فصلنامه پژوهش و برنامه ریزی در آموزش عالی
سال پانزدهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 53، پاییز 1388)

Knowledge-based development, needs to coordinate higher education system with knowledge-based changes in employment system. According to the studies, the market mechanism for some reasons could not establish enough coordination among these two systems. Therefore the intervene of the government is unavoidable. The goal of this paper is to present a model for coordinating higher education system with knowledge-based changes in employment system by government in future. This work is done on input – output analysis method. The function of this model is examined through 2006 census data and the growth goals of economic, social and cultural in fifth development plan of Islamic Republic of Iran. The results indicate weak coordination between higher education system and changes in employment system. Theoretical and empirical analysis demonstrate that goal setting for admitting the students in all academic levels and disciplines in higher education system should be based on the goals of economic development, productivity growth and expansion of knowledge-based activities in employment system.

National development plans have main role in achieving the goals of 20 years perspective document of the country. For, this document provides guidance of general traits, growth and development of different sections in the country, includes; Science, Research and Technology. The purpose of this article is responding to the main question that which policies must be considered according to national documents in order to compile the fifth development plan in science, research and technology. Documentary study and analytical method have been applied according to the descriptive-logical nature of the study. Nine factors are selected as an objective sample for our research. Indices, check list and research forms are devices for data gathering in this paper. Due to the finding of the research, the central policies are categorized in scopes of culture, science, research, technology, human resource empowerment and infrastructure development, international and trans-sectional cooperation, responding and encouragement and articipation. Ultimately the most important principle policies are suggested for compiling fifth development plan in science and technology section. Consequently the plan could be compiled with more validity, if the planers consider these policies in the fifth plan document.

The Prerequisite of Compilation of every mid – and long term plan, such as research part of fifth development plan of Iran, needs considering precisely the quality and quantity elements of current situation (ICSPS). According to the study of international council of science policy, the first step is determining the "science and technology base" for every country. So, this article begins from this stage and next compiles ideas for future policies and goals. The essay is an exploratory survey in higher education system in Iran to compile university managers’ opinion by intentional and non-probability sampling method. Document also uses statistical surveys for studying current situation. The findings are summarized in 3 sections:  Description of the macro statistical situation of research in Iran in 3 groups: input, process and output indices.  Compilation the SWOT matrix for research according to the opinion of Iranian University managers.  Providing compiled ideas, and for goal setting in fifth development plan of Iran. According to the statistical findings; by considering R&D density index, Iran has an independent science and technology base (group c), but noticing other economic indices, it is in the group B (countries that have essential factors of S and T). This problem shows separation among research and production in Iran. Although the growth of quantitative research indices, (except research budget) is fairly good, but we see some budgeting imbalance. The collection of suggestion in scientific centers in Iran shows that the manager of these centers prefer "influential policy" over "mission policy" in science and technology.

This research explains five periods of autonomy transformations in Iranian universities and exhibits different theoretical teachings. It provides a model to describe the mutual and synergetic relationship between 4 concepts as: academic autonomy, administrative autonomy, financial independence, and independence of national and international relations. The paper notices fifth period of autonomy of Iranian universities which begins with approving paragraph A of Article 49 of fourth plan. It answers two questions. First, what are the main problems and obstacles for realizing the Article 49 of fourth plan? Second, what are the ways to overcome these events? The findings are based on exploratory study, interview technique with focused groups and questionnaires. The result categorizes the problems of academic autonomy in 14 groups. Among these problems, the issues like obscurity of new employment regulations, ambiguity of audit court’s supervision, reviewing the structure of organizational posts, and the manager responsibility against supervisory institutions and how he responds them, are important. Also it shows that deprived and new-established universities have more tendencies to be controlled by traditional supervisions and central authorities. Although developed universities try to achieve autonomy through gaining related elements. Finally, some solutions have been provided for the identified problems.

This article summarizes the findings of study which has been conducted in framework of the preliminary researches for the fifth development plan of the Iranian higher education sector. Conceptualization of “globalization”, as a complex concept, and its impact on higher education system, require to be examined on historical aspect. For developing the theoretical issues into action domain, our study is followed by reexamination of the impacts of these phenomena on higher education systems in developed and developing countries. For having more applicable findings, the situation of Iranian higher education system in global – international context, will be discussed, based on pathological approach and meta-analysis. It is found that, between knowledge and information society, there should be a clear distinction. Finally, according to theoretical and empirical findings of this investigation, and also considering the situation of Iranian higher education system, the appropriate strategies will be proposed.

This study seeks to find the gap among service quality indicators in Iranian higher education. The objective is to suggest the most important service elements for improving higher education service quality of Yazd University using Kano’s and (Quality Function Deployment) QFD. It also aims to measure how successful the University has been in meeting users’ needs by providing reliable services. Our empirical investigation plans to increase both the validity of the 3 quality improvement models and their application as a mean to understand the variation of customer perceptions of service dimensions. The research was conducted among Yazd University students in order to meet the objectives of the study, SERVQUAL; Kano’s and QFD methods were used. Information was gathered via questionnaires which consisted of structured questions. All the closed ended questions were designed to elicit responses on a five-point Likert scale to measure both respondent satisfaction and perception of service quality. Also, for obtaining service elements, we used faculty member opinions through continuous interviews.

It was found that there is a gap between 26 out of 30 service quality indicators. In addition only 7 indicators were identified as basic needs using Kano’s model. At the end of this process, we revealed 14 service elements for Yazd University managers that could decrease the gap between student perceptions and expectations of higher education service quality. In order to improve service elements, 14 KPO were suggested after continuous interviews with faculty members. The concept of service quality assessment through QFD is relatively a new theory among Iranian higher education institutions. Also there is a lack of previous studies using this methodology in assessing quality of academic environments. The paper also offers practical guidance that could be used by University managers for promoting the grade of university in the world rankings.

Most of the economists emphasis on the formation of physical capital and human sources as the main determining factor of economic growth and development. In new financial theories, more emphasis is given on the human capital. Training manpower and his qualified are the pivot of growth and expansion of technologies. In fact, physical capital can only be increased when the country has sufficient quantity of human resources. According to the close relation between investment in manpower and physical capital with economic growth, this paper attempts to analyses the relation between these variables during 1971 to 2005 with the help of Granger causality test and VECM. On the basis of Granger causality standard, physical capital and financial position are related to the contact between human resources and economic growth. The result of the Granger causality test VECM shows that both in short and long term study, economic growth and human resources are connected. According to Granger causality relation, physical investment and human capital are related too. Therefore, training of manpower can increase the supply of skilled, researcher and entrepreneur labor force. Certainly these trained labor force can pave the way for further economic growth of the country by innovation and better utilization of available resources.