University Control Research Articles

Control and Insecurity in Australian and Canadian Universities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing university management control strategies have influenced higher education workers’ job security, stress and happiness. The primary quantitative and qualitative data are drawn from a survey of fourteen universities across Australia and Canada, supplemented by secondary research. The analysis examines institutional and worker responses to the pandemic, and resulting conflict over financial control at the macro (sector), meso (university) and micro (individual) levels. At the macro level, university responses were shaped by public policy decisions at both national and subnational layers of the state, and the higher education sector in both countries had a distinctly neoliberal form. However, Australian universities were exposed to greater financial pressure to cut job positions, and Australian university management might have been more inclined to do so than Canadian universities overall. Different institutional support for unionism at the macro level influenced how university staff were affected at the meso and micro levels. Restructuring at the universities across both countries negatively impacted job security and career prospects, in turn leading to reduced job satisfaction and increased stress. Although working from home was novel and liberating for many professional staff, it was a negative experience for many academic staff. Our analysis demonstrates that the experiences of university staff were influenced by more than the work arrangements implemented by universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The approaches of universities to job protection, restructuring and engagement with staff through unions appeared to influence staff satisfaction, stress and happiness. Our findings extend the literature that documents how university staff routinely challenge neoliberalization processes in a variety of individual and collective actions, particularly in times of crisis. We argue that theorization of struggles over control of labour should be extended to account for struggles over control of finance. Abstract We studied 14 universities across Canada and Australia to examine how the COVID-19 crisis, mediated through management strategies and conflict over financial control in higher education, influenced workers’ job security and affective outcomes like stress and happiness. The countries differed in their institutional frameworks, their union density, their embeddedness in neoliberalism and their negotiation patterns. Management strategies also differed between universities. Employee outcomes were influenced by differences in union involvement. Labour cost reductions negotiated with unions could improve financial outcomes, but, even in a crisis, management might not be willing to forego absolute control over finance, and it was not the depth of the crisis that shaped management decisions.

Identification of Internal Academic Factors Affecting Academic Entrepreneurship: A Case Study

Academic Entrepreneurship is an entrepreneurial activity conducted by scientists/academics who market their research results commercially to achieve specific economic benefits or rewards. This research focuses on academic entrepreneurship that occurs at Andalas University. There is still a lack of academics whose research products for commercialization are about 22.73%. It is because there are factors that influence academic entrepreneurship activities at Andalas University. One of them is the internal academic factor. The internal factors are Control System, Organizational Culture, Human Resource Management System, Organizational Structure, and Academic Leadership Behavior. The purpose of this study is to analyze the university's internal factors on academic entrepreneurship. This research uses a quantitative approach derived from 106 Andalas University academics with Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) methods with SmartPLS Software. The result obtained in this study is that the control system exerts a positive and negative influence on academic entrepreneurship. In contrast, other factors have a significant positive influence on academic entrepreneurship. The research results show that the university's control system, organizational structure, and human resources had no significant positive effect on academics at Andalas University. Meanwhile, entrepreneurial behavior and organizational culture have a significant positive effect on academic entrepreneurship at Andalas University. Further research should be analyzed for all universities with innovative products and are ready for commercialization throughout Indonesia. This research is still a case study and needs to be developed.

Comparison of Personal, Social and Academic Variables Related to University Drop-out and Persistence.

Dropping out of university has serious consequences not only for the student who drops out but also for the institution and society as a whole. Although this phenomenon has been widely studied, there is a need for broader knowledge of the context in which it occurs. Yet research on the subject often focuses on variables that, although they affect drop-out rates, lie beyond a university’s control. This makes it hard to come up with effective preventive measures. That is why a northern Spanish university has undertaken a ex post facto holistic research study on 1,311 freshmen (2008/9, 2009/10, and 2010/11 cohorts). The study falls within the framework of the ALFA-GUIA European Project and focuses on those drop-out factors where there is scope for taking remedial measures. This research explored the possible relationship of degree drop-out and different categories of variables: variables related to the educational stage prior to university entry (path to entry university and main reason for degree choice), variables related to integration and coexistence at university (social integration, academic integration, relationships with teachers/peers and value of the living environment) financial status and performance during university studies (in terms of compliance with the program, time devoted to study, use of study techniques and class attendance). Descriptive, correlational and variance analyses were conducted to discover which of these variables really distinguish those students who drop-out from their peers who complete their studies. Results highlight the influence of vocation as main reason for degree choice, path to university entry, financial independency, social and academic adaptation, time devoted to study, use of study techniques and program compliance in the studied phenomenon.

Learning Environment: Relevant or Not to Students' Decision to Leave University?

This paper presents an analysis of the reasons why students in Norway leave higher education institutions before degree completion and the extent to which these reasons are of the type that can be influenced by the university. As occurs in many countries, a proportion of students starting an undergraduate liberal arts degree in Norway leave their university without completing their degree. The institutions' capacity to influence this decision is limited. The most common reasons for students either transferring or dropping out are beyond the university's control. However, for both types of leavers, the learning environment seems to have been somewhat influential in the decision to leave. Therefore, improving the learning environment through closer contact between students and teachers will probably also enhance retention.

An Internet-based real-time control engineering laboratory

Describes the design of generic virtual instruments used for real-time experimentation at Polytechnic University's control engineering laboratory in a remote-access environment. These instruments can be freely downloaded and the remote user can access the laboratory facilities from anywhere at any time. Our Internet-accessed remote laboratory is based on a client/server computer configuration. The server, situated near the experiment, transfers to it the received command signals transmitted by the client. The client locally computes the command signal based on the reference waveform and the transmitted system response. The remote user can select the transmission protocol, switch between asynchronous and synchronous sampling, use either a batch or a recursive data transfer mode, and view the experimental testbed. Our approach is distinct from others in that it offers more flexibility and responsibility to the client side, since the remote user compiles and executes the controller locally. Issues concerned with network reliability, dynamic delays caused by Internet traffic, concurrent user access, and limited computing power have been addressed. The designed set of experiments is the first step toward our remote control laboratory.

The Function of Institutional Inbreeding

Faculty inbreeding, though deplored in the university studied, is practiced there as a functional necessity for that university's participation in the national academic labor market, where it is handicapped by location and inadequate finances. The consequence is a systematic discrimination against the inbred faculty member. This hypothesis is tested by propositions relating to working conditions of junior faculty with data comparing inbred and non-imbred on such variables as rank, load, and productivity. The findings support the hypothesis, since significant differences between the inbred and the non-inbred are positively associated with the university's control.