With the rapid change in the educational environment in recent years, the functions and roles of colleges have also changed greatly. In this complex, changing reality, college administrative workers are required to have professional traits that includ...
With the rapid change in the educational environment in recent years, the functions and roles of colleges have also changed greatly. In this complex, changing reality, college administrative workers are required to have professional traits that include the capability to predict and identify changes taking place in and out of the college effectively in order to devise appropriate responses and strategies to respond to these changes.
The tasks currently being given to college administrative staff increasingly require new professional skills. Capability building of college administrative workers will be an important part of the core infrastructure for a college organization; as a result, the importance of systematic education & training will be further emphasized.
Education & training should not be given on a one-time, individual basis but should be provided as a specialized opportunity for further administrative improvement and development of colleges. At the same time, education & training sessions should be offered based on the principles of integration, continuity and relevance.
With an aim of reviewing education and training programs for administrative workers in colleges, this study makes a comparative analysis of the two organizations in charge of such programs in Korea: the National Education & HRD Training Institute (NETI) and the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE).
Based on this comparison, this study suggests the following ways to promote education & training for college administrative staff:
First, a systematic and professional analysis of college administrative tasks is required to develop education and training sessions, as the range of tasks for college administrative workers will continue to expand. To this end, additional systematic education & training programs should be provided for college administrative staff after analyzing their job tasks by job series, occupation and type of job and then modeling education courses that aim to improve their capabilities.
Second, it is imperative to develop demand-centric education courses. As illustrated in NETI’s customized and on-spot education courses and by KCUE’s internal training sessions and education & training courses offered by vocational organizations of colleges nationwide, educational effects can be maximized by providing flexible, demand-oriented education courses as opposed to uniform, one-size-fits-all education.
Third, an assessment system should be put in place that is in line with the development of education and training programs. Given that the assessment of education and training is a means of decision-making regarding the introduction, improvement and development of such courses, it is quintessential for gauging their effectiveness.
Fourth, a cumulative management system needs to be established. Under this system, the results of the completion of successful education & training courses that meet certain standards will be authorized on the condition that they have gone through certification, accreditation or other equivalent procedures. This will greatly contribute not only to the self-development of trainees but also to the further development of colleges, as a wide variety of educational needs that cannot be fully accommodated by education & training organizations or colleges themselves will be decentralized and additional educational opportunities provided for learners.
Fifth, online and offline education needs to be interfaced. For more consistent and unified goals of educational curricula, the adoption of “blended learning” in which online and offline education is provided in a complementary or consecutive manner can be considered. This would make the most of the advantages that online and offline educational settings have to offer.
Last, a network for developing education & training programs for college administrative workers can be developed in close cooperation with NETI, KCUE, vocational organizations in colleges nationwide, agencies relevant to the capability building activities of college administrative staff, and HRD teams within the colleges themselves.