higher education institutions. Given the limitations and scope of the study, a balanced view of the two sample groups is provided in that the sample groups were split representatively. The recommendations provided in this study provide guidelines regarding the possible ways in which higher education institutions can market themselves in order to build a sustainable competitive advantage. / MCom, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

The central purpose of this study was to compare the attitudes of faculty in applied sciences to the attitudes of faculty in liberal arts and other selected fields to determine if they differ significantly from each other in their perceptions of the effects of university-industry alliances on campus governance and operations. Secondary purposes were (a) to appraise the debate on alliances and the effects of alliances on academic values and (b) to contribute to the literature concerning alliances and their potential for improving higher education.

The problem with which the four-phase descriptive study was concerned is the extent of application of strategic planning by senior colleges and universities in Texas. The purpose was to analyze and describe the status of the planning based on the perceptions of the respondents and a specific set of characteristics validated by twenty experts.

Thesis advisor: Henry I. Braun / Addressing the call to provide hard evidence on undergraduate student outcomes and make comparisons across higher education institutions for accountability purposes, this study extends current efforts in measuring higher education outcomes and explores the differences in three value-added methodologies. Using the CIRP freshman and senior survey data from 2002 and 2006, this study examines noncognitive higher education outcomes with a focus on civic engagement. The three value-added methodologies examined are: an OLS-based cross-sectional method, an HLM-based cross-sectional method, and an HLM-based longitudinal method. Rather than seek to establish which methodology is superior, this study intends to provide empirical evidence concerning the similarities and differences in estimating institutional effectiveness with regard to civic engagement. First, several student-level and institution-level covariates were found to be associated with a measure of civic engagement in the senior year after adjusting for their level of civic engagement as freshmen. The model comparison further revealed some advantages in the HLM-based longitudinal method over the other two methods, such as providing a more accurate institutional value-added estimate and the ability to account for a relatively large percent of the total variance in the civic engagement measure when using the same covariates. Next, among all pairs of model comparisons, results from the two HLM-based methods agreed the most (r=.80). However, institutional rankings fluctuate dramatically, even when comparing institutions within small peer groups. Finally, the findings highlighted great divergences among different value-added methodologies in identifying institutions that perform significantly differently from the average for accountability purposes. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation.

A sustentabilidade tem assumido importância nos últimos anos. Entretanto, na prática, as abordagens das organizações sobre o tema são fragmentadas. Um exemplo são a Instituições de Ensino Superior (IESs), as quais possuem dificuldades de apresentar a sustentabilidade de forma efetiva em suas unidades. Uma forma de efetivar a sustentabilidade é por meio da gestão por processos ou Business Process Management (BPM). Porém, para uma organização gerenciar seus processos, é necessário atender aos chamados Fatores Críticos de Sucesso, dos quais a elaboração da Arquitetura de Processos (AP) faz parte. Existem diversos métodos de elaboração de AP, porém, sem indícios de qual é o mais adequado para elaborar a AP no contexto da sustentabilidade. A partir desse postulado, surgiram o problema da pesquisa e o seu objetivo principal: selecionar o método de elaboração de Arquitetura de Processos mais adequado para auxiliar a promoçãoda sustentabilidade na perspectiva de processos no contexto de uma IES. Para realizar esse objetivo, a pesquisa fez uso da revisão da literatura para elaborar critérios de avaliação com foco em sustentabilidade para selecionar o método de elaboração de AP mais. Verificou-se que o método desenvolvido por Burlton (2010) é o mais adequado ao problema de pesquisa. Em seguida, o método selecionado para elaborar a AP foi aplicado em um processo priorizado de uma IES pública. O método de Burlton (2010) se mostrou o mais adequado, pois demonstra preocupação com a integração ao dar ao processo uma visão ampla sem deixar de lado a mensuraçãodo desempenho e o relacionamento com os stakeholders. Como implicações da pesquisa há a contribuição para a literatura com um novo estudo que relaciona sustentabilidade e BPM e, como contribuição empírica, o estudo pode servir como base para IES que queiram vincular a sustentabilidade em seus processos. / Sustainability has assumed importance in recent years. However, in practice, the approaches of the organizations on the topic are fragmented. One example is the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), which have difficulties to present the sustainability effectively in their units. One way to accomplish sustainability is through Business Process Management (BPM). However, for an organization to manage its processes, you must meet the so-called Critical Factors Successes, including the development of the Process Architecture. There are several development of Process Architecture methods, but without evidence of which is best suited to prepare the Process Architecture in the context of sustainability. From that premise, emerged the research problem and its main goal: select the Process Architecture development method best suited to help the promotion of sustainability from the perspective of processes in the context of HEI. To accomplish this goal, the research made use of literature review to develop evaluation criteria focusing on sustainability to select the Process Architecture preparation method more. It was found that the method developed by Burlton (2010) is more suitable for research problem. Then, the selected method to prepare the Process Architecture was applied on a prioritized process of a public HEI. The method of Burlton (2010) proved to be the most appropriate, because it shows concern with the integration process to give a broad view without ignoring the measurement of performance and relationships with stakeholders. As implications of research for the contribution to the literature to a new study that links sustainability and BPM and as empirical contribution, the study can serve as a basis for HEI who want to link sustainability in their processes.