INCREASING THE QUALITY OF BULGARIAN HIGHER EDUCATION THROUGH STRATEGIES FOR ACADEMIC PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

The strategies for academic personnel management as a factor for increasing the quality of higher education are discussed in the present article. The quality of the educational service is not only a national and European priority, but it is also a basic strategic advantage of every Bulgarian university, currently functioning in a highly competitive environment – for this reason it is steadily outlined in its strategy for development. One of the ways for improving the education is through elaboration of the system for human resource management. In essence it is intended to attract, retain and motivate the quality personnel through a collection of policies, procedures, and criteria in the field of training, assessment and reward. In this connection there are presented the strategies for personnel training and motivating, applied by Bulgarian higher schools as an instrument for improving the work performance. There are identified real and potential problems and on this basis is demonstrated the necessity of improving the motivational policies and practices as a means for improving the quality of the educational service. Some possible solutions for increasing the motivation in academic environment are offered.