Recently I was in a group of students discussing the role of the Rector of the University. Not many of them even knew who he was and what his role was. That is a very good question – the role of the Rector of the University? Or the Dean of the Faculty?
A great answer was offered by the scientist Igor Rudan in his book Bad air – Thinking About Health and Illness in the 21st Century (Ljevak, 2018). Top universities in the world are run by top scientists. These universities regularly rank in the top 20 according to the Shanghai List. In developed countries, the role of rectors is extremely important as they shape future generations of students and professors. Their salaries are measured in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. What do they do well, and we do not?
They organize great classes and continually encourage students to evaluate the teaching process by emphasizing what is good and what is not (e.g., sending a presentation to students with outdated examples). They continually improving Universities, because they must be in the role of the growth and development of students. They are constantly working to identify top scientists and funds for their projects and send scientists abroad for additional education. They care about connecting universities with other universities in the world in such a way that they become real partners. And finally, they are constantly in meetings with businesspeople and donors seeking for funds for universities’ projects. If you do everything from the list but public is not aware of it, it is time to hire a PR agency.