Keywords

Introduction

The origins of modern universities as institutions of higher education can be traced back to medieval Europe when they emerged as permanent, autonomous, and organized communities of students and teachers recognized for scholarly expertise (Perkin 2007). Since that time, there has been a growth of the sector across the world with current figures of over 18,500 universities and other institutions of higher education identified worldwide (World Higher Education Database 2018). Even though there has been substantial change since universities were first established, much of this has been evolutionary with many of the characteristics and traditions of early universities surviving into the modern day (Yale University 2018). It has been argued by many that some of the biggest changes to the sector have been in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century (Keller 1983; Boud 2013). These disruptions have had a direct impact on university staff and the roles in which they undertake.

A major factor impacting on universities is growth. More equitable access to higher education together with the changing workforce requirements have seen a phenomenal increase not only in numbers but also in diversity of the student cohort. Across the globe, universities have moved from educating the “elite,” which included only 4–6% of the population (Robertson 2010), to aim for increasing participation in higher education to up to 40–50% of the general population (Bradley et al. 2008). In more recent times, this has been described as “massification” of the sector (Tight 2017). However, the phenomenon of growth is not new. In 1973, Martin Trow outlined the high rate of growth in higher education particularly across Western Europe in the 1960s and 1970s (Trow 1973). His essay discussed many of the issues arising through growth that remain familiar to universities today; provision of infrastructure, catering for a diversity of students and ensuring high-quality staff and staff-student interactions with increasing scale (Tight 2017). A corresponding increase in university staffing has also been noted, with a slightly higher proportion of this increased staffing being professional staff, at least in the Australian context (Larkins 2012). Professional staff are employed across the growing higher education sector, with major growth in the areas of information technology (IT), marketing and recruitment, and other roles that would be ancillary to learning and teaching. Approximately one third of these staff work in academic organizational units to support the academic enterprise broadly. A significant growth in employment in the student services area has also been noted; however, this is in relative terms and from a proportionally smaller cohort of staff (Larkins 2012).

Becoming larger as a sector has also resulted in increased need for funding (public and from industry) flowing to higher education institutions. The accountability agenda that goes hand in hand with public funding has also led to a proliferation of quality assurance agencies that promote standards at national, institutional, and disciplinary levels and an expectation that data is collected, used and drawn upon to evidence achievement against performance indicators set by outside bodies. Accountability is also keenly sought within universities, particularly against key performance indicators and for efficiency gains (Lewis et al. 2005; Robertson 2010). Correspondingly this requires not only support for the development and delivery of quality education but increasing demands to collect, analyze, and use data for both reporting, quality improvement and efficiency.

Growth is not only restricted to local or even domestic students, with universities now being seen as major contributors to the economy through international education. In 2016 Universities Australia has put education export earnings at $21.8 billion AUD (Universities Australia 2017b). Universities UK have put a figure of £10.8 gross income from international students in 2014–2015 and a creation of 206, 600 jobs across cities and towns in the UK (Universities UK 2017).

As well as being significant as “service exporters,” universities are therefore also important contributors for local communities by “providing local employment opportunities, research, industry collaboration, [and] building vital infrastructure” (Universities Australia 2017a, para 1). Indeed, as publicly funded institutions, there is an increasing expectation of universities to contribute to local economies and regional development. This can be through linking industry with research and innovation (Lawton-Smith 2003), creation of human capital through learning and teaching and research transfer (Goldstein and Renault 2004), and job creation. Public universities have moved from working in a tight knit community of scholars to embracing a wide range of stakeholders and moving from a teaching and research focus to having a role in “economic expansion, social development, better forms of political organization and governance, plus providing education for more students, and developing and transferring technology to industry” (Goransson et al. 2009, p. 83).

Another factor affecting contemporary higher education institutions is globalization . Globalization and cross-border higher education has indeed pressured higher education institutions to shift from domestic and national education to more international, globalized, competitive, diversified approaches for higher education (Daniel et al. 2007). Cross-border higher education, which is “clearly a manifestation of globalisation” (Daniel et al. 2005, p. 2), has been encouraged by the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) embraced by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, which openly defined higher education as a service whose policies should be opened and established by international trade rules (Daniel et al. 2007; Knight 2006). Indeed, cross-border higher education has reached dimensions not previously imagined in the educational landscape, both in developed and developing countries. This shift has impacted the higher education system in multiple ways, from the need to develop stratified quality assurance systems that incorporate a diverse range of degrees offered in multiples sites and possibly in different languages to academic mobility and the employment of a different professional staff workforce capable to provide support to this an increasingly diverse academic and student cohort.

Even though technology-enhanced learning and teaching (TELT) is relatively new to the long history of traditional university learning, it has already impacted on the way universities operate today. In many universities around the world, TELT plays a key role in how learning and teaching is designed, developed, and delivered. Also, the increased adoption of these technologies, to deliver a whole range of courses, through the media of radio, correspondence, TV and more recently online courses, have had considerable impact across the sector. This has not only opened university study for students who were previously excluded through disability, caring responsibilities, isolation, or needing to work or travel long distances, but has also given students an unprecedented choice of university without needing to relocate (Rajasingham 2011). However, critics argue that TELT in general, and online and distance learning in particular, has also opened up the market for shadow education, as well as ghost writers and novel ways to cheat, plagiarize, and mimic scholarly works (Bray et al. 2007).

With opportunity to build student load so too has come increased competition between universities, both within countries and across international boundaries putting the spotlight on quality of offerings. This is coupled with rising student expectations of quality, especially where fees are increasing (Mercer 2018). The rise of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has also captured the attention of the media and broader public and has forced a rethink by many universities on their models of curriculum, and how they might compete with high quality, openly accessible courses (Yuan and Powell 2013). As well as increasing accessibility to education, MOOCs by nature of their public profile have sharpened up design and quality of online offerings. Flexible, well-designed courses accessible anywhere, anytime, and from any device are now becoming the expectation (Brown et al. 2013). Whether or not the forecast disruption has resulted from MOOCs, the open education moment has arguably provided an impetus for unprecedented innovation in learning and teaching and opened the way for greater use of personalized learning and learning analytics (Yuan and Powell 2013; Brown 2017).

TELT, online and distance education have also influenced the way other sectors of the university perform their jobs. Today, most universities have a dedicated information technology (IT) department responsible for managing, acquiring, maintaining, and supporting students and academic and professional staff across the institutions in the use of TELT. The affordances and disruptions brought by these technologies can be evident on the daily tasks performed by professional and support staff in higher education today. Still, many professional staff do not have the digital literacy skills required to take full advantage of the technology available to them. The latest NMC Horizon Report (Adams Becker et al. 2017) argues that being digitally literate is more than obtaining isolated technological skills. It is about “generating a deeper understanding of the digital environment,” which can then be adapted and adopted to new context and learnings (Adams Becker et al. 2017, p. 22). “Due to the multitude of elements comprising digital literacy, higher education leaders are challenged to obtain institution-wide buy-in and to support all stakeholders in developing these competencies” (Adams Becker et al. 2017, p. 22). An institution-wide approach to digital literacy would be of great benefit to professional staff, so that they can better perform their jobs and support students and academics.

This chapter introduces five unique case studies that illustrate how individual universities are capitalizing on their professional staff to address and respond to a fast changing higher education system. These five cases are the following chapters within the Professional and Support Staff in Higher Education book. They are explored within a scholarly context, providing a critical exploration of their contributions to higher education research and identifying some of their implications for higher education institutions in the current climate of change.

Fostering Collaboration for Quality Online Learning

Universities have been pressured to keep pace with changes in technology as well as meet current students’ demand, and employees’ expectations. With more higher education providers within the sector, and the emergence of fully online universities, increased competition has seen rising expectations of students in terms of student experience, quality teaching, and the use of current and innovative technology (Mercer 2018). This has resulted in transformational changes in the way tertiary knowledge is delivered and advanced and a consequent need to examine the ways in which universities, and more particularly their staff, respond to these changes. In order to meet these demands, it is no longer possible to assign teaching only to those who are known to have formal qualifications in that field of study or discipline. The boundaries between some professional and academic roles have become increasingly blurred, creating subcategories of professionals performing academic duties and academics performing nonacademic duties (Whitchurch 2008). Ensuring both professional and academic staff to stay in contact with new and innovative developments in designing and delivering courses is an imperative if institutions are to rise to the challenge of meeting technological changes in the industry.

This changing nature of teaching, in particular the rise of technology-enhanced learning and teaching, has seen new positions that support teaching. McCluskey and Lane use a case study of a relationship between an academic and a digital media specialist to explore the challenges and opportunities of these types of collaborative working relationships through the lens of cultural history activity theory. Their work also raises issues around different types of professional development – to both support collaboration – but also to retain currency in their own area of practice, which might fall outside what is traditionally considered for university staff. The case study allows identification and reflection on some assumptions that have been traditionally made around the higher education workforce, especially those that involve a binary classification of professional and academic.

Providing a High-Quality Student Experience

The issue of quality of educational life on campus cannot be underestimated. Researching positive and negative impacts of residential life, campus life, extracurricular activities, and the university’s relationship with the community-at-large may affect one’s sense of community and have potential for either increasing or diminishing student ability to experience academic success. With graduate attributes and employability increasingly impacting on curriculum development and consequently on graduates, universities should provide both curricular and cocurricular support to students so that they can be better informed and prepared. Opportunities for students to participate in volunteer or paid positions that will enhance their experience and add to their employability are increasingly being offered by universities. In addition, the use of peer learning and mentoring programs in higher education have been established as an effective learning strategy, with students gaining confidence in their own ability and taking control of their own learning (Ramsden 2003; Biggs 2003). Besides being designed to support student learning, these programs also assist to improve students’ overall experience, “their capacities to succeed and continue on to complete their chosen degree, and the development of student’s generic graduate attributes” (Skalicky and Brown 2009, p. 1).

The chapter by Fuglsang, Pedersen, Skalicky, and Preston specifically addresses the employment of students in the higher education sector. In response to a growing emphasis on employability of students, the authors describe a coherent approach to employment as an important component of the student experience that includes volunteering, work placements, and on-campus employment. While there are very well-identified benefits for students who are employed on campus (and for the universities that employ them), the focus is on developing an approach to employment that is consistent and high quality from recruitment through to support and continuing development of the student employees. The case study example that is examined in depth is one where student employees are working in peer-to-peer programs. Underpinning the peer programs is a well-developed framework, called Developing and Supporting Student Leadership (DaSSL) Framework, to guide design, implementation, and evaluation of the programs. The authors raise the critical importance of training for student employees, in particular first aid and mental first aid training, and professional learning in dealing with challenging behaviors. This framework also aims at assisting students in identifying and recognizing the development and refinement of employability skills.

Providing Employment Opportunities for Underrepresented Groups

As discussed above, universities have expanded to meet increasing participation in higher education by a growing diversity of students. However, higher education has still a long way to go, as there are still minority groups that are underrepresented within the higher education globally (Bradley et al. 2008). The chapter by Andersen addresses employment and career pathways for Indigenous Australian professional and support staff in the higher education sector. In her chapter, Andersen exposes the reality that Indigenous Australians are underrepresented both as students and as employees of higher education. Using the University of Tasmania as a case study, she highlights the need for Indigenous employment to encourage and support students and the effectiveness of programs where there have been Indigenous staff in supportive roles. Andersen has identified the shortcomings of contract positions dependent on funding arrangements for providing pathways and career options especially for Indigenous Australian employed in professional staff roles, which is exacerbated due to the kinds of responsibilities they have, encouraging and supporting students. Nevertheless there has been some success in the adoption of traineeship and cadetship programs for Indigenous staff within the university environment. This is particularly successful when paired with Tasmania’s Indigenous employment strategy for strong leadership.

Effective Organizational Structures and Support

A university functions through its personnel. Organizational achievement and effectiveness are a function of the professional maturity of its staff, and by means of effective communication and consultation, a direct relationship between professional maturity and quality exists. University management must analyze the specific nature of its quality need, reject any temptation to apply recipes proven in other educational systems or environments, and plan an appropriate strategy to which both academic and professional staff are willing to commit to important decisions and developments that occur in their workplace and the university as a whole. Important topics for university employees to consider include attention to increasing transparency in aligning the university’s budget with its strategic plan, including the devolving structures that are currently in place. Re-structuring ‘cost centre silos’ (Wenger 2000) can allow for greater opportunities for cross-disciplinary inquiry and collaboration to occur. New organisational structures that create efficiencies and effectiveness, whilst enhancing collaboration, succession planning and transparency, will potentially make greater contributions to an institution’s success in the current climate of rapid change in the higher education sector.

The chapter by Flutey, Smith, and Marshall explores different ways in which professional staff who support university functions can work differently. The Virtual Central Support Unit at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) aims to provide a seamless support service that overcomes issues of isolated and disconnected organizational structures. The benefits of the structure are not only to those who are receiving the services; the model also promotes collaboration and sharing of expertise more easily across the whole institution. The model has required staff to develop new skills, and this professional development has enabled staff to gain a broader perspective of the institution’s function. The model has been reviewed against the seminal work of Johnson and Johnson (1994) who identified conditions for effective collaboration. The authors have also considered contemporary organizational structures, such as that employed by Spotify and the supply chain model devised by Gattorna (2010). These models are useful comparisons as the model is continually refined.

Using Data

Internationally, there is a demand for increased transparency in institutional operations and emphasis on quality standards, quality assurance, and assessment. This has resulted in greater attention being paid to data to drive all aspects of university planning and evaluation in addition to analyze performance at the level of student and institution. While the promise of rich data sets is immense, purposeful use very much depends on data literate consumers and users of the data (Adams Becker et al. 2017).

Laskovsky and O’Donnell have examined the increased prevalence and use of data in universities, and the specific professional development needs that accompany this trend. This is both for those (predominantly) professional staff who gather the data and those who use the data (both professional and academic). Using an established framework, they identify key understandings and skills necessary to collect, engage with, analyze, and use data to drive decision-making and practice. Their work underlines the importance of professional development for those professional staff engaging with data, so that they can better understand the purpose of what they do, are able to visually interpreted the data, and realize effective ways in which data could be used. For those using the data, understanding the visualizations and critical engagement with data – including identification of shortcomings – also needs to be addressed in professional development. This chapter provides an excellent example of the continuing professional learning that is required by professional and support staff and how new ways of working (such as the present emphasis on data) will continue to raise new professional learning needs that must be responded to for an effective and efficient workforce.

Conclusion

This chapter began by outlining the historical beginnings of the higher education systems in place today. It discusses some of the contemporary challenges and the forces that are driving rapid change in higher education sectors globally. The pressures facing universities currently involve increasing student diversity, higher targets for participation in higher education, globalisation and the impact of the use of technologies for learning, teaching together with the need to provide professional development to build capacity in the use of these technologies. The authors have explored five cases that comprise this section to provide insights into the diverse range and importance of the roles that professional and support staff play within their organisations and how they can contribute to address and respond to a constantly changing higher education landscape. It has been noted that staff are a university’s greatest resource, and their sense of ownership on important decisions and consultation are critical to their well-being and performance. Their contribution must be further recognized by the university community as a whole. Demiray (2012) argued that stronger leadership within universities is required so that the roles of a range of people not previously seen are recognized and better connected to educational practices – including administrators, marketing, finance, and IT staff.

The chapters in this section of the Professional and Support Staff in Higher Education book by no means address all the challenges and changes occurring across the higher education systems. Rather, they open a dialogue and extend conversation in an emergent scholarly space. By rigorously documenting and critically examining both original research and personal experiences within a broader scholarly framework, these chapters extend our knowledge and contribute to a growing evidence base for the expansion of theory and practice.