Higher Education at Cross Roads - And it needs to plan where and how to cross successfully

Higher Education at Cross Roads

And it needs to know where and how to cross successfully

Higher Education and Academia are one of the most dynamic and fast-evolving fields. The evidence is the regular and continuous challenges being faced by academia and higher education institutes (HEIs) around the world. Though one or more minor issues have been always producing waves, at present, HEIs are facing major turbulence from all the dimensions. This article aims to provide an overview of such disturbances, the reasons/antecedents of these, and possible solutions to overcome such challenges.

HEIs are facing huge competition in almost all geographical regions, and in all disciplines, even virtually (online/hybrid programs). One data set that comes handy to provide evidence of their performance is the ranking data of the HEIs. Every year, multiple HEIs from various regions participate in the ranking process.

There can be various long-term benefits for the HEIs if they can align their activities and processes based on the criteria of rankings. Similarly, alignment to the criteria of accreditations like AACSB has the potential to improve the quality of the HEI activities and programs in a long-run. But, the problem is the way the preparation and implementation of the rankings and accreditations requirements are done in the HEIs. It appears that HEIs forget that it should be a long-term sustainable improvement and not just a short-term evidence generation adjustment. It looks like many HEIs are now participating in a race of ranking and accreditations. This race, as the term ‘race’ suggests; it is not a long-term event. It can be a sprint or marathon, but it ultimately ends. And in the long-term it may harm the HEIs. Imagine an Institution somehow obtaining a high ranking and accreditation through non-sustainable adjustments for a short-term and then drop in the ranking and losing the accreditation due to the prevalence of issues which need thoughtful, well planned, gradual improvements from the core.

For a higher education institution, there is a need to not only acknowledge, but also properly plan to produce a long-term, positive and continuous impact on the following dimensions. The success and sustainability of HEIs depend on their performance in all these three dimensions in a comprehensive, balanced and sustainable manner.

1: Education: Teaching, Training, and Learning

2: Research and Knowledge Creation

3: Service to the Community, Organizations, Businesses, and the Governments (including regulations).

And the way to assess the performance of an HEI in the three dimensions is to measure the impact of the Institution in all three fronts.

My next article will deal with all these three dimensions in detail.