Resistance to the enactment and implementation of a higher education policy: When there is little sense to make

• In Event: Policies, norms, and disruptions in higher education

Proposal

Bogazici University, one of Turkey's most prestigious universities, is known for its academic excellence, democratic atmosphere, and lively campus culture. Ordinarily, rectors at the university were elected by faculty members. However, in January 2021 a new rector was appointed directly, without going through the standard electoral process. The appointment was both a result of and brought about a top-down policy change.

The implementation of the current recruitment policy led to many changes apparent in the university’s modus operandi. The principles and postulations behind the new policy involved basically taking on a system replacing meritocracy with compliance. The deans have been dismissed on baseless grounds. New academicians, none of whom were approved by the departments regarding their qualifications were appointed to faculty positions. The committees that were traditionally the central decision collaborators of the administration were relegated and filled with these new faculty members. Among other such restricting procedures, online forums through which the faculty used to communicate their views have been abolished. The alumni organization was forced out of the campus. The International Mathematical Studies Center and Film Studies Center were inactivated along with the Center for the Prevention of Sexual Abuse. Faculty who raised their voices have been penalized. Contracts of the non-tenured faculty were not renewed. Courses of highly competent part time faculty were cancelled. Investigations about tenured faculty members were carried out resulting with punishment. Many, including the world known retired and emeritus professors were banned from entering the campus. In short, the administration has been taking every possible step to destroy the democratic atmosphere of the university and its tradition of aspiring to be a center of excellence.

As a result, a resistance in response to the change towards an autocratic and oppressive form of government in the university is still going on after two years and seven months. The faculty careful about carrying out all their responsibilities in teaching, research and student advising protest demanding the resignation of the appointed rector and the restoration of the university's democratic tradition and principles. A silent vigil is held every lunch break for 15 minutes in front of the rector’s office. The faculty members work in voluntary committees documenting the public damage and informing the public about the consequences of the policy. The resistance attracting attention from not only the university community but also the broader public in Turkey and internationally, highlights concern about academic freedom and university autonomy debating about the government's influence on higher education institutions. Such a reaction never took place in this university before; and, although the same policy decision is implemented in the other universities with similar consequences, no such resistance has been observed elsewhere in the country.

In this study a policy implementation research point of view was adopted to investigate the resistance as the consequence of a higher education policy change. As an educational policy decision is investigated as discourse it refers to the way policies related to education are formulated, communicated, and understood. Sensemaking in educational policy implementation refers to the process through which individuals and organizations involved in implementing educational policies try to make sense of the policy, its intention, its goals, and its implications. It involves understanding, interpreting, and giving meaning to the policy in the context of the specific educational setting and the people affected by it. Sensemaking during educational policy implementation is a dynamic and ongoing process that occurs at multiple levels (Coburn, 2001, Spillane, Reiser & Reimer, 2002 ). Starting with the interpretation of the policy text, individuals involved in implementation analyze the policy documents to make sense of the policy's intentions. Sensemaking involves understanding how the policy aligns with the existing practices and challenges in the particular setting.

When stakeholders are actively engaged in sensemaking, they are more likely to develop a sense of ownership over the policy implementation process. This can lead to increased commitment and motivation to make the policy successful. Sensemaking allows individuals to identify potential challenges and obstacles in implementing the policy and devise strategies to address them effectively. As the implementation progresses, sensemaking involves gathering feedback from various stakeholders and using that information to adapt and improve the policy implementation approach.

This paper aims to investigate the resistance from the cognitive perspective of sense making. During the 30 months around 10 petitions were signed, more than 100 public declarations were announced, reports were written to document public damage and many articles have been published all by volunteering faculty who worked in committees. The analyses of these documents along with the interviews with the five faculty members from the committees working on these documents and the implications of the data from the cognitive perspective will be reported.

The findings from the documentation of the petitions, public announcements and slogans used in the peaceful vigils to protest the public damage caused by the policy change and the interviews all point out to the struggle to make sense of the intentions, decisions, and enactment of the current policy appraising its alignment with the universal academic principles at every step. The resistance is legal, legitimate, peaceful and consistent with the principles as documented in the Bogazici University Senate decisions in 2012 concerning administrative autonomy, academic freedom and democratic governance. It reflects a large- scale analysis, a result of a meticulous effort on the part of the reacting faculty to make sense of the policy implementation, a public warning, from the point of view of one of the most essential stakeholders on how the current policy works.

Authors

• Emine Erktin, Bogazici University

• Fatma Gök