1、ELABORATING A MASTER PLAN FOR HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH,Conference to launch work on a Master plan for Higher Education, Tirana, March 22-23, 2006 Prof. Luc WEBER University of Geneva, Chair CDESR,22-23 March 2006,Weber, Elaborating a Master plan,2,CONTENT,Justification of a master plan for tert

2、iary education Scope Structure (components) and functions Coordination (permeability) Governance,22-23 March 2006,Weber, Elaborating a Master plan,3,JUSTIFICATION,The elaboration and implementation of a master plan is highly recommendable in a country in transition HE consequences: increased competi

3、tion and need to cooperate In new developing countries, the participation rate of a cohort tends to increase rapidly To secure the highest efficiency possible of HE, The architecture of HE institutions should be autonomous, but made accountable thanks to Quality assurance procedures,22-23 March 2006

4、,Weber, Elaborating a Master plan,6,Therefore, considering the ambition of higher education institutions to be all alike and their resistance to change, a period of crisis (financial or other) or of transition (like in Albania) is an ideal opportunity to reengineer and fix the architecture or the sy

5、stem A possible model could undoubtedly be the very successful California master plan (1960-75),22-23 March 2006,Weber, Elaborating a Master plan,7,SCOPE,Preferable to consider tertiary education (all institutions after secondary education) than higher education, The plan should fix The structure of

6、 the system and therefore define its different components and their functions (missions) The coordination between the different components The governance of the system (and of its components),22-23 March 2006,Weber, Elaborating a Master plan,8,STRUCTURE AND COMPONENTS,It seems reasonable to envisage

7、 three types of tertiary education institutions Research universities Have to train “brains”; graduates should: Master the methodology and scholarship of a discipline, Be trained to confront ideas Be creative and critical Be able to work independently Have to train “professionals” in highly complex

8、disciplines (medicine, psychology, law, engineering) Should cover the main scientific disciplines, encourage interdisciplinary approaches,22-23 March 2006,Weber, Elaborating a Master plan,9,Should privilege research based teaching and learning, which implies that good research is done on the premise

9、s Should offer BA and MA (in selected disciplines) Should be the only doctorate granting institutions and do fundamental curiosity driven research Access requires at least secondary school baccalaureate Should have a good size to secure the critical mass (one comprehensive university for 1-2 million

10、 inhabitants) They can also be mono-disciplinary provided they have the critical mass,22-23 March 2006,Weber, Elaborating a Master plan,10,Vocational higher education institutions: Should train students to practise a specific profession broadly defined; implies a good balance between theory, methodo

11、logy and practice Should offer professional BAs and MAs (in specific disciplines); that minimum is 3 years Cover mainly the following groups of disciplines Engineering and ICT Business, tourism, media, graphics, as well as jobs in the public and non for profit organizations Health professions (nurse

12、s, physiotherapists,.) Access requires secondary school baccalaureate Should do applied research and development Size can be smaller than research universities and they can be located in different regions to contribute to the development of the local economy,22-23 March 2006,Weber, Elaborating a Mas

13、ter plan,11,Short vocational program institutions Should train students to practice a specific profession; implies some theory and methodology and a lot of practice Should offer profession specific certificates after 2 years Cover mainly the following groups of disciplines Technical disciplines Prof

14、essions in business, tourism as well as non for profit organizations Some health professions (chiropodist, .) Arts and music institutions should also have their place in the system,22-23 March 2006,Weber, Elaborating a Master plan,12,The Master plan should also regulate: Private universities or high

15、er education institutions Their development should be encouraged thanks to tax incentives, to estate concessions and to work permits for foreign teachers A system of certification or accreditation should be in place to secure a minimum standard quality The possibility and conditions to study abroad

16、Should be encouraged thanks to the attribution of grant or loans to excellent students, in particular at PhD level Ways should be imagined to encourage those students to come back afterwards (avoid brain drain),22-23 March 2006,Weber, Elaborating a Master plan,13,COORDINATION (PERMEABILITY),The fact

17、 that there are 1,2 or three different systems is irrelevant; what counts is The effective division of labor between the different institutions: the missions and functions of each institution should be clear and respected The access of students to the different types of institutions should be made a

18、ccording to their merit and probability to succeed. Different systems can be envisaged: The results obtained at high school baccalaureate level (if there is a national exam) The result to an exam set up by institutions or a level of institutions (one danger is to encourage the creation of preparator

19、y classes) The result at intelligence/performance tests like the American Gmat The promotion from one lower level to a higher level institution justified by good results,22-23 March 2006,Weber, Elaborating a Master plan,14,The proportion of students at the different levels should be fixed (In Califo

20、rnia, they are approx. 12, 40 and 40%) Considering the difficulties of orientation, and the variance at which students reach their maturity for studying,. . It is important that the system is permeable (authorizes mobility) between institutions at the same level, and the different levels (upward as

21、well as downward),22-23 March 2006,Weber, Elaborating a Master plan,15,Another coordination question is related to the existence of research academies. The main challenge is: To secure that good research is done within universities (research based teaching, training of PhDs); this is a necessary con

22、dition to have strong universities To make sure that all capable scientists are involved in the teaching programs To avoid two categories of teachers,22-23 March 2006,Weber, Elaborating a Master plan,16,GOVERNANCE,Conceiving a Master plan Is a complex task Requires a lot of expertise (international) Should be done by a committee composed mainly from tertiary education leaders who should have a clear and time-limited mandate for the objectives All i