Trends in higher education: The administrator’s dilemma

Abstract

Effective higher education management and administration is key to the development of tertiary education. There are however, various challenges which have necessitated the call for the university administrator to think outside the box. The challenges confronting higher education management in general and in particular, Ghana, call for new ways of managing the system. University administrators tend to be more of managers, thus sticking to the status quo of practices, norms and statutory requirements. What we currently need are leaders who will bring change and robustness into the administrative machinery of higher education institutions. Current trends demand that proactive rather than reactive measures are taken by university administrators to keep the university system effective and fit-for-purpose. There is sufficient literature on higher education management as well as global trends and challenges confronting higher education. This paper thus looks at some of the key challenges and proposes ways and means to address such, drawing from some experiences at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The article thus, is intended to examine some shifts and challenges in higher education management and what strategies can be adopted by the university administrator to ensure an efficient and effective management system. The authors share many years’ experience as university administrators at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi in Ghana. These experiences were based on the various schedules of duties, participation in workshops, conferences and interactions with colleagues. Being a case study, the paper draws from current research highlighted in the literature and proposes strategies that can be adapted to cope with some of the challenges in higher education management. This review and shared experiences of the authors are most likely to benefit higher education institution administrators in Ghana and beyond.