Currently, universities have to cope with various pressures from the changing modern society, such as the impact of new public management, the emphasis on social service of universities and innovation, internationalization, the use of ICT, and so on. The list is by no means exhaustive. To cope with all these pressures in such a transformative era, university governance and leadership is identified as a key determinant (Fiszbein & Ringold, 2012). However, ‘what exactly a good university governance or good leadership means?’ remains uncertain both in literature and in practices. Policy-makers, practitioners and academics are seeking the best or more effective practices of university governance and academic leadership all over the world.
Against such background, together with the growing cooperation in the area of higher education between Europe and China, the LEAD project (supported by the EU Erasmus+ programme) was launched in 2015 to enhance the capacity of higher education institutions related to governance and academic leadership, with particular focus on European and Chinese universities (LEAD, 2017).
The implementation of the LEAD project indicates that EU-China cooperation on university governance and academic leadership has its strategic importance in driving the development, innovation, and internationalisation of European and Chinese universities. However, the exchanges and discussions during or after the project activities & events also show that there is a lack of mutual understanding between European and Chinese stakeholders in university governance and academic leadership. The gap of understanding also exists within the same region, either in China or in Europe, due to the system diversity. Furthermore, advanced practices and experiences in the field need to be shared and promoted to a wider public all over the world.
This book is expected to satisfy the needs of academic leaders from different levels and different regions and fill in the knowledge gap. We aim to bring together researchers and practitioners from both Europe and China to share the experiences and practices related to university governance and academic leadership in Europe and China, to discuss the key issues in relevant areas and to explore the ultimate effective models of university governance and academic leadership. The book encourages both academic-oriented and practice-oriented works, but gives priority to practice-oriented contributions, which can bring insights on university governance and academic leadership from the rich experiences and different contexts.
Objectives
Target readers:
All professionals (academic leaders from different functions and at various levels) and academics who want to know about the university governance and academic leadership, particularly in the context of EU-China cooperation.
Contexts and Recommended themes
Recommended main themes can include but are not limited to:
The sub-themes of university governance & academic leadership can include but are not limited to:
Submission guidelines & important deadlines
Editors:
Prof. dr. Chang Zhu, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Prof. dr. Yuzhuao Cai, University of Tampere
Gaoming Zheng, University of Tampere
Contact
Please send any inquiries to: eche@vub.ac.be