The Rovira i Virgili University (URV) was founded in 1992. It is a public university serving southern Catalonia, a region with 800,000 inhabitants. The university was founded by the Catalan Parliament to unite existing higher education faculties and schools in the Tarragona area under a joint institutional umbrella. 

In 2015, URV had an annual budget of EUR 98.5 million and employed 1,154 staff, of which 488 were permanent academic staff. It had 11,500 students across six campuses, and around 2,025 graduates per year from 52 study programmes. In postgraduate and doctoral degree programmes 27% of the students were international.

URV’s institutional context is determined by three external factors: the Spanish/Catalan government policies, the lack of autonomy in many relevant organisational areas, and the regional economy of southern Catalonia. URV has responded to these challenges by taking a strategic approach to communication and decision making processes; using advanced information and quality management systems, engaging pro-actively within the region and particularly by building regional knowledge and an innovation ecosystem. This has enabled the university to become adaptable and flexible, to manage risk, identify new opportunities for society focused research and develop learner centred education, all within the constraints of the government framework. 

Innovative Features

• Leadership and Governance

Entrepreneurship is a major part of the university strategy

Since its foundation in 1991, URV has developed an institutional environment which nurtures entrepreneurship and leadership throughout the university. This has been achieved by supporting individual leadership and autonomy whilst creating synergies across the six campuses. 

Internal stakeholders and external partners have been mobilized to recognise and create opportunities, align visions and actions, take and share risks, and make strategic decisions that involve joint commitment in responding to challenges. 

External consultation has played a key part in formulating all URV’s strategic plans. External evaluations are conducted annually, with follow-up reports being presented to the University Senate and disseminated to the wide network of external stakeholders. 

In all strategic plans since 1998, the following three elements have been given key importance: 

1.      A strong internal and external focus on the quality of research and education

2.      The empowerment of entrepreneurial action, synergies and co-ordination both for units/faculties and individuals

3.      Clear commitment to social and economic development at the regional level

Strategic planning is funded from the general university budget and is an essential aspect of aligning resources and creating action plans. Annually, 2/3 of the budget (EUR 2.4 million: 2013) is allocated to research and knowledge transfer and 1/3 (EUR 1.2 million) for operational and infra-structure projects in the five specialisation areas. 

There is commitment at a high level to implementing the entrepreneurial strategy

The recent rectors of URV, Lluis Arola (1998-2006), Xavier Grau (2006-2014) and Jose Anton Ferré Vidal, have played a crucial role in establishing a culture of leadership, partnership and commitment. They created an institutional environment based on the principles of participation, transparency and communication. The University strategic plans are transparent; everyone is expected to deliver their part of the University’s strategy. Deans, heads of departments and heads of units are closely involved in strategic plan development. Academic, administrative staff and students are closely involved in the implementation phase. 

Strategic plans, development and implementation are coordinated by the Rector’s Technical Bureau. This specialist function was established in 1998 with an initial staff of three (head, junior manager and administrative support). It has grown into a highly specialised unit that actively interacts with the rector, the vice-rectors, heads of department, faculties and research units. Today the unit has two senior officers and seven staff, including managers and administrative support. 

The HEI has a model for coordinating and integrating entrepreneurial activities at all levels across the university

Transparent strategic plans have been central in creating the social culture and systems needed for coordination and integration across the university. It was recognised early on in the process that easy-to-use information management was crucial. 

In 1999, advanced quality management and information systems were implemented. Since then, internal and external quality systems have been progressively introduced in teaching, covering all activities related to the design, development and implementation of courses. The first phase of the system facilitated strategic teaching decisions, including the map of undergraduate studies and the definition of specialisation areas. This system has been extended into management activities and research. In 2013, 30 research groups had external quality certificates (IS0 9001:2008) 

A powerful, integrated and robust information system (‘SINIA’ Datawarehouse) has been designed and implemented to assist strategic planning and external communication. The system facilitates accountability towards government and enhances communication with regional partners. 

In 2013, quality management and information system development and maintenance received an annual budget of EUR 0.1-0.2 million, to cover the costs of external accreditation and computer maintenance. 

The faculties and units have autonomy to act

In 2000, annual performance contracts were introduced to faculties, departments and research groups. They were introduced to support the active achievement of URVs’ strategic, common goals. This approach has enhanced alignment and coordination across the different parts of URV, whilst allowing for autonomy and diversity. An example of this is URV’s internationalization strategy which enforces a common goal across URV, with different local targets depending on faculties’ own portfolio of programs. 

By 2013, there were 100 unit contracts of which 59 were with research groups negotiated on a biannual basis, 24 with departments, 12 with faculties and five with research centres. All these contracts were agreed for a period of three years. Each unit develops its own action plan. Positive yearly performance evaluations rewarded with extra funding of up to 10-20% of the agreed annual budget. 

Performance is evaluated using a system which includes 3 types of indicator:

1.      Indicators set by national and regional governments for their competitive funding programmes

2.      Indicators generated from the strategic plans

3.      Indicators proposed by faculties, departments and research groups.

The Rector’s Technical Bureau oversees the performance contracts, which accounts for a total of EUR 2.0 million. (EUR 0.4 million for departments and faculties, EUR 1.2 million for research groups and EUR 0.4 million for research centres). In the research groups, the funds are mainly used for doctoral scholarships. 

The HEI is a driving force for entrepreneurship development in the wider regional, social and community environment

URV is a driving force for sustainable regional, social and community development in southern Catalonia. In 2009, a strategic plan was developed to increase synergies and knowledge sharing, and to focus this on five areas of joint activity across the region. 

• Improving regional governance: URV is contributing to the design and implementation of intelligent regional specialisation strategies. This is achieved through regional data analysis and the joint design of teaching and research activities with key regional business and community stakeholders. 
• Accelerating capabilities in businesses: URV is increasing the alignment of their higher education courses through more in-depth conversations with industry and business representatives and employing training and further education programs developing current regional and future skills needs. 
• Stimulating debate and creativity: URV provides a platform for exchange and debate. This platform enhances development in cultural activities and openness in scientific research.
• Developing infrastructure to enhance social capital: The urban transformation of cities is a major research area in URV. A key aspect of this is promoting interaction and value-added flows between regional stakeholders. (E.g. URV is coordinating the Southern Catalonia Knowledge Hub Association. This association enables the development of a shared portfolio of activities among regional triple helix actors).
• Promoting local-global connections: URV has been successful in attracting international students and researchers to southern Catalonia. By making its international links available to regional businesses and community stakeholders, URV enhances the region’s role in creating a leading knowledge and innovation ecosystem. 

The definition of the five specialisation areas in 2001 greatly assisted in the setting up of the regional agenda on knowledge and innovation. Three autonomous research centres were established by URV in partnership with the Catalan Government. These included public-private technology centres and science/technology parks, under the URV leadership. 

These centres facilitated specialised knowledge exchange and the emergence of an innovation ecosystem. The Campus of International Excellence Southern Catalonia (see final section) has played an important role in the orchestration of the different activities and stakeholders. 

Challenges and lessons learned

The integration of strategic planning, performance contracts, evidence-based evaluation and accountability throughout the university has proven to be effective at driving change. This has led to a culture that balances centralised and decentralised leadership and enables greater autonomy to develop initiatives under common visions and goals. Nevertheless, change management in decentralised organisations is a challenging and long-term endeavour. 

Obstacles and barriers occur when new tools are introduced, due to the differences in perception, assimilation and willingness of the different units and individuals to act/react in an entrepreneurial manner. These asymmetries never disappear, however, they have been progressively reduced by consistent, coherent, coordinated and highly consensual policies designed through internal dialogues. The governance and leadership approach, adopted by URV, has enhanced internal and external trust with the university. 

A specific challenge is the management of the conflicts between specialisation and diversification. There is a need to continuously increase relevance and quality in teaching and research. The fact that URV had already implemented policies and programs in this respect considerably mitigated the internal resistance to specialisation. 

In order to drive the strategy of specialisation forward, formal agreements were needed with external partners, including the government, to establish new research centres and science and technological entities in the region. The clear position of the URV and the alignment of local stakeholders has played an important role in resolving funding issues. There has been an active pooling of resources and strong commitment from all parties to boost the regional education-research-innovation triangle. 

Over the last 10 years, internal and external trust has grown. Simply articulated, clear vision, evidence-based strategies and decisions have all actively contributed to the success of entrepreneurial governance and leadership taken by URV. The transparency and accountability of procedures and the development of professional units that assist the rector’s team have played an important part in setting up the operational ground. 

Consistency in institutional leadership, common vision, defined goals, and active, respectful communication both inside and outside the university have created a culture that supports achievement. 

The effectiveness of URV in delivering on-target results has given the university status and credibility as a key regional leader. Targets include high research quality, specific research transfer activities, and graduates able to deliver regionally demanded competences. This has, in turn, created a virtuous circle and reinforced the internal efforts within the university community.