Organising professional support staff at higher education institutions: a multidimensional, continuous balancing act

Abstract

Centralisation is a recurrent theme when the organisational structure of contemporary higher education institutions is on the agenda. This may be in large part because of the unsolicited effects of decentralised organisational structures. The aim of this study is to explore how professional support staff at higher education institutions perceive the organisational structure of support and the rationales for this organising. An analytical framework based on the dichotomy of centralisation/decentralisation was applied in 18 interviews with professional support staff at one Dutch university and one Norwegian university. A common theme in the findings was the consciousness among the professional support staff that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for the organising of efficient and effective support. The issue of centralisation and standardisation was clearly on the agenda, but their focus was on the elements of a well-functioning support structure, not the specific organisational solution. The study also highlights the objection to the trend towards centralisation, and that some organisational changes may be too short sighted to be sustainable. From the perspective of the professional support staff, it can be concluded that organisational structure is a continuous balancing act based on dialogue between the academic and support staff.

Non-academic staff's part in transforming academia: as irrelevant as their label suggests?

“…This sentiment reoccurs in the interviews with Swedish degree-holding professionals, where they described themselves and their roles, first and foremost, as supportive and service-oriented, without explicit aspirations to overrule or to control the academic staff (Ryttberg, 2020). Ryttberg and Geschwind (2021) assert that Swedish degree-holding professionals have in general a "consciousness about having to tread carefully in the shaping of the support to gain legitimacy in relation to academics" (Ryttberg & Geschwind, 2021, p. 49).…”

“…Beime, Englund, and Gerdin (2021) describe how Swedish grant officers prepare academics to have a mindset that fit the competitive funding landscape. Ryttberg and Geschwind (2021) interviewed Dutch and Norwegian professional staff and encountered that they sometimes prevented academic staff from solving certain issues independently, because uniform solutions were "equated with quality and efficiency within the support services" (p. 53). Also in Denmark, some degree-holding professionals were involved in day-to-day collaboration with mixed leadership teams that were "used as a platform for assigning tasks across internal units" at the expense of local discretion (Hansen et al, 2020, p. 452; see also Qu, 2021).…”

How to Publish Like Artificial Intelligence and Obey the Rules of the Game?

“…It is believed that the positive relation between adaptability and achievements is essential for maintaining physical, psychological health and professional excellence (Ozbay et al, 2007 (Li et al, 2021). The notion of managerialism demand that academic staff be efficient and effective in their roles (Ryttberg & Geschwind, 2021).…”

“…A key challenge is the costs of doing research (time, work loading and financial) which limits the capacity of institutions to support all academics that require support. Many institutions apply the strategy of centralisation and formalisation of support functions which become limited or ineffective in meeting the demand for academic support (Harris, 2011;Ryttberg & Geschwind, 2021).…”