The growing normative, financial, organizational and didactic autonomy, which has interested European universities, has stimulated the monitoring processes on efficiency, efficacy, and operational methods with which public resources are managed. Moreover, the association between financial funds, along with sustained costs and service quality, has strongly increased top management's attention to costs reduction and, above all, to the final user's satisfaction. In this new scenario, evaluation comes out to be the natural consequence of the strong universities' autonomist pressure. Therefore, this paper, after approaching universities' structural and systemic assets, as well as their relationship with the referring contest, analyses specific (related to the formative offer) and global university's performances measurement methods and evaluation difficulties. The exposed theoretical analyses are completed with an empirical application about an engineering degree course self-assessment.

Purpose of the paper:Starting from an overview of current trends, the aim of the present study is to identify models of cultural heritage enhancement in terms of consumer enjoyment from a new temporal and cognitive perspective.Methodology: The paper starts with a theoretical-conceptual analysis inherent to the main evolutionary stages of cultural heritage enhancement. It follows with the reporting of findings based on the Scenario Based Design (SBD) method relative to industrial research and experimental development in the context of the FIBAC project.Findings: The research evidences the empirical nature of the theoretical analysis carried out, identifying key elements relative to the visitor's experiential dimension and highlighting innovative modalities of cultural experience.Research limits: The focus of the research addresses empirical evidence resulting from a specific scenario, however to enable the generalization of the findings in terms of validity and reliability, a more widespread analysis would be necessary. Practical implications:The logic underlying the experimental element of the project envisages the full involvement and participation of the visitors and represents a stimulus for exalting the managerial potential of cultural institutions (in particular museums) from the perspective of service management.Originality of the paper: This lies in the resorting to SBD methodology, relative to the development of customized technologies in the specific context of the cultural heritage experience, above all from an interdisciplinary point of view. Furthermore, given the state of the art, the study represents the first concrete experience carried out within the museum context.

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During recent years radical changes have affected universities in most Western European countries, implying new pressures and demands on higher education systems and deeply influencing the context in which universities operate. The paper attempts to investigate governance issues and the need for new strategic paths emerging as a result of changed scenarios. Specifically, the greater number of stakeholders involved in academic activities requires universities to take into account a variety of social, economic and cultural factors when making strategic decisions. Adjustments in board composition through appointing non-academic members are signals of such trends. Moving from this consideration and relying on data on the governance structures of Italian universities, the paper discusses challenges for academic institutions in terms of change in their strategic management and governance structures as well as the likely directions such change is taking.