Management Practices in Higher Education

MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN HIGHER EDUCATION Today, no one doubts the fact that one of the areas in which the most diverse sensitive problems of the modern world community are concentrated in education. Due to the multitude of challenges, it is difficult to find a successful example of university development even in the most seemingly prosperous countries. Among the important issues: the quality of training, public and/or private funding, compliance with new employer requirements, commercialization, digitalization, and this is not the whole list. One of the most important topics for discussion is leadership in learning and teaching and its role in the development of higher education. The people who run universities and their departments play a key role in defining development strategies, policies, the contribution of educational institutions to society, recruiting teaching staff, and attracting students. Their leadership qualities directly affect the main mission of universities - to improve learning and teaching. Besides, one should not forget about the second no less significant task of universities - the development of scientific research, which is also headed by academic leaders who ensure the quality and effectiveness of scientific projects. The main controversy in recent years has arisen around the requirements for the professional qualities and skills of those who make decisions at the top level.

More and more executives come from the business community to run universities, and often they have never been teachers or engaged in scientific research. Their main strengths are organizational and administrative skills, and their principle is focusing on results, profitability, and success. By analogy with business structures, they are more often referred to as managers as opposed to leaders.

Research carried out in the Nordic countries after the reform of the autonomization of local universities found an unexpected result the traditional academic leadership based on rotational systems, elections between colleagues, and collegial decision-making gradually changed, and in some places was completely replaced not only by the appointment of managers as rectors, top-down management but also due to the introduction of a system for measuring the effectiveness of universities. As a consequence, more emphasis is placed on the role of the head of the university in resource and performance management, for which standardized procedures and clearly defined responsibilities have been introduced. Various types of monitoring and accountability systems were actively implemented, such as rating scores, indicators, rigidly written plans at all levels - from individual to institutional.

The faculty of old universities, especially those with their history, traditional values and culture and even emotionally lean towards the “leadership” model, understanding it as professionalism based on knowledge gained as a result of education and training in a real profession or academic circles. Decision-making under this model is focused on consensus, trust, and collegiality. There is no doubt that the development of professional academic skills is necessary, but not sufficient, for institutions to truly succeed in the current higher education landscape. Strong faculty leadership is essential for institutions to truly thrive in today's higher education environment. In the face of competition and rapid transformation, Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) are forced to take on functions that were not previously characteristic of them, including fundraising, maintaining relationships with alumni and relations with donors, capital projects and financial aid to students, employment programs for internships, or constant conversations with government officials and politicians about community issues such as housing, transportation, or conservation. Nevertheless, many in the academic community still believe that education should not be turned into a business: universities do not aim to generate profit for shareholders, and their enterprise is not focused on a narrow range of products and services. Democracy, in university management is important for scientists, and they must take part in solving strategic problems, in fulfilling the mission of their organization. At the same time, many tactical, administrative, and technical tasks make up the functional duties and responsibilities of the chief manager and his department. Thus, the role of a bright academic leader, collegially elected or appointed based on the results of a competition, which enjoys authority in academic circles at a higher education institution, is still great, but along with it, there is a need for a hired professional manager with business administration skills, which is responsible to external challenges and solving urgent tasks.

However, there is another approach. For example, American researchers Kezar and Holcombe offer the “shared leadership” model that they believe is the most effective in today's environment. Its feature is the creation of an infrastructure that allows organizations to benefit from the leadership of several people. To support shared leadership, programs are needed that are focused not on those people who are already in leadership positions, but on the development of a larger number of team members or structures. The concept of shared leadership has characteristics such as more people in leadership than traditional models, leaders and followers are considered interchangeable, leadership is not based on position or authority, multiple perspectives and experiences are used to solve problems, innovation and change, emphasis on collaboration and interaction within the organization.

In doing so, shared leadership does not deny the important role of leaders in leadership positions, but focuses on how those in positions of power can delegate authority, leverage expertise within the organization, and build the infrastructure so that organizations can benefit from the leadership of multiple people. Leadership, the authors of the concept believe, is a process, not an individual. Leadership is provided by professional development, access to information, teamwork, and incentives. This decentralization and promotion of local autonomy enhances the adaptability of organizations and enables them to respond creatively and quickly to changing environmental conditions, building on interconnections, a shared vision of the future, and collective achievement. It should be borne in mind that most universities in the world that have business programs that teach and train management and leadership skills offer high-level courses for leaders in other industries, but very few for leaders of higher education, and this gap needs to be filled. Since July 2019, Uzbekistan has been implementing a system for appointing senior staff of universities, according to which the rector is appointed and dismissed by the Cabinet of Ministers in agreement with the Presidential Administration and on the recommendation of the head of the relevant ministry. As for Kyrgyzstan, this is one of the first countries in Central Asia, where universities apply the principle of electing their leaders. Currently, the Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic appoints one of the three candidates with the largest number of votes in the elections. In the first months of 2021, several new rectors of national universities were appointed in Kazakhstan, but not through presidential decrees, as it was before 2019, but based on decisions of the competition commissions, and this is a definite signal of a change in approaches to leadership in the country's higher education system. This could mean moving away from a top-down model of governance to a more collegial, or perhaps even collaborative, form of governance. Written by Gulnar Nadirova, Eurasian Research Institute, Kazakhstan Politics, Foreign Affairs, and Security       The President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky visited Turkey and had a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Following the meeting, the Presidents held a joint news conference. Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a de-escalation of tensions in Ukraine and peace in the Black Sea region. He noted that Turkey strongly defended Ukraine's territorial integrity and supported the Crimean Platform initiative, according to which Ukraine aims to bring the international community together on Crimea (Anadolu Agency, 10.04.2021).

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Ruslan Kazakbaev had a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. Kazakbaev expressed gratitude to Iran for humanitarian assistance during the pandemic and for a financial grant to build the Kyrgyz-Iranian Friendship Sports Complex in the city of Osh. The Ministers proposed to implement projects in the health and education sectors and called for deeper economic cooperation. (Kabar.kg, 06.04.2021). The President of Russia Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev. The Presidents discussed issues of ensuring peace, security and progressive social-economic development in Nagorno-Karabakh in line with the joint statement on a complete ceasefire. They also noted the importance of restoration of transport corridors for economic development. The Presidents took into account the results of the Russian-Armenian summit and agreed to continue contacts in various formats (TASS, 08.04.2021).

The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, visited Pakistan, where he met with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmoud Qureshi and the Prime Minister of the country Imran Khan. The sides discussed issues of economic relations, peaceful settlement in Afghanistan and progress on the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline. Exchanging views on challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and security in South Asia, the sides expressed satisfaction with the current state of bilateral relations (Aa.com.tr, 07.04.2021). The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Péter Szijjártó paid a working visit to Kyrgyzstan, where he met with the Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ruslan Kazakbaev. The sides exchange views on topical issues of bilateral cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Hungary and expressed satisfaction with the current bilateral strategic partnership. The sides agreed to open an Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in the capital of Hungary, Budapest (Kabar.kg, 08.04.2021).

Baku hosted the third meeting of the Ministers and High Officials in charge of Information and Media of the Turkic Council. The participants of the meeting discussed an action plan to strengthen cooperation in the fields of media and information among member states. The meeting focused on the adoption of the Plan of Action for 2021-2022 in the field of information and media, production of feature and documentary films on the history and culture of Turkic-speaking countries (Azertag.az, 10.04.2021).

Economy, Finance, and Energy       The Parliament of Kazakhstan approved the draft land law that prohibits ownership of land to foreigners in Kazakhstan. In particular, farmland ownership will be prohibited for foreign companies, enterprises and research centers with a foreign share. According to the Minister of Agriculture Saparkhan Omarov, before the moratorium, almost 93 thousand hectares of agricultural land had been leased to seven joint enterprises and two foreign legal entities. Upon expiry from 2022 to 2025, these lands will be returned to the state (Qazaq TV, 07.04.2021).

The European Union (EU) recently granted Uzbekistan privileges of the Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) scheme due to positive socio-economic reforms. The GSP+ will allow Uzbekistan to export more than 6200 commodity items to the EU countries without tariffs, while under the standard GSP system a number of tariff-free commodity items amounted to 3000. The remaining 3200 commodities could be exported at reduced rates. The GSP+ scheme will boost bilateral trade between the country and the EU (UzReport, 10.04.2021).

Around 1300 Uzbek and Russian companies participated in the First International Industrial Exhibition INNOPROM held in Tashkent. Participants signed 21 agreements worth $128 million, while companies from Uzbekistan and Russia initiated 33 projects totaling $2.2 billion. The Chairman of the Board of Sovcombank Dmitry Gusev noted that in 2020, the bank provided loans to Uzbek banks and companies worth $500 million and plans to increase the number to $1 billion by the end of 2021 (UzReport, 08.04.2021).

Kyrgyzstan and Hungary reached an agreement on the establishment of the Hungarian-Kyrgyz Development Fund.

The agreement was signed during the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary Péter Szijjártó to Kyrgyzstan. The $50 million development fund will finance projects important for Kyrgyzstan, contributing to the creation of joint enterprises and jobs in the agriculture, tourism and energy sectors. Hungary will be allocated $16 million and would provide another $34 million by the end of 2021 (Kabar.kg, 08.04.2021).

According to the Head of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan Anar Suleymanov, the country plans to increase its competitiveness by creating a special trade statistics portal. The portal will visualize the country’s foreign trade turnover, support business research and provide an opportunity to find any trade-related information, in particular, export and import indicators for 99 commodities. It is expected that the project will stimulate the development of e-commerce and will contribute to the elimination of the shadow economy (AzerNews, 08.04.2021).

During an interview with the Qatari media, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned that the country was planning to attract investments from Qatar to its infrastructure, energy and agricultural sectors. The President notes that Ukraine can guarantee food security for Qatar. Zelensky expects that the second meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Ukraine-Qatar Commission on economic cooperation will be held this year. He added that bilateral trade between the countries amounted to almost $150 million in 2020 (Ukrinform.net, 05.04.2021).

Prepared by Zhengizkhan Zhanaltay and Kanat Makhanov Society and Culture       The Minister of Information and Social Development of Kazakhstan Aida Balayeva met with the Head of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Directorate of Communications Fahrettin Altun, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mehmet Kasapoglu, and Head of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Presidency of Religious Affairs, Ali Erbas. Issues of developing cooperation in the areas under the Ministry's supervision were the main subject of discussions. The sides signed agreements on cooperation in information, youth policy, education and mass media between Kazakhstan and Turkey (Inform.kz, 06.04.2021). A new TURKSOY Park was opened in the Erzin district of the Turkish city of Hatay. The opening ceremony of the park was attended by the head of TURKSOY, Dusen Kaseinov, heads of the local administration as well as ambassadors of Turkic states. A photo exhibition dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the independence of the Turkic republics was also held the same day (Inform.kz, 07.04.2021).

The 10th International Conference of Eurasia World Heritage Cities named “Heritage, Tourism and Urban Planning” was held in Turkistan. Representatives from more than 55 cities and from 23 countries with extensive experience in preserving historical and cultural remains took part in the conference. Issues of preserving the ancient heritage and culture, development of tourism, urban planning, preservation of historical attractiveness were discussed within the framework of the online conference (Astanatimes.com, 06.04.2021). The Secretary-General of the Turkic Council Baghdad Amreyev received the Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan Kubanychbek Omuraliev. The parties exchanged views on several relevant issues on the regional agenda and discussed the current work of the organization in establishing economic cooperation between Turkic finance institutions. The creation of the CCTS Investment Fund with the head office in Bishkek was noted as one of the common priority objectives (Mfa.gov.kg, 08.04.2021).

An agreement on cultural and scientific cooperation was reached between Belarusian State University and the National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek. The document was signed by the heads of the universities during the visit of the Belarusian delegation to Uzbekistan. The agreement envisages cooperation in preparing academic publications, joint organization of scientific events, joint education programs and implementation of joint student projects (Belta.by, 07.04.2021).

A collection of poems by the prominent Kazakh poet and enlightener Abai was published for the first time in the Georgian language. The presentation of the collections was held in the House of Writers of Georgia and was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Culture and the Union of Writers, literary circles of Georgia, as well as Kazakh diplomats. The translation was done by the Chairwoman of the Writers' Union of Georgia, the laureate of state awards, Makvala Gonashvili (Inform.kz, 10.04.2021).