Reengineering Academic Institutional Standards

Abstract

This research attempts to show that reengineering academic institutions should follow a sequence of pre-determined activities. It is noted that reengineering of most academic institutions do not follow a systematic process, hence resulting in not achieving the desired objectives. The reengineering process is also known as Business Process Reengineering (BPR). BPR means not a slight change, but radical or dramatic change involving systematic elimination of unnecessary processes while reintroduce in new processes to an organization. As a general rule, teaching and learning must be reengineered before the administrative and management processes. Core function of any academic institution is teaching and learning. The process of teaching in an academic institution, begins with the identification of industrial demands, designing a module structure, improving the module to suit desired needs, course contents and the methods of delivery, integration to the academic program, recommendation of teaching and reading material, technology infusion to the module, selecting suitable academic staff for the course delivery, curriculum updates, student evaluation and assessment. The authors are of the understanding that unless the current practices and skills of learners reach the international standards, they may not be able to take advantages of the current opportunities. The authors are researching into the use of ICT involved in the Sri Lankan education system. There are many stages from the enrolment of students to academic programs to final completion that may need consideration during this research. It was observed that many current academic and management practices may need drastic changes to meet this requirement.