Academic literature on the topic 'Higher education institution (HEI)'

This study represents a shift in focus with regard to studies related to mentorship. It endeavours to go beyond documenting the prevalence of mentorship to understanding the experiences of mentors and factors that encourage participation in mentorship programmes. The purpose of this study was to describe and understand the experiences of mentors during the implementation of a mentorship programme at a Higher Education Institution (HEI). The purpose of this study, has guided the following two questions for the current study: <ul> <li> How do mentors experience the implementation of a mentorship programme?</li> <li> How can the understanding of such experiences inform theory on mentorship programmes in Higher Education Institutions?</li> </ul> I made use of a case study research design. Four participants were purposively selected for this study based on their potential to provide data relevant for the study as they were part of the recently ended mentorship programme. Data was collected over a period of a week by means of semi-structured interviews and reflections. In this study I made use of qualitative approach, and a thematic method of analysis was used for identifying, analysing and reporting themes. The results of the study indicated the following results: <ul> <li> Mentors had a general definition of their mentorship experiences as personal life event(s).</li> <li> When mentorship was viewed as a personal life event, it was found to have an emotional aspect which creates a platform for learning and development.</li> <li> Positive experiences, as mentioned by participants in this study, included an opportunity for personal growth and development, how mentors and mentees benefited from being part of the mentorship programme, and positive relationships between mentors and their mentees.</li> <li> Negative experiences referred to by participants included difficulties of correspondence between mentors and mentees, lack of mentee attendance at mentorship meetings, gender and racial issues and mentors' uncertainties about what to do in the programme and feeling a lack of guidance.</li> <li> Decisions regarding exclusion and inclusion criteria of mentees into the programme, support from mentorship supervisors and finding mentors who demonstrate good qualities were identified as challenges in mentorship implementation.</li> </ul><br>Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2012.<br>Educational Psychology<br>unrestricted

The strategic decision making process (SDMP) is a major issue in organisations. It is part of the larger topic of strategic management and related to strategic planning. Achievement of strategic objectives outlined in the strategic plan of an organisation depends on the decisions taken through the process. Yet the literature shows that the concept of SDMP is not well understood and organisations find it difficult to develop and implement an SDMP, particularly Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The literature indicates that decisions are taken in organizations in different ways for example using intuition, data, collaboration and ad-hoc considerations. In addition contextual factors are argued to affect the SDMP although very little research has been conducted to explain how contextual factors affect SDMP they do in HEIs. Some examples of contextual factors namely decision process characteristics have been identified and discussed as part of the SDMP literature in industry. However, lack of knowledge about SDMP and how contextual factors influence SDMP is regarded as to be a major obstacle for HEIs in taking decisions and choosing the best alternative amongst available decisions. This research seeks to contribute to address this important issue. Whilst there are many strategic decision characteristics (contextual factors) identified in the literature, this research focuses on decision importance. The rationale for choosing decision importance was that there is always some concern in the minds of the decision makers in the HEIs on what constitutes an important decision. What is considered as important decision while the decision is being taken may prove to be less important after implementation if there is no clear understanding of how to assign importance to a decision. Even in the industrial sector, Elbanna and Child (2007) it has been argued that decision importance has not been studied well. Relying upon the theoretical model developed by Elbanna and Child and other arguments found in the literatue, this research argued that the SDMP is a combination of relationships between decision characteristics, SDMP characteristics and decision outcomes that are influenced by environmental factors. As far as environmental factors were concerned environmental uncertainty was chosen as an external environment factor while organisational performance was chosen as the internal contextual factor. These two factors were argued to moderate the relationship between SDMP characteristics and SDMP outcomes and theoretical support for this conceptualisation was taken from the model developed by Elbanna and Child. A research model was developed to address the research questions, and the aim of the study was “to examine the different decision specific characteristic, SDMP characteristic and SDMP process outcome variables and develop a relationship amongst them in the context of HEIs in a changing environment”. The research was conducted in the United States of America and data was gathered from faculty members involved in decision making at the department level and higher. A positivist epistemological and objective ontological stance was adopted and a deductive approach was used. The research model was tested using the data collected from 485 valid responses to a survey questionnaire. Linear regression was the primary analysis approach and supplemented by path analysis. Results from the regression analysis showed that decision importance exerts influence on decision effectiveness through the mediators, rationality in decision making, intuition and decentralization in decision making. However, the outcome of path analysis showed that only rationality in decision making and intuition are important while decentalisation was not found to be statistically significant. Similarly environmental factors exerted pressure only on the relationship between rationality in decision making and decision effectiveness. The contradicting SDMP factors rationality in decision making and intuition were both found to be necessary to SDMP in the HEI context. This research has contributed to knowledge in terms of establishing a relationship between decision importance and decision process effectiveness mediated by rationality in decision making and intuition and development of the model. Theoretically the findings of this research show that the modification imposed on the model developed by Elbanna and Child was found to be statistically significant and found support from the literature. Environmental factors affected the relationship between rationality in decision making and decision effectiveness. This research has provided a model that can be used to help decision makers in HEIs to implement SDMP practically in the organization, to guide the process towards more robust decisions. The findings of this research find application in supporting policy makers to increase the likelihood of more effective decisions so that the decisions taken more effective.

Background and Aim The South African higher education sector has undergone numerous changes over the past years due to external factors such as globalisation, managerialism and neo-liberalism (Ntshoe, Higgs, Higgs&Wolhuter, 2008). Furthermore De Villiers and Steyn (2009) add that state funding of higher education in South Africa has been decreased to such an extent that higher education institutions (HEI’s) have been unable to parallel the increase in the number of students enrolled per year. As mentioned by Mouton (2010) universities in sub-Saharan Africa continue to operate under conditions which are seriously under-resourced, which poses significant challenges for the scholars concerned. The changes in the Higher Education Institutional environment have forced HEI’s to increase their level of output in terms of: enrollments, qualifications awarded, research output and institution size and number of disadvantaged students (De Villiers&Steyn, 2009) in order to remain competitive. The number of changes in performance outputs as well as the growing market for competitive higher education (HE) has greatly impacted the job demands of academics in South Africa. The environment in which academics in South Africa function now demands more of them than in previous years. For example the employment relationship has changed (i.e. teacher-driven to student-driven), altering the type of work that people do, when they work and how much they do (Barkhuizen, Rothmann&Van de Vijver, in press). Accordingly, it appears that the job demands of academics have escalated, whilst the levels of support and other resources have declined. The objective of this study was to investigate whether job demands and resources are significant predictors of dispositional employability of academics in South Africa. Method A cross–sectional research design was followed. The Job Characteristics Scale developed by Barkhuizen and Rothman (2005) and the Dispositional Measure of Employability (Fugate&Kinicki, 2008) were used as measures in this study. A total of 360 questionnaires were sent out to the sample, of which 158 completed questionnaires were received, but only 146 of these responses could be used for data analyses. This represents a 40.55% response rate. Results The results showed that there is a significant relationship between job demands and the change identity of the academics and that job demands do act as a predictor of the dispositional employability of academics in terms of their change identity. No significant relationship between the job resources and the dispositional employability of the academics were found, however all of the dimensions of DE had a positive relationship with job resources. A significant relationship between job demands and the ethnicity, home language, age, the respondent’s job level and the number of hours they work was found. However, no statistically significant differences were found within gender, qualifications, job categories, years in service and the number of years in current positions. According to the results the white ethnic group experiences higher job demands than the black ethic group. Furthermore respondents speaking either Afrikaans or English experience higher job demands then respondents speaking indigenous languages. In relation to this, the age group 50 to 59 experience higher job demands compared to that of the age group 20-29. Associate professors experience higher job demands than junior lecturers. No significant relationship between the academics’ perception of their job resources and their demographic characteristics was found. There are significant differences between the DE of the academics and their ethnicity, home language, job category, years in service and hours of work. No statistically significant differences were found within gender, age, qualifications, job level or years in the current position. The Black ethnic group indicates higher levels of resilience and motivation compared to the other ethnic groups, and indigenous languages have higher levels of resilience compared to the other two language groups. Academics that function as both researchers and lecturers have higher levels of career proactivity compared to the academics that function only as a researcher or lecturer. Respondents that have been in the industry for between zero to 10 years have a higher level of resilience compared to the respondents who have served for longer. The working hours of group four (between 31 to 40 hours) show higher levels of resilience compared to the other groups.<br>Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012.<br>Human Resource Management

This thesis is a study of a phenomenon in Swedish education: the RegionalDevelopment Centre (Regionalt utvecklingscentrum, RUC). Insetting up RUC, the Swedish state’s original intention was to enhancecollaboration between teacher education and training, research andschool development. RUC was specified in the appropriation directionsfor Swedish higher education institutions (HEIs) that trained teachers in1997–2010. The purpose of this thesis is to clarify and analyse differinginterpretations and implications of RUC as a phenomenon and conceptualisethe task of addressing them in a changing education-policy context.Empirical sources for the study are central government publicationsand interviews with RUC representatives at 22 HEIs. This empiricalmaterial has been modified and analysed in four stages: a survey of RUCas a phenomenon, construal of ‘ideal types’ of RUC, testing of the construedideal types as analytical tools, and application of the construedideal types as analytical tools to gain an ‘explanatory understanding’ ofRUC. Through analysis of needs, actors and value, five ideal types empiricallybased on transcribed interviews are construed: the receiveroriented,trust-creating, region-boosting, conceptualising and salesorientedtypes. A model shows how these ideal types can be mutuallyunderstood and conceptualised. Examples are given, based on this model,of specific interpretations and implications that may fit each idealtype. RUC’s legitimacy in 2012 still entails a marked emphasis on RUCas a receiver-oriented associate. Three aspects enhancing the likelihoodof RUC, in 2012, being deemed important to retain at an HEI appear tobe the HEI’s goodwill towards RUC, its dependence on remits from theSwedish National Board of Education and schools’ research needs. Focusingmore on RUC as the region-boosting partner would mean oncemore uniting RUC’s role in teacher education with school developmentand research, but on the basis of ‘common needs’ within the frameworkof a distinct growth policy.

The Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDDM), a growing field of study argued to be very useful in discovering knowledge hidden in large datasets are slowly finding application in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). While literature shows that KDDM processes enable discovery of knowledge useful to improve performance of organisations, limitations surrounding them contradict this argument. While extending the usefulness of KDDM processes to support HEIs, challenges were encountered like the discovery of course taking patterns in educational datasets associated with contextual information. While literature argued that existing KDDM processes suffer from the limitations arising out of their inability to generate patterns associated with contextual information, this research tested this claim and developed an artefact that overcame the limitation. Design Science methodology was used to test and evaluate the KDDM artefact. The research used the CRISP-DM process model to test the educational dataset using attributes namely course taking pattern, course difficulty level, optimum CGPA and time-to-degree by applying clustering, association rule and classification techniques. The results showed that both clustering and association rules did not produce course taking patterns. Classification produced course taking patterns that were partially linked to CGPA and time-to-degree. But optimum CGPA and time-to-degree could not be linked with contextual information. Hence the CRISP-DM process was modified to include three new stages namely contextual data understanding, contextual data preparation and additional data preparation (merging) stage to see whether contextual dataset could be separately mined and associated with course taking pattern. The CRISP-DM model and the modified CRISP-DM model were tested as per the guidelines of Chapman et al. (2000). Process theory was used as basis for the modification of CRISP-DM process. Results showed that course taking pattern contextualised by course difficulty level pattern predicts optimum CGPA and time-to-degree. This research has contributed to knowledge by developing a new artefact (contextual factor mining in the CRISP-DM process) to predict optimum CGPA and optimum time-to-degree using course taking pattern and course difficulty level pattern. Contribution to theory was in extension of the application of a few theories to explain the development, testing and evaluation of the KDDM artefact. Enhancement of genetic algorithm (GA) to mine course difficulty level pattern along with course taking pattern is a contribution and a pseudocode to verify the presence of course difficulty level pattern. Contribution to practise was by demonstrating the usefulness of the modified CRISP-DM process for prediction and simulation of the course taking pattern to predict the optimum CGPA and time-to-degree thereby demonstrating that the artefact can be deployed in practise.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-02T21:42:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Antonio Cannas Neto.pdf: 746599 bytes, checksum: 90355b343064f34bacdec88bbe9fea00 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-12-11<br>The use of technological resources as facilitators of the teaching-learning process, at all levels of education, has been the subject of controversy among researchers of the subject. On the one hand those responsible for education - teachers often resist changes that occur every day in the modern world; on the other hand, the students, who claim for a learning environment with technologic tools they are used to and dominate. Finally, managers of educational institutions, which have a major challenge to provide the resources within the institutions, without allowing, however, that compromise the financial health of the institution. Nevertheless, in Brazil the competition between educational institutions has been fierce, especially in private institutions of higher education. Thus, institutions search a differential to attract your customers, to maintain its financial sustainability. This research sets out to bring the issues of management of higher education with the implementation of technology use represented by the tablet device, showing the results for the management of the institution of higher education before and after their deployment. The methodology of the case study - the institution where he was examined - showed that the implementation of technology has provided competitive advantages for management - through analysis of financial indicators and the development of student base. Technology alone does not prove the advantages desired, however, correlated with a project teaching models used and courseware that addresses the use of technology, logistics costs were reduced and increased the attraction of new students, promoting the competitive advantages of Education Institution.<br>O uso de recursos tecnológicos como facilitadores do processo ensino-aprendizado em todos os níveis de ensino tem sido objeto de polêmica entre os pesquisadores do tema. Por um lado aqueles responsáveis pelo ensino os professores resistem às mudanças que a cada dia ocorrem no mundo moderno; por outro os estudantes solicitam um ambiente de aprendizagem que utilize as tecnologias as quais estão acostumados e dominam. Por fim, os gestores das instituições de ensino, que possuem um grande desafio de proporcionar os recursos no interior das instituições, sem permitir, contudo, que comprometam a saúde financeira da instituição. Não obstante, no Brasil a concorrência entre as instituições de ensino tem sido acirrada, principalmente nas instituições de ensino superior privadas. Assim, as instituições procuram um diferencial para atrair seus clientes, objetivando manter a sua sustentabilidade financeira. Esta pesquisa se dispõe a aproximar os temas de gestão do ensino superior com a implantação do uso da tecnologia representada pelo equipamento tablet, demonstrando os resultados para a gestão da instituição de ensino superior antes e depois de sua implantação. A metodologia do estudo de caso - na instituição onde foi analisada mostrou que a implantação da tecnologia proporcionou vantagens competitivas para a gestão - por meio da análise dos indicadores financeiros e a evolução da base de alunos. A tecnologia por si só não prova as vantagens desejadas, porém, com um projeto correlacionado ao modelo de ensino utilizado e material didático que contemple o uso da tecnologia, os custos logísticos foram reduzidos e aumentou a atração de novos alunos, promovendo as vantagens competitivas da Instituição de Ensino.

Submitted by Secretaria Pós de Produção (tpp@vm.uff.br) on 2017-07-27T18:37:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 D2014 - Roberta Braga Neves.pdf: 4743527 bytes, checksum: caa5fccbd161f89db27e21cfa1d76477 (MD5)<br>Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-27T18:37:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 D2014 - Roberta Braga Neves.pdf: 4743527 bytes, checksum: caa5fccbd161f89db27e21cfa1d76477 (MD5)<br>Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior<br>Objetivo Este estudo tem o objetivo de propor uma modelagem para identificar a postura estratégica a ser adotada por uma Instituição de Ensino Superior (IES), considerando a geração de patente, através da integração do ELECTRE TRI original e variações (ELECTRE TRI ME e CPP-TRI), métodos de Auxílio Multicritério à Decisão (AMD), à Análise SWOT, ferramenta de Diagnóstico Estratégico. Metodologia/Abordagem A visão macro da metodologia de pesquisa divide-a em quatro momentos. Primeiro, foi realizada uma revisão da literatura, concentrada em quatro eixos: métodos de AMD aplicados a patente; ferramentas de Diagnóstico Estratégico aplicadas a patente; integração de métodos de AMD e ferramentas de Diagnóstico Estratégico; e fatores influenciadores na geração de patente na Universidade. Em seguida, com base no levantamento na literatura dos fatores influenciadores na produção de patente; na aplicação de questionário e pesquisa com docentes da Escola de Engenharia da Universidade Federal Fluminense; e na análise do conteúdo textual dos fatores relacionados, por meio da aplicação das ferramentas Many Eyes e Wordle, foi proposto o conjunto de 24 critérios para avaliação. Em um terceiro momento foi elaborado o questionário para a coleta da percepções dos dirigentes da Escola. Por fim, foi efetuada a aplicação da modelagem proposta e, consequentemente, identificada a postura estratégica a ser adotada pela Instituição. Resultados O método ELECTRE TRI ME demonstrou-se o mais adequado, uma vez que foi desenvolvido para ser utilizado em problemas de decisão envolvendo múltiplos avaliadores e por permitir atribuir a cada avaliador, para cada critério, um peso próprio. A análise dos resultados indicou que, para quaisquer planos de corte λ ϵ [0,5; 1,0], o decisor deverá optar pelo procedimento menos exigente ou mais exigente. Na aplicação do método ELECTRE TRI original, para realizar uma única classificação, fez-se necessária a utilização da frequência dos resultados, não demonstrando ser eficiente, uma vez que, ao se realizar a análise de sensibilidade com a variação do plano de corte, evidenciou-se o problema de redistribuição desproporcional para outras classes. O método CPP-TRI demonstrou-se robusto e estável ao se variar o plano de corte, indicando, para todos os planos de corte analisados e para ambos os procedimentos de classificação, que a Instituição deverá adotar estratégias de Crescimento. A pesquisa também permitiu identificar os critérios mais favoráveis e menos favoráveis para a geração de patente na IES avaliada. Assim sendo, considerando as variáveis internas, para os procedimentos benevolente e exigente, foram identificados como pontos fracos: Cultura de patente , Infraestrutura , Normas institucionais , Disciplina na grade curricular e/ou divulgação (palestras) e Progressão na carreira . Já para as variáveis externas, em ambos os procedimentos de classificação, os critérios Sistema de avaliação de pós-graduação , Área de atividade de pesquisa , Premiação , Reconhecimento profissional , Bolsa de pesquisa , Financiamento pela indústria , Financiamento por agências de fomento à pesquisa , Mercado de Consultoria , Desenvolvimento colaborativo de projetos de P&D e Retorno sobre o investimento foram considerados oportunidades. Limitações da Pesquisa O estudo não considera a percepção de grupos da Escola de Engenharia como: alunos, corpo docente, ex-alunos e profissionais da indústria. Contribuições Práticas Espera-se que a pesquisa seja aplicada em outras IES e auxilie os gestores na tomada de decisão. Originalidade A originalidade da pesquisa está pautada no exercício sistematizado para construção do conjunto inédito de critérios para avaliação de IES; na ausência, constatada pela revisão da literatura, de publicações que abordem a integração de métodos da família ELECTRE à Análise SWOT; e na lacuna de estudos que realizem aplicação de métodos de AMD ou ferramentas de Diagnóstico Estratégico ao tema patente no âmbito de IES.<br>Purpose This study aims to propose a model to identify the strategic posture to be adopted by an Higher Education Institution (HEI), considering the generation of patent, by integrating the original ELECTRE TRI and variations (ELECTRE TRI ME and CPP - TRI) , methods of Multicriteria Decision Aid (MCDA) , the SWOT Analysis, Strategic Diagnostic tool. Methodology/Approach The macro view of research methodology is divided into four stages. First, a literature review focused on four areas has been implemented: MCDA methods applied to patent; Strategic Diagnostic tools applied to patent; Integration MCDA methods and Strategic Diagnostic tools; and influencers factors in generating patent in the University. After, based on the literature survey of influencers factors in the production of patent; a questionnaire and interview with teachers from the Escola de Engenharia of the Universidade Federal Fluminense, and the analysis of textual content of the related factors, through the application of tools Many Eyes and Wordle, a set of 24 evaluation criteria was proposed. In a third step, the questionnaire to collect the perceptions of Escola leaders was prepared. Finally, the application of the proposed modeling was effected and, consequently, identified the strategic posture to be adopted by the institution. Findings The ELECTRE TRI ME method proved to be the most appropriate, since it was developed to be used in decision problems involving multiple evaluators and it permits assign each appraiser, for each criterion, a weight. The analysis of the results indicated that, for any cutting plane λ ϵ [0,5; 1,0], the decision maker must choose the pessimistic or optimistic procedure. In the application of original ELECTRE TRI method, to achieve a single classification, it was necessary to use the frequency of results, which proved not to be efficient, since, when achievement sensitivity analysis by varying the cutting plane, became evident the problem of disproportionate redistribution to other classes. The CPP - TRI method has proven to be robust and stable when varying the cutting plane. Therefore, for all cutting planes analyzed and for both classification procedures, the Institution should adopt improvement strategies. The research identified the most favorable and least favorable evaluation criteria for the generation of patent in HEI. So, given the internal variables for the pessimistic procedure, were identified as weaknesses: "Patent culture ", "Infrastructure", "Institutional norms", "Discipline in the curriculum and/or disclosure (lectures)" and "Career Progression". For the external variables in both classification procedures, the criteria "Evaluation System Graduate", "Award", "Professional recognition", "Search grant", "Funding by industry", "Funding by agencies fostering research", "Consulting market", "Collaborative development of projects in R&D" and "Return on investment" were considered opportunities. Research Limitations - The study does not consider the perception of groups as alumni, teachers, graduates and industry professionals. Practical Implications It is expected that research is applied in other HEI and aid managers in decision making. Originality The originality of the research is guided in the systematic exercise of construction of the unprecedented set of evaluation criteria of HEI; in the absence, evidenced by the literature review of publications that address the integration of ELECTRE methods to the SWOT Analysis, and the gap of studies which realize application of MCDA methods or of Strategic Diagnostic tools to the patent topic within HEI.

The silo effect in higher education institutions refers to the rigid reporting structures and decentralisation, which have become barriers to providing staff and students with essential information and services. Changing the processes and procedures that support the delivery of student services in higher education would result in improving the experience for everyone, for example, reducing the time spent transferring their calls or making them visit several campus buildings to resolve a query. Connecting cross-functional teams to define problems and design solutions, has proved challenging because of the time-restricted academic calendar and its cycles of demanding administrative processing. This thesis joins a minimal but vibrant conversation on the use of Service Design tools and techniques, to improve the student and staff experience at a higher education institution in Cork, Ireland. Service Design can help to conquer the political and cultural divides in higher education institutions and reshape a traditional organisation, into an innovative, proactive, efficient and user-centred one. This research began in March 2013, using a practice-based action research approach to deliver organisational change. Seven action research cycles, implemented over four years, assessed how a Design Thinking methodology could be used to analyse and improve services at each stage of the Student Lifecycle and embed this approach as a long-term sustainable change enabler. Each cycle of action improved some practice, implemented prototypes and adopted new ideas. The combination of knowledge generated from all cycle’s, presents important questions and delivers valuable lessons, on how to introduce Design Thinking into a higher education institution. Although Service Design can help organisations to design and implement new kinds of value across many sectors, the transition to using its tools and approaches can be difficult. Removing the initial barriers by reducing unfamiliar terminology and using an appropriate toolset, allows Service Design to be placed in the context of the organisation. Involvement of staff at all levels, from management to front-line, ensures that the service is understood in its entirety, and the support is there to xv implement true change, in a collaborative way. In the short term, quick-wins provide incentives to continue on the change journey, while long term evaluation provides feedback on improvements, highlighting those service elements that still require change.

How does the services marketing mix, push-pull factors, and brand reputation influence international student’s choice of a Swedish university?  This study aims to examine the relationship between international student’s choice of a Swedish university and the factors such as services marketing mix, push-pull factors, and brand reputation. The purpose of this paper is to understand how these factors influence international student choices in selecting a Swedish higher education institution. The primary data collected for this study was gathered through qualitative virtual interviews with open-ended questions through quota and snowball sampling. This paper found that the three theories are very interconnected regarding the relation between services marketing mix with push-pull aspects, factors such as price, who influence students' decision, and the physical location mentioned in both theories. In regards to the relation between brand reputation and push-pull aspects, the reputation factor was mentioned in both as not being the main contributing impact on students' final choice.