Governance of Portuguese Universities Within European Higher Education

Abstract

National legislation for higher education that was introduced in 2007 by the Portuguese Government changed the higher education governance model into a more centralized system with increased institutional autonomy. This allowed for a better strategic planning process that was more able to respond to society needs and, in public university foundations, gave rectors a stronger leadership role supported by a general council and by a board of trustees. A decade later, the overall autonomy scores of Portuguese universities when compared with those from other European countries according to academic, financial, organizational, and staffing (senior) criteria showed better Portuguese performance when compared with most Southern and Central European countries. This pattern remained stable between 2011 and 2016. Changes that occurred at Nova University, Lisbon, are described as a case stud to exemplify the effects of this new governance model on the sustainability of long-term strategic planning and its management.