University Governance Training and Research Program

Since 2019, the Centre for Governance Studies has been developing and implementing this University Governance Training and Research Program in partnership with the Canadian Francophonie Scholarship Program (CFSP), the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) and with financial support from Global Affairs Canada (GAC). The main objective of this program is to train executives and managers in universities in developing countries in the implementation of sound university management and governance practices. The participants in this unique program are executives, professionals, and professors who hold leadership positions in higher education institutions. The Program is designed and conceived primarily to mobilize knowledge. This program requires each participant to use the knowledge acquired to develop and ultimately implement an action plan aimed at improving an aspect of the management or governance of their respective universities. This training takes place over several months and is structured around ten modules covering the main aspects of university governance: leadership, strategic planning, collegial governance, performance management, human resources governance, budgetary and financial governance, research and knowledge mobilization, internationalization, Francophonie, use of new technologies in higher education, and university governance in times of crisis.

Subsequently, we added two other components to this basic training to strengthen scientific Francophonie. The first course is titled Governance and Management of Research Centers in University Settings. The main objective of this training is to support the strengthening of directors, managers, and coordinators working in university research centers. The topics covered deal with both the governance and management of research centers from an applied perspective. The second course is titled Applied Research Methodology in Governance. This practical training is aimed at professors, university researchers, and graduate students in social sciences who wish to strengthen their research and scientific publication skills. It aims to present all the dimensions that guide the knowledge production process in the various research areas associated with the field of governance (understood in the broad sense).

The main objective of this training program is to train executives and managers in university settings to establish sound university governance and management practices. The program includes 10 modules taught online and remotely at a pace of one module every two weeks. The resource persons mobilized in this program come from the University of Ottawa with the support of IFGU experts, which is one of the main partners of the training program. This training combines several methods and work environments, namely the prerequisites of participants, the theoretical input of teachings, and the sharing of experience with Canadian and international stakeholders. The themes covered by this program are:

• Introduction to governance in university settings 
• Leadership, participation, and university strategic planning 
• University performance management and measurement 
• Human resources governance in university settings 
• Budgetary and financial governance in university settings and knowledge mobilization 
• Governance of university research and knowledge mobilization 
• Governance of university internationalization 
• The impact of digital technologies on university governance 
• Governance of university Francophonie 
• University governance in times of crisis

Training in governance and management of research centers in university settings

The main objective of this training is to support the strengthening of directors, managers, and coordinators working in university research centers. The topics covered deal with both the governance and management of research centers from an applied perspective. This training is spread over four modules taught in the form of tele-teaching:

• Governance of research centers 
• Management of research centers 
• Knowledge mobilization 
• Communication strategy

Training in applied research methodology in governance

The Applied Research Methodology in Governance course aims to present all the dimensions that guide the knowledge production process in the various research areas associated with the field of governance (understood in the broad sense). The general objective of the course is to familiarize participants with a variety of scientific and methodological approaches most commonly used in social sciences in general and in the field of governance in particular. This training is spread over five modules taught in the form of tele-teaching:

• Scientific research and identification of the research object 
• Development of the research problem and literature review 
• Qualitative research methods 
• Quantitative and mixed research methods 
• Ethics, presentation of results, and publication strategies

1. Action Research

The second component of the program is an in-person action research internship lasting three to six months at the University of Ottawa. This part of the program aims to allow university executives who are recipients of a scholarship from the Canadian Francophonie Scholarship Program to take time to reflect on university governance practices in their own institutions and to develop an action plan to improve a predefined field of governance. Each scholarship recipient must identify a specific problem even before starting their program. Work plans are therefore individualized.

Academic supervision and professional mentoring will be two fundamental aspects of this initiative. Upon arrival at the University of Ottawa, scholarship recipients are supervised by an academic supervisor and a mentor. Academic supervisors are recruited from among professors in public administration at the University of Ottawa's School of Political Studies. The role of supervisors is to oversee the individual work of scholarship recipients, particularly the development of their action plans, and to guide them towards relevant resources at the University of Ottawa. The professional mentor accompanies and advises the intern in their professional development while advising them on the development of the action plan to promote the achievement of their objectives. This can sometimes take the form of a mini-internship of a day or two in one of the university's services.

Once the internship is completed, interns must then implement all or part of the action plan developed during their stay at the University of Ottawa. IFGU and PCBF contribute to supporting interns by offering personalized coaching opportunities to provide scholarship recipients with technical and motivational support. During the implementation period, it is also planned that scholarship recipients will be brought together during virtual sessions to discuss their challenges, issues, and successes.

2. University Governance Project in Times of Crisis

The Centre for Governance Studies (CeG) at the University of Ottawa actively participates in the implementation of the COVID-19 pandemic special plan of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF)

As part of this plan, the CeG works closely with the Institut de la Francophonie pour la Gouvernance Universitaire (IFGU) to develop a series of videos on the theme of "university governance in times of crisis". This video series aims to mobilize testimonies from senior officials of university institutions around the world to highlight different Francophone experiences in order to share them, while elucidating the mechanisms that allow anticipating and managing risks, crises, and crisis exits, in the context of the COVID-19 health crisis. The CeG contributes to the production and scientific direction of the series. All testimonies in the series can be found on the IFGU website: https://ifgu.auf.org/ifgu-covid-19/.

The Centre for Governance Studies collaborated on the Webinar "Piloting the University in Times of Crisis" (Full video below) as part of focus 1 "Transforming the University in Times of Crisis" of the new cycle of webinars "News from Francophone Networks" organized by the AUF in partnership with the media The Conversation, March 16, 2021;

The CeG also published a research paper on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organization and governance of universities by Eric Champagne and Aracelly Denise Granja. This document deals with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the functioning of universities and anticipates the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organization and governance of universities. The document is available here: https://ruor.uottawa.ca/handle/10393/42823

How the COVID-19 pandemic may have changed university teaching and testing for good (theconversation.com)https://theconversation.com/how-the-covid-19-pandemic-may-have-changed-university-teaching-and-testing-for-good-158342

Comment la pandémie pourrait changer l'enseignement universitaire (theconversation.com) https://theconversation.com/comment-la-pandemie-pourrait-changer-lenseignement-universitaire-157011

Collaboration at the Virtual Symposium of the Canadian Bureau for International Education, 2020: https://youtu.be/XiL5RYPlRlU

3. Governance Models of Small-Size Universities

The Centre for Governance Studies collaborates with the Université de l'Ontario Français on a research project on governance models of small-size universities in Canada and elsewhere in the world. That is, universities that have student populations of 5,000 or less according to our definition. As part of this research project, we are examining the role and mission of small-size universities and how they deploy strategies to take and maintain their place in the institutional university landscape.

Many small-size universities have revised their strategies to be more responsive to their environments and able to meet the needs of their target audiences. Some have specialized vocations occupying particular niches in arts and design, engineering and sciences, or management. Others have territorial vocations to respond to specific regional needs or to serve particular communities, as is notably the case in Canada, particularly among Francophone linguistic minorities. Small-size universities are particularly well-placed to play such a role. They are potentially more agile due to less heavy and rigid governance and better able to respond to current training needs. In this research project, we wish to look at small-size universities based on their efforts to adopt more agile and less bureaucratic governance, to draw lessons in the context of the ongoing transformation of university roles and missions. What governance models are available to small-size universities? How do these models change over time? What are the governance principles that guide small-size universities compared to larger universities? What are their chances of success and survival?

This exploratory research work aims to draw up an initial assessment of governance models in small universities within the Francophonie in particular, with a view to more in-depth case studies to come in a next stage of this research project. The research team consists of Professor Eric Champagne and Jude Nunzia, doctoral student in administration at the University of Ottawa, as well as Professors Linda Cardinal, Pierre Ouellette, and Marie-Josée Therrien from the Université de l'Ontario Français. The first results of this research were presented at the 89th ACFAS Congress in the colloquium entitled: Higher Education at the Heart of Knowledge Societies.