Felix Omal - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Felix Omal
International journal of educational development in Africa, Aug 16, 2023
This article reports on a study that explored how an open distance learning (ODL) institution is ... more This article reports on a study that explored how an open distance learning (ODL) institution is integrating its online processes in handling e-tutors' experiences as they transition from face-to-face to blended facilitation. The study examined the following key issues: firstly, conceptions of how the university strategy transitions conventional tutors into its open distance elearning (ODeL) system; secondly, conceptions of how e-tutors bridge the gap between facilitation and student support; and thirdly, how e-tutors are integrated in the ODeL institution's system in relation to their personal academic development. The study adopted a qualitative exploratory approach, which relied on documentary sources and the experiences of university e-tutors at the Botswana Open University (BOU) captured through telephonic and online interviews. It is argued that the world is changing due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The changes have been fast, radical, demanding and uncertain. However, ODeL institutions can do more to confront these challenges. The study findings indicated that BOU has positively responded to these changes by relying on its capabilities and strengths. The article provides insights for improved access, success, tutor identities and development. The article ends with recommendations on what could be done to improve learning, teaching and practice as facilitated by e-tutors within ODeL institutions as they recover from the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Setting the scene
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
The rise of a dominant bureaucracy through the structures of the university council
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Debates about effective university governance
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
The university council and its institutionalized governance systems
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
The unfolding of the higher educational institutional context
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Reimagining Effective Stakeholder Governance Practices in Higher Education
Emerging forms of effective university governance
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Developing a responsive institutional culture with the university council
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Setting the scene
Reimagining Effective Stakeholder Governance Practices in Higher Education
Decolonization, Accountability and Stakeholders Confidence in the University System in Africa
Gender and behaviour, 2018
A thesis submitted to the School of Education, Faculty of the Humanities, of the University of th... more A thesis submitted to the School of Education, Faculty of the Humanities, of the University of the Witwatersrand in the fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education JOHANNESBURG NOVEMBER 2015
This paper was developed from a study that looked at the role of the university council in bringi... more This paper was developed from a study that looked at the role of the university council in bringing about effective governance in a South African historically black university. Institutional governance is concerned with notion of power and how it is managed to bring about desired objectives. As such perceptions are fundamental to this process. In the post-1994 transformation of the South African higher education system, university governing bodies were put in charge of the transformation of the universities under their leadership. Through the State policy of cooperative governance, the State demanded that university councils create governance structures and systems where different institutional stakeholders are to participate in the university governance process to achieve the goals of university transformation. However, the processes of implementation were challenged by stakeholder contestations around issues of contextual interpretation. Since 1994 several stakeholder groups have always been on strikes and protests over unfulfilled expectations and unresolved historical imbalances. This paper examines how student issues are being handled through university students' vivid representation in the internal governance structures and, also, how such representation could bring about effective governance across historically black universities in South Africa. This paper argues that proper handling of university student issues is significant for the university transformation, especially as regards historically black universities in South Africa. The paper ends with a re-imagination of stakeholders' representation in the different internal governance structures of historically black universities in South Africa for further research.
Institutional Transformation and Stakeholders Engagement for Quality Management Model in African Higher Education
Quality Management Implementation in Higher Education, 2020
The introduction of cooperative governance in the post-1994 South African higher education system... more The introduction of cooperative governance in the post-1994 South African higher education system brought complex stakeholder dynamics in the leadership and governance of university governing councils. A major concern of these changes was to institutionalize quality management systems. However, these changes brought its own complexities. Key features of this complexity revolved around cooperation and information sharing in the university governance in spite of ideological differences. Using the concept of culture developed from a multi-theoretical approach and data collected from institutional documents available in the public domain, interviews with members of the university council, and surveys of university staff, the chapter examines the extent of the relationship between public tolerance and different stakeholders involved in the university governance. This is with a view to recommend the need for effective governance and quality management system based on the professionalizati...
Micro-politics of student participation in university leadership across the historically black universities
World Studies in Education, 2019
In the post 1994 South African higher education system, there have been significant moves and ach... more In the post 1994 South African higher education system, there have been significant moves and achievements at the transformation of higher education institutions. The chief instrument of institutional transformation has been the university governing councils. The key assumption was that transformation of the university council was key to the transformation of the universities. However, over the same period several former historically black universities have experienced periods of unrest and protest. As a result, several of these universities have remained in a state of a risk of protest. This state of tension and uncertainty that characterizes these institutions has made the different stakeholder begin to question their faith and confidence in the institutional values that govern these institutions. This paper argues that participation in leadership is key to effective governance. The paper makes use of the concept of culture within a micro-political framework to generate modes of g...
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019
Institutional structures of governance across universities are under strain on how to respond to ... more Institutional structures of governance across universities are under strain on how to respond to the competing demands of higher education. As a result, the leadership and governance of universities is becoming more complex than never before. This is emerging out of the popular discourses of inclusion and exclusion of certain categories of student and staff in critical key committees of the university governing council. In the post 1994 South African higher education dispensation, university governing councils continue to struggle to include university students and certain categories of university staff for instance unionized staff in key governance structures of the universities. Several partisan reasons have been given for their deliberate exclusion. This continues to cause a lot of stockholder animosity and institutional climates of retribution between university leadership and these categories of university staff. This paper argues that effective governance practice in such institutional environments is linked to sufficient formulas of representation in the university governing councils. The paper makes use of the concept of culture within a micro-political framework to generate modes of good governance within such stakeholder institutional environments. The conceptual paper ends with implications for effective governance in stakeholder governed university environments.
International Research in Higher Education, 2019
Today's higher education landscape can best be described as unpredictability. This places uni... more Today's higher education landscape can best be described as unpredictability. This places university governing councils in critical places to begin to think deeply in terms of forms positionality to provide effective governance. For instance, in the South African higher education scenario currently, there are urgent calls for university decolonisation as such university governing bodies have to show that they are on top of the game through demonstrating to their stakeholders that have in place a responsive habitus that supports stakeholder accountability and confidence in these times. This paper examines the relationship between stakeholder accountability and confidence in institutional values that underpin effective governance. Consequently, this paper was developed from a research project that looked at the role of the university councils in bringing about good governance in the former historically black South African universities grappling with such institutional realities. U...
Cogent Education, 2018
Key drivers of major changes in the post 1994 South African higher education transformation has b... more Key drivers of major changes in the post 1994 South African higher education transformation has been due to the increased involvement of university students in the university leadership and governance. However, strife for increased participation has often resulted into tension between the university student organizations and the university leadership. This has often made university students as institutional stakeholders re-question their faith and confidence in institutional values in fostering university transformation and change. This paper argues that relationships between these two factors are fundamental to these processes; quality student participation in leadership and confidence in institutional values. The paper makes use of the concept of culture within a micro-political framework to generate models of good governance within such stakeholder institutional environments. The study relied on data collected through documents, interviews and surveys. In its conclusion, the paper calls for the professionalization of stakeholder governance practises in stakeholder governed university environments.
Higher Education for the Future, 2018
The post-1994 higher education dispensation has witnessed an increase in the number of institutio... more The post-1994 higher education dispensation has witnessed an increase in the number of institutional stakeholder groups striving to become members of university councils within their particular contexts. As such, they are constantly becoming coalitions of powerful constituencies who seek to influence the running of the council to satisfy stakeholder demands across the university and beyond. Consequently, there is a concern whether institutional stakeholder moves to become a part of the council and is bound to improving governance practices in the universities. This article argues that at the level of the university councils, the institutional strategies, policies and articulation with its different stakeholder groups are critical, using data obtained through the use of documentary sources, interviews and surveys. The results show that institutional stakeholders have strong inclinations towards the governance mechanisms of how individuals become members of the university council, cal...
International journal of educational development in Africa, Aug 16, 2023
This article reports on a study that explored how an open distance learning (ODL) institution is ... more This article reports on a study that explored how an open distance learning (ODL) institution is integrating its online processes in handling e-tutors' experiences as they transition from face-to-face to blended facilitation. The study examined the following key issues: firstly, conceptions of how the university strategy transitions conventional tutors into its open distance elearning (ODeL) system; secondly, conceptions of how e-tutors bridge the gap between facilitation and student support; and thirdly, how e-tutors are integrated in the ODeL institution's system in relation to their personal academic development. The study adopted a qualitative exploratory approach, which relied on documentary sources and the experiences of university e-tutors at the Botswana Open University (BOU) captured through telephonic and online interviews. It is argued that the world is changing due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The changes have been fast, radical, demanding and uncertain. However, ODeL institutions can do more to confront these challenges. The study findings indicated that BOU has positively responded to these changes by relying on its capabilities and strengths. The article provides insights for improved access, success, tutor identities and development. The article ends with recommendations on what could be done to improve learning, teaching and practice as facilitated by e-tutors within ODeL institutions as they recover from the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Setting the scene
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
The rise of a dominant bureaucracy through the structures of the university council
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Debates about effective university governance
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
The university council and its institutionalized governance systems
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
The unfolding of the higher educational institutional context
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Reimagining Effective Stakeholder Governance Practices in Higher Education
Emerging forms of effective university governance
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Developing a responsive institutional culture with the university council
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Setting the scene
Reimagining Effective Stakeholder Governance Practices in Higher Education
Decolonization, Accountability and Stakeholders Confidence in the University System in Africa
Gender and behaviour, 2018
A thesis submitted to the School of Education, Faculty of the Humanities, of the University of th... more A thesis submitted to the School of Education, Faculty of the Humanities, of the University of the Witwatersrand in the fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education JOHANNESBURG NOVEMBER 2015
This paper was developed from a study that looked at the role of the university council in bringi... more This paper was developed from a study that looked at the role of the university council in bringing about effective governance in a South African historically black university. Institutional governance is concerned with notion of power and how it is managed to bring about desired objectives. As such perceptions are fundamental to this process. In the post-1994 transformation of the South African higher education system, university governing bodies were put in charge of the transformation of the universities under their leadership. Through the State policy of cooperative governance, the State demanded that university councils create governance structures and systems where different institutional stakeholders are to participate in the university governance process to achieve the goals of university transformation. However, the processes of implementation were challenged by stakeholder contestations around issues of contextual interpretation. Since 1994 several stakeholder groups have always been on strikes and protests over unfulfilled expectations and unresolved historical imbalances. This paper examines how student issues are being handled through university students' vivid representation in the internal governance structures and, also, how such representation could bring about effective governance across historically black universities in South Africa. This paper argues that proper handling of university student issues is significant for the university transformation, especially as regards historically black universities in South Africa. The paper ends with a re-imagination of stakeholders' representation in the different internal governance structures of historically black universities in South Africa for further research.
Institutional Transformation and Stakeholders Engagement for Quality Management Model in African Higher Education
Quality Management Implementation in Higher Education, 2020
The introduction of cooperative governance in the post-1994 South African higher education system... more The introduction of cooperative governance in the post-1994 South African higher education system brought complex stakeholder dynamics in the leadership and governance of university governing councils. A major concern of these changes was to institutionalize quality management systems. However, these changes brought its own complexities. Key features of this complexity revolved around cooperation and information sharing in the university governance in spite of ideological differences. Using the concept of culture developed from a multi-theoretical approach and data collected from institutional documents available in the public domain, interviews with members of the university council, and surveys of university staff, the chapter examines the extent of the relationship between public tolerance and different stakeholders involved in the university governance. This is with a view to recommend the need for effective governance and quality management system based on the professionalizati...
Micro-politics of student participation in university leadership across the historically black universities
World Studies in Education, 2019
In the post 1994 South African higher education system, there have been significant moves and ach... more In the post 1994 South African higher education system, there have been significant moves and achievements at the transformation of higher education institutions. The chief instrument of institutional transformation has been the university governing councils. The key assumption was that transformation of the university council was key to the transformation of the universities. However, over the same period several former historically black universities have experienced periods of unrest and protest. As a result, several of these universities have remained in a state of a risk of protest. This state of tension and uncertainty that characterizes these institutions has made the different stakeholder begin to question their faith and confidence in the institutional values that govern these institutions. This paper argues that participation in leadership is key to effective governance. The paper makes use of the concept of culture within a micro-political framework to generate modes of g...
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019
Institutional structures of governance across universities are under strain on how to respond to ... more Institutional structures of governance across universities are under strain on how to respond to the competing demands of higher education. As a result, the leadership and governance of universities is becoming more complex than never before. This is emerging out of the popular discourses of inclusion and exclusion of certain categories of student and staff in critical key committees of the university governing council. In the post 1994 South African higher education dispensation, university governing councils continue to struggle to include university students and certain categories of university staff for instance unionized staff in key governance structures of the universities. Several partisan reasons have been given for their deliberate exclusion. This continues to cause a lot of stockholder animosity and institutional climates of retribution between university leadership and these categories of university staff. This paper argues that effective governance practice in such institutional environments is linked to sufficient formulas of representation in the university governing councils. The paper makes use of the concept of culture within a micro-political framework to generate modes of good governance within such stakeholder institutional environments. The conceptual paper ends with implications for effective governance in stakeholder governed university environments.
International Research in Higher Education, 2019
Today's higher education landscape can best be described as unpredictability. This places uni... more Today's higher education landscape can best be described as unpredictability. This places university governing councils in critical places to begin to think deeply in terms of forms positionality to provide effective governance. For instance, in the South African higher education scenario currently, there are urgent calls for university decolonisation as such university governing bodies have to show that they are on top of the game through demonstrating to their stakeholders that have in place a responsive habitus that supports stakeholder accountability and confidence in these times. This paper examines the relationship between stakeholder accountability and confidence in institutional values that underpin effective governance. Consequently, this paper was developed from a research project that looked at the role of the university councils in bringing about good governance in the former historically black South African universities grappling with such institutional realities. U...
Cogent Education, 2018
Key drivers of major changes in the post 1994 South African higher education transformation has b... more Key drivers of major changes in the post 1994 South African higher education transformation has been due to the increased involvement of university students in the university leadership and governance. However, strife for increased participation has often resulted into tension between the university student organizations and the university leadership. This has often made university students as institutional stakeholders re-question their faith and confidence in institutional values in fostering university transformation and change. This paper argues that relationships between these two factors are fundamental to these processes; quality student participation in leadership and confidence in institutional values. The paper makes use of the concept of culture within a micro-political framework to generate models of good governance within such stakeholder institutional environments. The study relied on data collected through documents, interviews and surveys. In its conclusion, the paper calls for the professionalization of stakeholder governance practises in stakeholder governed university environments.
Higher Education for the Future, 2018
The post-1994 higher education dispensation has witnessed an increase in the number of institutio... more The post-1994 higher education dispensation has witnessed an increase in the number of institutional stakeholder groups striving to become members of university councils within their particular contexts. As such, they are constantly becoming coalitions of powerful constituencies who seek to influence the running of the council to satisfy stakeholder demands across the university and beyond. Consequently, there is a concern whether institutional stakeholder moves to become a part of the council and is bound to improving governance practices in the universities. This article argues that at the level of the university councils, the institutional strategies, policies and articulation with its different stakeholder groups are critical, using data obtained through the use of documentary sources, interviews and surveys. The results show that institutional stakeholders have strong inclinations towards the governance mechanisms of how individuals become members of the university council, cal...