Governance Reforms of Higher Education in China

Mei LiInstitute of Higher EducationEast China Normal University

@ 10th International Workshop on Higher Education Reform2-4 Oct 2013

University of Ljubljana

Outline

Higher Education Development and ChangesGovernance and management reformsAutonomy and AccountabilityA Case Study: ECNUConcluding remarks

Higher Educaton Development

Background

History: legacy of imperial examination system(605-1905), civil servant selection mechanism

Modern University borrowed from western countries since the late of 19th century

Centralized governance, political power penetrates all sectors

Public HEIs dominate the system

Development of education system

Differentiation

Diversifying the system according to:

The nature of the students: regular and adult education;

Ownership: private and public

Status: key (elite) universities and others,

985 or 211 institutions and others

Discipline: comprehensive, science & t, …

Project 211Time: Launched in 1995 ， 18.86 B Yuan(1996-

2000), 18.86 B Yuan (2001-2006), 10 B Yuan 2007-2011

Goal: building up 100 high quality HEIs and key disciplines for the 21 century

Project 985 Time: Launched in May 1998 Goal: Aimed at developing 10 to 12 world-class

universities, plus a number of renowned high-level research institutions;

Investment: 1.8 B Yuan PU, 1.2 Fudan, Shanghai Jiaotong

Project 211 & project 985

9

Disparity: eastern and western regions

211 and 985 Universities are mostly concentrated in the largest cities

Beijing: 21(8)Beijing: 21(8)

Shanghai: 9(4)Shanghai: 9(4)

Wuhan: 7(2)Wuhan: 7(2)

Nanjing: 6(2)Nanjing: 6(2)

Xi An: 4(3)Xi An: 4(3)

Gross Enrolment Ratio and Enrolment, 1978-2008

1. 43. 4 3. 5 3. 9

5 67. 2

8. 3 9. 1 9. 8 10. 512. 513. 3

1517

1921 22 23 23. 3

2. 162. 132. 282. 042. 933. 053. 183. 353. 614. 325. 86

7. 589. 54

11. 7414. 16

15. 6217. 39

18. 8520. 21

0

5

10

15

20

25

1978

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Gross enrol ment rat i o(%) Enrol ment (mi l l i on students)

Enrol l ment of Hi gher Educat i on I nst i tut i ons(1949- 2007)

0

2000000

4000000

6000000

8000000

10000000

12000000

14000000

16000000

18000000

20000000

1949 1965 1978 1980 1985 1998 1999 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Year

Numb

er o

f st

uden

ts Undergraduatesi n regul ar HEI S

Undergraduatesi n Adul t HEI S

graduates

23%23%

Enrolment by degree level1999-2008

Total enrol ment of students by degree l evel :1999-2008

0

2000000

4000000

6000000

8000000

10000000

12000000

14000000

16000000

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Associ ate degree

Undergraduate

Master' s student

Doctoral student

Governance and Management

Governance structure reforms at Macro Level

Decentralization of administrative structure

Structural reorganization of HEIsDiversifying financial sources for mass

higher education

Governance structure before reforms by the early 1990s

Governance structure After reforms in 1990s

Governance reforms

In the 1950s-1970s, the central (national) government assumed the responsibility for formulating higher education policies, allocating resources, exercising administrative controls, employing teaching and research staff, developing curriculum, choosing textbooks, recruiting students and assigning jobs to university graduates.

Governance and Financial Reform(1970-Present)

GovernanceGovernance Financial ReformFinancial Reform

1970s-1990s 1970s-1990s

The centrally planned system The centrally planned system

1970s-1990s Funds 1970s-1990s Funds Mainly/exclusively come from Mainly/exclusively come from Central governmentsCentral governments

In the 1990s, In the 1990s,

institutions were managed on institutions were managed on two levels---national and two levels---national and provincial---- the main provincial---- the main responsibility being at the responsibility being at the provincial level.provincial level.

From centralization to From centralization to decentralization.decentralization.

Since 1997Since 1997, ,

All higher education institutions All higher education institutions have charged students tuition have charged students tuition fees.fees.

Tuition fees account for above Tuition fees account for above 80% income in private HEIs, 20-80% income in private HEIs, 20-40% in public HEIs.40% in public HEIs.

Diversification of financial Diversification of financial sourcessources

Enhance the role of provincial government in supervising Enhance the role of provincial government in supervising and supporting the higher education institutions, and supporting the higher education institutions, implementing the coordination of administration between implementing the coordination of administration between central and provincial governments.central and provincial governments.

Further clarify the relationship between governments and Further clarify the relationship between governments and institutions, enlarging the autonomy of higher education institutions, enlarging the autonomy of higher education institutions to guarantee their independence as the legal institutions to guarantee their independence as the legal and economic entities.and economic entities.

Decentralization of higher education governance

Structural Reorganization ：4 models

Joint Construction （共建）： Provincial authorities are invited to participate in the sponsorship and management of centrally controlled institution. By 1999, 200 institutions were involved.

Jurisdiction Transference( 转制 ) ： Transferring affiliation signified a complete change from central ownership to provincial ownership. By 2002, 250 had been transferred from central ministries to local administration.

Institutional Amalgamation( 合并 ) ： Mergers among HEIs are intended to consolidate small institutions into comprehensive universities. By 2002, 597 higher education institutions had been involved in mergers, resulting in 267 new institutions.

Institutional Cooperation( 合作 ) ： This model can denote various kinds of cooperation between institutions of different jurisdictions and types, on a voluntary basis, with their financial resources remaining unchanged.

Major Achievements

A Large and Comprehensive system established, Largest system worldwide

Enter the stage of Mass higher educationGradual Improvement on governance and

regulationsemerging Market-oriented mechanism for

management Multiple-channel of financial sources:

governments, clients, enterprises etc

Autonomy （ Ordorika, 2003 ）

Autonomy: self-governance, the power of a university to govern itself without outside control

• appointive autonomy includes the hiring, promotion, and dismissal of professors, deans, rectors, and administrative personnel;

• academic autonomy includes career choice policies, curriculum and course selection, establishment of degree requirements, and academic freedom;

• financial autonomy focuses on university budgets and financial accountability.

Accountability

Both decentralisation and marketisation have been accompanied by a push for enhanced performance that is monitored by GovernmentsThe national Government has established a legal infrastructure for regulating the operation of colleges and universities and developed an accreditation and quality control system for higher education institutions Tensions may often be generated when increased autonomy of universities is accompanied by introducing new, centralised accountability mechanisms

Policy documents steering reforms

YearYear Policy Document and LawPolicy Document and Law

19851985 Decision on Reform of the Educational SystemDecision on Reform of the Educational System

19931993 Outline for Educational Reform and Outline for Educational Reform and DevelopmentDevelopment in China in China

19981998 Higher Education LawHigher Education Law

20032003 Law on Promoting Private EducationLaw on Promoting Private Education

20102010 National Mid and Long Term (2010-2020) National Mid and Long Term (2010-2020) Educational Reform and Development PlanEducational Reform and Development Plan

The 1998 Higher Education Law

Legitimate University Autonomy in 7 areas:• Admission• Curricula, department• Staffing• Income-generation and financial distribution• International exchange and cooperation• Teaching, research, social services• Restructure and reorganization the internal

governance

What domains the central government still control

Appointment of presidents and party secretariesPolitical and ideological education of studentsAwards of doctoral degreesEvaluations of programs and HEIsRegulations on maximum tuition fees HEIs could chargeFunding national HEIs, allocate funds differentlyStudent loans and grants for all HEIs

A Case StudyEast China Normal University

A National Normal University

Established in Shanghai in 1951

Listed as a “211” institution in 1996

Joined the elite club of “985” project in 2006

Comprehensive U with humanities in the lead

Joint-construction of Shanghai municipal government and central government since the late 1990s

Research Questions

What changes happened on university governance since the promulgation of Higher Education Law?

What effects of autonomy in academic, financial affairs, human resources, and governance and management at institutional level?

Research Methods

Mixed methods, Descriptive, case study• Documents at national and institutional

levels-text and discourse analysis• Interviews-insights interpretation and

analysis• Questionnaire survey-percentages• Observation: researchers as the insiders

of the system and institution

Growth of total investment in ECNU

0. 24211

1. 005081. 13882

1. 655711. 520627

0

0. 2

0. 4

0. 6

0. 8

1

1. 2

1. 4

1. 6

1. 8

2000 2005 2006 2007 2008

Total Amount: I n Bi l l i on RMB Yuan

Diversifying Financial Sources

45. 9

24

32. 1

19. 3

13. 4

18. 6

16. 4

32. 8

22. 7

18. 4

16. 2

18. 3

0

4. 1

1. 9

0

9. 5

6. 3

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

2000

2005

2008Central governmentfunds

Shanghai Muni ci palgovernment funds

Tui t i on fees andtrai ni ng programsi ncomeResearch funds f romgovernments andsoci etyRevenue generated

I nterest, donati on,others

Perceptions of policy-makers at institutional level

Competition to be included in elite club of project “985”• “after ECNU entered the list of “985” universities in

2006, it is endowed with a good opportunity. One of the very important reasons is that our “mother”—the Ministry of Education, and our “stepmother”—Shanghai Municipal Government are very rich, which makes things much easier. We also get so strong support from the Municipal Government that during the five to six years ECNU has received unprecedented help from the Ministry of Education and Shanghai government, especially on the event of becoming a “985” university. “ （ UPM3 ）

Perceptions of academics and support staff

Areas have changed after reform

%

14. 5

21. 7

21. 7

33. 3

46. 4

49. 3

56. 5

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Any other

Deci si on-maki ng structures

Fi nanci al management and corporati zati on

Admi ni strati ve procedures

Admi ssi on and student management

Staff management and eval uati on

Academi c programmes

Effects of increased autonomy on academic areas

Aspects of autonomy (n=69)Aspects of autonomy (n=69) Agree Agree (%)(%)

Strongly Strongly agree agree

(%)(%)

Agree + Agree + strongly strongly agree agree

(%)(%)

Increased autonomy enabled more freedom to Increased autonomy enabled more freedom to develop innovative develop innovative curriculumcurriculum

66.766.7 24.624.6 91.391.3

Increased autonomy enabled development of Increased autonomy enabled development of new employment oriented new employment oriented coursescourses

71.071.0 8.78.7 79.779.7

Increased autonomy enhanced the freedom to Increased autonomy enhanced the freedom to decide about decide about researchresearch priorities priorities

63.863.8 14.514.5 78.378.3

Increased autonomy strengthened Increased autonomy strengthened academic academic programmesprogrammes of the university of the university

56.556.5 17.417.4 73.973.9

Increased autonomy enabled introduction of Increased autonomy enabled introduction of cost recovery measures cost recovery measures –– levying of feeslevying of fees for the for the services offered by the university services offered by the university

48.548.5 5.95.9 54.454.4

Effects on autonomy and accountability

Aspects of autonomy (n=69)Aspects of autonomy (n=69) Agree Agree (%)(%)

Strongly Strongly agree agree （（ %%））

Agree + Agree + Strongly Strongly agree(%)agree(%)

Increased autonomy improved Increased autonomy improved access access to and to and sharing of faculty resourcessharing of faculty resources

69.169.1 7.47.4 76.576.5

Increased autonomy led to increased Increased autonomy led to increased administrative workload of the academic staffadministrative workload of the academic staff

57.457.4 7.47.4 64.864.8

Increased autonomy reduced administrative Increased autonomy reduced administrative costscosts

35.335.3 1.51.5 36.836.8

Increased autonomy led to increased academic Increased autonomy led to increased academic workloadworkload

38.838.8 6.16.1 44.944.9

Increased autonomy led to more Increased autonomy led to more monitoring monitoring and controland control of resources of resources

52.952.9 8.88.8 61.761.7

Increased autonomy led to strengthened Increased autonomy led to strengthened accountabilityaccountability measures of the staff measures of the staff

69.169.1 8.88.8 77.977.9

Model A: Autonomy and Independence of

University(Pan 2004)

State’sState’s control and control and interventionintervention University’s self-University’s self-

governancegovernance

Model B: Dependence and Self-mastery of

the university (Pan 2004)

State’s policyState’s policy

UniversityUniversity Self-Self-

masterymastery

Model C: Semi-independence of

university (Pan 2004)

Areas under Areas under University University

freedom from freedom from external external controlcontrol

Areas under state’s Areas under state’s control andcontrol and interventionintervention

Changing relationship between government and University in China

Transform from Model B to Model C: from self-mastery to semi-independenceFrom state control model to state supervision modelGovernment changes from direct management to macro-governanceThe University enjoys more autonomy and responsibilities on internal management and academic affairs

Implication of decentralization and marketization

Through implementing a series of policies of decentralisation and marketisation, the Chinese Government initiated fundamental changes in the orientation, financing, management and curriculum of higher educationThe adoption of these policies reflects an attempt to make use of market forces and new initiatives from the non-state sectors to mobilise more educational resources.

Tensions and Problems

Growth in accountability to stakeholders external to universities at the expense of internal, professionally-based forms of accountabilityWith managerial and market forms of accountability, arguably the government has gained power through repositioning itself as ‘market manager’, steering via different mechanisms than in the past, but steering very strongly, on the assumption that it will serve ‘the national interest’.

Conclusion

University autonomy is never an absolute concept Paradox of Centralized decentralizationIncreasing autonomy while universities also had to accept greater accountability The main mechanisms for control and accountability include institutionalizing evaluation system and categorizing HEIs, financial mechanisms Strong interdependence of the university and government