The first partnership meeting of the UniGov was held on September 20 and 21 of September at the University of Siena in Italy. The purpose of the meeting was to analyze the activities carried out to date.
The University of Siena explained how to use the diagnostic tool developed in the framework of the research activities phase of the project. The aim of this tool is to support each Palestinian HEIs in realizing a self-evaluation of their governance system which is not only a compulsory but also preparatory outcome for all the forthcoming activities.
During the meeting, each partner has been involved in responding to the questions of the diagnostic tool whose aim is to investigate the concept of corporate or institutional governance, since the internal structure of each institution is investigated. This means that the analysis focuses on the decision making bodies who have the ultimate responsibility for the HEIs’s strategic plans and development of resources. The level of autonomy from the central authority and the level of stakeholders’ participation are keys point of the governance system. Also the performance management and the accountability system was examined to explore deeply the overall governance
Birzeit University presented the Quality and monitoring plan that has to be followed until the end of the project to evaluate the activities and the outcome of the project. The University College Cork has submit to the attention of the partner the WP2: capacity building and training: how training modules will be prepared and training will be executed initially through a training web portal. The online training will provide explanation on general governance terminologies, literature, and examples of good governance practices. For this purpose a portal has to be created.
The University of Ljubljana has presented the diagnosis, development and implementation of remediation plans that will include the results of the institutional governance evaluation and will highlight the strengths and weaknesses for each Palestinian partner university.
Finally, UNIMED, leader of the dissemination activities and exploitation presented the UniGov website as well as the dissemination activities carried out.
The partnership agreed to shift the next meeting which is to expected to be held next March /April from Evora to Palestine
