Twenty-two higher education administrators from the Southeast Asian region are currently undergoing the “Second Executive Forum on Leadership Excellence in Academe Program for Southeast Asia (LEAP SEA)” at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Tropical Biology (BIOTROP) in Bogor.

Participants of the course come from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Timor Leste, and Vietnam. They are expected to develop a case story concerning higher education institution administration and management that they intend to undertake. This will later be developed into a publication of LEAP SEA cases as knowledge and learning resources appropriate for Southeast Asia

SEARCA, in collaboration with BIOTROP and the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), is implementing the one-week LEAP SEA program at its headquarters in Bogor. LEAP SEA runs from 19 to 24 July 2010.

LEAP SEA recognizes that the greater proportion of executives of higher education institutions in the region, having had ample experience in academic administration, actually just need updated information about the management of higher education in agriculture. On the other hand, academic administration periodically takes a change in hands, as younger faculty members gain experience and academic credentials and is appointed to such executive positions.  Also, the amount of new information that academic administrators, particularly of colleges and universities, may need to know increases very rapidly over time. 

Over the years, the massification of higher education occurred resulting in an increase in the number of institutions offering higher education not only in Southeast Asia but everywhere. Along with the increasing number of institutions is a question on the quality of higher education offered.

To respond to this situation, there is a need to adopt appropriate approaches such as using a learning platform of exchange and experience-based action case studies that provide an avenue for innovation while making a scholarly contribution. This is the basic premise of LEAP SEA.

Specifically, LEAP SEA aims to: 1) provide a learning forum where significant new knowledge about leadership in and management of higher education, especially those in agriculture, may flow between experts and senior or mid-level executives of higher education institutions in the member countries of the Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO); 2) provide an opportunity for academic executives to write case stories on management problems they are facing and reflect on applying lessons learned in the executive forum to address these challenges; and 3) adopt an innovative process of packaging and publishing LEAP SEA cases as knowledge and learning resources appropriate for Southeast Asia.

During the opening program on 19 July 2010, Dr. Bambang Purwantara, BIOTROP Director, in his welcome remarks, noted that “many young education administrators are appointed to executive positions, and with this, the need to have continuous updated information on management is necessary.”

LEAP SEA will cover six modules, namely:

1)    The Environment of Southeast Asian Higher Education Institutions in Agriculture and Forestry (External Analysis);
2)    Contextualizing Higher Education in Agriculture and Forestry in the New Millennium (Internal Analysis);
3)    Opportunities for Change in Higher Education Institutions in Agriculture and Forestry;
4)    Managing Change in Higher Education Institutions in Agriculture and Forestry;
5)    Learning Organizations and Total Quality Management; and
6)    Basic Management for Higher Education Institutions.