【摘    要】本文以胜任特质模型理论作为依据，对改革和完善中国特色的大学校长遴选制度提出了政策建议。文章认为应该在对大学进行分类基础上，构建不同类型大学校长胜任特质模型，突出标准的针对性;以专业化的遴选组织来保证对参选人胜任特质的评价结果，确保选出合适的校长人选;围绕大学校长胜任特质的测量效果，改革和完善有利于准确评价大学校长参选者胜任特质的遴选程序，最终形成系统完备、科学规范、有效管用、简便易行的大学校长遴选制度机制。
　　【关键词】大学校长;遴选标准;遴选机构;遴选程序
　　【Abstracts】Based on Competency Model，this paper has made some policy recommendations about changing and improving the university president selection system with Chinese characteristics. This paper proposes： building different Competency Models with specific criteria based on university classification; ensuring the selection of suitable candidates as university presidents through the competency assessment by a professional selection committee; changing and improving the selection procedure for accurate assessment of candidates based on the results of the president competency evaluation. Our aim is to develop systematic，scientific，normative，effective，straightforward university president selection system.
　　【KeyWords】university president;selection criteria;selection agency;selection procedure
　　作者单位：华中科技大学 教育科学研究院  武汉  430074
　　1.Introduction
　　With social progress and the evolution of universities，we are increasingly demanding of university presidents. How to select an excellent president is an issue of concern to university administrators and faculty.
　　In Mainland China，there are no particular regulations or bylaws about university president selection system. Only the Higher Education Act of China briefly mentioned，“Presidents of Higher Education Institutions （HEIs） should be qualified citizens meeting the requirements stated in the Education Act. Presidents and vice presidents of HEIs should be appointed and removed from their positions according to related regulations.” These related regulations are made with reference to the bylaws of Selection and Appointment of Party and Political Leaders and other bylaws and documents. With the deepening of reform and opening up process in recent years，considerable changes have occurred in the situation，tasks，and team condition concerning university president selection. Firstly，the central government has set out new requirements for the guiding principles，basic rules and objectives in the selection of university presidents. There are some recent adjustments in cadre policy，to which university president selection needs to conform. Secondly，we have accumulated a wealth of experience in the selection of university presidents. Thirdly，new situations and problems have arisen in the university president selection process，which points to the need for improvement at the system level. Therefore，innovating and improving the selection system to select highly qualified university presidents is of particular significance to the development of universities and higher education. 　　The core of the university president selection system is the selection criteria including the identification of university president qualification standards and their application in the selection process. In other words，the core is how to select a right president and select a president rightly in the selection process. To address the current problems in Chinese university president selection，this paper aims to guide and improve Chinese university president selection based on the concept of Competency Model in human resource management theories. We build a competency model of different types of Chinese university president;establish and improve university president selection system with Chinese characteristics based on this model;and attempt to promote theoretical and practical innovation of Chinese university president selection system.
　　2.Establishing scientific criteria for university president selection
　　Conventional representations about university president qualifications are often from one side or angle，only highlighting some general qualification requirements. Thus，selected presidents often fail to live up to their ideals after taking their positions. The Iceberg Model and the Onion Model for competencies indicate that the competency of a role is a comprehensive system. We could sometimes see the part above the water of an iceberg or the outermost layer of an onion. We are often unaware of the decisive part or the capabilities we notice are just part of other competencies. Competency model considers the combination of all the competencies needed to qualify for a particular job，with which we can set up scientific and accurate criteria for university presidents selection.
　　University president selection criteria are related to university organizational environment. Due to large differences in cultural background between Chinese universities and foreign universities，we can only refer to existing competency models developed in other countries but cannot copy them. The research of competency model of university president selection conducted in the U.S. religion-affiliated universities has revealed some particular competencies characteristic of the presidents in such schools. Their competency model has three components，namely，call of spiritual leader，personal values and six major professional competencies. The call of spiritual leader related to religious beliefs is a very important concept to presidents in religion-affiliated universities and also their core competency. ①The religion-affiliated university presidents are a unique group among various types of university presidents in the U.S. This competency model may not be applicable to other groups of university presidents. The competence model based on the results of the research on the U.S. religion-affiliated universities may differ greatly from that of the presidents in Chinese universities directly affiliated to the Ministry of Education in the components and their ranking order. ② Therefore，there is no generally applicable competency model. Thus，the criteria for university president selection need to be revised periodically based on the change of context. 　　Criteria for university president selection should take the organizational culture and changes of the university into consideration. Universities differ in their cultures and values. Competencies required for university presidents are not the same due to the differences in organizational characteristics and cultural environment. In the U.S. and some other countries，universities select presidents and thus the selection criteria are characteristic of individual universities. But in China，government agencies are in charge of a large number of public HEIs，which leads to standardized selection criteria. However，differences in university type and development stage will lead to variations in requirements for president’s competence. Some people may serve as president in one university very well but may not be suitable to serve as president in another university. In addition，according to the Organizational Life Cycle Theory in the field of management，organizational development is similar to biological growth，which goes through life cycles including start-up，growth，maturity and decline phases.③ There are different conflicts and characteristics in different organizational life cycles during which organizational management will also have different focuses. Correspondingly，organizations during different phases require leaders with different leadership styles. Otherwise，the limitations in management may hinder its development.
　　We should develop different president selection criteria for different types of university. The National Long-term Educational Reform and Development Plan （2010-2020） has proposed to encourage universities to form their own characteristics;establish scientific classification system;implement classification management;involve policy guidance and resource allocation in guiding universities toward defining their own missions to overcome the tendency of homogenization;form their own philosophy of education and styles at different levels and in different areas with the aim to become unique and first-rate. Chinese universities has historically formed a number of different groups through external influences and their long-term development. For example，some scholars categorize universities in terms of discipline and major coverage into single program，multi-program and comprehensive universities. Some scholars divide universities based on the proportion of output in fulfilling social functions into research，teaching and research，teaching，and vocational universities. Some scholars divide universities in terms of discipline into 13 types，e.g. comprehensive，liberal arts，science，humanities and social science，sciences，engineering，agriculture，medicine，law，literature，management，sports and art. Some scholars divide universities based on research proportion into research，research-oriented teaching，teaching-oriented research and teaching.④  Liu Xianjun （2013） divides universities into basic research，applied research and teaching-oriented service universities.⑤ A research group in Shandong Province has categorized the universities affiliated to the province based on two different purposes of education：cultivation of scientific talents or technical talents. Based on this category，they differentiate between application-oriented basic universities and application universities and develop the universities accordingly. ⑥ Goodall （2009） conducted a study of the top 100 world-class universities and found that it is not enough for presidents of research universities just to have good managerial ability. ⑦ She held that prominent scholars in academic fields will make competent university presidents. This is because university president’s academic level determines the goal，ranking and future in terms of research. 　　Different universities have different development characteristics. Competency requirements for presidents are also different. Therefore，higher administrative department responsible for university president selection should build competency models for different kinds of universities based on the university classifications. The department should classify competencies and set up criteria for university president selection for different kinds of universities.
　　3.Establish Professional Selection Agency
　　For a long time，Chinese university president selection has been made solely by organization and personnel departments of the higher-level central or local government agencies. This practice is no longer adequate for use in the current university president selection based on the Competency Model. In China，one higher-level government agency is often in charge of many universities. For example，the number of universities directly under the Ministry of Education is 75. The number of public universities directly under the Beijing municipal government is 22. It is impossible for the organization and personnel department of a higher-level government agency to keep the whole selection process under good control，which involves interviews with candidates，inspection and evaluation of competence. Selecting the right president according to different university characteristics requires thorough and meticulous work. Therefore，we need to set up a professional president selection committee with Chinese characteristics to meet the goal of competency assessment. Government agencies in charge of universities should establish a university president selection office and appoint specialized staff to be responsible for the daily work of university president selection. Various president selection committees  responsible for the selection in different kinds of universities may be established under the office
　　A professional selection organization is needed to guarantee the effectiveness of selection if we apply competency model. In western countries，almost all well-known university presidents were selected by university president selection committees. Former president of Harvard University，Derek Bok believes that the work of university president selection needs to be undertaken by professionals with rich experience. These professionals should be loyal to the university;able to use a man according to his ability;and can see the whole picture. The number of staff in the committee should be small so as to facilitate communication and increase efficiency. When there are too many staff，people will try to shift responsibility and will not try to commit and dedicate. ⑧ Many universities overseas have their own president selection committees. For example，in the United States，Hong Kong and Taiwan，a selection committee is often established and starts its selection work one year before the current president leaves his or her post. Competency model was first developed in the United States. Many universities have applied this model in president selection. They hire a professional search firm to participate in the selection process，which involves president candidate recommendation，inspection and interviews. The aim is to guarantee the result of candidate competency evaluation and select the right president qualified for the post in terms of the competency requirements. 　　The quality of the selection committee influences the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the evaluation of  a candidate’s competency. Therefore，it is of utmost importance to establish a highly efficient selection committee. An ideal university president selection committee should be established by relevant government agencies as they are authorized to be responsible for this work. The following aspects concerning the source of committee personnel and composition require careful consideration. First，the organizational and personnel departments of the government agencies responsible for the selection process not only follow the principle of managing cadres by the Chinese Communist Party but also represent views of the government agencies. Second，professors representatives from the universities can express the expectations and requirements for the president. Third，within the scope of the universities under the jurisdiction of the government agency，there is a database of retired excellent presidents or scholars who have the background of university management and higher education. These university management experts or scholars are potential candidates according to university type and academic background. Fourth，there should be some experts in human resource management specialized in measuring competency. Professionals in search company who are good at selecting and assessing management staff should also be included. We could consider establishing a target president selection committee according to the need of president selection and different characteristics of universities. Prior to the selection，committee staff should receive training in the theory of Competency Model and interview techniques. We should summarize the experience gained in the two former selections as appropriate.
　　4.Improve the process of university president selection
　　The key to selecting an ideal university president lies in establishing and improving the university president selection to gain accurate evaluation of candidates’ competence. Even though western universities vary from school to school in specific details in the president selection process，what they have in common is that they have a complete and rigorous system of how to recommend，screen and determine the president candidates.
　　The university president selection system，based on the assessment of competency model，is a scientific and organic system. This system contains some original procedures，such as democratic recommendation and voting，but these procedures are included as tools to measure some competencies of the candidates. 　　University is an educational institution and academic organization，essentially different from political organizations and other social organizations. So when designing university president selection system，on one hand，we should encourage the democratic participation of university teachers;on the other hand，we should prevent misuse of democracy. All of these measures are to obtain the actual effect of democratic recommendation and investigation. Democratic recommendation is an important part of the system，which will promote democracy and adopt the “mass line” during the selection of university presidents. What`s more，democratic recommendation plays an important role in choosing the right cadres and preventing the final decision from being made exclusively by an individual or a few people. But democratic recommendation has also brought about some outstanding issues in practice. For instance，those who take part in democratic recommendation hold different understandings of the standards. Such issues will result in the low quality of the recommendations and distorted election results.
　　Another issue is that some election candidates get so caught up in gaining more votes that they may be kidnaped by recommended votes. Lastly，because some election participants are afraid of losing votes and dare not face the failure，they choose to be goody-goody，but some of them may even attempt to bribe voters. Democratic recommendation is a necessary procedure in university president selection. Still，we should give it a reasonable position. It should be included as a secondary procedure instead of the primary one. It should serve as “important reference” instead of “the basis” in the recommendation result，in order to prevent equating recommendation votes with ballots and making decision based on votes instead of candidates. So taking democratic recommendation and public opinion evaluation as one of the steps in competency measurement of the university president candidates will satisfactorily overcome the election drawback that the result is heavily influenced by recommendation votes.
　　Therefore，the design of a university president selection system should center on the evaluation assessing the competencies of university presidents instead of just highlighting one particular procedure. That is，making the procedures and methods serve the purpose of measuring   candidates’ competency. In the design of the procedures and methods，we could apply measurement and evaluation of competency in every step throughout the university president election system. The aim is to find a good university president the country and university need in a timely manner with the scientific system and mechanism，and make best use of their talents. The university president selection system based on competency model is designed as follows. 　　First is to set up a university president selection committee. Usually，the time to set up this committee is one year before the  term of service ends or the president’s position  falls vacant for other reasons. The members of the committee consist of the staff in charge of organization and personnel work in the higher-level government agency，the professor representatives from the university where the president works in，experts selected from the database，experts from human resource recruitment organizations and some other staff. The proportion of each type is decided through discussions and consultations. The members of the committee should be trained in application of theories related to competency.
　　The second step is to identify the criteria for president selection. Developing new competency models according to the types and characteristic of the university，or based on the existing competency models，the qualification and conditions of the university president candidates can be determined. After considering various factors，we could determine the main items of competency of university president suitable for different conditions and different types of universities.
　　Thirdly，public announcement and open recruitment are required for the position of university president. The aim is to expand the president selection range，recruit excellent individuals to take part in the president election，increase the possibility to recruit the candidates who can meet the criteria. As mentioned earlier，overseas first-rate universities are recruiting presidents all over the world and allowing open competition. But in our country，we prefer to select the president within the university，which results in the lack of competition and the small number of qualified candidates. Therefore，in order to attract more outstanding candidates to take part in the university president selection，we could adopt a variety of measures，such as accepting recommendations from higher-level agencies，selected university，alumni association，other social organizations  and even self-recommendation.
　　The forth step is to measure and evaluate the competency of the candidates in various ways. Every candidate’s capability and quality will be evaluated and compared with thcompetency model before the most suitable candidate is selected. In the meantime，multiple methods will be used to investigate the candidate`s quality in various aspects，and these methods include democratic vote，interview and written examination. Scientific method will be applied to calculate the weights of the components of the university president`s competency. The score of each item of the candidate’s competency will be calculated and these will be summed to produce an overall score for ranking each candidate. Lastly，the result of university president selection will be submitted by administrative department for the approval of the president appointment. This selection procedures center on the measurement of university president`s competency，emphasizing the comprehensive evaluation of competency，and establish a scientific basis for university president selection. 　　注释
　　①Katherine Tunheim & Gary N. McLean.Competency Model for the Role of President of Religion-affiliated Colleges：877-885
　　②Wei Shiqiang，etc. Ressearch on Chinese higher education institution leaders’ competency model. 2010（6）
　　③Xue Qiuzhi，Xu Zhongwei，four theoretical hypothesis on enterprises life cycle. Economic management，2005（17）
　　④Wu Shulian. Research on university classification. Science and Scientific Technology Managemtn.2002（10）
　　⑤Liu Xianjun. Economic and social development transformation and teaching-service university development. Journal of higher education.2013（8）
　　⑥Song Boning. Higher education institutions classification in Shandong province. Jinan：Shandong University press.2012.300-302
　　⑦Guiler，world class university：must president be scientist？ Shanghai：Shanghai Jiaotong University Press.2011.7-9
　　⑧Li yanbao. Improve university selection and build modern university system. Newspaper of Chinese education. 2012-4-20
　　Author：Wei Shiqiang，doctoral student at School of Education，Huazhong University of Science and Technology.