University Administration Support Program (UASP)

Education, Higher Education Development, Research Support, Africa, Asia, Eurasia

The University Administration Support Program (UASP) supports the development of higher education management capacity in public universities in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ukraine. Through management skills training and hands-on experience at a respected public university in the United States, key mid and senior level university administrators are prepared to implement sustainable management reform at their home institutions.

Administrators spend approximately eight weeks collaborating with a U.S. administrative counterpart, building a case study in a specific area of university management to guide them and their colleagues in implementing progressive change at their home universities. The program also provides opportunities for seed funding and technical assistance for reform projects at participants’ home institutions.

UASP is developed by IREX with generous support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Application Information

Goals

UASP empowers participants to directly analyze U.S. models and management culture, and to consider possible solutions to management challenges they face in their home countries.

• UASP participants develop knowledge and skills to be catalysts of management change: “The UASP fellowship afforded me many insights into university management that I would otherwise not have had. I was privileged to have met key individuals leading strategic direction at my host university, and was intrigued by the similarities and differences between my home and host universities.” - 2010 UASP Participant

• UASP alumni implement management best practices at their home institutions: In addition to utilizing the skills and experience gained during their U.S. training at their home institutions, UASP alumni can also apply for follow-on grants to implement a specific reform project on a larger scale. Over 55 universities worldwide have undergone administrative reform because of UASP.

Project Activities

• Institutional Development: UASP provides opportunities for seed funding and technical assistance for reform projects at participants’ home universities. The more than 40 reform projects launched in universities thanks to UASP have included the establishment of a Tech Transfer center in Georgia, the creation of 30 local alumni association chapters in Ghana, and the launch of a student center to promote leadership and volunteerism in Ukraine.

• Sustainable Partnerships: UASP fellows, their U.S. counterparts, and their institutions create collaborative partnerships that have resulted in new ventures such as administrator and faculty exchanges, credit system recognition, and the organization of international conferences. 50 leading universities in 26 states across the U.S. have participated in UASP.

• Contributing to the Global Higher Education Community: Each UASP participant crafts a case study based on their training experience to share U.S. best practices with colleagues and to guide reforms at home. Recent examples include:

- Technology Transfer in the USA: U.S. Universities’ Experience for Georgia – 2010 UASP participant, Ilia State University

- Strengths of the Strategic Planning Process – The Case of Kent State University – 2010 UASP participant, University of Ghana

- Human Resource Management Practice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha: Lessons for the University of Education, Winneba – 2011 UASP participant, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

Over 90 UASP case studies are now freely accessible in the IREX online library.

UASP fellows focus on a broad range of management themes, many of which are new to the field of higher education management in their home countries: Academic Department Management, Admissions Management, Alumni Relations, Community Relations, Corporate Relations , Fundraising/Development, Government Relations, Human Resources Management, International Relations, Research Management, Strategic Planning, Campus Life/Student Services, Tech Transfer, University Financing, University Governance/Trustees.