S ALZBURG S EMINAR UNIVERSITIES PROJECT THE FIRST FOUR YEARS 1997–2000 MESSAGE his report is an overview of the first four years of the Salzburg TSeminar’s Universities Project, which was created to help promote FROM THE higher education reform in Central and East Europe and in the Russian Federation. It is also an acknowledgement and expression of gratitude to PRESIDENT those who made this Project possible by their generosity and their spirit of volunteerism. First and foremost, we owe this initiative to the AND THE visionary and sustained commitment of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which are funding the DIRECTOR Universities Project and its adjunct Visiting Advisors Program, respectively. Without the generous and steady support of these two OF THE foundations, none of the activities described herein would have happened. We are also grateful for the Project’s growing number of UNIVERSITIES partners and friends who have donated their time and expertise to give intellectual and practical guidance to the Universities Project. The ROJECT P continuing counsel of the Project’s Advisory Committee has been absolutely crucial to the success of our work, as has been the support of many other individuals who have become active participants of the Project. We believe it is fair to say that, over time, the Project has become one of the most active and effective interfaces between North American and European university leaders, not only as a neutral interface, but as an active advocate of transatlantic mutual learning and understanding. The Salzburg Seminar will continue to provide a meeting place where leaders in higher education can meet, exchange views, and share experiences. We will continue to focus on the practicalities of managing modern universities. It is a pleasure for us to provide this report on the first four years of the Universities Project and to share it with all who have participated in the Project thus far. Olin Robison Jochen Fried President Director, Universities Project THE UNIVERSITIES PROJECT: HISTORY AND OVERVIEW TABLE OF Rationale . .1 CONTENTS Chronology . .2 Technology and the Universities Project . .7 Initiatives Resulting from the Universities Project . .8 Possible Extension of the Universities Project to Other Regions . .10 Universities Project Advisory Committee . .11 Universities Project List of Participants . .12 VISITING ADVISORS PROGRAM Background and Development . .27 Goals . .28 Toward Improvement and Continuation . .28 Case Study: VAP Trip to the Budapest University of Technology and Economics . .30 VAP List of Consultant Visits . .32 Salzburg Seminar Board of Directors . .39 Schloss Leopoldskron is home to the Salzburg Seminar and the Universities Project. The Universities Project is made possible by a generous grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The Salzburg Seminar is deeply grateful to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for its sustained support of the Universities Project. Beginning with a planning grant in 1996 and continuing with program funding from 1997 to 2002, the Hewlett Foundation’s vision of and commitment to practical discussions on higher education reform has guided the work of the Universities Project. RATIONALE HISTORY t is the goal of the Universities Project to help build, or rebuild, linkages between the Iuniversities in the eastern part of Europe, from Prague to Vladivostok, and their AND counterparts in North America and West Europe—linkages that had been cut during the time when Europe was divided and the free flow of ideas and people so essential for the OVERVIEW academic world was disrupted. When the Universities Project began in 1997, the first enthusiasm about the momentous political changes in East Europe had already started to fade and the hardships of the transition to democracy and market economies were becoming increasingly manifest. This was a timely moment to initiate a project focused on strengthening the institutional underpinnings of higher education. While many outside assistance programs had provided timely and useful support for individual scholars during the initial period of transition in Europe, the challenges faced by institutions in managing the difficult and often complex process of self-renewal remained largely unaddressed. The Universities Project has been able to meet some of these needs by creating a forum for sustained dialogue about pertinent issues on institutional reform and by establishing professional networks of university leaders from East Europe and the Russian Federation with their peers from North America and West Europe. The Universities Project is a multi-year series of conferences and symposia convening senior-level representatives of higher education from the designated regions with their counterparts from North America and West Europe. Initially, discussions focused on three major themes: 1. University Administration and Finance 2. Academic Structure and Governance within the University 3. Meeting the Students’ Needs, and the Role of Students in Institutional Affairs As a result of discussions during the Project’s first year of programming in 1997, two additional themes were adopted: 4. Technology in Higher Education 5. The University and Civil Society Beginning in the Project’s second year in 1998, the core topics have been framed each year within an overarching theme that represents a current and timely issue in higher education. w 1998: Institutional Autonomy: a review of higher education reform underway at universities and university systems w 1999 and 2000: Globalization and Higher Education Peter Scott (Kingston w 2001: The Social and Civic Responsibilities of the University University, UK) and Salzburg Seminar President Olin Between 1997 and 2000, the Salzburg Seminar held a total of fifteen Universities Robison at the January 1999 Project symposia and three plenary convocations. During this period, more than 600 Plenary Convocation. individuals representing approximately 250 institutions and universities have participated in the Project. As a result of these frequent meetings, a significant transatlantic network of university leaders has developed. Additionally, more than twenty teams of volunteer consultants have visited host universities in Central and East Europe and the Russian Federation, offering their time and expertise to assist colleagues and institutions to carry out meaningful and effective reform. Although the experience and institutional context of Project participants may differ greatly, all are committed to commons goals: learning from one another how to make the higher education sector more effective in managing institutional change, supporting economic and social development, and strengthening democracy. Given the focus on transformations of 1 higher education in Central and East Europe and in the Russian Federation, the rationale of the Universities Project has expanded to include the following goals: w to deepen and broaden the understanding of the problems, achievements, and perspectives of the higher education reform process in this region; w to advance the development of a self-sustaining system of higher education in these countries; w to engage decision-makers from the participating universities in discussion on transnational trends and crucial challenges confronting higher education institutions worldwide, and to increase mutual comprehension and understanding across different national experiences; and w to develop meaningful linkages and partnerships among participants and their institutions. One of the lessons for those involved in the Universities Project was the realization that universities are extremely robust and resilient institutions. While the process of reforming higher education in the post-communist countries has been halting and uneven, it is also the case that a great many universities and other institutions of higher education throughout the region continue to benefit from an extraordinary level of commitment from talented and dedicated men and women working against great odds, yet achieving considerable success. The Universities Project has afforded many from outside the region with an opportunity to meet the reformers, share their concerns, and gain a better sense of the problems, accomplishments, and prospects of the higher education reform process in Central and East Europe and the Russian Federation. CHRONOLOGY 1996 he Salzburg Seminar received a planning grant from the Hewlett Foundation to Tdevelop a project to bring together top-level administrators from universities in West Europe, the USA, and Canada with their counterparts in Central and East Europe, the Russian Federation, and the Newly Independent States. Activities in 1996 included: w researching existing initiatives to determine the need for such a project, and its particular niche, focus, and parameters; Madeleine Green (American Council on Education, USA) w the hiring of a project director; provides an introduction to the establishment of a Universities Project Advisory Committee (p. 11); and the symposium’s first topic w of discussion, Leadership w a meeting of the Advisory Committee to lay the groundwork for the Project. and Management of Universities. 1997 he first year of programming consisted of a plenary convocation and three Tsymposia. The January plenary meeting brought together sixty senior-level university representatives and higher education experts from Central and East Europe (CEE), West Europe, the Russian Federation, and North America.