UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY: WHAT ACADEMICS THINK ABOUT IT
Keywords:
university autonomy, university development, university management, university goalsAbstract
University autonomy is close to the heart of academics in higher education institutions around the world. It is centered on the belief that liberalism is the essential philosophy for the freedom in exploring and expanding the frontier of knowledge in every sphere of life and civilization, without the shackles of any agency or government politics and dictates. This paper presents the findings of a study on what academics think about university autonomy, which comprises several components such as governance and management, study programs, research and development, teaching, and student development. The study employed the survey method and involved 611 academics from five premier public universities in Malaysia. This study found that, to a large extent and contrary to popular perception, public universities still do have a high degree of autonomy in several components, particularly in determining study programs to be offered, human resource development, internationalization, collaborative ventures with industries, and research priorities.
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