published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

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The study investigated the leadership styles used in the Lesotho tertiary institutions. The research was undertaken at two institutions - Lerotholi Polytechnic and the National Teacher Training College. The population of the study is the lecturers and the leaders in the management position in the two institutions. The study discussed educational leadership and educational organizations and how they help towards the achievement of goals and objectives.

The main purpose of this study was to identify basic characteristics of managing higher education by objectives (HEBO). Six interrelated and interdependent research questions , which reflected other purposes of the study, were established. A sixty-two-statement questionnaire, from the review of MBO literature, was developed to use in the study. Statements were categorized into (1) philosophy of the educational enterprise, (2) identification of institutional goals, (3) specification of objectives, (4) definition of role responsibility, (5) the implementation process, (6) evaluation of organization, and HEBO limitations and requirements. Participants were requested to respond to each statement on a three point Likert scale consisting of "Agree," "Disagree," and "Modifications." Conelusions--(1) Experts and authors approved the characteristics of managing higher education by objectives (HEBO) as proposed in the study. (2) In order to be efficient and effective, an HEBO program should contain a mission statement, clear goals and objectives, well-defined role responsibilities, and also evaluation. (3) The HEBO implementation process requires more than a mere decision to institute such a program; it requires strong leadership, orientation programs , and MBO consultants. (4) Any HEBO model should have as its major purpose the securing of higher performance accountability. (5) In the policy- and decision-making process, the overall constituencies of a higher education should get involved in connection with HEBO implementation.

Thesis (MTech(Human Resource Management))--Cape Technikon, Cape Town, 2000 / This research project investigated the need for a method of determining an equitable workload for academic staffing in higher education. With the possibility of the introduction of a performance management system at the Cape Technikon it became imperative that an agreed, objective and user-friendly method of determining the workload of each academic member of staff be established. The research project established the main parameters of the job of an academic staff member and their dimensions that would influence both the quantity and quality of work produced. They were established based on the views of a panel of educators drawn from a diverse range of disciplines. Using the identified dimensions an algorithm was developed and refined to reflect the consensus views regarding the contributory weightings of each of the parameters' dimensions. This algorithm was tested and refined using a base group of academic staff who were identified by their colleagues as those whose workload could be considered a benchmark for their discipline. The most significant result of the research programme is the agreed algorithm that can form the basis for a performance management system in higher education. The user interface that was developed at the same time reflects the transparency of the system and allows for it to be adapted to the needs of various groups of users or individuals within an organisation. On the basis of this research it has been established that a system for determining an equitable workload which encompasses an extensive range of parameters can be developed using a participatory approach. Using a significant sample of academic staff as a basis, it would appear that the system is valid, reliable, useful and acceptable to academic staff in the context of a performance management system.

M.Phil. / The primary aim of the study was to determine the subjective experiences and viewpoints- in other words the insider perspectives of- administrative personnel during the student registration process in a newly-merged South African university in the Gauteng Province. The task became very difficult as it had to be approached within the complexity of ongoing institutional change. In short, the merging of the institutions cannot be separated from the service delivery or the experiences and views of employees during this transitional period. Sampling, data collection and data analysis were done simultaneously and interactively, rather than in discrete sequential steps. I made use of a case study, meaning that “the data analysis focuses on one phenomenon, which the researcher selects to understand in depth regardless of the number of sites, participants, or documents for a study” (McMillian & Schumacher, 1997). In such a design the context of each participant's experience is important in its analysis. I considered a modernist qualitative-research approach since I was aiming at an in-depth understanding of the social world and work environment of the employees involved in the registration process. The research group comprised of administrative personnel who were permanently employed and specifically involved in the registration process. A purposive-sampling technique was used which led to twelve research participants being selected. The group consisted of six interviewees (4 males and 2 females) from the registration management sector. One person from each of the four campuses and two from the main campus were identified. I also conducted a focus-group discussion with a group of six females who represented the key faculty focused on in this study. The in-depth description of the grounded-theory application and my personal experience thereof should contribute to the application of this theory in other organisational settings. Recommendations for further studies conclude the dissertation. Service is the lifeblood of any organisation. Everything flows from it and is nourished by it. Customer service is not a department, it’s an attitude.

D. Ed. (Educational Management) / The cornerstone of this research is to understand the role of the Private Higher Education (PHE) sector in South Africa, including the challenges and problems encountered by the Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) in competing in the public HE sector that is legally accountable to and funded by government. The country’s HE sector is deeply fragmented owing to the past racial divisions and inequalities, and the research thus intends to contribute to the debate on implementing a unified and inclusive model for HE. The model will include Private HE as one of the major stakeholders, offering much-needed programmes and requisite skills. The research focuses on how PHEIs perceive the policies and regulations that govern them, in terms of governance, management and funding, based on their quest to operate on the same level and standards with public HE institutions. There are many existing problems, tensions and contestations in the HE sector. The research method is quantitative, designed to elicit the views of PHE institutions, private providers, authorities and regulatory bodies. A structured questionnaire consisting of 50 items was sent to 500 private HE management staff, lecturers, trainers and owners, with a return rate of 61, 2%. After two successive factor analytic procedures the responses to the 50 items were reduced to two factors or dimensions, namely responsive governance (27 Items with α = 0.75) and policy intervention (14 Items with α = 0.63). On reflection, the items were renamed as aspects facilitating management (FB2.1) and aspects impeding management (FB2.2), and were used as parameters for the quantitative research paradigm. The responses from participants were coded and analysed, and themes or factors emerged from the first-order analysis of the data. The results of the data analysis revealed that holistic management models are developed by engaging all the stakeholders through the process of merging collegiality and managerialism, by adapting to change and transformation in higher education. There was a striking similarity between the literature review and the structured questionnaire in that the integrated management model is composed of the various emerging themes, such as systemic tensions, aspects of restrictive governance, government funding, regulatory constraints, franchising concerns about outsourcing and equity issues. The recommendations in this research are based on the six identified themes on the findings from the literature review as well as the findings from the structured questionnaire.

The problem with which this study is concerned was to analyze the reactions of faculty members and academic administrators toward the practices related to the improvement of instruction as they pertain to the role of department or division chairpersons. The hypotheses designed to serve the purposes of this study were related to supervision of instruction, methods and materials used for instruction, evaluation of the teaching performance of faculty members, participation of faculty members in administrative decisions, faculty members' professional development, and evaluation of the outcomes of instruction.

The problem with which this study is concerned is the determination of the attitudes toward academic governance of administrators and faculty in both a public and a private institution of higher education in Texas. Based on the problem, a Likert-type survey instrument was developed from the questionnaire provided by the North Texas State University Task Force on University Governance; 176 academic administrators and faculty responded (60.5 per cent).

This study attempts to examine the conception which faculty members at North Texas State University have of their roles in university governance. These views of role perception are then compared with those reported in the study by Archie Dykes5 (discussed in detail in Chapter III), whose findings were made at a large Midwestern university and then projected to other campuses across the country. The purpose of this research has not been to delve into all the reasons behind the various perceptions which faculty members on the North Texas campus--or any other--have regarding their participation in university governance; nor has it been designed to investigate the total occupational image held by faculty members in regard to all their roles. While such topics would indeed be worthy of additional research, this paper simply attempts to uncover, assess empirically, and compare the perceptions regarding faculty involvement in academic decision-making which are held by faculty members on the North Texas State University campus and in the Dykes' study.