Designing an Effective Accountability Model for Islamic Azad University: a qualitative approach based on Grounded Theory

The purpose of present study was to design an effective accountability model for Islamic Azad University by using qualitative grounded theory. The data of this study were the result of semi-structured interviews with 25 senior administrators in Tehranchr('39')s Islamic Azad University branches who were selected by theoretical sampling method.  Using analytical methods of Strauss and Corbin, data were analyzed at three levels of open, axial and selective coding.  After identification of the main component (balanced response to constituencies’ needs) and using it to bring the categories together, expressions and ideas representing the relationships between the main and subcomponents, and finally the revealed components were categorized into  following six dimensions of the paradigm model, with the relationships among them: causal conditions (human resources, science oriented of university,  creating motivation in university , need assessment and targeted academic development, customer oriented, teaching-learning process, university quality assessment), main component (accountability to students, market and society), environmental conditions (political, economic, socio–cultural, technology- global, macro- policy and macro- planning and higher education environments), intervention factors (university structure, university atmosphere, proportion of quantity of demand with supply, scientific and research infrastructure), strategies (participation, interaction of university with society, international interactions, financing and allocation of financial resources), and outcomes (skill development, empowering studentschr('39') moral and cultural development, university qualitative development, achieving the true status of the university,  external constituencieschr('39') satisfaction,  decreasing brain drain, and improving entrepreneurship); and different structures formed the  effective accountability model  in Islamic Azad University.