International Journal of Higher Education Management

All students who enroll have success as their main goal. However, most institutions focus their resources on programs for students on honor roll, Dean’s list and those progressing academically.  Little resources remain for those students who stumble. In 2015, 36.2% of white students, 22.5% of black students, and 15.5% of Hispanic students had completed four years of college. This shows a 13.7% gap between black and white students and a 20.7% gap between Hispanic and white students (Wellman, 2017). How do we close this gap in educational completion?

This study believes that all students can learn. Consequently, there needs to be educational equity and the development of a basis for instruction and assessment of all students’ learning outcomes. This paper represents an exploratory fundamental and qualitative research that aims to present a refocus on the role of faculty in teaching and learning to reach all students in classrooms. It examines a holistic and collaborative approach to increasing student success using evidence -based qualitative analysis of best practices. This approach has four component parts. Part 1 is the Holistic Component that involves engaging all students in the institution; communicating purposefully to them in a timely manner; and providing all-inclusive comprehensive support services (HC). This part develops and implements measurable benchmarks that motivate, encourage, and enable all students. Part 2 is the Collaborative Component which involves bringing six working teams together: faculty, industry, current majors, alumni, career services, and the community (CC). This part engages the team in maintaining a living curriculum that reflects the ever-changing global economy.  Part 3 is Celebration of Student Success (CSS) which entails the collaborative team owning each milestone, reaffirming teamwork while building trust and persistence. Part 4 is the Assessment of Student Progress (ASP) using the holistic and collaborative approach.

The paper concludes that holistic and collaborative teamwork that includes, respects, and empowers all students is the key to reducing the college completion gaps that exist among blacks and Hispanic students.  

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has recently gained recognition as a guiding principle for research to be more inclusive of societal needs. In response, the University of Malta led an internal qualitative study to assess attitudes and perceptions towards RRI. This approach paved the way for cultural and institutional changes that may not have developed otherwise. Academics, non-academic staff and students were interviewed alongside an online questionnaire totaling 29 face-to-face interviews and 226 survey responses. Thematic coding analysis revealed the core theme of fragmentation. Sub-themes stemming from fragmentation include challenges around collaboration, communication, politics, knowledge systems thinking and varied ideas of responsibility in research. While most respondents are in favor of RRI practice, several barriers affect an individual’s capacity to practice this approach, including lack of time and resources, and lack of recognition of public engagement (PE) efforts in the university’s current policies and governance structure. This research allowed for the development of a targeted Action Plan and set of initiatives to successfully begin implementing a culture of RRI best practice, including the establishment of the Committee for Engaged Research and fostering an internal network of individuals who are exemplary in RRI best practice. The thorough and targeted process has produced more significant and tangible results than moving directly into implementation, while also reducing the risk of future problems emerging from rushed initiatives. The authors conclude that such an approach is imperative for successful RRI implementation within institutions, especially when considering cultural/local context.   

This study aimed at comparing (i) the perceived ratings of leaders', non-leaders' and students' on leadership effectiveness and (ii) perceived ratings of various levels of leadership against transformational, transactional; and passive avoidant dimensions of leadership using a pragmatist philosophy and a quantitative-qualitative, concurrent, mixed cross-sectional descriptive design. Addis Ababa University (AAU), Debre Berhan University (DBU), and Welkite University (WKU) were randomly selected from each of the three-generation Ethiopian public universities. This study was conducted based on original primary data collected from a total of 506 respondents who filled the survey. These included 333 students and 35 teachers; and 5 top, 16 middle, and 34 lower-level- leaders; and 49 non-leaders among the academic; and 4 top, 5 middle, and 7 lower-level- leaders among administrative staff; and 18 others. About 19 interviewees and 3 FGDS were made. A comprehensive LS and LE questionnaire were adapted, besides in-depth interviews, observation, and document analyses. Each respondent rated his/her immediate supervisor. Descriptive and inferential statistics and ANOVA were employed with corresponding tests of hypotheses. The data proved LS midway between transactional and laissez-faire (MD= 2.5) in the five-point scale. The findings included a moderate score of (M=2.73) for administrative staff middle level leaders and (M=3.37) for top-level academic leaders. Further, LS and LE scores varied favoring ratings made by the academic leadership of the top-level across the hierarchy implying ineptitude. Students' and faculties' and administrative staffs' satisfaction, and LS effectiveness were only found slightly above average. Transactional (TRNAL) rather than transformational LS prevailed in the universities. Findings had several practical implications and because of this MoSHE, the boards and the leadership of the universities and future researchers were advised to take their share

Internationalised curriculum development is critical to any institution aiming to approach internationalisation in a coherent way. Research on Internationalisation of the Curriculum (IoC), emphasizes the notion of curriculum as encompassing all aspects of learning and works at formal, hidden, and informal levels. The Higher Education Academy (HEA) developed a framework approaching internationalization of teaching, learning & curriculum. Rachel Scudamore, in the guide Engaging Home and International Students, examined the relationship of culture & learning, based on the ‘practical theory’ of Handal & Lauvas (1987), providing useful information and suggestions that informs teaching philosophy. The present work, through critical literature review, reflects upon the HEA framework and Handal & Lauvas’ practical theory, showing new challenges and issues of concerns. It provides recommendations for educators ‘why’ and ‘how’ to internationalize curriculum and teaching and concludes that Handal & Lauvas’ work (1987) should continue to shape teaching approach nowadays.