PRESIDENT Miriam E. Pascua and 24 other senior officials of public and private higher education institutions from the Asian Region met July 24-28 in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to deliberate on the recent changes in university management in their effort to increase relevance, improve efficiency in operation, and diversify sources of funding.

Organized by the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP)based in Paris, France and the SEAMEO Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development (RIHED) based in Bangkok, Thailand, the Regional Workshop on Institutional Restructuring in Higher Education in Asia was participated by senior-level administrators from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Philippines.  Dr. Pascua was the lone representative of the country and was the only female participant.

The workshop aimed to discuss trends in changes in higher education in the context of globalization, GATS, and cross-border education; highlight the restructuring process initiated in many universities; discuss changes in resource mobilization strategies and staff management policies adopted by various institutions; acquaint the participants with approaches and methods of financial and staff management in higher education; and discuss issues related to growth and expansion of private universities.

According to reports by IIEP and RIHED, the institutional restructuring process is the single most important change that has taken place in universities during the past decades.  It is defined as changes in both the governance and management of institutions. Governance involves structures and processes of decision-making whereas management implies the implementation of decisions.

Consisted of plenary sessions followed by discussions of country experiences, group work, and simulation exercises, the workshop was based on a previous IIEP-RIHED research program that studied the restructuring processes of higher education institutions and their effects, both from macro and institutional points of view.  Carried out by national teams, the study focused on the implementation of the restructuring process, the difficulties encountered, and the effects of the process on university management. A policy forum was held in 2004 at Hue University to share findings of the study.

In 2005, a policy forum was held in Manila to orient university administrators to the restructuring process experienced in the region.  The recently held regional workshop is a further follow-up on the policy forum and workshop in Manila.

According to President Pascua, two trends characterize major changes in higher education today: privatization and the emergence of the private sector in higher education.  Many countries, she said, have adopted strategies to reduce reliance on the State for financing higher education institutions.

“With privatization, universities have become managerial and entrepreneurial in their approach as well as in their operations.  Institutional autonomy, the levying of price on services provided to generate income, the corporatization of public universities, the creation of private companies within public universities, the introduction of cost-recovery from students, and the initiation of income-generating activities have become more common,” she said.  She added that in some countries, these changes were introduced to cope mainly with the challenges posed by globalization rather than to respond to changing funding patterns by the State.

“As a result of privatization, university operations have transformed dramatically,” she related. “Institutions have become progressively more independent from the government and certain departments have gained autonomy. Many have recognized their activities in a cost-conscious corporate style even though they remain within the public sector domain,” she said.

Lao PDR and SEAMEO RIHED took care of President Pascua’s expenses in the weeklong foreign workshop.