The University Governance Screening Card: A tool for Benchmarking University Governance

Abstract

University Governance addresses how universities and higher education systems define and implement their goals, manage their academic programs, student life, and physical, Financial, and human resources; and monitor their achievements and results, such as whether programs match market needs and graduate students with needed skills. The key role that university governance plays in the improvement of education quality is now a broad consensus, especially in MENA, where higher education representatives have expressed a specific need for a benchmarking tool. In response to this call, the World Bank’s regional program on higher education developed a University Governance Screening Card (UGSC) to assess to what extent MENA universities follow good governance practices aligned with their institutional goals. With the UGSC already implemented in 100 universities from seven countries (Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, West Bank & Gaza, Tunisia), and a regional report, this tool now includes an online survey for higher education institutions and a databank.