It is true that “resource sharing” is not optimal in certain aspects. There may be a slightly larger burden on faculty members as they need to schedule laboratory hours. But we need to bear in mind that the university management is not asking faculty members to do more scheduling work. Rather, it is important to convey to faculty members that the university encourages them to take advantage of shared resources to do more research. If a university pulls people together to use shared resources, then the university can invest in more and better equipment for higher-quality research.
From quantitative metrics to individual factors in measuring success
Many institutions are measuring research performance quantitatively, such as the amount of funding received. However, the problem is that certain fields of research may have more funding opportunities. Researchers are under pressure to produce measurable research outcomes. What does this imply for the university management?
I like the idea that research units have to justify their research efforts and accomplishments. However, it is easy for universities to become overly reliant on quantitative metrics such as funding, publications, and partnerships in measuring research success. These are not the measures of success, but rather metrics related to success. A research area which does not receive much government support now, but has high potential in the long run, perhaps should be supported. It is very natural that the management may not know the details and current state of frontline research and would therefore turn to metrics in evaluating success.
For a research unit that is not very successful according to current measures but is doing good work, we should not say it is a failure. Rather, we should say that at this point in time, the concept of this unit is not needed. Being premature does not mean the unit is unsuccessful. It is important that universities embrace this long-term view and do more than just easy, quantitative evaluation.
Another problem associated with metrics is that this approach overlooks the individual differences within faculty. No two people among the faculty are the same. A professor may earn tenure for mentoring many research students, even though he/she does not produce as many papers or secure as much funding as others. Here, I think the university management needs to look at the person’s contribution and understand how it fits with the university’s overall research goals, and to protect faculty members from worrying about research so that they can excel. We do not want identical people within the faculty.
When I served as the dean at CU Boulder, I set up a new building called the Discovery Learning Centre where young researchers deliver presentations to senior management to justify their research work and compete to get into research and learning schemes. Bottom-up initiatives like this enable senior management to see some of the activities at a more individual level.
Dilemma-solving institutions need communicative leadership
University management needs to be able to foster research diversity and quality within the faculty when resources are limited. Are there any particular attributes that make higher education administrators and managers effective?
The individuals whom we select to be leaders have to be more than just excellent in their own specialty areas. In academia, there is a tendency to make successful researchers become administrators. This may not be the appropriate approach in talent selection.
It is important that leaders in academia come from academia and be successful professors. The higher education community needs to have faith in the administration. It is hard for the faculty to go along with the administration if the latter is perceived to be inexperienced. Higher education management is really a two-way street. Management may receive complaints from faculty members about not having enough space, equipment, graduate students or support. But this is really a positive situation. The faculty members want to succeed in what they are doing and they need support from the administration.