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‘University Governance’ may be relatively unheard of in Macao but it’s an oft-discussed issue internationally. What kind of governance model is the best to enhance the competiveness of a university? And how can the University of Macau (UM) find its own suitable model in conformity with the international trend? In order to learn these from the other countries, there will be an ‘International Forum on University Governance: Keys to Competitiveness’ on 21 February 2012, jointly organized by UM and the Tertiary Education Services Office of the Macao SAR.
This paper will be examining how the issues discussed in this forum may give some ideas to the Government on university governance in its course of enhancing the competitiveness of UM.
‘University Governance’ can be understood at two levels: the first is a university as governed by the government and the second the university as governed by itself. In fact, there is nothing new about this in Macao as these two tiers of governance have always existed alongside each other here. It’s only that due to the different wording, ‘University Governance’ as a term is seldom used in Macao. A study of the international development of higher education though would let us know that ‘University Governance’ has indeed been a ‘hot’ issue as this goes right to the heart of the reform of a university. Over the past decade or more, university reform has been going thick and fast all over the world in order to cope with the fierce competition brought about by globalization. And the starting point of all these reforms is the change of the concept of ‘University Governance’.
The Forum on University Governance is truly an international one because we have speakers and participants from different parts of the world, including our Asian neighbors of the Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and those from Portugal, Vienna, and North America. We invited them to attend the occasion because they were all involved in the reform of University Governance around the turn of the 21st Century for the countries or territories they represent. It is also worth noting that our Macao SAR Government initiated its own University Governance reform in 2002. Although the reform involved only the University of Macau, it showed that our Government was doing all this with a vision that was congruent to the international trend of the development of higher education.
In 2002, the SAR Government appointed a Task Force to review the UM’s Charter and Personnel Statute to examine how changes should be made to accommodate the desired development of the Macao SAR under ‘One Country, Two Systems’. As a result of the review, Legislative Assembly of Macao passed in 2006 the Judicial Regime of the University of Macau which was formulated specifically for the governance of UM, and the University Charter was amended in accordance therewith. That Reform was very important to the University by allowing it to move forward in subsequent years to become a modern university as it is today. In the meantime, the economy of Macao has been booming since 2003, and has catapulted the city into one of world class gaming, entertainment, and cultural tourism. In addition, the decision of the Central Government to include the Macao SAR in its 11th and 12th Five Year Plans was a significant one. It provided policy and support for Macao to develop into a world center for tourism and leisure, as well as a platform for trade and business cooperation between China and the Portuguese speaking countries. It also opened up opportunities for Macao to participate in the key developments of the Pear River Delta Region on a national scale. As a result of the availability of these opportunities and Macao’s own successful development, there has been an increasing demand for top talents in recent years, and it thus caused the SAR Government and the University to re-think what further reform should be had to equip the University better to meet those needs.
It was during this time of contemplating any possible further reform that the prospect of building a new campus on the Hengqin Island began to simmer on the horizon. And the Central Government’s endorsement of granting the site for our new campus is the most important reason for the discussion of the need of another university governance reform this time round. In short, the Hengqin new campus is a dream come true! For years since the return of Macao to China, the University had been requesting from the SAR Government a piece of green land for the new campus, but to no avail due to the lack of land in Macao. It therefore came as a great surprise when the Central Government agreed to grant UM land in Hengqin for it to develop a new campus on with residential colleges. This piece of the waterfront green land abutting onto Macao is 20 times the size of the present campus! What made it even more remarkable was that the new campus, though located on the Hengqin Island, would be under the jurisdiction of the Macao SAR, with free movement of staff and students through a tunnel that connects Taipa. It sounded almost too good to be true. But it would soon be clear what this plan was all about when the President of China Mr. Hu Jintao came over for the foundation laying ceremony of the new Campus on December 20, 2009. On that occasion, he encouraged the University to pursue the goal of becoming a world class university. It then transpired to us that this unprecedented exciting move by the Central government indeed signified its high expectations of us. Because of the strategic position of UM, the Central Government was hoping that UM could, on the strength of ‘one country two systems’, join forces with other major universities in China to explore ways to achieve the world class university status. In other words, while nurturing top talents to meet the economic diversification as well as the growth of different aspects of the community (socio-culturally, educationally and politically), the University of Macau was also expected to play a leading role in the advancement of higher education in China!
Therefore, in the contexts of these, and in consultation with the University, the SAR Government initiated the second round of University Governance reform by appointing another Task Force in June of 2011, with the mandate to revise the Judicial Regime of the University of Macau, its Charter and the Personnel Statute to ensure that the laws after revision will meet the developmental needs of the University after it moves to the new Hengqin Campus. For the sake of continuity, I was asked to chair the Task Force again this time after I had chaired the first one nine years ago. The first Task Force did a considerable literature review and documentary research in 2002 on the governance reforms in various places, but without any on-site visits. As the first phase of higher education reform of HK was just completed at that time, which also coincided my coming back to Macao from HK, I was thus able to bring back the first hand information on, and personal experience in, the reform there as reference for the governance reform of UM. But this time around, our Task Force is doing its job differently. In addition to literature review and documentary research, the Task Force members also visited some places which had carried out the reform of University Governance in recent years. These places included Hong Kong, Singapore, and Portugal. Some members also visited Taiwan. Before the trips, the members prepared and understood well as to the purposes of their visits, what to watch, what to ask or what answer to seek. As a result of good preparations, the visits were very fruitful and enlightening.
One surprising (but pleasant) outcome from our research and study trips was that virtually all the countries and territories concerned were faced with the similar situation of university governance, which could be summarized as follows:
1. The world is increasingly globalized, and competition getting more internationalized;
2. In order to keep the countries (territories) competitive, their universities need to train talents of international caliber ;
3. This can only be done if universities are to be competitive internationally;
4. Universities can stay competitive internationally only if they are armed with a faculty of international strength;
5. Universities around the world are competing for international talents;
6. Universities must be able to attract these talents by providing competitive working conditions and environment, and able to recruit them in a flexible fashion by beating some of the rigid procedures;
7. Universities must be given more flexibility and autonomy in devising their strategies and executing their plans if their innate strengths and potentials are to be developed to their fullest;
8. To safeguard the interest of societies from which universities derive their support, there must be a well-defined legal framework within which universities define their conduct of operation;
9. Universities should be decently funded. On the other hand, however, they must be able to produce the results as stated in the agreement entered into between them and the Governments;
10. Mechanisms of academic and administrative accountability must be accessible for public scrutiny.
It is worth noting here that these ten items presented above form a ‘reality checklist’ more or less accepted as the guiding principles for ‘University Governance’ by the countries and territories we visited or researched about. Of course these guiding principles would go through variations when applied in places with different socio-economic backgrounds and legal regimes. That is why we decided to have a forum like this in which we can exchange views on how and why we do things differently within the framework of the ‘reality checklist’. We aim to achieve two purposes in this forum:
1. Tell the Macao community through the international experts’ opinion that in spite of our small size, our Government and the local public alike share the international view of the important role of a university and therefore recognize the importance of our university to the development of the local community, the region and the country. Because of this awareness, the SAR Government has made decisions in line with the world trend to help strengthen the competiveness of UM. It has committed our Charter Revision Task Force to analyze and revise the Judicial Regime of UM, its Charter and the Personnel Statute so that the University can nurture top-notched talents for our fast growing and diversifying economy. And on the strength of ‘One country, Two Systems’, UM must also join forces with China’s major universities to find ways to reach the standards of a world class university in order to realize our national aspirations. We would like to let Macao know that we are now following the reality checklist as a guide to our charter revision, as it has been the guide to the reform of University Governance world-wide.
2. Seek advice and help from the international educational experts and government officials of various places as to ways to carry out our own university governance reform that suits the practical situation of Macao. Their experience in applying the ‘reality checklist’ to different situations in their countries or places will offer us valuable help to overcome any difficulties and pitfalls that get in our way in the course of our reform.
It is therefore with earnest hope and excitement that I welcome our international scholars from around the world to this forum to inspire us with their enthusiasm, wisdom, knowledge and experience in this important topic of University Governance.
Dr. Tse Chi Wai, Chair of the University Council of UM
