Call for Applications: DIES National Multiplication Trainings 2019-2020

                      

        

DIES NATIONAL MULTIPLICATION TRAININGS ON “ENHANCING CHANGE PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN KENYA.”

BACKGROUND

Kibabii University, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology and Moi University are jointly organizing a training course on “Enhancing Change Project Management for Economic Sustainability in Higher Education Institutions in Kenya.”

This intensive training course is part of the DIES programme (Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies) National Multiplication Trainings (NMT) which is coordinated by DAAD and aims at strengthening higher education management structures in developing countries.

The increase in competition and the rapid technological change, characterizing Higher Education Institutions(HEIs) operating environment require a shift towards new paradigms in the field of project management, financial and human resource management. Higher Education institutions globally are currently facing a myriad of challenges as majority of governments are seeking to reduce public expenditure on higher education. Further, governments are demanding greater accountability, efficiency and effectiveness in the management of higher education institutions resources. Given the decrease in funding for the sector, managing projects, human resources and budgets within higher education context bring unique challenges that require clear understanding of how the organizations operate in dynamic environments. Indeed, the education sector reforms in Kenya and regulatory framework place new and increasingly heavy demands upon management of higher education institutions, as they try to respond to diverse forces in the current and anticipated environment. With increase in enrollments of students, building projects, faculty number of staff, financial management, projects and human resource management are mandatory activities in enhancing accountability.

In this context university management in higher education sectors are shifting their attention to finding ways toward solid, long-term financial stability and effective management of their development projects as well as the human capital resources. To address the above-mentioned issues affecting this sector we seek to organize two National Multiplication Training workshops focusing on the prudent financial management, project and human resource management of institutions of higher education in Kenya. This workshop will provide the participants with expert knowledge and skills on the practical challenges affecting higher education in these three core areas and offer guidance on compliance with both the regulatory and reporting requirements.

The training is motivated by the following factors:

1. The need for sensitization and creating awareness of the current continental and regional activities related to project management, financial and human resource management for HEIs sustainability;
2. Increasing demand for university services against heavily constrained public budgets necessitating the need for training on prudent financial management;
3. Increasing costs of educational activities against heavily constrained public budgets necessitating the need to understand the University’s financial needs, current funding landscape, resource availability and support commitment in projects;
4. Declining priority for public support from the government necessitating the need for sensitization on alternative investment models in HEIs
5. Public resistance to increasing prices (tuition, fees) necessitating training on diversification of sources of financing and innovation resource mobilization strategies for HEIs
6. Inability to re-engineering cost structures necessitating the need for training on appropriate management of capital projects in HEIs
7. The need for integration of project management activities into the university system; and
8. Competition and demand for skilled human capital in HEIs against a constrained labour supply necessitating the need for appropriate strategies in human capital development

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of the training is to enhance quality in higher education by transforming management roles of senior and middle-level university in project management, financial and human resource management through sharing knowledge gained from both public and private HEIs in Kenya.

The project comprises of five key objectives:

1. To review and inform on the current status of change project management, for HEIs economic sustainability in Kenya (including the trends, impacts & challenges);
2. To share experiences, and best practices in dealing with change project management, among HEIs in Kenya;
3. To equip participants with knowledge that informs best practices in change project management, HEIs in Kenya;
4. To equip the participant with knowledge in designing change projects for economic sustainability within their institutions;
5. To disseminate the findings of the workshop in order to bring awareness of emerging issues on change project management for economic sustainability among HEIs

PROGRAMME CONTENTS AND METHODOLOGY

The key objective of the course is to bring together a group of about 20 higher education institutions managers from universities in the Lake Region Economic Bloc in Kenya and to prepare them for the challenges in ensuring economic sustainability in a changing higher education landscape. Issues such as strategic change management in higher education ,project management ,human resource management , financial management in projects, leadership, governance & quality management in higher education, entrepreneurial university, risk management, group dynamics, sustainability in higher education ,soft skills in change projects ,innovation and research.

The methodology will be strictly practice oriented and mainly based on carefully selected cases and other materials in a process facilitated by well-trained resource persons. Personal experience as a university manager will greatly contribute to this course and active participation will be necessary. The participants will be introduced to the different training modules using a combination of methods and approaches, including lectures, group exercises, individual exercises, intensive participant interaction case studies and question and answer sessions. This didactic approach is selected as it combines elements of presentation and training as well as discussions and jointly work on case studies from the daily practice of the participants. The aim is to ensure the workshops are interactive with professional input, moderation, and interaction, building on the participants’ experience and expertise for the mutual benefit of all.

Participants are expected to bring along a description of their work situation (university governance structure) and to develop a Project Action Plan (PAP) at the end of the first contact phase. This PAP is a project management tool and refers to a reform project which all participants are asked to implement during various stages of the course. The milestones of the PAPs will be further discussed during the intermediate sessions (Part II). Finally, Part III offers the opportunity to reflect on the finalization of the projects and to discuss lessons learned among the group. Both Part I and III include additional sessions on relevant higher education management topics

The programme consists of two face to face workshops to be held in Kibabii University and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology and the development of project work as part of their individual change project.

PARTICIPANTS’ PROFILE

• Participants should be higher education institutions managers in Kenya with at least 5 years’ experience in project management, financial and human resource management. They include: Registrars (Administration and Human Resource Management), Finance officers, Directors (eg. Income Generating Unit and resource mobilization), Estate managers, Heads of Departments/Unit(not academic departments).
• Participants should be preferably between 35 and 48 years old (+/- 2 years is tolerable).
• Participants drawn from both public and private higher education institutions(HEIs) in the Lake Region Economic Bloc(LREB), Kenya
• Up to 20 participants will be selected
• Fluency in English is required and mandatory in order to be admitted to the training course.
• A gender balance and a good institutional mix are aimed at, given that qualifications and other criteria are fulfilled.
• The selected participants must take part in both workshops and report regularly on their individual change projects as the workshops are interconnected.
• Participants should not have taken part in DIES/DAAD training in the past.
• Commitment to attend both workshops, develop and implement their Project Action Plan (PAP) during various stages of the course.

FUNDING

Successful applicants shall be provided with meals and accommodation. Participants’ institutions and/or individuals are expected to cover travel expenses during the face-to-face training sessions. The participants’ home universities are expected to contribute to the costs by paying a fee of $150 dollars for the completion of the three parts of the training course.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS AND PROCESS

The application includes:

• Application form (incl. curriculum vitae)
• Letter of motivation indicating individual and institutional goals of participation
• A two page change project proposal (Project Action Plan (PAP) linked to one of the thematic areas of the course (e.g. project management, financial management and human resource management).
• Organizational chart of the university (showing the section where the candidates are working in)
• Letter of recommendation from the university leadership (Vice Chancellors, Deputy Vice Chancellors, Deans, President, Rector, and Vice Rector).
• Letter of recommendation by a DAAD alumnus will be appreciated.

Completed application forms should be sent to the Programme Coordinator via email to nmt@kibu.ac.ke and copy to the following email addresses: jkiprop@kibu.ac.ke, jndiku@mmust.ac.ke and maryngare@mu.ac.ke
(Please combine into one file. If necessary, you may zip the file to make it smaller for uploading).

The deadline for receiving applications is 9^thDecember 2019, not later than 17:00 hours East Africa Time.

All applicants will be informed on the results of the selection process by 18^th December, 2019.

Download

CALL For APPLICATION

APPLICATION FORM

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION FORM

LETTER OF MOTIVATION FORM

PROJECT ACTION PLAN FORM

Remaining Days

[wpcdt-countdown id=”31980″]