Volume 03 Issue 05-2023
9
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
(ISSN
–
2771-2141)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
05
Pages:
09-13
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
993
)
(2022:
6.
015
)
(2023:
7.
164
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
ABSTRACT
The paper reviews briefly research outcomes and debate around university autonomy in the global world. Different
types of autonomy and components are discussed together with pre-requisites for the process of moving towards
independent organizational governance. The role of stakeholders and their expectations are presented.
KEYWORDS
Autonomy, academic freedom, financial independence, organizational independence.
INTRODUCTION
The topic of university autonomy has been widely
discussed and researched in developed countries for
quite a long time. There are many studies and reviews
of how university autonomy has evolved in European
countries, the United States of America, Great Britain
and the developing Asia-Pacific countries. [7]
On the territory of the post-Soviet space, the concept
of university autonomy mainly includes the transfer of
powers to universities for independent academic and
financial management, which includes decisions on the
selection and opening of new academic institutions,
research, management of the economic activities of
the university, determining the cost of a training
contract, financial budgeting and issues of expanding
the infrastructure of the university. [1]
Research Article
COMPONENTS OF UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY
–
EXPECTATIONS AND
FACTORS FOR DEVELOPMENT
Submission Date:
May 03, 2023,
Accepted Date:
May 08, 2023,
Published Date:
May 13, 2023
Crossref doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/ajsshr/Volume03Issue05-03
Xasanov Alisher Nadjmiddinovich
Webster University In Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Journal
Website:
https://theusajournals.
com/index.php/ajsshr
Copyright:
Original
content from this work
may be used under the
terms of the creative
commons
attributes
4.0 licence.
Volume 03 Issue 05-2023
10
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
(ISSN
–
2771-2141)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
05
Pages:
09-13
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
993
)
(2022:
6.
015
)
(2023:
7.
164
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
If one examines the articles regarding university
autonomy, it is very common to find discussions
regarding the freedom of universities to choose the
direction of teaching and research, without
interference from outside state institutions of power.
[2,5,6,7] The main task of universities, in these articles,
indicates the importance of universities, as free
educational institutions, in cultivating students as
literate and full-fledged citizens of the free world,
capable of critical thinking and independent decision-
making.
However, to a greater extent, in recent decades,
research on university autonomy has been focused on
discussing managerial freedom and improving the
efficiency of universities, developing criteria for
evaluating the activities of universities as public
institutions that receive funding from external state
and non-state institutions. In the post-Soviet space,
where the state dominates the educational sectors of
the economy, public policy plays a key and overarching
role in determining the direction of university research
and determining the results of the quality of education
in universities. Public authorities use financial and legal
policies that define the scope of university education
and thus describe the boundaries of university
autonomy. [2,3]
If we look at European universities, it can be noted
that, despite the significant level of funding for the
activities of universities at the expense of the state
(75%), in recent decades there has been an active
discussion of increasing the level of autonomy of
universities. [6] At the level of public policy, one can
observe a tendency to provide an increasing level of
autonomy to universities, through the possibility of
independent management of financial and economic
activities through various reforms in the field of higher
education. Research shows that increasing the level of
university autonomy is correlated with an increase in
the level of competence of its graduates, as well as the
quality of university research activities. [3,8]
At the same time, increasing the level of university
autonomy means that universities have a greater level
of responsibility for their results. University autonomy
can be described in four parts:
1) Academic autonomy - this includes providing
universities with independent decisions on granting
scientific degrees, reviewing and developing new
curricula, forms and methods of teaching, defining
areas and areas, as well as the scope, goals and
methods of scientific research.
2) Financial autonomy - this includes independent
decisions of universities on sources of funding,
distribution of funds received, decisions on the amount
of tuition fees, decisions on the distribution and
accumulation of financial surpluses.
3)
Organizational
autonomy
-
this
includes
independent decision-making regarding the structures
Volume 03 Issue 05-2023
11
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
(ISSN
–
2771-2141)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
05
Pages:
09-13
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
993
)
(2022:
6.
015
)
(2023:
7.
164
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
of universities, its charters, policies and procedures,
the conclusion of contracts with external and internal
suppliers, the creation and operation of internal
bodies, as well as the election of persons making key
strategic decisions.
4) Personnel autonomy - this includes the development
of its own policies and procedures, according to which
the university recruits administrative, academic, and
operational staff, determines the level of wages and
career advancement.
If we pay attention to the reforms carried out in the
Republic of Uzbekistan in recent years, we can note
that the government is faced with the challenge of a
rapidly growing population and a large demand for
educational services. In this regard, the state realized
the need for reforms to significantly expand the
availability of higher education, which in 2016 was
about 8%, that is, out of 100 applications received for
university admission, state universities could provide
places for only 8 applicants. In the concept for the
development of higher education in the Republic of
Uzbekistan, the task was set to increase enrollment to
the level of 50 percent by 2030. With more than
700,000 graduates graduating from schools, colleges
and lyceums in Uzbekistan each year, universities
should raise their admission quotas from 80,000 in
2016 to 350,000 in 2030. [11]
This means not only expanding quotas at existing
universities, but also creating new public universities,
enabling the opening of private universities, as well as
opening joint educational programs and universities
with foreign partners.
However, most of the burden, in expanding the quotas
for admitting new students, is assigned to state
universities, the number of which increased from 2016
to 2023 by one and a half times and exceeded 100
universities. [9]
At the same time, questions arise about financing the
activities of existing and new universities, covering
their current and capital expenses, effective
management
of
economic
activity,
updating
infrastructure,
including
student
dormitories,
educational and laboratory facilities and equipment.
The state budget cannot afford to maintain so many
universities and cover all the necessary economic
requirements and needs. On the other hand,
universities should improve the quality of educational
services
and
research
activities,
joining
the
competition in local and international rankings. In this
regard, starting from 2018, the government piloted
reforms to provide universities with greater autonomy
and the transition from a centralized state corporate
governance system to a decentralized autonomous
corporate governance system for universities,
transferring to them some of the powers of academic
Volume 03 Issue 05-2023
12
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
(ISSN
–
2771-2141)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
05
Pages:
09-13
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
993
)
(2022:
6.
015
)
(2023:
7.
164
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
and
financial
decisions
for
independent
management.[10]
On the other hand, funding from the state budget was
limited, obliging universities to independently seek
financial resources to cover current and capital
expenditures.
In 2021, the number of universities granted financial
and academic autonomy has been expanded from ten
to forty. Along with this, universities were given the
opportunity to make their own decisions regarding the
management of their own infrastructure, and, if
necessary, invest in its expansion, leasing or sale.
Universities were also given the authority to review
existing academic programs and forms of their
provision, close unclaimed ones and open new ones,
determine admission and pricing quotas. The state
reserves the right to place an annual state order for
certain educational areas, providing coverage for the
costs associated with the payment of wages, as well as
the payment of student contracts, up to 25% of the
provided quotas for student admission. [10]
Based on the above reforms, it can be noted that the
government, as the main founder of state universities,
is interested in their financial independence and less
dependence on the state budget, thereby transferring
the university model to greater self-financing,
increasing the efficiency of their financial, economic
and economic activities, as well as improving the
quality of education and the compliance of academic
programs with the requirements of the labor market,
through graduates entering the labor market.
If we pay attention to the interests of students and
their parents, as one of the stakeholders of
universities, it can be noted that their main interest is
to receive a quality education with minimal financial
investment, as payment for student education, as well
as a guarantee of subsequent employment according
to the specialty. [6] To do this, the university needs to
correlate the pricing of training programs according to
their demand in the labor market and future career
prospects. From this we can conclude that universities
need to constantly monitor and update curricula and
teaching methods in order to achieve their goals for
the compliance of university graduates with the
requirements of the labor market in terms of their
knowledge, skills and qualifications.
On the other hand, industry and employers are
interested in ensuring that university graduates have
the necessary skills and knowledge to perform their
tasks in the country's rapidly changing economy.
In conclusion, it can be said that the interests of
university stakeholders in Uzbekistan are largely
identical to those trends that can be observed
throughout the rest of the developing world. The only
difference is that the labor market in the rapidly
changing economy of Uzbekistan, which is undergoing
Volume 03 Issue 05-2023
13
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
(ISSN
–
2771-2141)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
05
Pages:
09-13
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
993
)
(2022:
6.
015
)
(2023:
7.
164
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
an active transformation from a centralized monopoly
state economy to a more open, market economy and
increasingly integrating with world markets, the
requirements for the depth of knowledge and
qualifications are not yet so high. However, with the
growth of competition and the further rapid growth of
economies in Central Asia, the requirements for
graduates and, accordingly, for universities will
increase more and more.
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