As universities have been increasing their participation as key players in social matters, they have been facing new challenges in order to properly answer to what society is demanding from higher education institutions.
These challenges are evolving, according to political, economic, technological and social trends, so universities should be very aware of what´s currently happening in their local environments, as well as at a global level, to have a clear vision of where their strategic planning should aim to.
That´s why many public and private organizations, academics, experts and consultants in Europe and North America have been analyzing and forecasting the new trends in higher education and the constant challenges that universities are faced with.
Here are some higher education challenges in Europe and North American universities:
According to Inside Higher Ed, there are several security issues that are a concern to universities worldwide and must be managed to reduce and eliminate campus security breaches, such as:
On an administration level, The Huffington Post underlines cybersecurity as the main challenge.
Maybe this sounds too obvious, but the truth is that, according to The Huffington Post, federal regulations in the United States are getting tougher and 'quality' as a concept "will be the subject of much debate."
Times Higher Education underlines this issue as a key challenge for British universities. A concern that is shared by many other countries where students are demanding more services from their institutions.
“Increasing the tuition fee cap has led to a focus on the student and their expectations in a way not seen in the UK higher education before – Times Higher Educations says, quoting a Deloitte´s survey. Students are now paying more for their studies and expect a more lucrative return on investment, whether in academic quality, employability or the facilities offered to them.”
As a way to answer this issue, THE proposes that “university strategies must become more flexible in order to best attract students in a highly competitive market, assessing their position and mapping the customer segments most important to them. Institutions will need to take difficult decisions on how to target those markets and have processes in place to best optimize those routes, as well as to ensure they have the expertise and innovation required while working to overcome embedded cultural conservatism.”
“With rising student expectations and intense competition as students take on a larger financial burden for their studies, institutions need to invest in infrastructure, teaching and career support to attract students. Staff, teaching and learning costs are increasing rapidly,” Times Higher Education stands.
“The sector must build on its success and transform further in order to fully offset the risk of financial failure. Each institution has its own mix of subjects, its own cost structure, and each will need to reshape its operating model in order to best direct spending, attract revenue and reduce costs.”
Besides, THE quotes a Deloitte report that stands that research should be another financial concern to make it fully sustainable. “Funding for research has become more difficult to access since 2011 – the report says. Availability has moved away from block grants and is now spread more thinly and open to intense competition. As university income streams shift away from government, universities should look to earn income from outside of simple one‑way government funding, working with new partners and organizations to diversify the money they use to underpin research.”
According to JISC higher education consultants, online education is a teaching model that “will resume its growth as back-at-work learners see continued need for credentials. While not returning to the double-digit levels fueled by proprietary school marketing, a solid 6 to 8 percent can be expected as the stigma of online study recedes.”
On the other hand, JISC stands that new models of learning will emerge in 2016. “Like the ‘boot camp’ phenomena, many of these will come from outside the academy. Text publishers, will soon offer ‘bundled’ online media and credit-by-exam resources that will allow for learning and assessment outside of a classroom. Direct assessment, competency-based education (CBE) and credit for prior learning (PLA) are all gaining respectability and acceptance, especially for adult learners.”
Considering that these are global issues, have you identified local challenges in your higher education environment? Do these global challenges reflect your local reality?