Global Higher Education Management (Online)

This executive-style master’s degree uses a condensed, modular format in which students take a structured sequence of modules as a cohort. Three modules equate to one course, and the degree program requires ten courses. The program is geared toward working adults, but it is a full-time degree program. Therefore, students will need to make a commitment to the program and balance their work and personal commitments. Each module is based on ten hours of student engagement and includes additional time spent on readings, papers, and other assignments. Some modules are delivered over ten days, while others are delivered in a five-day condensed format. Each module will include at least two one-hour sessions of required synchronous sessions, and some modules may have more. Given the variations in time zones, program staff and faculty will work to accommodate program participants learning from around the world. We believe in the power of real-time engagement within the cohort and with program faculty and staff.

The curriculum includes the following courses and modules:

The High-Impact University
Building on one of GSE’s areas of expertise, these modules focus on the public purposes of higher education and how they can connect with and serve their diverse communities:

• Why universities matter and making them matter more
• The social and civic mission for the 21st Century
• Universities and their communities

The Evolving Global Landscape
A globally focused program needs to address the continued globalization of higher education and understand transnational trends that create opportunities and pose potential disruptions and implications for post-secondary education. The modules are:

• Understanding diverse contexts and assumptions
• Globalization: Its influence and its discontents
• Disruption and innovation

Magnifying the Mission
Teaching, learning, and research are the cornerstones of the academic enterprise. These three modules focus on the core activities of universities:

• Technology to deepen and broaden learning
• Ensuring student engagement
• Strengthening research: Its impact and delivery

Governance, Change, and Strategy
Understanding how organizational change is fundamental for universities to be innovative and relevant. These modules focus on leading institutional change, crafting strategy as a roadmap for intentional change, and supporting meaningful governance:

• Institutional change and transitions
• Strategy beyond strategic planning
• Governing for change

The Human Enterprise
People are the most essential resource for higher education. These modules address fundamental issues such as diversity, management, and leadership:

• Diversity and inclusion
• Managing people and people processes
• Leading teams

The University in its External Contexts
Universities are dependent upon and shaped by their financial, policy, and accountability contexts. The notion of an ivory tower is outdated if it ever really existed. These modules focus on the impact and constraints of the various contexts in which universities operate: 

• Policy, politics, and policymakers
• Regulation, autonomy, and funding
• Ensuring quality and relevance

The Challenges of Leading
Data can be considered an essential raw material for university administration. Data takes many forms and can be used in many ways to advance universities, which is the focus of these modules: 

• Using international data sets for comparison
• Developing data infrastructure to support decisions
• Performance measurement and learning analytics

Designing the Future

The Business of the Academic Business
The intentional and wise use of financial resources is essential work of university administrators, as is the ability to generate revenue to support academic missions. These modules are:

• Funding and financial models
• Budgeting for innovation
• The entrepreneurial university

Problems of Practice Laboratory
Central to this program is the application of knowledge to real-world problems. These three building block modules, leveraging design thinking ideas, provide the foundation for the program’s final capstone problem:

• Part 1: Design Thinking
• Part 2: Framing future challenges and opportunities
• Part 3: Collecting evidence and understanding opportunities