OverView of the Tertiary Education Sector

Education for change in developing countries, particulary in Africa has never been as critical as it is today. Beside the perennial issues of relevance, inadequacy of resources, increase in enrolment and demand for access. African education confronts the challenge of the knowledge revolution and globalization phenomena fuelled by rapid advances in knowledge. These are matters in repect of which higher education has the principal avenue for knowledge creation and dissemination has a significant role to play. For these reasons, higher education must receive the most urgent and thoughtful attention from governments and all who support sustainable development.

On the contrary however, higher education in Africa has been experiencing serious setbacks since the last quarter of the 20thcentury. Higher educational institutions suffer neglect as a result of reduced resources and the low priority given to it by African governments. Under funding, the deterioration of basic academic and research infratructure, unsatisfactory terms and conditions of service for university staff and persistant brain drain were the inevitable result. These problems do not only adversely affect the quality of higher education provided by the university but also have and will continue to have a negative effective on the overall development of African countries.

The broader picture of tertiary education in Africa as painted in the introductory paragraphs above is no different from what partains in Ghana. The country's institutions of higher learning are faced with similar challenges.

Government support to the mainstream universities as well as other tertiary institutions continues to experience a downward trend in the face of ever increasing operating cost per student in higher education.

As more and more Ghanaians are beginning to recognize that higher education is essential to their economic well being, demand for tertiary education has been on a sharp increase and will continue to increase. Available statistics show that total enrolment of the five mainstream public universities has risen from 9,997 in 1990 to 18,000 and 36,221 in 1995 and 2000 respectively. The number of qualified applications received within the same period also experienced a sharp increase.

Academic infrastructure in all institutions of higher learning has not seen any marked improvement and expansion since their establishment. Thus facilities initially designed for a specific number of students are now over stretched. As a result of the poor conditions of service, institutions of higher learning are not able to attract and retain academic staff. It is estimated that ten years from now, over 55% of the academic staff of the institutions of higher learning will retire from the institutions. The rate of replication of academic staff through the training of postgraduates is extremely low. This situation is compounded by the difficulties in recruiting experienced faculty from overseas due to poor research facilities, reference materials etc. New models of providing higher education have emerged in recent years. With the transformation in the global and the Ghanaian economy, the gap between what industry and the public want and what traditional institutions of higher learning provide is growing. Changes in educational needs, unmet by the existing system of higher education, have prompted the emergence of privately run institutions of higher learning. Adapting to the needs of the consumer-driven market, these private institutions view the student as a customer, target specific functions (based on market needs) and offer programs convenient for students.

The Way Forward

For traditional institutions of higher learning to remain relevant and effectively achieve their raison-d’être in the changing global and national environment, there is an urgent need to rethink their roles, responsibilities and structure. One process that seeks to create the framework for determining the directions that address the lingering challenges of higher institutions in Ghana is the process of strategic planning. The strategic planning process enables management to consider critical issues and focus efforts on what it is that will make organization successful, thus the justification for the University of Cape Coast Strategic Planning process.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST - STRATEGIC PLAN

University of Cape Coast Overview

The University of Cape Coast (UCC) was established in 1962 out of a need for highly qualified and skilled manpower in education, thus, it was established to train graduate teachers for second cycle institutions; Teacher Training Colleges and Technical Institutes, a mission that the two Universities existing then were ill-equipped to fulfil. The University has since its establishment added to its functions the training of educational planners, administrators and agriculturalists. The University is therefore playing a role that is unique and vital to the education enterprise of the nation. In pursuance of its mission, the University has been responding to the changing needs of the entire educational system of the country. However, the effectiveness and efficiency of UCC over years has been inhibited by the challenges common to higher institutions of learning in Africa.

The Strategic Plan - Preamble

The mandate of University of Cape Coast as stipulated in the legislative Instrument that established the University was very specific: to provide a tertiary education to Ghanaians and the rest of the world, a mandate UCC has been able to carry out since its inception till now. However, the emerging challenges of the new global environment have to some extent inhibited the university’s ability to effectively and efficiently implement its mandate. It therefore becomes imperative for the institution to strategically reposition itself to continue to be relevant and effective in the light of the emerging challenges. A select group was therefore put together to develop strategic options that will radically transform the University’s performance whilst taking cognizance of the emerging challenges facing the tertiary educational institutions in Ghana and the entire sub region. The select group included representation from the executive management, faculty (bothacademic and managerial) the administrative functions and student body.

The Genesis - Gripe Session

A strategic planning session involves dispassionate deliberation without any inhibition from any quarter. Participants are expected to freely interact and discuss issues without any tension or inhibition whatsoever. In order to create that environment for frank discussions at the sessions, a gripe session was held to discuss and break the myths, taboos and conflicts that are associated with the University of Cape Coast just like any other human institutions. Participants were asked to frankly discuss subjects which otherwise are no-go areas thereby diffusing tensions and animosities in the atmosphere and opened up the session for free interactions. The following are the summary of issues discussed during the gripe session. There is the incidence of top management imposing their religious faith on the entire set up Inadequate information flows for example on issues relating to promotions and entitlements thus encouraging the dissemination of hearsay’s. Perceived delays in promotion of people considered outspoken Personalization of issues/criticisms and dissents being equated to deviance. Unspoken conflict between Academic and Administrative Staff e.g. De-couping Lack of wide consultations during major decision making processes and the non-use of official channels of communication Proliferation of male lecturer – female students relationships and allegations of unmarked scripts. The practice of making professors heads of faculties, departments and units irrespective of their efficiency and career limitations in the university Perceived discrimination in respect of supports and lack of honesty in staff appraisal Increasing incidence of nepotism, tribalism especially in the employment of staff (in-breeding) perceived stronghold of unions on workers.

The Planning Process

The HAX approach to Strategic Planning was employed for the planning process. This approach offered the most comprehensive and integrative strategic planning framework currently available and had a demonstrated track record of successful implementation. It also provides a well-structured approach to strategic planning through which management defines the agenda of their organization, taking into consideration the realities of both the endogenous and exogenous factors that impact the organization. The approach also involves the identification of the key challenges which the organization needs to overcome to ensure the achievement of its pre-defined purpose. These challenges influence the design of the strategy captured as high-level Strategic Thrusts. Strategic Thrusts are then broken down into specific Action Plans with appropriate resources determined and secured for them. Finally, the process defines measures and milestones by which the plan may be managed. The process proposes three basic perspectives that serve as the central foci of strategy – Corporate, Strategic Business Unit (SBU)/Faculty, Functional/Departmental. The diagram below shows the three strategic perspectives.

CORPORATE STRATEGY	FACULTY STRATEGY	DEPARTMENTAL STRATEGY
Misson of the Oganization	Mission of the Faculty	Functional Competencies
Strategic Thrust-Budget	Broad and Specific Action	DEPARTMENTAL STRATEGY
Faculty Requirements	Departmental Requirements	Action Programs on Budget

It is the corporate strategy that drives the entire organization and set the agenda for the pre-defined purpose and is represents by the current stage of the process. It looked at the issues that arose at the highest level of abstraction of an organization. The resultant outputs define the purpose, tone, priorities and approach that will drive strategy at the next two levels. After the corporate strategy level, the faculty level strategy that takes their lead from the overall Corporate Strategy will be developed. At this level, issues specific to the various faculties would be addressed. The action programs derived here would be in support of Corporate Strategy and additionally serve as a guide for the next level of strategy. The final level of the process represents the functional/departmental strategies. Again, these will take their lead from the faculty strategies and will derive action programs to complement and support the faculty strategies and subsequently the entire Corporate Strategy

The Corporate Strategy

The Corporate Strategy as described earlier defined broad aims and objectives at the corporate level. The process involved the definition of the University’s mission statement, corporate internal scrutiny that culminated in the definition of the university’s strengths and required strengths. This was preceded by detailed analysis of the university’s external environment that impact positively and negatively on its operation. Thereafter, ten strategic thrusts captured in a relatively high level deliverables, but tightly focused and describe measurable outcomes were derived to define the vision of UCC. The process forced the team to address a wide range of contextual issues that had significant implications for the establishment of a relevant strategy.

The Timeframe of the Plan

The University elected to set the timeframe of its current plan at 5 years commencing from July 2002. This choice was driven by the fact that it was relatively shorter and predictable global and national environment.

Mission Statement

In defining UCC’s Mission Statement, two key parameters were analysed. The first was the business scope, which refers to the University’s domain as defined by its products, markets and geographical location in which it operates. The second was its unique competencies defined as the tangible and intangible resources and differentiating capabilities that determine how it competes. The most significant changes between the current and future prioritisations for each factor were then stated as challenges that the university had to address in order to bring about the desired change. The Mission Statement derived from this process of analysis was a comprehensive statement of strategic intent specifying UCC’s scope and unique competencies and has been crafted as follow: Mission Statement ‘The University of Cape Coast is a University of choice in Ghana. It is uniquely placed to provide quality education through the provision of comprehensive liberal and professional programs that challenge learners to be creative and innovative. Through distance, it extends expertise and facilities to train professionals for education industry and commerce by employing modern technologies in this enterprise. The University constantly seeks alternative ways to meet growing needs and programs. The institution continues to expand existing highly qualified faculty and administrative staff, offering conducive environment that motivates them to position the University to respond effectively to the developmental needs of a changing world.

Corporate Internal Scrutiny

The next stage of the process involved a detailed corporate internal scrutiny. Here two fundamental concepts that underpin strategic thinking – The value chain analysis and generic competitive strategies – were used in the scrutiny of UCC’s environment. The process involves the critical analysis of the activities that create the value that the stakeholders pay for. It also involves the analysis of two distinct and universally applicable ways of achieving competitive advantage – cost leadership and differentiation. The process produced a comprehensive understanding of the strengths and weaknesses with which sustainable advantage will be achieved through the challenges arising there from. These were prioritised as follows: Strengths

1. Runs a broad based liberal and professional educational program
2. Highly skilled self motivated dedicated staff
3. Partially decentralized financial structure
4. Vast stretch of land
5. Reasonable amount of physical structure

Required Strengths

1. Lack of teamwork
2. Poor information flow
3. Weak IT infrastructure
4. Inadequate infrastructure (teaching & learning)
5. Inertia – not adaptive to change
6. Aging staff
7. Inability to raise funds internally
8. Poor planning due to inertia and poor funding. Planning is mostly adhoc
9. Evaluation exercise is virtually non-existent

Corporate Environmental Scan

This stage involved the analysis of exogenous factors, which impact (negatively or positively) or are impacted upon by the university’s corporate actions. This is followed by an assessment of the influence of each issue on the operations of the university. As a prelude to the analysis, critical appraisal was made of all developments in the university’s operating environment especially stakeholder needs, sector trends and competitive forces. The analysis of the university’s exogenous environment covered the various relevant dimensions - the economy, the education sector, technological trends, supply of human resource, political, social and legal factors. The final output of this phase is the successful identification of key opportunities and threats facing the university and these were identified to be: Key Opportunities

1. Internet Access – ICT
2. Education Fund – GET Fund
3. Private sector development drive of Government
4. Government’s emphasis on distant education development
5. The concept of continuous learning is gaining grounds
6. International awards
7. Globalization
8. ECOWAS regional integration
9. Demand for three-year education.

Key Threats

1. Dwindling governments subvention to tertiary education
2. Poor condition of service of staff
4. Government’s emphasis on distant education development
5. The concept of continuous learning is gaining grounds
6. The HIPC initiatives
7. Student unrest and staff strike actions
8. Increasing enrolment without corresponding increase in infrastructure
9. PSI being a threat to UCC’s ability to strategize based on its own initiatives.

Strategic Thrusts

These represent the translation of the broad sense of direction emanating from the process into a practical set of instructions, which will move the university to its most desirable state. They are the apogee of the strategic planning process for the institution and describe its strategic agenda as derived from the preceding analyses. They are captured as 10 high level comprehensive statements of the university’s strategic priorities and are challenging enough to ensure that in achieving them the institution will undergo a significant transformation. The Strategic Thrusts reflect the dynamic changes in the environment and build on the organization’s strengths that will enable it to achieve competitive superiority. They also signal which organizational units will be responsible for responding to them and thus guide the formulation of strategic units and functional strategy. For the University of Cape Coast, its strategic agenda is defined by the following thrusts.

Corporate Strategic Thrusts

1. To vigorously promote programs and position UCC as a centre of excellence
2. To attract and retain high calibre academic and administrative staff
3. To vigorously develop new and relevant programs and periodically review the existing ones.
4. To provide integrated modern ICT facilities
5. To aggressively develop linkages with local and foreign institutions and partnership with industry
6. To undertake vigorous fund raising drive (IGF & Fiscal discipline)
7. To create an organizational culture that enhances efficiency, discipline and commitment
8. To improve upon physical infrastructure and support services to enhance teaching, learning and research
9. To improve upon management capacity and institutional governance structure
10. To create a conducive working environment

Responsibility Matrix And Action Plans

Responsibility for oversight of the execution of each Strategic Thrust must be assigned to ensure that its execution is managed. The strategic plan assigns primary as well as supporting responsibility for each of the ten key thrusts. To ensure accountability and control, the university’s strategy identified the individual best suited, in terms of authority and expertise, for holding the primary responsibility for each of the Strategic Thrusts. To make the strategic thrusts operational, each of them was broken down into specific actions programs. The Action Plans outline the steps that need to be executed to ensure that the strategic thrusts are achieved. To each action is allocation an unequivocal responsibility for execution (including any support responsibilities), a budgetary estimate, a performance metric with target value and a deadline for implementation. The action plans for this strategic plan are detailed in Appendix 1.

Performance Measures

In order to ensure that those responsible for the university’s strategy are able to manage its implementation and control its execution, key indicators to be used to evaluate managerial results were defined. These performance measures describes the strategic intentions of the university in terms of numerical targets. By focusing on achieving these numbers, the executive team and managers of the institution will be able to measure progress towards strategic objectives. For the university, efforts were made to define both financial and non-financial metrics (including target values) for its strategy. The structure for these measures was Kaplan and Norton’s Corporate Balanced Scorecard. The Balanced Scorecard provides a highly focused, action-driven means of measuring corporate performance. By selecting measures that reflect the objectives of the strategy, it gives a clear indication of progress towards strategic goals. It thus makes strategy operational by converting it into a set of performance measures and targets. The performance measures (including action plans and responsibilities) developed in support of the Select committee’s ten desired Strategic Thrusts are also detailed in Appendix 1

Conclusion

The new Mission, Strategic Thrust and Key Actions detailed in this document summarize the operations and priorities of UCC. When successfully implemented, these should enable the institution to appropriately face the challenges ushered in by government policy, stakeholder requirements and international trends. A key determinant of whether the strategic objectives will be realized is the extent to which the key stakeholders would accept them. It is imperative that the essence of the strategic direction is explained to all stakeholders, in order to guarantee their commitment and support for the bold initiatives to be undertaken.