Background

The Management Development (MADEV) Workshop Series is a new addition to the AAU’s Leadership and Management Programme and a follow-up to the Association’s Senior University Management (SUMA) Workshop Series which ran from 1991 to 2003.

The SUMA was aimed at equipping African university leadership with managerial skills, and broadly with issues of policy, funding, leadership and management.

Previous SUMA workshops were held in Harare, Zimbabwe (1991); Bujumbura, Burundi (1992); Arusha, Tanzania (1994); Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (1995); Cape Town, South Africa (1997), Abuja, Nigeria (1999); Gaborone, Botswana (2000); Cairo, Egypt (2001); and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (2002), and brought together Presidents, Rectors, Vice-Chancellors and Principals of universities and other higher education institutions, their Deputies, Deans, Directors, Department Heads, Registrars and Bursars. Also included were members of university Councils, National University Commissions, etc.

A review of the SUMA in November 2003, in preparation for a new phase, identified two related but distinct aspects of higher education leadership and management training, namely, (a) higher education studies and (b) leadership development and management training. Within the latter, a further distinction was drawn between leadership development and management training, reflecting different capacity building requirements.

Subsequently, the AAU Leadership and Management Programme was reviewed to reflect the latter difference and two separate programmes (a) the Leadership Development (LEDEV) Workshop Series and (b) the Management development (MADEV) Workshop Series were developed. The two new programmes also reflected the results of a survey of similar programmes in Africa and worldwide.

Broadly, the MADEV aims at enhancing the development of professional skills of managers of higher educational institutions by equipping them with management skills and attitudes that will help them appreciate the environment in which they are operating and effectively use resources at their disposal towards the achievement of organizational goals.

MADEV targets Pro/Deputy Vice Chancellors, Vice Rectors, Deans, Deputy Deans, Directors/Coordinators of Institutes and Heads of Academic Departments.

Themes for the MADEV Workshop are selected from, but are not restricted to the following:

  • Strategic Thinking and Planning in Management
  • Strategic Leadership and Management in the African Context
  • Personal Organisation
  • Communication and Public Relations within University Context
  • Managing University Faculties and Departments
  • Human Resources Management in an Academic Institution
  • Financial Management and Resource Mobilisation
  • ICT in Higher Education Management
  • Quality Assurance and Accreditation
  • Project Management
  • Managing the HIV & AIDS Challenge in Higher Education Institutions.