Rebuilding higher education institutions in post-conflict contexts: Policy networks, process, perceptions, & patterns

• We explore the rebuilding of one public university in post-conflict Côte d’Ivoire through the lens of policy networks.
• Our data demonstrate distinct patterns and norms in the communication process related to rebuilding policy-making along three strata: the ministry, the university, and the students.
• There was a struggle to establish congruence between university officials, policy priorities, and administrative structures during the closure.
• Perceptions of insecurity were dominant in many participants’ narratives.
• The policy network was highly fragmented and characterized by disconnected relationships amongst actors.

This research explored the rebuilding of a public university, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, in the West African nation of Côte d’Ivoire, destroyed as a result of a highly contested Presidential election. We began by viewing rebuilding as the result of policy networks, a pantheon of interdependent actors cooperating and competing to address policymaking. Then we investigated the characteristics of these efforts, focusing on the policies that result from the complex interplay between university stakeholders and government bodies and the subsequent implementation of policy into practice. The study resulted in a preliminary understanding of one institution’s rebuilding efforts.