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Section 11. Economics, organization and management of enterprises, branches, complexes
Moroz Svitlana,
National University of Civil Protection of Ukraine, Ukraine Senior Research Officer of Training Research and Production Center
Candidate of Public Administration (Ph.D.)
E-mail: ra-ekma@yahoo.com
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION OF THE QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF NORMS OF INTERNATIONAL QUALITY STANDARDS: THE PRINCIPLE OF DECISION MAKING BASED ON FACTS
Abstract : the publication has proved the possibility ofusing one ofthe principles ofthe international standard of quality, namely, the principle of decision-making based on facts in the system of state's quality management of higher education. Some aspects of quality management of higher education at the university level are considered through the prism of the main stages of the management decision making, namely: goal-setting and evaluation of the effectiveness of the decisions taken. The potentials of the main stages of making a managerial decision for ensuring the quality of higher education and proposals on improving the mechanisms of public administration by its system are defined.
Keywords: international quality standard; principle of decision making based on facts; public-administrative decision; the whole deposid; assessment of the decision and verification of their effectiveness; organization and monitoring of the quality of higher education; use of information technologies; algorithm for the collecting, systematization and use of facts; public administration.
Problem setting. The issue of thee quality of higher education, due to its remarkable socio-economic, cultural and humanitarian significance, is determined at the level of one of the main priorities of the government and its specialized institutions. Issues of quality assurance in higher education were discussed at one of the last communicative activities of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, which was conducted within the framework of the Med-Term Plan of the Government's Priority Actions by 2020 with the participation of experts and
the public. Among the priorities of the development of the higher education system, the participants of the event drew attention to the place and role of the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science and the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance in the formation and further development of the system of quality control of education at the university level. Among the key issues of positioning the domestic higher education system at the level of international ratings, the director of the Department of Higher Education and The Ukrainian
Ministry of Education and Science O. I. Sharov highlighted the insufficient quality of Ukrainian management education, as well as an ineffective training system. According to O. Sharov, improving the quality of management education in Ukraine by at least 10 positions (according to the methodology for calculating the level of education within the Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum), "will contribute to improving the efficiency of governance and economic development of the country" [8]. According to V. Moroz, the level of educatedness of the population of the country significantly influences the level of development of its labor opportunities and creates direct preconditions for increasing the efficiency of human resources [5, 254-255]. According to O. Hrishnova, education itself, with its potential for ensuring employment of the population and social development of the state, is the basis not only for the desired socioeconomic transformations, but also for the preservation of humane, intellectual and social capital of Ukraine [2, P. 40]. Consequently, the problematics of developing the educational system is a relevant and significant direction in the organization of scientific researches.
Recent research and publications analysis. Within the framework of public-administrative science, the issues of higher education quality gained their development in the works of: L. Haievs'ka, O. Zhabenko, S. Majboroda (the theoretical and historical aspects of state's management of education are researched); S. Andrejchuk, S. Dombrovs'ka, V. Oharenko (the content and practice of using the mechanisms of public administration by the system of higher education are investigated and their content is disclosed); D. Bondar, O. Postupna, T. Tarasenko (institutional-legal and socio-economic conditions for the effective development of higher education are determined); T. Hladka, T. Lukina, A. Romin (the peculiarities of state quality management of educational services in the system of higher education are determined); O. Dubrovka, R. Nau-
menko, L. Paraschenko (the organizational-methodical and practical aspects of the manifestation of state-management influence on the educational sphere are investigated) and many other researchers. Some issues of manifestation of the issues of higher education quality were reviewed by us in the previous directions of scientific research [6], and therefore this publication is their logical continuation.
Highlighting of previously unsettled parts of the general problem, to which this article is devoted. Understanding the content and trends of the phenomenon of quality of education, regardless of the level of organization of scientific research and the direct focus of the researcher's attention, is difficult to imagine without clarifying the requirements of the norms of international documents, since it is in the context of their standards (positions) that they are not only a practical consolidation of existing theoretical knowledge, but also a peculiar programming of further development, both directly in the system of higher education and in the educational sector as a whole. Above, we drew attention to the fact that the problem of quality management of higher education is in the focus of scientific attention of researchers, and therefore is not a fundamentally new direction in the organization of scientific research. At the same time, the dynamics of updating knowledge on subjects of scientific attention, combined with changes in its emphasis on those or other components of their content, requires continuous improvement, both in the whole system of relevant knowledge, and directly to the content of its basic (main) categories. Within the scope of this publication we will pay attention to those aspects of the manifestation of the above-mentioned issues, which, in accordance with the practice of their operation, are related to the content of international norms and standards defined by DSTU ISO 9000:2007.
Paper objective. To find out directions of the state's management of the quality of higher education in the context of the content of the principle of decision-making on the basis of the facts
of the international standard of quality of the series DSTU ISO 9000:2007 and to work out proposals for improving the content and practice of using the mechanisms ofpublic-administrative influence on the quality assurance of the system of higher education.
Paper main body. The principle of decisionmaking based on the facts was determined by the standards of DSTU ISO 9000:2007 at the level of one of the principles of quality management [7]. Despite the fact that the authors of the international standard of quality identified the relevant principle at the second last position, its significance for exploration of the subject of scientific research of our choice, is beyond doubt. In the context of the subject field of public admministrative science, the principle of decision-making on the basis of facts deserves special attention.
Paraphrasing the interpretation of the content of the category of public-management decision that was given by V. Bakumenko [1, P. 20], we can determine that a managerial decision should be understood as a decision taken by the subject of management in order to identify and implement organizational goals, strategies for their achievement, the main functions, organization of the system of subject-object relations, as well as the solutions to other problems at the appropriate hierarchical level. More simply, its structure and content of the management decision interpretation was provided by A. Diehtiar. According to the scientist, the managerial decision "is the mental activity of the subject of management (managerial staff - the decision maker), aimed at solving a certain problem" [3, P. 8]. At the same time, the managerial decision should not be taken solely through the prism of the process, as it can also be considered at the level of the result of the activity. Leaving the discussion around this issue aloof, we draw attention to the components of the management cycle model, since it is the understanding of the stages of the management decision making that will enable us to find out the place of the facts in the corresponding process, and, accordingly,
identify the phenomenon of managerial decision in relation to the issue of higher education quality.
According to research results of S. Yanh, the process of making managerial decisions can be divided into the following main stages: the definition of the goal; detecting a problem; analysis of the problem (finding out its content); search of solution (working out alternative solutions for the problem); evaluation of proposed solutions and selection of the most successful among them; agreement of the decision with all of the stakeholders and its approval; preparation of a decision for its realization; management of decision-making processes; verification of the effectiveness of the decision, both in terms of its practice and its implementation [9]. The list above, in spite of the diligence of its research by the scientist, may be supplemented, above all, by the norm of adjusting the contents of the management decision and the mechanisms for its implementation. Despite the fact that at each of the above stages of the process of making a management decision, the facts have their own value, we consider it necessary to distinguish between them, within which this value becomes of decisive significance. In our opinion, the facts play the most important role within the processes: goal-setting, finding out and analysis of the problem; assessment of decisions; verification of decision efficiency and its correction. Consequently, the facts are the basis for the process of making a management decision, but in considering the management decision at the level of the result, the facts as a kind of argument or obvious reality lose their share of their significance.
According to E. Korotkov, the facts are the basis for assessments, the recognition of situations and problems, arguments for evidence or refutation [4, P. 221]. The scientist, exploring the control systems, determines the role of facts at the determinant level which characterizes (outlines) the phenomenon and, if any, identifies the problem. Consequently, under certain conditions, facts or information that can not have several different or
related interpretations, but can be considered at the level of objective indicators indicating the need for change. In accordance with the theory and practice of management, the grounds for acceptance by the subject of management of any decision are facts.
Let's consider some of the aspects of managing the quality of higher education at the university level through the prism of those stages of the management decision, within which, in our opinion, the facts play a major role:
1) goal-setting, clarification and analysis of the problem is one of the main (key) and most important processes ofthe professional activity ofthe head ofthe university, because it is on the well-defined goals and adequate to the situation and level of development of the object of management, ultimately depends the effectiveness of functioning and development of the university (facts concerning: demand and supply in the labor market, expectations of customers and consumers regarding the level and quality of providing educational services, characteristics ofthe external and internal organizational environment, level of development of elements of the system of higher education and its structure, etc., affect, on the one hand, the formulation ofthe goal ofquality management ofhigher education, and on the other hand, contribute to the analysis ofthe level of development of quality management institutions with higher education. It should be noted that the quantity, quality and the correct interpretation of the facts by the head (administration) of the higher educational institutions, depends on the level of quality of the strategy, as well as the directions of the analysis of the existing problem. In other words, at this stage of formulating the management decision, the subject of management should intensify the work on concentration of facts within the center of the management decision making and ensure their qualitative analysis in accordance with the formulated tasks);
2) assessment of decisions and verification of their effectiveness (this direction, from our point of view, is the most dependent on information provided to the subject of management in the form of
facts. Facts as a phenomenon based on experience or a statement which does not involve contradictions in the interpretation of it is the basis for the development and adoption of a management decision. In our opinion, it is the quantity and quality of facts as for the state and dynamics of the development of objects of management, as well as the environment in which their interaction with each other occurs, eventually define the quality of the decision making process, as well as its content. Thus, in the context of the subject of our direct attention, we can assert that the head of the university should evaluate the management decisions made by means of the prism of comparing the facts to the characteristics of the management object "before" and "after" their implementation. In other words, the head of the university or its owner, for example, the state, should monitor the management decisions on the quality of higher education, through the prism of the system of facts).
Conclusions of the research. Within the stages of the management decision making process mentioned above, one should pay attention to the potentials of the following areas:
- organization and implementation of monitoring the quality of higher education in the context of comparing facts regarding: expected and obtained learning outcomes; satisfaction of needs of the subjects and objects of educational process; correspondance of received knowledge, skills and systems of value orientations to the established norms, etc.;
- the full use of information technology in the process of preparing a management decision, as well as at the stage of its implementation and an objective assessment of the results obtained (level of professionalism of scientific and scientific and pedagogical workers, level of preparation of university entrants, students and graduates of higher educational institutions in a comparative aspect);
- ensuring the free access of subjects and objects of the educational process, as well as customers and consumers of educational services, to any information on the level and trends of the development of
quality ofhigher education, not only within the limits of a particular higher education institution, but also in the system of higher education in general (formation of an information resource on which the facts on the quality of higher education are systematized in the open access);
- processing of the algorithm for collecting, systematizing and using facts, the content of which in one way or another is connected with the management of the quality of higher education (the formation of a systematic basis of facts, in our opinion, will
contribute to improving the quality of processing and making managerial decisions), etc.
It is quite obvious that the above generalization about the directions of using the principle of decision-making based on the facts does not exhaust the content ofthe relevant question, and therefore can be developed and supplemented, especially within the limits of those areas of scientific research, which are directly related to the improvement of information and analytical support mechanisms for the adoption and implementation of managerial decisions.
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