In Brief
Após a Grande Recessão, faculdades e universidades foram acusadas de tomar decisões difíceis e implementar mudanças transformadoras. Embora algum progresso tenha sido feito para inovar e preparar o ensino superior para ameaças financeiras e operacionais, muitas universidades se concentraram em melhorar ainda mais suas receitas na última década, apoiaram-se fortemente em custos mais altos, descontos mais agressivos, tamanhos maiores de médio e a matrícula lúcida de 481 anos e a matrícula dos estudantes sem fim e dos estudantes de 5 anos. Estabilização
Institutions often have highly distributed and complex administrative support structures that impede investments in modern systems or the adoption of automated workflows. Still, throughout the COVID-19 crisis, we have seen heroic efforts from institutions to do what is necessary to respond to the crisis and plan for the near term future— and several have started proactively seeking opportunities to innovate their operations and improve efficiency long term.
Huron has outlined a framework for higher education’s evolution through this pandemic and economic downturn. This framework identifies how institutions now need to transition from a period of stabilization to explore opportunities for fundamental transformation. The following table outlines methods for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of institutions’ operations.
Olhando para trás na sua resposta imediata de crise
Many colleges and universities announced short-term measures to deal with the sudden effects of the pandemic on their institutions: freezing hiring, freezing salaries, furloughing employees or reducing work schedules, eliminating or reducing benefits for the upcoming fiscal year (e.g., 403(b) matching), downsizing, reducing nonessential discretionary spending (e.g., travel, conferences, catering, supplies), and stopping or delaying capital projects.
These measures have not strategically inflected the cost curve of the university over the long term nor do they materially improve operations. Rather, they have been necessary reactions to combat financial and operational distress.
Incremental Efficiencies
At this point, institutions remain focused on stabilization actions to address the root causes of inefficiencies, typically cataloged into one of seven categories: complexity, fragmentation, redundancy, inconsistency, lack of automation, unnecessary hierarchy or misaligned cost accounting. Once leaders identify these root causes, they can take steps to shift institutional resources to the activities that will help to improve current processes and systems to stabilize the university for the foreseeable future.
|
Complexity
|
The sheer scope of institutional operations compounded by multiple levels of leadership and myriad critical stakeholders can lead to over-engineered systems and processes. |
|
Fragmentation |
Fragmentation occurs with both the distribution of support functions across institutions as well as the laundry list of responsibilities for local support staff who wear “multiple hats.” |
|
Redundancy |
Universities often struggle with duplication of efforts in each department as staff relearn how to do the same or similar work, often citing lack of service from central resources. |
|
Inconsistency |
When each department or unit has its own process or system for completing the same task, this lack of standardization creates inefficiency campuswide. |
|
Lack of Automation |
Traditional paper-based or manual processes can be time-consuming and frustrating to faculty, staff and students. |
|
Unnecessary Hierarchy |
A variety of factors contribute to additional hierarchy and subsequent bureaucracy ranging from fragmentation of units into multiple smaller departments to financial incentives requiring supervisory duties. |
|
Misaligned Cost Accounting |
University departments often incur different levels of expenses (e.g., electricity, facilities, etc.), yet many institutions do not hold individual areas directly responsible for the charges they incur. |
Transformation Requires Operational Evolution
Whereas stabilization is focused on optimizing existing resources and building a solid foundation for growth, transformation encourages leaders to reimagine how teaching, research and support services will be delivered in the future. For years, many institutions have shied away from shared service concepts, avoided online education and discounted the benefits of attracting nontraditional learners. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, nearly all colleges and universities shifted at least temporarily to a remote environment for both work and instruction.
É difícil saber como será o ensino superior nos próximos anos, mas as regras padrão de engajamento nos dizem que, diante de uma interrupção significativa, as posições dos titulares da indústria estão ameaçadas. Em tempos como esses, ter uma posição de custo mais baixo é uma vantagem competitiva, e a capacidade de tomar decisões rápidas e informadas por dados melhores posicionam as instituições para responder às mudanças. Contra -intuitivamente, esses não são os princípios tradicionais de sucesso no ensino superior, onde os custos cresceram a uma taxa insustentável e a tomada de decisões é frequentemente lenta. No meio desta crise, o ensino superior tem a oportunidade de se afastar dos estereótipos tradicionais e da inércia cultural para repensar fundamentalmente a prestação de serviços. Para obter mais informações,
Access other educational resources on our COVID-19 resource page. For more information, Entre em contato conosco. Recursos para os líderes do ensino superior navegando na resposta CoVid-19