Assessing the Implications of University Model Act Reforms on Governance: A case of Public Universities in Pakistan

Abstract

The aim of study was to assess implications of University Model Act on academic, administrative and financial governance of public universities. The objective of study was to decipher governance intricacies in the aftermath of UMA implementation through a grounded theory methodology. A total of 27 interviews were done from key members including both staff and faculty members from 7 universities across two phases of data collection. The findings entail that sudden translocation to single national curriculum had cascaded a significant distress among academic fraternity in KPK. A change saturation scenario prevails in ostensibly cash-strapped public universities which signal introduction of some aspects of NPM doctrine to improve sustainability. Finally, the UMA bodes well to improve university financial position through creation of university endowment funds policy and bootstrap austerity measures. The study concludes that in terms of financial governance the universities are hard pressed to become self-sustainable due to lower revenues from rising enrollments due to subsidized tuition fees and little innovation by way of commercialization of knowledge. As a result, universities look out for more entrepreneurial commercialization of knowledge beyond revenues generated from government funds and tuition fee. The study contributes by providing pre-policy insights to act as stepping stone to overcome paucity of understanding the possible implications of UMA on university governance in KPK.

    Keywords: governance, UMA 2012, eighteenth amendment, NPM.