EUA Annual Report 2010 - European University Association

annual report 2010 1. Common PoliCiEs for EUroPEAn UniVErsitiEs
downturn have all contributed to
increasing pressure on universities.
EUA’s 2010 Annual Conference in
Palermo considered these various forces
pushing for institutional change and
greater diversification. The key objective
was to assist institutional leaders in
understanding better and in responding
to these different pressures they face,
in particular to focus and sharpen
their specific institutional profiles. The
conference highlighted examples of
strategies and practices, adopted by
university leaders in different contexts,
and designed to enhance specific
institutional missions, as well as to attract
and retain high quality staff, cater to
diverse student profiles, and consider
incentives for developing diverse research
strategies and research portfolios.
EUA, therefore, seeks to support
universities in their efforts to improve
governance and management structures
in order to act more strategically and
become more efficient and effective, in
particular by identifying ways in which
leaders can enhance their steering
capacity.
EUA has undertaken a series of projects
in the area of governance, autonomy
and funding and collected a broad set
of comparable data and best practice
examples which underpin EUA’s policy
positions.
Despite the fact that universities are
at the centre of knowledge creation
and development, public funding of
higher education in most countries is
not increasing or at least not increasing
enough in real terms. The recent economic
downturn has furthermore contributed to
the decision in many European countries
to decrease the levels of investment. Such
Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture,
Multilingualism and Youth, and EUA President, Professor Jean-Marc
Rapp at EUA Annual Conference, Palermo, Italy
trends are particularly worrisome for
universities across Europe, as continuing
dependence on public funding puts their
future sustainability under pressure.
One of the important steps for universities
is to master their cost structures and
identify the real costs of their activities for
both internal and external purposes.
While EUA has been calling for vital
additional financial support from public
authorities, the organisation’s work has
also shown that universities also need to
increase and identify alternative sources
of funding.
EUA is conducting ambitious research
on universities’ financial sustainability.
This issue was first addressed in a study
“Towards Full Costing in European
Universities”. A new project launched at
the beginning of 2010 takes these findings
further by promoting the implementation
of full costing in European universities
through stimulating coordinated
approaches to the development of full
costing on national or regional levels.
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