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Challenges, Threats and Opportunities: A Summary

ACUCA President’s Visioning Workshop October 26 2007. Challenges, Threats and Opportunities: A Summary. The Questions:. What are the challenges, threats, and opportunities that you face today as a Christian University? How are you responding to these challenges, threats and opportunities?.

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Challenges, Threats and Opportunities: A Summary

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  1. ACUCA President’s Visioning Workshop October 26 2007 Challenges, Threats and Opportunities:A Summary

  2. The Questions: What are the challenges, threats, and opportunities that you face today as a Christian University? How are you responding to these challenges, threats and opportunities?

  3. The Questions: How can ACUCA support the members in responding to, or addressing these in the future? Improving your competitiveness as a University Reinforcing your mission as a Christian University? What programs and activities should ACUCA engage in, to fulfill its role? How should we organize in order to be more responsive to the needs of members?

  4. Challenges Balancing attention to the Christian Mission and responding to the market forces • Coping with the demands of a global environment • Building agility (flexibility and speed of response) • Impact of technology on teaching, need to adopt despite high cost

  5. Challenges • Operating in a complex, fast-changing diverse environment • Relevance of being Christian in the modern world, • Relevance of a Christian University in a multi-cultural, multi-religion environment • Challenge to project image as Christian University in an “appealing way” • Declining moral values in society • Different orientation of younger generation • Increasing number of incoming students without a Christian education

  6. Challenges • Job opportunities as driver for student choices of school and courses • Changing metrics of “quality education” • Maintaining standards and traditions of excellence • Managing human resources • Identifying and preparing leaders • Attracting and retaining high quality faculty • Non-academic staff have more attractive options

  7. Threats • Declining number of students • low birth rate (Japan, Korea and Taiwan) • competition from other institutions • Competition • Local (state schools with government subsidy, low-cost schools) • Foreign (students move abroad, schools from countries with aging population coming to Asia to recruit, schools abroad wanting to make a presence in Asia) • Diploma mills offering “job-relevant” courses

  8. Threats • Brain drain • faculty, administrators • Increasing costs of education • Private education becoming unaffordable • Schools dependent on tuition • Government mandates on Education

  9. Opportunities • Globalization makes Internationalization necessary • Linkages and Partnerships are available • Local and international institutions • Alumnis, professional organizations, • Industry (corporate social responsibility) • Competition drives Quality, new and innovative Programs • Unique Christian education may be attractive to address decline in values • Emerging Markets (e.g. Myanmar, need for English language, foreign students seeking lower cost quality education)

  10. Responses

  11. How ACUCA Can Support Members

  12. Improve Competitiveness • Strengthen collaboration • Benchmarking among members • Venue for sharing best practices • More information dissemination • Expand Internationalization • Student mobility • Faculty exchange • More academic collaboration • Programs, e.g. English • Team teaching among member universities (on-line, and off-line) • Research and publication (including fund sourcing)

  13. Improve Competitiveness • Joint human resource development programs • Administrators, • faculty • Staff • Mechanism for mutual recognition of graduates to facilitate mobility (MRA) • ACUCA Publications to feature • Mission of the Asian Christian Institution • What the member universities stand for, (helping in the marketing efforts of the Universities)

  14. Reinforcing Christian Mission • Clearly defined indicators of the unique features of a Christian University • Training program for Leaders on how to build and develop a truly Christian academic community • Venues (seminars, conferences, workshops) that forge the Christian mission and allow for candid and honest sharing of challenges and experiences • value enhancement, • community service learning • struggles with being a Christian university, giving witness to Christian education and its contribution to society • Meetings for campus ministers, chaplains

  15. Reinforcing Christian Mission • Conferences and activities to support leadership concerns of ACUCA(United Board is interested in giving support) • Joint service programs • Chaplain exchange • Cross cultural awareness event • Summer School program, • Internship program • Mutual visit of volunteer organizations, • Promotion of community service clubs based on Christian values • Nationwide activities on certain festivals or a common theme among local Christian universities (e.g. lighting of Christmas trees in unison in Taiwan)

  16. Other Programs • Member privileges • Establish database of learning resources • Student collaboration through the internet • On-line degree program • Annual summer camp instead of biennial

  17. ACUCA STRUCTURE

  18. Structure • Should be based on Mission or Purpose • Present structure seems to be working well • There is a need to get more active member involvement • National Chapters • Japan and Taiwan experience positive • Countries should decide, depending on their needs • Should not overlap with existing structure • Should not entail more expenses for members (e.g. meetings)

  19. General Secretariat • Permanent Location (9 respondents) • Is ideal if we have enough funding, otherwise it is too expensive. • But where and who? • Where ACUCA should have offices, • where UB CHEA is • in less developed country where it is not expensive, • Where political situatlon is stable and safe • accessible from various countries, • communication is easy, reliable and inexpensive • (Philippines, Taiwan, Japan or Korea)

  20. General Secretariat • Rotate (7 respondents) • Retain present system wherever the President is • Present GS is doing great work • No preference (3 respondents) • It does not matter, as long as the work is done • Internet, videoconferencing, websites should make it easier

  21. ACUCA Presidents 26 October 2007 Visioning Workshop

  22. Workshop Questions In order for ACUCA to support its members in responding to these challenges, threats and opportunities • What programs and activities should the network engage in ? • How should ACUCA be organized to move forward in the future? (e.g. location of secretariat, National chapters) • How do we encourage increased involvement and participation of members?

  23. Workshop Questions In the light of the suggested changes in direction, should we revisit our Mission and Purpose? How should we do it?

  24. ACUCA Purpose Through cooperation, mutual support and encouragement, the association endeavors to help the Christian universities and colleges in Asia: • develop and maintain their Christian character • enrich the quality of their educational programmes and those of the other institutions of learning; and • re-examine the relevance of their objectives and programmes in relation to the needs of a changing society

  25. Workshop Results • ACUCA Mandate, Purpose and Objectives as written still reflect the Mission of the network. • Some important questions to ask are: Who is ACUCA? How do we differentiate it from other groups of academic institutions pursuing the same goals? • ACUCA can be defined through its core values of Christianity, the quality of education its member institutions provide that manifest these values.

  26. Workshop Results • What are the qualities of a person educated in a Christian University in Asia? • Committed to social mission or care for the underprivileged (as demonstrated by participation in service learning experience, or immersion in marginalized communities) • A whole person - with developed knowledge, skills and attitudes (reflective of Christian character) • Open to, or promotes inter-religious (or peace and conflict) dialogue, • Faith and transcendental values are integrated into personal life • Understands the Christian perspective and values (through formal courses, and formation experience)

  27. Workshop Results • Next Step: this output to be shared with all members, and encourage more conversations to take place • Sharing “best practices” that fom students in abovementioned qualities • This can be started immediately through the internet, egroups, blogs? • Future conference themes may also revolve around reinforcing these qualities • Future directions, programs and activities may be guided by this (e.g. internationalization that addresses migration issues)

  28. Workshop Results • Other points that were agreed on: • Focus on programs and activities that are distinct and not duplications of programs of other organizations (e.g. chaplain exchange) • Create and maintain data base of all the information that members can benefit from. for example: • what members are doing differently and well • research for possible collaboration (e.g. on Muslim-Christian peace efforts)

  29. Workshop Results: Organization Structure • General Secretariat • Doing well • Keep the structure • GS goes where the President is • Review after three years • National Chapters • Taiwan and Japan experience • Members to be ENCOURAGED to form, depending on their perceive needs.

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