The first part of an advanced training programme for deans starts today in the context of National Multiplication Training (NMT). Over the course of three days, 24 Cambodian deans and directors will explore the role of dean and the challenges it entails. In the process, they will receive knowledge and support from previous participants of a programme conducted by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) and DIES (Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies). As such, past participants will act as multipliers, sharing the expertise and methods they acquired from previous international DIES programmes.
For over ten years now, the CHE Centre for Higher Education has been supporting higher education institutions by running an International Deans’ Course in African and Southeast Asian countries. With a view to establishing this expertise on a broader basis in these countries, making it more sustainable, the DAAD and the University of Potsdam additionally started developing training programmes for multipliers in 2013. An NMT with 24 Cambodian participants is now taking place in Phnom Penh for the first time.
The programme consists of four stages. During the first attendance stage, which begins today, the 24 selected participants will spend three days drawing up their individual action plan for the subsequent stages together with coaches and experts; they will also be trained in conflict management. The results of these actions plans will be presented at the second workshop in April 2020; the topics of leadership and change management will also be addressed. The participants will continue to share their thoughts and ideas via webinars, Skype and other social media.
Photo: (from left to right) Dr. Jutta Fedrowitz, Senior Expert, CHE Centre for Higher Education, Gütersloh, Dr. Irene Rochelle Lucas, De La Salle University, Manila, H.E. Touch Visalsok, Secretary of State, Ministry of Education, Cambodia; Professor Dr. Duu Sheng Ong, former Vice President of Multimedia University, Malaysia. The range of topics addressed on the overall programme for deans includes project management, strategic faculty management, conflict management, leadership, and change management.
The DIES NMT 2019-2020 in Cambodia, supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), is being conducted in cooperation with CamEd Business School and Phnom Penh International University.