Academic Governance

Sing WongHIED 552

Composition

In the United States, there are two major “voices” The Board of Trustees (BOT) & Administration

(President, Vice President, Deans) Faculty (Senate)

Academic Governance “Owned” by both the BOT and the Senate Typically, BOT defers major decision making in

academic realm to the senate

Definition

Research on Academic Governance No single or generally accepted definition

Closest: responsibility for the key academic issues such as determining the curriculum, course approval, and ensuring standards

No breakdown of specific duties or groups involved Differ across types of institution and its history Generally agreed upon that authority over

everything to do with academics is decided by the relationships between the BOT and Senate

Influences on Governance

Meeting constituents needs and expectations Students, parents, community members,

legislators, creditors, donors, alumni, staff, and faculty

Meeting institutional goals

Effective Governance

Academic governance is a “hard to manage and describe” university system (Bradshaw & Fedette, 2008)

Effective academic governance occurs when groups do not get sidetracked into operational details that may be better left to other groups or subgroups

Multiple influences of effectives

Complications in Governance

Autonomy & Academic Freedom vs. Institutional Interest

Typically, academic decision making is deferred to faculty Faculty are criticized for being slow Multiple committees impede processes

Blurred lines of responsibility / Overlap What parts of the university would you assign to

the BOT and what part would you assign to the Senate?

Other Structures in Governance

Concept of a Unicameral governing structure One governing board that encompasses all

facets of decision making Claude (1972) argues that this method doesn’t

pretend to solve problems by avoiding them

Partnership Approach Separate responsibilities but close partnerships

Joint committees & task forces

References

Bradshaw, P., & Fredette, C. (2008). Academic governance of universiites: Reflections of a senate chair on moving from theory to practice and back. Journal of Management Inquiry. 18(2).

Leadership Foundation. Academic governance. Retrieved from http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/governance/aboutgovernance/. Retrieved on October 18, 2010.

Morrill, R. (2003). The overlapping worlds of academic governance. Trusteeship, 1(11).

Mortimer, K.P., & Sathre, C. (2007). The art and politics of academic governance. Lanham, MD: Rowman & LIttlefield Publishers.

Waitzer, E. J., & Enrione, A. (2005). Paradigm flaw in the boardroom: Governance versus management. International Journal of Disclosure and Governace, 2(4), 348-357.