This research analyses a higher education quality assessment scheme in China: the Quality Assessment of Undergraduate Education (QAUE) scheme. It seeks to find out the impact of the QAUE on university change, and explore the reasons why the intended changes have or have not been generated in the evaluated universities. In order to do this, case studies were conducted in three Chinese universities with different statuses. The data of these cases was collected by means of document analysis and semi-structured interviews. The case studies show that, to a certain extent, the QAUE has caused universities to change in China, but not all the expected changes have been made. The effects on the various dimensions of quality provisions at different universities were not the same. It was found that the impact of the QAUE was not a linear consequence of policy implementation, but the result of an interaction between the external quality assessment scheme and the evaluated universities. Thus, the impact was not only determined by the design of the QAUE scheme, but was also related to the characteristics of the evaluated universities and their initiatives. Based on the empirical findings from the QAUE and the theories about organisational change and the operating mechanism of external quality assessment, a model is proposed to describe how quality assessment interacts with the evaluated universities and causes them to change. In this model, quality assessment is regarded as being an external force which brings the external norms of "good" higher education into the evaluated universities and pushes them to adapt their operations to these norms. Change will only take place when the external force is integrated with the evaluated universities' internal motivation and capacity to implement change.

The number of Black students enrolling in 4-year higher education institutions in the United States is quickly approaching 2.5 million (Department of Education, 2016) leaving universities scrambling to find out more about this population, how to support them, and how to retain them through intentional programming. Comparatively, in 2013 there were almost 10 million White students enrolled in higher education institutions in the U.S. In Ohio, 75% of students in a bachelor’s degree program were retained from their first year to the second year (Ballotpedia, 2016). However, at the institution where this research takes place, retention of Black students from their first to second year hovers around 49%. Tinto (1988) stresses the importance of both social and academic integration for students to increase persistence for university students. For Black students, integration may involve adapting some of their social or cultural capital including their skill set, mannerisms and even language (Bourdieu, 1985; Bernstein, 2003). This study examines the experiences of a small group of Black students in their final years of study at Muskingum University, a PWI located in Ohio, U.S. A. The purpose of this study is to better understand the facets of the participant group, how they are supported while at the university, how studying at a rural, PWI impacts their experience, and the ways in which the participants felt they needed to change or adapt their own cultural characteristics in order to be successful within the institutional culture. I used a phenomenological methodology to understand the experiences that the nine, undergraduate student participants were sharing (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2011). Phenomenology allows reality to be defined by the perception of the participants which was important for me as a White practitioner conducting research on Black students (Moustakas, 1994). The study consisted of a questionnaire, an imagery component and two rounds of group interviews. The data was then self-transcribed and entered into the Atlas-ti software program and coded. The significance of this study is that all the participants were succeeding both socially and academically despite having a different cultural capital than the culture that had power at the institution. The experiences they were able to share provided insight into why they were able to be successful including building social capital through leadership positions and having a strong sense of ethnic pride to overcome microaggressions. The results of this study are unique as they combine several retention theories including Tinto’s retention and integration theory, Phinney’s ethnic identity theory and Bourdieu’s ideas on transferring social and cultural capital (Tinto, 1988; Phinney, 1992; Bourdieu, 1985). The recommendations from this study are aligned with the findings and the theories that support the data analysis. These recommendations include fostering a sense of ethnic pride and creating opportunities for expanded group membership. Developing a sense of belonging for Black students that are studying on predominantly White campuses is particularly salient for students that are struggling to adjust to a new culture.

This study was conducted to examine the effects of continuous change on managers and directors in a small art and design university in the United States by introducing a leadership style that may be more effective for them to guide their teams through organizational change initiatives. Specifically, this study explored the introduction of Authentic Leadership (AL) concepts to a group of seven employees at a director or manager level who lead functional area teams. The aim was to identify the impact that authentic leadership might have in overcoming change fatigue. Data were collected over a three-month period through 1) a questionnaire, relating to their level of change fatigue, 2) an Authentic Leadership workshop, introducing authentic leadership concepts, 3) a participant reflective journal, recording incidents of where the director or manager used authentic leadership concepts, 4) a follow-up questionnaire, establishing whether a change in perception of their own change fatigue had occurred and 5) a focus group, gauging participants' thoughts on authentic leadership and change fatigue. The analysis occurred by uncovering themes that emerged from the qualitative data and categorizing them to understand the participants' experiences. The results indicate that participants' views resonated with the authentic leadership concepts of self-awareness and positive behaviors and their subsequent actions show the beginnings of incorporating authentic leadership into their daily practice. Additionally, the identification with change fatigue behaviors was apparent and a connection was made between identifying these behaviors from an introduction of authentic leadership. The findings shaped an emerging conceptual framework of the impact of self-awareness on the participants and how self-awareness can influence positive behaviors and unmask change fatigue identification. Recommendations for practice and further research are discussed.

Significant changes have occurred within the higher education sector in England with further changes are anticipated as a result of the changes to the on-going policy development related to higher education in England. Government policy development from Dearing (1997) through to Browne (2010) has introduced major changes to the funding, structure and governance of the HE sector. This development has continued with the proposals to introduce more choice and competition into the HE sector along with measures to deliver teaching excellence, with the publication of the White Paper “Success as a knowledge Economy: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice” (2016). The impact of the on-going policy development has resulted in greater access to higher education but also increased financial pressures on students and their family. This study assesses the impact of the continuing policy changes on the provision of higher education in England and the impact on the student experience. The quality of the student experience is an important aspect of the policy development and as a result this is measured and reported upon. The National Student Survey (NSS) is an important measure of student satisfaction and is proving to be a key policy driver in HEI’s relating to quality of provision. The built environment subject area has benefited from the widening participation agenda and as a result, the diverse demographics of the student population create a complex mix of student expectations within a built environment school. A review of the literature is undertaken to document the policy development, identify the issues relating to the NSS and its use, the factors affecting student expectations and perception of quality and assess the resultant impact on HEI’s. The research will use a single embedded case study approach that seeks to analyse the student experience within the School of the Built Environment at the University of Salford to propose a conceptual framework to deliver increased student satisfaction levels.

The current research aims to investigate the determinants of turnover intention among faculty members at Saudi public universities. Turnover intention defines the intention of an individual to leave their current position of employment, and these concepts have been shown within previous investigations to be the desired plan by an employee to leave and search for another position. Moreover, turnover intention has been demonstrated to be a proximal antecedent, which exhibits the perceptions and understandings of employees in relation to alternatives for the possibility of jobs. The determinants of turnover intention are divided into three sections: the demographic variables (i.e. age, gender, tenure and position), the organisational variables (i.e. interpersonal relationships, working environment, and payment justice), and individual variables (i.e. organisational commitment and job satisfaction) for faculty members who are working in Saudi public universities. The current study was conducted in the remit of five public universities within the region of Al-Riyadh in Saudi Arabia (King Saud University, Al-Imam University, Prince Salman University, Al-Mujam’ah University and Shaqraa University. Furthermore, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20 was used to analyse the data findings, and the analysis incorporated the generation of statistics in the analysis of the demographics and general profile of the respondents, as well as the frequency distributions that were generated for each demographic and descriptive variables. A regression test was conducted to measure the correlation between individuals, the organisational and demographic variables, and the effectual turnover intention among faculty members. It was revealed that the most imperative determinant to affect turnover intention was interpersonal relationships, which demonstrated relative importance (70.4). This was then followed by the working environment, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, turnover intention, and the payment justice respectively. Additionally, it was confirmed that no significant impact existed in turnover intention at Saudi Arabian universities from the determinants of age of a faculty member or tenure. Nevertheless, a significant influence of a faculty member's gender and position on turnover intention did exist. However, no significant impact is evident at Saudi Arabian Universities in relation to the interpersonal relationships of faculty members on their overall turnover intention. Similarly, no direct impact exists at the Saudi Arabian Universities between organisational commitment and the turnover intention of faculty members. There is a significant impact at Saudi Arabian Universities from job satisfaction upon the turnover intention of faculty members. It has been determined that it is becoming integral for all Saudi Arabian academic organisations to adopt the most suitable approaches in order to implement the reduction of turnover intention for faculty members. Universities within the country may be able to reduce the turnover intention of its faculty members through improving its working environment and its payment system, which will ultimately lead an increase in faculty members’ job satisfaction. Additionally, within Saudi Arabian universities, the working environment, payment justice, and job satisfaction determine the turnover intention of faculty members. Furthermore, two demographic variables are present within this formulation, which are associated with faculty members’ overall turnover intention: gender and their job position. The researcher recommends that future research is required with the intention to incorporate additional universities in other Saudi districts in order to create a more substantial generalization.

One of the most challenging issues facing Higher Education Institutions in recent years has been how to develop and gain competitive advantage in the global marketplace which is currently experiencing increasing and intense competition. The growth in competition has been driven, in part by the goal of every Higher Education Institution to internationalise. Consequently, the notion of international patronage, in terms of attracting and retaining international students, has become increasingly significant. Based on these competitive forces the aim of this study is to evaluate critically the implementations of relationship marketing initiatives by Business Schools as it relates to international student retention. Three stakeholders studies of a total of fifty two participants including: nine Business Schools managers; thirteen academic staff working in Business Schools and thirty international students (undergraduates & postgraduates) participated in this study. The study involved four Business Schools in the Greater Manchester Area. These participants were selected as a result of their direct involvement with the research focus. The Business School managers included a Business Director, Deans, Academic Deans, and International Directors who were directly involved in developing and applying relationship marketing approaches in their respective Business Schools. Academic staff included staff members who were involved in delivering teaching to international students in their Business School. The International students were from thirteen different countries. Data was collected using: semi-structured face-to-face interviews; focus groups; observation and documents reviews. A number of important findings have been obtained from the data collected which were analysed using thematic analysis. Firstly, results showed that whilst there are several definitions of international students’, there is agreement amongst all stakeholders about the importance of international students not only to Business Schools but also to the local and national UK economy. Secondly, the results revealed that several aspects of the relationship marketing approach including extra academic support and student integration etc. were significant for international student retention. Thirdly, the study reveals that current RM practices do not focus sufficiently on individual students cultural and religious backgrounds. Fourthly, the results show that current relationship marketing initiatives are perceived by stakeholders to have positive implications for retaining international students in the participating Business Schools. The implications of the results are that Business School managers and staff members should endeavour to understand international student dynamics and as a result develop unique aspects of their relationship marketing approach that focus on such dynamics. Business School should engage all international students and employees who are in contact points with international students especially academic staff who develop marketing policies that are international student related. Business School managers should also consider involving students extended family prior to, during and post student experience of study as they are often the financial source for the student and key stakeholders in the student decision making process.

This research project aimed to review the relationship between two student support departments pivotal to the enrollment process at an Art and Design university in the Southwestern region of the United States. The purpose of this project was to utilize the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) framework as a model for building collaboration and increasing levels of trust between these two interrelated departments. Five individuals engaged in this four-month study and participated in an Appreciative Inquiry workshop designed to reveal the positive core relationship between these two departments. The workshop functioned as a platform for dialogue between these two departments. Through conversation, members of each team sought to discover key elements to success, dream about the ideal environment, design the paradigm for this ideal environment and then commit to the destiny identified as a collective team. Participants were also asked to keep a reflective journal of team interaction after the workshop. The researcher conducted interviews with the participants, as well as monitoring interaction through the use of record sheets during meetings. Each of these data collection strategies revealed the impact of Appreciative Inquiry from both an individual and collective perspective. The data collected during this research were analyzed to identify (a) whether there is a perceived connection between the use of AI and the development of trust, (b) whether AI contributed to a stronger sense of collaboration between these two departments, (c) whether improvements were identified, and how far those improvements in trust resulted in stronger collaborations and combined ownership for results. Throughout all data collected, three themes emerged that resonated with the participants, trust, collaboration and productivity. Based on these emergent themes, there appears to be indication of a positive relationship between the Appreciative Inquiry framework and the impact on trust and collaboration, leading to greater productivity for the five participants in this study. The applicable lessons from this project will be a resource for other higher education managers responsible for collaboration between essential student support teams.

The retention of students is an important component of any higher education’s business strategy. As a result of Internationalisation, there are new developments in student mobility and willingness to move between countries; host universities have to reconsider how they deliver their services to accommodate these changes. In addition to these transformations in the landscape student retention, personal development planning and employability continue to evolve. Student Services generally are evolving globally (IASAS, 2009) to be aligned with the changes, however, little is known of the changing roles of Student Funding Welfare Services and their potential contribution. Underpinning this research there are theoretical models (Tinto, 1997 and Yorke 2002), as well as, empirical research and studies (Davies and Elias, 2003, Quinn, Thomas, Slack, Casey, Thexton and Noble, 2005). This Study is unique because a Student Funding Welfare Service Practitioner writes it; very little if any research exists from such a contributor. The Study is an Interpretivist, mixed methods based approach carried out by an insider researcher within a post 1992 Scottish University Student Funding Welfare Service. This evaluation of the Service required three questionnaires, eight focus groups and 30 student learner Pen Portraits to gather rich qualitative and quantitative data from two service user groups: student learners and teaching staff. Conclusions were drawn about the contributions being made by the Student Funding Welfare Service in relation to: student retention, personal development planning and employability. Analysis and interpretation concluded that contributions were being made, as illustrated within the Student Funding Welfare Service Contribution Model developed as a result of this Study. This research considers two working environments within one higher education institution by showing ways in which the Student Funding Welfare Service Contribution Model was actively making scholarly contributions; which would work alongside other such practices within the overall university community. Following an analysis of the Services working practices the findings suggest similarities can be drawn between them and Dewey (1998), Connolly (2008), Land (2004) and Kolb (1984). The Study calls for Student Funding Welfare Services to be regulated by the Scottish Standards Money Advice Service to bring them in line with the public sector service deliverers in this field. In addition a suggestion is made for a formal postgraduate Diploma in Money Advice and Welfare Services. Such a qualification would aim to ensure all service delivery staff provide a nationally acceptable high standard and are recognised for their professionalism and expertise. Thirdly, this Study could be generalised to produce training tools for staff development for personal tutors, teaching staff and administrative support staff.

The implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has increased substantially over the last few decades. In business organisations of any size and in many countries and sectors, almost every project today uses an ERP system, with various degrees of complexity and dependency. Reviewing the related Information Systems (IS) and ERP literature has shown that only a very small number of research studies have considered ERP in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), with the majority of studies focusing on other business contexts. In addition, it has been found that most of the literature discusses issues related to the adoption of ERP and the related success stories; in fact, ERP implementation is not the end of the journey. Very often, the ERP post-implementation stage is where the more crucial challenges begin, mainly involving a change in either the internal or external environment of organisations as a result of the rapid growth of technology. ERP/IS has become a victim of these challenges, which has led to an increased possibility of obsolescence. Obsolescence is associated with many costs for organisations if not checked and controlled proactively. However, the current literature indicates that no major research has been undertaken in the area of ERP obsolescence. In order to address this issue, the researcher investigated the factors that led to the ERP obsolescence phenomenon in a public university in Saudi Arabia. A Grounded Theory (GT) approach was adopted as the overarching methodology to guide the data collection and analysis in this single case-study design, using a semi-structured telephone interview method involving 17 informants, namely managers, decision makers and IT staff. Through this analysis, two main categories of obsolescence emerged: internal environmental obsolescence (IEO) and external environmental obsolescence (EEO). The four general types of IEO were found to be System Obsolescence, Organisational Obsolescence, Human Resource Obsolescence and Management Obsolescence. EEO was found to take the form of Policies and Restrictions Obsolescence, Competition Obsolescence and local IT market Obsolescence. Further to these types of obsolescence, this study identified widely different factors that contributed to obsolescence such as network issues, legacy-based issues, maintenance issues, new system advantages, integration issues, university business process changes, professional specialist unavailability, governmental policy issues, educational system issues, economic issues, consultant influence and vendor issues. The findings conclude that both IEO and EEO impacted on the university system. Internally, this involved a lack of updating of any part of the system, including software, hardware and/or human aspects for which the actors involved were responsible, which had a wide impact and made the system obsolete. Externally, changes in governmental rules and in the market also negatively influenced obsolescence. The findings also show that the IEO and EEO interacted with each other to accelerate obsolescence. It was concluded that a compatibility mechanism dealing with system component challenges caused by component misalignment, in order to avoid the obsolescence that leads to regular replacement. Consequently, this research shows the importance of looking at obsolescence not only at the component level or from a technical perspective but more importantly at an organisational and extra-institutional level, in particular focusing on problems associated with the human dimension. The outcome of this study offers theoretical and practical contributions across many ERP/IS areas which have been neglected in previous studies.

An under-reported aspect of student confidence is the relationship between past academic experiences and levels of Academic Confidence. It was theorised that levels of Academic Confidence might be influenced by an element conceptualised as Academic Sustenance. Using the Sander and Sander’s Academic Behavioural Confidence (ABC) scale, a sample of Australian undergraduate first year university students were surveyed to determine an Overall Academic Confidence (OAC) score. Students with High OAC rankings reported academically sustaining experiences, which assisted in the development of Academic Sustenance, building their Academic Confidence and allowing them to deal with academic challenges more readily. Students who had limited academically sustaining experiences had lower levels of Overall Academic Confidence, which gave them a less optimistic view of their academic abilities. Academic Sustenance consists of four aspects: Encouragement, Drive, Grounding and Efficacy (EDGE). These appear to be non-hierarchical although the aspect of Encouragement was found to exert more developmental opportunities for building Academic Confidence through the influence of Academic Sustenance. Targeted support structures offered through university programs could offer progressive assistance for building Academic Confidence and cultivating Academic Sustenance, which could help more students to cultivate positivity and a more optimistic perception of their academic abilities.