The European university alliances—an examination of organizational potentials and perils

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has repeatedly underlined the importance of higher education, research and innovation as drivers in the further development of Europe—economically, socially and culturally. One of the latest policy initiatives by the European Commission (EC) intended to promote this agenda is the European Universities Initiative (EUI) where alliances between universities across national borders are to identify new approaches for boosting European scientific cooperation. It might be argued that this development represents an attempt to find an organizational solution to the European policy ambitions in higher education, research and innovation. This article presents a framework for analysing European university alliances. Based on interviews with persons occupying key leadership and management roles in ten alliances, the article analyses the potential gains and perils alliances might face along four dimensions: their internal coordination, their ways of resolving conflicts, the commitment of member universities and the cultural characteristics of the alliances.

Managing Inter-University Digital Collaboration from a Bottom-Up Approach: Lessons from Organizational, Pedagogical, and Technological Dimensions

“…Thus, in the context of (digital) collaboration, especially when activities are locally impacted using technologies, the importance of creating trusted and secure spaces, in which people can exchange their opinions and feelings across different hierarchical layers, is revealed. The literature confirms the importance of building trust between the different stakeholders participating in university partnerships [10,16,27].…”

“…The implementation of collaboration-related policies is not free from tensions, especially between the decision-making authorities and the institutions adopting the new norms [9]. For this reason, the EU has implemented the European Strategy for Universities, and has proposed a Council Recommendation to promote effective European cooperation in higher education [10]. These policies aim to provide universities with the resources and strategies needed to succeed in digital transformation, facilitate closer collaboration between institutions, and offer joint transnational educational programs and degrees [10].…”

“…In terms of purpose, organizations may decide to collaborate, for example, to exchange knowledge, create joint research, and design new innovative educational programs [10,16]; to develop 'conjoint course development', such as master's programs [17], which may be the most common case of cooperation efforts; to promote so-called 'internationalization'; and to consolidate scientific and logistic expertise in one location, contribute to the employment market, and improve their reputation through the creation of trusted institutional and scientific connections [18].…”

“…In terms of organizational challenges, the literature has accounted for the role played, for example, by top-level support, leadership, commitment, trust, and open communication [21][22][23][24][25][26]. Special emphasis has been placed on 'trust' as a trigger for success in virtual collaboration and joint projects [10,16,27]. In addition, the literature has identified the importance both of maintaining an open communication with partners, and of creating partnership links with mutually reliable organizations, as two building blocks of inter-institutional 'trust' [28,29].…”

“…From a bottom-up experience, UPM/FUB (ID3) identified at least five critical points that should be considered in collaboration partnerships: (a) 'financial framework': the identification, and calculation of available funds and funds to be raised, and application for funding; (b) 'available time frame': the identification of the start and end dates of the project, the consideration of possible constraints related to fixed dates, and the construction of a milestone plan, with buffer zones and deadlines; (c) 'personnel capacities': the clarification of responsibilities and division of tasks with the teaching partner and, if applicable, the inclusion of student assistants or research assistants; (d) 'support from services for teaching and learning': this question should be posed right from the outset of the planning phase, and reiterated at critical junctures throughout the project; and (e) 'technical aspects': the clarification of the technical and e-learning infrastructure at one's own and partner university, and an early decision on which systems will be used. In this sense, the literature identifies similar operational aspects as challenges to virtual collaboration, including the coordination of academic calendars, student enrolment processes, workload distribution, credit recognition, student engagement, or screen fatigue [10,16,29]. Furthermore, the synchronization of activities between participating institutions is a crucial operational aspect, in which factors such as holidays, exams, student travel, and time differences should be considered [30].…”