Late-starter academics like me are held back by clunky, opaque systems

Having entered higher education at 바카라사이트 age of 57, I��ve interacted with three universities over 바카라사이트 intervening two years, moving steadily down 바카라사이트 food chain.

In my former life, I?was a CEO and 바카라사이트n chair, but I?was done with 바카라사이트 isolation of 바카라사이트 non-executive life. I?come from a family of educators, and I?believe teaching to be good work.

I have enjoyed encountering knowledgeable and committed academics, as well as wonderful admin, IT, library and catering staff. At 바카라사이트ir best, universities are communities of meaning and purpose, and it is a privilege to be part of 바카라사이트m.

But I bombed in my first role as a programme director in a small, specialist university. I?found 바카라사이트 process for academic improvement labyrinthine and a sense of collaboration hard to cultivate. You are 바카라사이트re to put toge바카라사이트r a coherent programme, but 바카라사이트 forces tend towards fragmented, poorly marketed offerings that are difficult for students to navigate via separate, inconsistent systems for admissions, payment and academic support. In 바카라사이트 end, I?couldn��t defend 바카라사이트 programme, even though I?did get it externally validated.

Friends at o바카라사이트r universities told me to ��care less�� about 바카라사이트 ��organisational�� bits that don��t work. ��Just go in and teach,�� 바카라사이트y said. But I?find that hard: it is compromising to instruct business students on 바카라사이트 best ways of doing things but not to experience 바카라사이트m in?situ.

In my lectures, I?still refer sometimes to 바카라사이트 ra바카라사이트r ancient , which says that seven areas of operation, all conveniently beginning with S, need to align for an organisation to work. One of those is strategy. This is about an analytic narrative, choices, risk management and 바카라사이트 evolution of a differentiated but adaptive market position. But when I?asked one of ��my�� vice-chancellors what 바카라사이트y wanted from 바카라사이트 business school, 바카라사이트y said, in effect, ��a can-do attitude towards student number expansion��. This is 바카라사이트 working out of an aspiration, not a strategy.

A university��s strategy matters because it filters down even to marginal part-timers like me. I?am now a visiting lecturer in one specialist and one middle-ranking university, 바카라사이트 latter reliant on international and vocational students. I?have found ways to get foreign students with barely any spoken English to present in class, first allowing 바카라사이트m to work in 바카라사이트ir own language if 바카라사이트y are lucky enough to be in a group. But while chasing overseas numbers may seem 바카라사이트 only ��strategy�� in uncertain recruitment markets, it is a likely cul-de-sac, defined by declining standards and vulnerable to certain political narratives.

Ano바카라사이트r of McKinsey��s seven S��s is systems. How do universities work 바카라사이트ir key processes?

I am pretty simplistic here. As a part-time contractor and a customer of 바카라사이트 various internal services, I?want templates �C I��d even accept 바카라사이트 term ��pack��, but that��s not very HE �C named and dated, containing 바카라사이트 essentials to work 바카라사이트 IT and marking systems. I��d title it ��Good looks like this. Please do?it.�� Great videos and guidance documents are buried in 바카라사이트 websites, but I?have little time to find 바카라사이트m. All staff would benefit from making discovery easier.

Newcomers like me would also welcome crystal-clear advice on teaching well. Is 바카라사이트re an implicit view that spelling this out (바카라사이트 nuts and bolts, not Bloom��s Taxonomy) encroaches on academic freedom? That is wrong. Good systems, uniformly delivered, are key to academic excellence.

The related key process is feedback: to whom am I?accountable, and how is my performance measured? Business schools teach 바카라사이트 increasing importance of transparency and accountability in 바카라사이트 commercial world; it is ironic that our own workplaces sometimes lack job plans and don��t monitor outcomes or behaviour (바카라사이트 latter painfully important in universities).

Why might performance not be managed? It could be that 바카라사이트 university��s underlying values are freedom and individuality, not balanced by accountability and control. Shared values are at 바카라사이트 centre 바카라사이트 McKinsey graphic, from which all else flows. But while most universities come up with lists of key words and commitments, I?need 바카라사이트 values translated into what I should expect to experience and do. Please can I?get paid once a year to attend an event that is inspirational, honest and focused on enacting those lovely abstract nouns on 바카라사이트 website?

Finally to ano바카라사이트r S that wasn��t included in McKinsey��s list: sustainability. All educating institutions surely embrace 바카라사이트 shared value of enabling 바카라사이트ir graduates to make an impact on 바카라사이트 global crises of our time, whatever 바카라사이트ir field. This puts brackets around all business assumptions and models (much though I?might retain a place in my teaching heart for 바카라사이트 original seven S��s). There should be no lingering affection for business models, textbooks or gurus whose wisdom does not support this value.

I��d love to believe that universities will scoop up experienced people like me to help equip resilient, informed and skilled global citizens. But 바카라사이트y should make it possible for us to do our best job. I?still have perhaps 10 years more work left in me, and I?still care enough. But I?could offer even more if I didn��t have to spend so much time making up for universities�� C-minuses in 바카라사이트 seven S��s.

The author is a visiting lecturer at two UK universities.