Role of University Collaboration Vis-avis the Role of Collaborating Partners

Abstract

The main purpose of the study was to establish roles the public universities play in collaborations as well as to establish the role of collaborating partners. The study sought to achieve the following specific objectives: to establish the roles of university in collaboration; to establish the role of collaborating partners and to establish policies and procedures put in place in governing collaboration. The theoretical framework that is adopted in this paper is derived from the Systems Theory of Organisations (Hong et al, 2004). The System Theory is concerned with compartmentalisation and argues that certain ideas can have relevance across a broad spectrum of disciplines. This was an exploratory and descriptive research project, which required both qualitative and quantitative data on role of university in collaboration vis a vis the role of collaborating partners. Data collection methods employed included questionnaires, interview schedule and secondary data collection guide. The study targeted public universities’ administrators and collaborating colleges’ managers and administrators. The university administrator respondents acknowledged that they offer Module II Degree Programmes in collaboration with middle level colleges, and other reported that they did not collaborate in Module II Degree Programmes but collaborated in undergraduate programmes. It was observed that universities collaborate not only in offering degrees programmes but also in certificates level, diploma level and higher diploma level programmes. It was observed that factors contributing to the development of collaborations between universities and colleges include: reach the needy students access to university education; increase revenue collected hence improved salary; cover a wider geographic area with the universities Module II Degree Programmes; compete with other institutions; Enhance performance; Reduce administrative cost; and Decision by Management. There are number of expectations that collaborating partners must meet which include: college should be offering the same course; closeness to university not recommended; legislative requirements such as accreditation by CHE/Ministry of Education must be met; colleges must have good background or reputation; qualification of administrators and teaching staff must be within university requirement; availability of facilities and resources; ration of sharing revenues must be win-win situation; quality of programme must be high and good administrative structure is important. The responsibility the university plays in respect to the collaborating partner include: monitors and regulates funds; approves teaching staff; moderates academic standards and policies to be followed; marketing the courses; controls and supervises the programme; caters for programme expenses; set admission and graduation dates; sets and mark exams and timetable, and issues syllabus to be followed. On the other hand collaborating colleges were expected to: recruit students; manage financial matters on day to day basis; supplement teaching staff; provide teaching space and facilities; act as the link between students and the university; release results, time tables and exams, and supervise daily routines and execute instructions given. This study recommends that: collaborations with middle level colleges should be encourages and regulated because they enhance utilisation of resources and increase access to higher education, and contribute to institutions funds. Universities should seek collaborations with many colleges in order to reach needy students who are in need of higher education and public universities role in collaborations be inclusive of nurturing this collaborating institutions to “independence” or a position to run on their own