Abstract
The focus of this study lies on understanding the survival characteristics of universities and their effects, and, consequently, the ability of universities to endure and prosper in the absence of a nation-state providing a regulatory framework and funding. For this purpose, Birzeit University in the West Bank, Palestine was chosen as a case study. Ever since universities emerged in the medieval ages, they have passed through extreme challenges and changes affecting their external environments. As institutions, universities have proven a unique ability to survive as the main holders of knowledge, and obstinately guarded sacred values like academic freedom and autonomy. However, this survival ability differs among universities due to the power of their respective organizational character. Based on these points, the study offers an in-depth review of current knowledge about the survival elements of universities, by focusing on a set of core dimensions; their universality, adaptability, their resource dependencies, their structure, and their organizational identity. On the basis of a case study where an institution has operated and survived in the absence of a nation-state, the study explores the developmental stages and the survival story of Birzeit University in the West Bank, Palestine. Depending on interviews conducted with key internal stakeholders, it was found that the survival of Birzeit can be accounted to a set of critical factors, namely its democratic structure, the unity and commitment of its actors toward its mission, its strong organizational identity, its wide-ranging connections with international universities, its credibility, selective adaptability to external changes balancing between change and stability, and, finally, the diversity of its resources