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COOPERATION IN FRENCH SPEAKING UNIVERSITIES

A network between the heads of administration in French-speaking universities

GISGUF(Groupement International des Secrétaires Généraux

des Universités Francophones)

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1 - The GISGUF network (goals, organization, topics, achievements…)

2 - A cooperation with Moroccan universities as part of an agreement between the French and Moroccan governments

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1 - The GISGUF network

French-speaking heads of administration (HoAs)

started an informal cooperation in 1977.

The purpose was -- and still is -- Build permanent linksbetween HoAsWithin French-speaking universities

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The NAME given to this network

Groupement International des Secrétaires

Généraux des Universités Francophones

(GISGUF) Association (« loi 1901 ») Now a member of « AUF »: Agence

Universitaire de la Francophonie (association for rectors, presidents, deans, researchers)

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GOALS

Exchange and establish professional training to accompany pending changes in higher education and research

Coordinate skills and abilities of members Organize meetings on special topics Organize exchanges of « best practices »

between HoAs

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MEMBERS

HoAs from totally or partially French-speaking universities

« friends » 140 members from 21 countries

Africa : 15 + 13 (Northern Africa) Belgium : 6 Canada : 26 Lebanon : 3 Switzerland : 15 France : 62

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ORGANIZATION

General assembly (every 2 years) Round Table (Board) : 11-14 members elected

for 2 years (by the different constituencies as HUMANE does)

President elected for 2 years (Michel Quimper from the University of Montréal)

michel.quimper@uquebec.ca

5-member executive committee

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15 CONFERENCES SINCE 1977

Belgium : 1987, 1997 Canada : 1979, 1989, 2001 France : 1977, 1985, 1991, 2003 Lebanon : 1999 Morocco : 2005 Switzerland : 1983, 1995 Tunisia : 1981, 1993

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TOPICS

1977 : decision-making process and procedures

1979 : role and responsibility of HoAs as regards official information

1981 : participation and management (the role of trade unions…)

1983 : new decentralization laws (1982 in France) and role of local authorities in higher education development

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1985 : university management in difficult economic contexts

1987 : assessment : liberating or confining? 1989 : international collaboration 1991 : the new university ( problems

encountered because of huge enrolment increases)

1993 : students, partners or customers ? 1995 : Funding and autonomy of higher

education institutions

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1997 : partnerships 1999 : risk management 2001 : the role of HoAs in implementing and

managing changes 2003 : autonomy and assessment 2005 : HoAs and governance

Presentations can be found on the web site :

http://www.gisguf.org/15e-colloque/conference.htm

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(1st page Giuliana ‘s presentation)

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2007 : «  Quality, the role of HoAs  »

Initiatives toward quality involve teaching, research and administrative procedures : how can HoAs contribute to improving quality ?

Geneva 20-24 June 2007

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Unfamiliar backgrounds (history, economy,

geography, culture …) can lead to certain difficulties in understanding presentations from other countries: it is useful to take time to obtain information before meetings or training sessions (e.g. training session on human resources management with African colleagues in 2005).

« Best practices » in a country can prove to be difficult to implement in other places (Canada is not France, e.g. evaluation of teachers …)

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Attending meetings costs time and money and

we lack both ! We must try to find a good balance between too little and too much (conference every 2 years)

Can a Canadian from Quebec easily understand a colleague from Meknès or Bouaké (and vice versa )? We all speak French but ….

Proceedings take too much time to be produced and distributed to members (not enough time and means) and therefore are less useful than they could be

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Broad-mindedness is necessary in our job to be

able to anticipate changes and manage new partnerships : GISGUF - and HUMANE - are valuable training grounds for understanding what might soon take place in higher education

Continuing education is provided through the network

The network is recognized by our rectors and presidents ; conferences are sponsored by the minister of education and local authorities

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We can exchange doubts about our job and position: it helps !

Last but not least : we derive a lot of pleasure in meeting new colleagues and discovering new places in the world ( we deserve this break sometimes…)

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Cocorico !

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2 - Cooperation with Moroccan universities

An agreement between Moroccan and French governments was signed for the period 2002 – 2005

The agreement was overseen by the associations of university presidents in both countries

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GOALS

Support the implementation of the reform to be headed in Moroccan universities

Get French universities to understand the purpose and contents of the reform

Create institutional relationships between the 2 associations of university presidents

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The Moroccan BACKGROUND in 2002…

The reform of the 14 universities in Moroco was urgent :

The number of students was increasing rapidly : they had to build facilities in a very short time

Morocco wanted its students to be able to attend courses in European universities : they had to adapt curricula to European standards

Departments were autonomous : universities needed a new form of governance and a centralized administration to lead the reform

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The reform included :

1 Pedagogy and curricula

2 Research and technology transfer

3 Governance and administration

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The administrative aspects of the project were assigned by the presidents to the French association of « secrétaires généraux »

We were asked to help the Moroccan colleagues be ready in September 2004

They had very little time to :

- recruit and train new staff (mostly scientists at doctorate level, often chemists)

- get information technology and necessary hardware and software

- conceive and implement central administration

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The method used : January 2003 : French HoAs went to Morocco to

learn about the Moroccan higher education system

October 2003 : the 14 Moroccan colleagues worked for a week in 6 French universities to get acquainted with our system

February 2004 : 9 French colleagues led a 4- day training seminar in 3 Moroccan cities : workshops were organized to deal with student information and careers, human resources management, finance and space management .

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The workshops brought together 50 people, which included representatives from all departments of one particular university as well as from several other universities (breaking down walls )

June 2004 : administrative heads of departements stayed for a week-long training session at French universities

September 2004 : they did it ! Students started a new academic year (no holidays for our Moroccan colleagues and staff…)

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They did it ! ?

Well done, hats off to our Moroccan colleagues I think the method was efficient ; I particularly

appreciated the time we all took to get acquainted with both educational sytems before proceeding further (we often lack this knowledge in other situations of cooperation)

This gave the Moroccan HoAs the opportunity to work together – something they had never done before – and create a network in their country

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But what next ?

We don’t really know…. 2/3 of HoAs have changed recently The programme, headed by presidents,

focused on curricula and research

But I am still in touch with a colleague from Rabat University : he is an academic and is now in charge of international affairs …

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WELCOME TO GISGUF

Next GISGUF conference

GENEVA

20 – 24 June 2007

« Quality, the role of HoAs »

web site : http://www.gisguf.org

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WELCOME TO GISGUF