Research on Higher Education Management in Serbia

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Research on Higher Education Management in
Serbia

• Jana Bacevic
• Centre for Education Policy, Belgrade, Serbia

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About us..

• Centre for Education Policy was founded in 2007,
  previously being part of the Alternative Academic
  Educational Network.
• Recognizing the need for a research institution
  that would offer surveillance, analysis and
  counseling/planning of educational practices and
  policies available to the public and
  decision-makers, the Centres activities are
  focused on
• 1. Research on the educational reform, esp. in
  view of the Bologna process (Serbia formally
  joined in 2003)
• 2. Research and counseling on educational
  management
• 3. Research and promotion of equity and other
  social dimensions of education.

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Higher Education in Serbia

• Currently, 14 universities in Serbia
• 7 public (state-owned) and 7 private
• Autonomy of higher education guaranteed by law
• The Law on Higher Education from 2005 gave equal
  status to Higher Vocational Schools (Colleges) -
  currently around 20
• The same Law gave formally equal status to public
  and private higher education institutions
• Majority of public higher education institutions
  not integrated (weak university and strong
  faculties/schools, the latter having the status
  of legal entities separate financing (public and
  private sources), separate financial policies
• Marketisation and commodification of higher
  education, coupled with the decrease of state
  funding, brought to the forefront the issues of
  financing in terms of governance

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Babin and Laetic 2009 Financing a Disintegrated
University In Serbia - An Institutional Case
Study

• Cases three faculties belonging to a
  disintegrated (non-integrated) university
• Different proportions of state funding (60,
  70-80, and 25-30, respectively) rest of the
  budgets covered mostly from students tuition
  fees
• Analysis of financial management through
• Structure of income
• Academic and organizational differentiation
• Rationales and beliefs of institutional
  decision-makers
• MODELS OF DISTRIBUTION
• INTEGRATIVE, DISINTEGRATIVE, PRO-INDEPENDENCE

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Ongoing research.

• Governance of HEIs in Serbia (in-depth case
  studies)
• Five educational institutions three public (one
  disintegrated, one integrated, and one going
  towards integration), one private (integrated),
  one higher vocational school
• Focus on specific avenues and networks of
  institutional decision-making
• Questionnaires, interviews one ethnographic
  study (University of Novi Sad)
• Clearer picture of decision-making and power
  distribution processes