Salzburg Seminar – Universities Project - Milika Dhamo

The VAP team and BUTE
leadership team members.
“Now, I, too, can
fully testify that the
Visiting Advisors
Program is an
essential component
of the Universities
Project and I place
great trust in the
advisors’ mission and
role, performed by
sharing their
expertise with
many academic
communities
interested in higher
education reform
and social
accountability.”
Dumitru Ciocoi-Pop
“Lucian Blaga” University,
Romania
30
The extremely positive feedback received from virtually all host institutions has
been gratifying. Indications show that the visits are extremely productive and highly
appreciated by the host university for their practical
suggestions and recommendations for institutional selfassessment
and change. While the longer-term effects
of the visits remain to be seen, it is clear that
substantive discussions on specific issues of university
management, governance, finance and budgeting,
technology, student affairs, and relations with the
larger society are taking place in all cases. A less
tangible but equally valuable benefit is also emerging
from the visits: visiting team members from the USA,
Canada, and Europe are indicating that they, and by
extension, their institutions, are gaining great benefit
and insight through their contact with their colleagues
from the East. It is clear that the VAP promotes
learning in both directions.
The Visiting Advisors Program has proven to be an extremely valuable additional
component to the Universities Project, complementing and extending the work begun in
Salzburg during the symposia. Host institutions greatly appreciate the opportunity to
address their institutional concerns through the eyes of their peers in a joint effort
designed to benefit both the host institution and the team members. The resulting mutual
learning experience is one of the fine rewards of the Visiting Advisors Program.
CASE STUDY: VAP TRIP TO THE BUDAPEST UNIVERSITY
OF TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMICS (BUTE)
In early April 2000, a team of senior university administrators and higher education
experts from the US, Poland, and Austria visited BUTE for five days of conversation
and consultation. During their visit, the team worked closely with senior-level
administrators of BUTE on the following issues (identified in advance by the BUTE
vice rector and his colleagues):
• university administration and finance, including renewal of infrastructure
• academic structure and governance
• university strategic plan
• tuition fees policy
• development of information technology resources
• human resources policy
• the role of students in institutional affairs
Vice Rector Professor George Horvai made these comments on some of the lasting
effects of the VAP visit to BUTE:
“During the past three years of my vice rectorship, we have had several consulting
and advisory visits here, mostly concluding in advice on how we could further cut our
spending. The VAP team was among the few to show possible ways and means of
potentially increasing our income.
In contrast to the rigid academic structures of the traditional European universities,
and the almost frozen state of the Eastern Bloc due to decades of bureaucracy, the free
atmosphere and initiation of a mobile, managerial spirit from the team members have
been very encouraging.