Appraising sustainable and resilient physical infrastructure facilities in higher education institutions: the role of smart maintenance management

The objective of this paper is to propose a System-of-Systems (SoS) approach for an integrated assessment of resilience in civil transportation infrastructure in the U.S. A SoS approach is adopted for systemic assessment. Data obtained from case studies of two recent natural disasters in the U.S. are utilized to explore the status quo, key players and interactions, and the drivers to and barriers of improving resilience in transportation infrastructure systems. The findings indicate that strategies for enhancing resilience in transportation infrastructure systems include redistributing the available funding through a special funding vehicle, using resilience-based performance measures, and integrating the efforts of different stakeholders. The SoS approach along with the findings from the case studies provides an analytical tool for understanding the dynamics of resilience in infrastructure systems. Such understanding could lead to identifying strategies for enhancing resilience in infrastructure systems. The study presented in this paper provides new insights to identify the determinants of resilience in highway transportation infrastructure based on a SoS approach.

Due to the transition process in Croatia that started about three decades ago, higher education institutions (HEIs) are forced to intensively involve themselves in market competition and become market and entrepreneurial oriented in order to keep up with new trends in higher education. The branding process in HEIs has become one of the major activities in creating value and gaining market position in many countries, including Croatia. The aim of this study is to provide a deeper insight into and understanding of differences in brand market value perceptions of students of public and private HEIs in Croatia. Altogether, 443 students (242 from a public HEI and 201 from a private HEI) responded to a questionnaire based on Aaker’s model of brand equity, from which a t-test and a correlation analysis showed that the public HEI was significantly better only in the dimension of other proprietary brand assets, while in the private HEI all other dimensions of brand market value were evaluated better. However, brand market value itself was significantly higher in the public sector HEI, mainly due to the perception of “value for money” and functional benefits, i.e., employability. The study identified several factors that need to be taken into account when branding private and public HEIs in Croatia.

PurposeThe role of institutional facilities is of paramount importance to ensure quality of teaching and learning with respect to achieving quality of education in any given higher educational institutions (HEIs). The purpose of this paper is to determine the performance of physical and non-physical facilities of higher institutional facilities.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from respondents using a closed-end questionnaire. In total, 1,000 questionnaires were administered to students and 735 were returned and valid for analysis. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling was adopted for analysis.FindingsIt was found that the exogenous constructs [physical facilities (PPE) and non-physical facilities (PNE)] scored 32.7 per cent (R2 = 0.327) of the variance of the facility’s performance. It was also found that the physical facility is the most significant factor that determines facility performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is limited to investigating the performance of physical and non-physical facilities; it is not in any way a measure for the students’ views about other services offered by the institutions. Future research is needed to use relevant information from HEIs’ facilities for validating factors that determine the facility’s performance.Practical implicationsPhysical facility was identified as the most influencing factor that determines the facility performance based on the information provided by respondents. This research should help the facility management department at HEIs when designing the academic facility management. The study will also serve as a yardstick for the Federal Ministry of Education, the National University Commission in academic facility accreditation. This paper contributes to both the body of knowledge in facility management by considering the performance of facilities at HEIs.Originality/valueThis paper demonstrates the duality of HEIs’ facilities into physical and non-physical facilities and their distinct contribution to the overall facility’s performance.

This study examined the horizontal and vertical typology of Bukidnon State University in line with the paradigm shift of the private and public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines to enhance the quality assurance system. This shift intends to rationalize distribution and operation of HEIs in the country. Data were taken from the last five years including 2014 enrolment, undergraduate and graduate degree program offering, thesis requirement, involvement in research and annual research cost expenditure. This is a descriptive study whereby the criteria set by the Commission on Higher Education’s Policy Standard to Enhance Quality Assurance in Philippine Higher Education through an Outcomes-based and Typology-based Quality Assurance (CHED Memorandum Order of 2012) on horizontal typology whether professional institution, college or university found that the horizontal typology of Bukidnon State University is university but with weaknesses in research funding, physical facilities such as laboratories, research linkages abroad, and invented technologies. In the three types of higher education institutions (HEIs) according th vertical classification of the autonomous HEI, deregulated HEI and regulated HEI, Bukidnon State University has yet to pass most of the criteria for the vertical typology and hence, it is still regulated by CHED.Keywords: rationalization, typology, graduate and undergraduate programs, professional programs, non-professional programs

Management of lean waste in a public higher education institution

The survival of private higher education institutions (HEIs) in Portugal is closely linked to the country's regulatory framework, which affects their financial sustainability, operational autonomy and their capacity to compete with public HEIs. Although legislative reforms since 2006 have aimed to reduce disparities between public and private HEIs, significant regulatory constraints remain - particularly in relation to academic employment. This study provides a comprehensive review of the legal framework governing higher education (HE) in Portugal, focusing on legal decisions related to academic employment and its relation to the survival of public, private and hybrid HEIs. Our analysis shows that private HEIs are experiencing an increasing loss of autonomy, due to new accreditation standards on teaching staff employment contracts. This may constrain HEIs' strategic development and long-term survival. Policy and managerial implications derived from these findings are discussed.

This study is on rebuilding higher educational institutions in Nigeria: Edeh''s responsive approach. Descriptive survey research design was used for this study. Between 1990 and 1999 Edeh saw Nigerian higher educational institutions in a state of quagmire due to poor funding, frequent flight of lecturers to Diasporas countries of the world in search of rewarding academic jobs, cultism, rape, thuggery, inadequate facilities, dilapidated equipment and facilities among others. These issues and problems prompted Edeh to establish private higher educational institutions where cultism, rape, stealing, examinations malpractices, strikes, frauds would be forbidden. Two research questions were raised by the researcher as; what are the causes of inordinate attitudes in Nigerian educational system?, What are the issues retarding effective administration of higher educational institutions in Nigeria? Findings from this study revealed that inadequate administration of higher educational institutions is the major causes of rape, cultism, inadequate infrastructural facilities, under funding in higher educational institutions in Nigeria. Findings of this study revealed that rape, cultism, smoking, underfunding, inadequate infrastructural facilities, incessant strikes, were the issues / problems retarding effective administration of higher educational institutions in Nigeria. It was recommended from this study that higher educational institutions heads should buy Edehs educational ideas to stop rape, cultism, stealing, underfunding, inadequate infrastructural facilities in Nigerian higher educational institutions through effective students’ enlightenment campaigns, conferences, symposiums, team building to ensure sanity in higher educational institutions in Nigeria. It was also, recommended from this study that government should provide facilities, equipment, effective funding in public higher educational institutions in Nigeria. This would reduce influx of dilapidated building and poor staff remunerations in public private universities in Nigeria. It was also, suggested in this study that proprietors of private higher educational institutions in Nigeria should embrace positive change through provision of needed facilities, equipment and eradication of rape, cultism, stealing in private universities in Nigeria

The approach of the first concept of sustainable development released in the Brundtland report (The Brundtland report: “Our Common Future”. Oxford University Press, New York, 1987), has led to a global diffusion of important discussions concerning the environment until the present. Posteriorly, the significance of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to reach sustainability was noticed due to their role as educators and research potential. Numerous conferences, focusing on sustainability in HEIs took place in the post-Brundtland era, strengthening the need for joint work between society, governance and HEIs to achieve sustainability worldwide. However, the various possibilities of sustainable development actions presented in charters and declarations for sustainability in HEIs, since the 1980s have made their implementation a complex task. The UI GreenMetric World University Ranking (WUR) is one of the most recent evaluation tools of sustainability in HEIs, but with significant participation of private and public HEIs. Designed to engage HEIs from developed and developing countries, the tool encourages the continued pursuit of sustainable practices, healthy competition among HEIs, and even fosters financial investments from third parties. In this sense, therefore, the present work aimed to identify and compare the benchmarks of four-best ranked HEIs and of four Brazilian HEIs participants of the WUR. Through the benchmarking methodology, and with the support of the selected HEIs sustainable reports, divergences, and similarities were identified about the focus and importance given to the implementation of sustainable development initiatives of the HEIs. Also, the main strategies and practices adopted for these HEIs to be considered sustainable by the WUR were discussed through their benchmarks. In general, the four-best ranked HEIs direct their efforts towards structural changes, capital investment, actions with a long-term return, investments in alternative technologies, and students’ continuous and direct participation. On the other side, the four Brazilian HEIs have their central actions being implemented in infrastructural maintenance, exchange for more efficient equipment, campaigns of environmental awareness through email and social media, and other efforts with the short-term return. Based on the benchmarks analyses result, a final table was created with the related benchmarks of the selected HEIs, aimed to be used as a guide/first path, so that other HEIs can integrate sustainability in their organizations and strategies.

An increase in the number of privately-owned higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa has created greater competition among private and public HEIs since all are competing for the same pool of potential students. Thus, marketers of HEIs have begun to realize the importance of placing a renewed focus on their students’ (customers’) needs. This study aimed to establish whether students perceive themselves as customers of HEIs, as well as the extent to which they perceive the attitude of academic and administrative staff toward them as being customer-focused. A total of 411 online questionnaires were administered to students at select private and public HEIs in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted on the survey data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. As a result, the majority of students perceived themselves as customers of the HEI. Furthermore, students’ perception of the attitude of academic and administrative staff toward them reinforced the view that they are indeed customers of their HEI. Thus, by working with the academics and administrators, HEIs should consistently identify and satisfy the service needs of students.

<p style="text-align:justify">Implementing internal quality assurance activities is an indispensable condition to form a quality culture in higher education institutions in Vietnam which contributing to a fundamental and comprehensive renovation of Vietnamese higher education. The purpose of this research was to assess the correlation of internal quality assurance on the formation of quality culture through the types of higher education institution in Vietnam. A group of 222 teachers from 8 higher education institutions (4 public higher education institutions and 4 private higher education institutions) in Ho Chi Minh city participated in the survey. The questionnaire included three groups which are internal quality assurance activities, awareness of individuals, and organizational culture. The results showed that the correlation between internal quality assurance and the formation of quality culture is difference between two types of higher education institutions, in which with autonomy in higher education institution administration, the level of application of guaranteed the internal quality assurance activities is associated with quality culture developing in private higher education institutions higher than public higher education institutions.</p>

This research is mainly stressed on a comparative study on quality of leadership practice in Ethiopian Higher education institutes (HEIs) specifically on leadership practice in private and public Universities within five selected HEIs. Its implication in other public sectors was also examined based on the findings within the higher education. Basically the research looked into the styles, behaviors and practice of leadership within the private and public HEIs. In the research different leadership theoretical were examined and used in studying the practice. In Ethiopia, there are forty four public and four private universities. Out of these figures by the use of stratified sampling techniques three universities from public and two from private were selected from faculties of business & economics and informatics. Data analysis was made by using both chi-square and t-test for quantitative data and use of interpretational and reflective analysis for qualitative data. The findings showed that most of the leadership behavior manifested in private HEIs is more of task-oriented which primarily concerned with improving efficiency and process reliability. However, the leadership behavior in public HEIs is mostly related with relations-oriented which primarily concerned with strong commitment to the unit and its mission with improving human relations. Moreover, behaviors that are linked with change oriented like monitoring the external environment to identify threats and opportunities, initiating and leading change, encouraging innovative thinking, and facilitating collective learning were not given more attention in both institutions. Generally, the practices of transformational leadership in both HEIs were found weak which resulted in an adverse effect in other public sectors that requires consideration both from the government and HEIs. Hence there should be a balance insight on all change, relation and task-oriented practice in both institutions. Moreover, both public and private institutions leaders should be clearer on leadership theories, styles, behaviors and models so as to improve their practice within their circumstance.

PurposeThere have been many research studies on students’ satisfaction of services in universities in developed countries. However, students’ expectation and satisfaction of public and private higher education institutions (HEIs) with regard to service quality in Eastern Europe have been under-researched. Therefore, this study aims to offer an empirical examination of student satisfaction of the service quality of public and private HEIs in Albania by evaluating the gap between students’ expectation and perception and the effect of student satisfaction on retention in HEIs.Design/methodology/approachThe survey instrument used in this study was the student satisfaction inventory in the USA. Primary data were collected from a survey of students in two private and four public HEIs in Albania. A total of 554 valid responses were collected from the survey.FindingsThe findings suggested that there were performance gaps between public and private HEIs. Public universities performed well in terms of concern for the individual, campus support services, student-centeredness and instructional effectiveness. Private HEIs scored well in terms of concern for the individual, academic advising effectiveness, instructional effectiveness and safety and security (parking). There is a significant difference in students’ perception of the overall satisfaction of HEIs. Students’ overall satisfaction positively impacts their retention.Originality/valueOverall, this study provides valuable insights to private and public HEIs’ administrators regarding to student satisfaction and retention. The findings will have far-reaching managerial implications for all groups of stakeholders in terms of the service delivery by universities in Albania and Eastern Europe.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) financially supports the Czech higher education institutions (HEIs). The largest amount of the MEYS’s budget intended for HEIs subsidizes the public HEIs. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to measure the efficiency of the public higher education institutions. This will help us to determine which public HEIs can handle the sources (inputs) efficiently and how much the inefficient public HEIs should change their outputs to become efficient. We measure their teaching efficiency using data from 2015 and the DEA methodology. We run two analyses. The first analysis compares all the HEIs with each other. It shows that we have to consider the specialization of the HEIs. The second analysis divides the HEIs into three groups using coefficients of economic difficulties. This analysis shows that dividing the HEIs into groups helps us to eliminate the large differences in inputs and outputs. Therefore, we obtain better information about the efficiency of the HEIs.

Considering the theoretical framework of sustainability of higher education institutions (HEI) (Aleixo, Leal & Azeiteiro, 2018; Lozano, Lukman, Lozano, Huisingh, Lambrechts, 2013) this work analyzes the sustainability practices of public Portuguese HEI. Bearing in mind the four sustainable development (SD) dimensions in HEI – environmental, economic, social/cultural, institutional/educational/political; Aleixo, Azeiteiro & Leal, 2016) a survey has been developed to access the implementation (or not) of a list of 77 sustainability practices in each HEI. The survey has been applied to rectors, presidents, faculty and school directors of all public Portuguese HEI. A sample of 53 HEI’s leaders has been received (4 rectors, 14 presidents, 22 school directors, and 13 faculty directors), which correspond to a 22% answer rate. A request has been made to the respondent to identify the degree of implementation of each SD practice in their HEI, following the scale: (1) not implemented, not designed and not relevant to our HEI; (2) not implemented, not designed but relevant to our HEI; (3) at least one project in the SD area, but only in the project stage; (4) at least one project in the SD area, and it is being implemented; and (5) at least one project in the SD area, and it is already fully implemented. The social/cultural dimension has the higher number of full implemented practices; followed by the economic dimension. The less developed practice at HEI is the environmental one (Aleixo, Azeiteiro & Leal, 2018).

The surge of COVID-19 pandemic in December, 2019 became an issue of concern to everyone globally including Nigerians. Its sporadic spread into the human environment entrenched awful experiences in all facets of life across the countries of the world. This is a type of virus also traceable to animals but now is ravaging the human environment as a new strain of coronavirus that makes it to be zoonotic in nature. To contain the spread of the virus ushered in some preventive policies and strategies in every people’s gathering including higher educational institutions. The alternative option to forestall and contain the spread of the virus in institutions of higher learning was to embrace the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices in the teaching and learning activities. Against the background, this study examined the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the present and the future of higher education in Nigeria. It identified the present state of Nigeria’s higher educational institutions in the face of COVID-19 pandemic disease, the use of ICT in the teaching-learning activities in the higher education institutions and what the future of higher educational institutions portends. Arising from all these, conclusion was drawn and recommendations were given to include: Government should be ready to provide more infrastructural facilities such as physical facilities like buildings amongst others; and the ICT facilities/equipment in the tertiary institutions of learning should be upgraded to meet the global standard.