Model-based university management: System dynamics approach

Abstract

The complex structure of university provides challenges to university management in terms of tracing the consequences of its decisions. Model-based university management allows examining the system holistically and revealing the underlying trends in the system’s behavior. System Dynamics is one of the most promising tools to support decision-making in higher education institutions as the structure of university appears to be non-linear and dynamic. The goal of the current study is to propose a predictive model showing the effects of a certain managerial decision, in this case, the number of professors in a university. By conducting the literature review and defining the theoretical framework for the research, the System Dynamics model were created using Vensim software. The model is able to forecast the number of graduate students and the amount of scientific publications in response to the changes in the quantity of the teaching staff.