Call for Consultants: Mid-Term Review of the AAU 2016 – 2020 Strategic Plan

The Association of African Universities is calling for applications from consultants to undertake a mid-term review of its 2016-2020 Strategic Plan.

The Mid-Term Review (MTR) will assess the progress of AAU 2016 – 2020 Strategic Plan. It will also highlight issues and challenges affecting effective and efficient implementation of the Strategic Plan and recommend changes where necessary.

The review is being undertaken at the midpoint of the Strategic Plan’s implementation and will pave the way for improved delivery for the remaining Plan’s duration and propose amendments (if any) required in the Strategic Plan’s implementation arrangements and/or institutional linkages in order to effectively and sustainably contribute to improved performance of African Higher Education Institutions and the AAU Secretariat. 

SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION

The evaluation will review the performance of the AAU 2016 – 2020 Strategic Plan since its inception to date. Specifically, it will review the Plan’s goal and strategies, objectives, outcomes and impact as outlined in the Strategic Plan and other relevant documents to determine their relevance and compatibility with the constitutional mandate and mission of the AAU. It will cover work done by AAU in line with the three broad goals, seven key result areas and 29 strategic objectives of the AAU 2016 – 2020 Strategic Plan.

The assessment will focus on but not be restricted to the issues outlined below:

Relevance

1. Assess the contribution of the Strategic Plan towards the achievement of organizational mandate of AAU.
2. Analyze whether the Strategic Plan’s implementation strategies address the needs and demands of the African higher education stakeholders.
3. Assess the relevance of the Strategic Plan’s activities, including capacity building for higher education leaders and managers, and AAU Staff.

Effectiveness

Review whether the Strategic Plan has accomplished its outputs. In particular the mission should:

1. Assess the qualitative and quantitative achievements of objectives, strategies, activities, targets, indicators, and partners as defined in the Association’s Strategic Plan Matrix, as well as other documents and work-plans.
2. Based on the progress so far suggest / recommend any changes to the current arrangements. 

Efficiency

• Analyze the role of the AAU Governing Board as the Supervisory Organ of the Secretariat and assess whether this body is optimally being used for Strategic Plan implementation and decision making.
• Assess the timeline and quality of the reporting followed by the Association.
• Analyze the performance of the Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism of the Association and the use of various M&E tools.
• Assess the qualitative and quantitative aspects of management and other inputs (such as equipment, monitoring and review and other technical assistance and budgetary inputs) provided by the Association vis-à-vis achievement of objectives, strategies, activities, targets, indicators of the Strategic Plan.
• Identify factors and constraints which have affected the Strategic Plan’s implementation including technical, managerial, organizational, institutional and socio-economic issues in addition to other external factors.

Sustainability and Impact

• Assess preliminary indications of the degree to which the Strategic Plan’s results are likely to be sustainable and provide recommendations for strengthening sustainability.
• Based on the findings (relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and impact) as well as taking into account new emerging initiatives at both regional and continental level,  recommend whether continuation of the Strategic Plan is warranted.

Lessons Learnt/ Conclusions

• Analyze areas for improved programme planning, especially with respect to setting targets, relevance and capacity of AAU for decision making and delivery.
• Identify significant lessons or conclusions which can be drawn from the Strategic Plan in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and networking.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS

The Mission’s findings and recommendations will be thoroughly discussed with AAU. The Mission will complete and submit a draft final report in soft copy at the end of the mission. Key stakeholders (AAU Secretariat and the Governing Board) will provide comments on the Draft Final Report, based on which the Mission will finalize the report.

The Terms of Reference for the Strategic Plan Mid-Term Review is accessible here for further information: Click here