In recent times, the term “sustainability” has come to gain significant popularity in policy-oriented research and has become part of our everyday lexis in higher education research. Yet, in an attempt to deal with the issue of sustainability planning in research project proposals, the term has been conceptualized to refer solely to financial sustainability as if to say other types of sustainability either do not exist or do not matter. This chapter addresses this issue of sustainability planning in higher education research. In the process, financial sustainability is elucidated, and through that two other categories/types of sustainability are identified and discussed crisply for rumination. Following up on this, steps to sustainability planning are outlined to set in context the contention of the chapter that sustainability planning in research project management requires long term planning to facilitate diverse donor engagements and for improving institutional capacity of target populations. Thereafter, and using an example of a research proposal which responds to Open Call for project proposals for funding from a renowned multilateral funding agency, the chapter exemplifies how sustainability planning in research project proposals can be addressed to help strengthen the proposals to attract research funding from potential donors.
Part of the book: Education at the Intersection of Globalization and Technology
Given the critical role of public policy in TNE arrangements of countries, and the fact that TNE partnerships are growing steadily in the Ghanaian tertiary education sector, a robust and resilient public policy environment is imperative. However, the public policy environment of TNE partnerships in the tertiary education sector in Ghana is unexamined by any scientific study to guide decision on TNE partnerships in Ghanaian tertiary education institutions (TEIs). Against this backdrop, this chapter examines the level of influence of public policy frameworks on TNE partnerships in TEIs in Ghana to ignite a national discourse on TNE regulation. A multiphase mixed-method research design, informed by exploratory and explanatory sequential designs was adopted for the study. The findings reveal that TNE partnerships are an emerging concept in the Ghanaian tertiary education system with less than 20% of the over 200 TEIs engaged in TNE partnerships. More importantly, the findings indicate that the policy environment of TNE partnerships of TEIs in Ghana is not sufficiently robust because no tailor-made policy regulatory frameworks exist to regulate TNE partnerships in TEIs. To this end, the study concludes that the existing policy regulatory frameworks for the Ghanaian tertiary education system are incapable of helping the country maximise the full benefits of TNE partnerships by ensuring win-win situations for TEIs engaged in TNE partnerships. In view of this, the study recommends that the government should develop a tailor-made policy framework for regulating TNE partnerships in Ghanaian TEIs.
Part of the book: Higher Education