ID: 56 EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT ECOSYSTEM
STRATEGIES FOR ELIMINATING CORRUPTION IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND FOSTERING EXCELLENCE IN HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT Thanikachalam Vedhathiri vthani2025@yahoo.in
Integrity â– Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and
â– knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful(Samuel Johnson)
Corruption? â– Almost all countries have been affected by ever growing corruption in education
(Katharina Ochse, 2004, Aishalabi, 2013, Ali Pajazite &Shipe Gerguri, Anne Lonsotale, Armin Kizalic, 2015, Ararat Osipian, 2008, Davidson, 2008, Josep Attich, 2015, Jennifer Washburn, 2006, Kai Ren, 2012, Keteven Rostiashvili, 2004, Nataliya Vanessa Valentino, 2007, Saule Aripora, 2015, Sean Coughian, 2013, Stephen, 2008, Smirnova, 2013 Goolam Mohamedbhai, 2015, etc.)
â– Most of the countries, UNDP, UNESCO, and World Bank have developed guidelines to eliminate corruption in education.
Integrity, Intelligence, and Energy (Warren Buffet)
■ In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: - INTEGRITY - INTELLIGENCE, and - ENERGY. If they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.
Process adopted for Selecting the CEOs of the State Universities ■ A Search Committee composed of eminent academicians is constituted. ■ Announcement appears in the newspapers. ■ Around 100 applicants would apply. ■ The Chairman of the Search Committee receives the applications. ■
Three member committee scrutinizes the applications.
■ Then they shortlist three promising candidates. ■ The final list is submitted to the Chancellor of the University for choosing the best candidate.
How does the Search Committee fixes the criteria for Excellence? ■ Highest qualification. ■ Publications. ■ Awards received. ■ What are missed ? -
Vision for development
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Envisaged Institutional Transformation Process
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Envisaged contribution to human capital
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Envisaged Centers of Excellence
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Strategic Planning based on the Context (Economy, Emerging Technology, Human capital needs, desired contribution to knowledge capital, Generating funds for growth, etc.)
Analysis of the Strength of the Candidates and Rank Ordering ■ No weightage is allotted to the leadership, strategic planning and performance management. ■ No numerical grading is given to various components of the performance. ■ Supportive Leadership is not assessed. ■ Expertise on the higher education administration is not evaluated. ■ No institutional development process is called for.
Many CEOs have been selected through a faulty process ■ There is an invisible and powerful hand in the background. ■ The candidates pay a huge bribe. ■ Later they plan to get it with interest. ■ The corruption mill start working in the Civil works, purchases, faculty selection/ promotion and confirmation. ■ Marks, grades, scholarships…. ■ The quality of education deteriorates. ■ Best faculty gets frustration.
Mother of All Corruptions in Education ■ Centers around the selection of corrupt CEOs in Educational Institutes. ■ Many court cases have judged the quantum of corruption and passed stringent orders like jail and punishment. ■ Many inquiry committees have investigated and upheld the complaints made on the CEOs. ■ Only two countries (China and Japan) have stringent guidelines to select the outstanding CEOs.
Cases for analysis and suggestions for improvement â– A set of five cases was presented to the group of senior faculty members who underwent training programs in leadership development, institutional development, strategic planning, and higher education administration.
Investigated Corrupt Practices
Civil Works
Purchases
Fellowship Grants
Staff Selection, Development and Promotion
Project Approvals
Examinations, Marking, Grading
Project Implementations
Education ? ■ Education is fundamental human right and a major driver for economic development ■ It strengthens personal integrity and shapes the society in which we live. ■ Education typically comprises 20-30% of countries budget ■ It is critically prone to corruption (Transparency International)
Corruption in Higher Education ■ Corruption in Higher Education is a newly emerging topic in the field of Educational Research (Ararat Osipian, 2008). ■ Plagiarism, cheating and fraud have increased (Davidson, 2008). ■ Degree Mills have cropped up in all parts of the world (Goolam Mohamedbhai, 2015). ■ Corruption in engineering education are due to deviations from ideals, norms and standard practices.
Global Corruption Report ■ Forensic inquiry reveals that corruption for resources, fame and notoriety place extraordinary pressures on higher education institutes. ■ In some cases instances of corruption has invaded the whole system of higher education. ■ Reputation and ethics are far more becoming important to higher education institutes.
Why?
Corruption is due to poor teacher and student quality
Low Effective Penalties
Limited relevance of knowledge and skills through education (Vanessa Valentino, 2007)
War on Corruption in Education ■ Goolam Mohamedbhai (2015) concluded that it is high time now to “Declare War on Corruption in Higher Education”. ■ Ministry of Education and Youth, Moldova became active in Addressing Academic Corruption ( Vanessa Valentino, 2007) ■ An action plan to prevent and combat corruption in the education system was authorized in collaboration with the Centre for Combating Economic Crime and Corruption. ■ The Ministry of Education and Youth, Moldova developed a standardized national entrance examination and outsourced state examinations to an independent external agency.
Combating Corruptions in Education ■ UNESCO’s International Institute of Educational Planning (IIEP) and the US-based Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) addressed the corruption. ■ There is a need to set up a consortium of relevant state, national and international organizations to device appropriate strategies, policies, and actions for combating the scourge.
Objectives of Research ■ Identify typical cases in corruption that were deducted in engineering education. ■ Develop strategies and processes to solve them. ■ To obtain implementable solutions in combating corrupt practices in education through Quality Circles constituted through diverse faculty members who are planning to manage human resources and develop institutions.
Short-term Faculty Development Courses Linked Higher Education Administration
Institutional Development
Innovation in Engineering Education
Learning Organization Development
Student Services
Internal Revenue Generation and Utilization
Human Resources Management
Research Methodology
01 Constituting Quality Circles through Senior Faculty Members who participated in the workshops on Institutional Development (21), Overseas Participants in Human Resource Development (34), Postgraduate students in Institutional Development (11) and Doctoral Students (3) in the Interdisciplinary Research in Engineering Education.
02
03
Distributing the cases to analyze and suggest preventive methods based on the questions
Present the best suggestions to the whole class for review and improve.
Identified Cases in Corruption Selection of CEOs for Engineering Education Institutes ■ Implementing the Consultancy Projects ■ Utilization of Project Funds ■
■ Building Works ■ Conduct of Final Examinations
A case in the CEO Selection ■ An autonomous institution has authority to select the CEO as per the service and recruitment rules. Most qualified faculty with excellent accomplishment in research, publications and consultancy works. ■ During short-listing, the former CEO wanted the best candidate to be rejected. ■ He removes the years of experiences, credentials that this candidate , research publications and other global contributions. ■ Another candidate with less that two years of experience at the professor’s grade and who was demoted from the director’s post to a lower post approached a powerful politician. ■ Now evaluate the case and give a solution to select the best candidate.
Suggestions from the QC to Prevent Corrupt Practices in the selection of a CEO ■ Case: I – Selection of CEOs ■ Select the most dedicated, highly qualified, motivated and outstanding experts with integrity ■ The Advertisement for the Post should be based on the Service and Recruitment Rules and no criteria should be omitted. ■ Check the truth of the claims of all the candidates and verify the comparative statement . ■ Rank order their achievement, experience and vision of the candidates. ■ Get the peer review. ■ Evaluate the planning and implementation capabilities. ■ Prepare the final list with detailed marks and ranks.
Handing over the Consultancy Projects won to an external agency where the CEO has interest. ■ In this institute, competent key faculty bid for development projects through proper channel. ■ In one such event an senior most professor has won a development project under an international development agency for preparing maintenance of modern machines. ■ Later, the CEO wanted him to handover the project since there will be more academic work. ■ The professor has to leave the project in the hands of the CEO.
Suggestions from the QC to Prevent Corrupt Practices ■ Case: II- Implementing the Consultancy Projects ■ If there is NO need to change the project team, maintain the same team since the CEO has accepted to bid under prevailing condition. ■ Strengthen the project team. ■ Provide additional resources, if needed. ■ Resolve the conflicts, if any. ■ Do not transfer the project to any outside organization, since, the institute would not only loose the funds but also loose the academic reputation and leadership. ■ If the situation demands for an additional expert, appoint adjunct faculty ■ Monitor the progress.
Utilization of Research Fellowship Grants ■ The MHRD has granted 10 fellowships to an institute for undertaking research works on the emergence of technology based and industry specific postgraduate programs so that the graduates can take up many research projects in emerging technology in consultation with the new industries developments. ■ The first CEO who did not have doctoral qualification, skills and competence in the industry relevant research projects did NOT implement the fellowship. ■ The next CEO also did not show any interest. ■ Mean while the faculty members got approval for implementing postgraduate programs and the interdisciplinary research program leading to PhD degree.
Suggestions from the QC to Prevent Corrupt Practices Case Select Constitute Follow Countersign Pay
Case: III – Utilization of Research Fellowship Funds
Select Brilliant Candidates through Written Examination and Interview Constitute Qualified and Experienced Senior Faculty Members for the Doctoral Committee. Follow the University Rules for Prescribing the Courses of Study and Examination. Check the accomplishments and Countersign the Biannual Progress Reports. Pay the fellowships and contingency grants regularly as per the norms.
Corruption in the Building Works ■ A newly joined CEO wanted to implement the civil works without handing over to an external Engineering department. ■ He also got the approval from the Board of Governors to undertake projects up to five lakhs. ■ Later he recruited a consultant for civil works. ■ The team composed of the CEO and Consultant violated all norms and introduced corrupt practice. ■ Once the corrupt practices were attracted the attention of the auditors, the consultant resigned and left.
Suggestion s from the QC for Preventing Corrupt Practices
Case
IV-Building Works
Follow
Follow the Norms, Rules, and Standards
Get
Get the prescribed EMD and IT Clearance
Record
Record the progress in the Field Measurement Book
Conduct
Conduct check measurement
Pay Deduct
Pay the bills as per the Agreement Deduct the IT and Remit to Government
Corrupt Practices in the Conduct of Final Examinations ■ This autonomous institute planned to conduct the final examinations. ■ The HOD of the department did not send the answer sheets to the external examiner but he himself corrected and forged the external examiner’s signature. ■ He usually cut the scheduled classes and never complete the syllabi. ■ In another program, he didn’t correct the monthly test papers and assignments but he awarded the internal evaluation marks to the students. ■ There were many failures in the university examination.
Suggestion s from the QC to Prevent Corrupt Practices
Case
Case : V- Conduct of Final Examinations
Utilize
Utilize the Autonomy with Accountability
Follow
Follow the Norms and Standards
Constitute Constitute the Board of Examiners Send
Send the honorarium through Cheques only or Electronically Transfer the Money
Review
Review the Answer scripts
Follow
Follow the Financial Rules
Final Summary of the QC to eliminate corruption in the higher education
Constitute Bring
Constitute Judicial Body to Investigate the Deviations Bring Accountability in all Academic Activities
Ensure
Ensure Ethics
Ensure
Ensure Integrity
Maintain Maintain Reputation Monitor
Monitor the Payments
Ensure
Ensure the Best Academic Ecosystem
Real Service (Douglas Adams)
â– To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, that is sincerity and integrity.
Conclusion ■ If the best candidate is selected for the CEO’s post, then he/she would ensure Ethics, Integrity, Reputation, Desired Contribution to Human and Knowledge Capital and Excellence. ■ Corrupt Practices would disappear. ■ There is no place for “Invisible Hands” in the Educational Management and Administration.
Thank You â– Your Questions Please.