Canadian Educational History - The Rise of a University

Roger Martin reached out to the overcast Canadian sky on October 17, 2012. A few raindrops wet his palm as he stood with his back to the University of Toronto main building, where he had just left it. He turned his head for a moment and surveyed the ancient buildings. Most of them dated from 1858 to 1929 and were Romanesque and Gothic in style. A faint smile crept across the dean’s face as he imagined the new mirrored windows of the Rotman Faculty. “It was a pretty gloomy day to announce my retirement,” Martin thought. “But the school is in great shape.”

At the same moment in Sofia, another dean emerged from the rectorate of the university where his entire professional career had been spent. Even in the evening twilight, a smile could be seen on his face. “I’m still in great shape,” the dean exclaimed in his mind, as he had just managed to negotiate who would be the winner of the faculty’s latest public procurement.

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“The school is in great shape.” This is confirmed by the official statement [1] about the retirement of Roger Martin after three terms as dean of the Rotman School, one of the 18 faculties of the University of Toronto. It seems that the statement was not just a PR phrase - Martin subsequently received the title of “Dean of the Year” awarded to him by Poets and Quants [2] in 2013.

Before entering academia, Roger Martin spent 13 years at the international consulting firm Monitor Group. [3] There, he rose to the position of director and head of the firm's Canadian office. Despite his comfortable position, the challenge was accepted and in 1998 the Canadian took over the management of a small and insignificant business administration department. 15 years later, Rotman School occupies the top positions in the Financial Times' world rankings of business schools.

Essentially – what problems needed to be solved?

Salaries and staff turnover – academic staff salaries were too low – about 50% of the level at the best universities in the US. There was no money because at that time the faculty was operating at a deficit. The problem led to low motivation and loss of valuable personnel. Once they had acquired sufficient competence and recognition, the professors were attracted to other “more solvent” educational institutions.

Curriculum – As a minor player in the larger North American higher education scene, you can’t get noticed if you’re “just okay.” There are too many institutions with a curriculum that follows a traditional blueprint. Offering yet another mediocre product means that the best students choose another university;

Reputation – companies build standards by which they select their employees, and the name of the university is often the initial sieve when selecting personnel. Every educational institution must sooner or later earn its right to be included in the virtual list of universities attractive to the market.

What are the solutions to the above-described problems? Roger Martin uses the so-called 5-4-4-2 approach. Behind it lie the following goals: a 5-fold increase in donations, a 4-fold increase in tuition fees, a 4-fold increase in revenues from MBA programs, and a doubling of student enrollment.

With the help of hard work, persuasion of the management and a considerable amount of risk, the goals were achieved and even exceeded. Raising fees is certainly not a popular measure, but it leads to revenue security, with the help of which the issue of salaries is solved. The experience of the dean and his team also helps in this. Instead of allying with unions in search of additional subsidies, they attract record levels of donations. In the end, the annual budget increases 9 times and reaches $ 130 million.

New disciplines such as integrative thinking [4] and business design were introduced, with the aim of differentiating the Rotman School from other places that offer the typical MBA program. The initiative was more than successful, leading to a number of private donations and collaborations with companies such as Procter & Gamble and IDEO.

The reputation of the business faculty has also been dusted off. The number of available student intakes is gradually increasing. By maintaining an innovative curriculum, the management does not allow a collapse in the quality of students. They, in turn, now perceive Rotman as a sufficiently prestigious place for education. The market also registers the change and companies such as Huawei, GE, Google, Fedex and Nike include the faculty as the only educational institution in Canada from which selection is made.

The above lines describe a suitable model for successful management of an educational institution, even a public one. First of all, management knowledge and experience are needed, and not only growth in the academic hierarchy. No less important is the setting of specific and clearly measurable goals that lead to a quality educational product. Achieving good results requires a motivated and competent academic staff. The freedom to choose a different and specialized curriculum, both at the bachelor's and master's levels, is also decisive.

Ultimately, the Canadian model is far from meeting the requirements for a perfect educational system. In this capacity, it is also quite close to our academic reality. At the same time, however, there is one serious difference: in the Canadian scenario of this story, change occurs thanks to action and pro-market reforms. And in our country, universities remain in great shape, but with quotes.

This article uses data from 2013 Dean Of The Year: Rotman's Roger Martin by John A. Byrne

http://poetsandquants.com/2013/12/27/2014-dean-of-the-year-rotmans-roger-martin/4/

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