The senate of the University of Maryland at College Park includes representatives of the entire campus community. The involvement of all constituencies is useful: decisions and policies made result from full information and discussion; there are no decision surprises; and there is strong administrative commitment to act on policies adopted. (MSE)

The author draws on personal experience with institutional governance, at the levels of both the university and the American Association of University Professors, to examine principles of faculty participation in governance. The structure and functions of the faculty council of the University of Texas at Austin are outlined to illustrate…

An overview is provided of the 1985-86 activities of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC). After citing the section of the California Administrative Code establishing the ASCCC and listing the officers and members of the organization, the annual report presents a statement by the ASCCC president, Mark Edelstein, regarding…

Perception of a decline in the effectiveness of the college faculty senate, resulting from a number of trends, has aroused new interest in the function of the senate and willingness of elected faculty leaders to confer with each other through conferences in multicampus institutions, regional consortia, and statewide consortia. (MSE)

Management drive in both higher education and industry is to offer participation to employees but use such participation to increase management control through identifying weak links in a deliberately stressed work situation. Attacks on faculty unions or senates are all part of management's offensive against any control by labor, and also on…

This discussion of faculty senates examines roles senates are presumed to and actually play in college governance within four organizational models: bureaucratic, collegial, political, or symbolic. It is concluded that any changes must be undertaken carefully so as not to disturb either manifest or latent organizational functions. (MSE)

A survey of 52 public research universities revealed great variety in the depth of faculty involvement in budgeting and in structures through which faculty participate. Faculty do not, in general, have major roles in resource allocation decisions. The concept of shared authority should be reconsidered in light of current reality. (MSE)

Four case studies concerning joint faculty-administration committees established to make major decisions (Princeton University, New Jersey; Northwestern University, Illinois; Teacher's College Columbia University, New York; Ohio University) suggest that, although the committees have potential to improve campus management, they are neither as…

In 1987, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) adopted a faculty ethics statement developed by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) detailing faculty responsibilities to their disciplines, as teachers, as colleagues, and as members of academic institutions. To make the AAUP statement more relevant to…

A survey of 402 higher education institutions questioned faculty senate heads and administrators about the composition, effectiveness, and issue-orientation of faculty senates. Characteristics of administrative organization, areas of governance responsibility, issues to be addressed in the next three years, and perceptions concerning areas that…

Eight case studies of dynamics of campus governance indicate that effectiveness of academic senates depends on structure, culture, and administrative posture toward faculty involvement in institutional decision making. Colleges included one private and one public university, two state colleges recently named universities, two private comprehensive…

A University of Maryland at College Park administrator offers his perspective on a recent retrenchment process that resulted in program closings. He describes the dialog between administration and faculty and credits the faculty with important support and participation in difficult decision making. (MSE)

The recent bloating of college administrations has worsened rather than improved administrative performance whereas it has raised costs. Faculty can discover the extent of the problem on their campuses, then activate professional associations and faculty budget committees to call for gradual roll-back in the ratio of administrative to…

A national survey found that 91 percent of colleges and universities have a participative governance body including faculty, and that faculty and administrative leaders find them effective and useful. However, respondents felt participants were not sufficiently rewarded, budgets were inadequate, the most able faculty were not attracted, and the…

A University of Maryland at College Park faculty member describes the recent retrenchment process, focusing on the role of the faculty senate and the academic planning advisory committee in decision making. The administration is credited with conducting an open and decisive process. (MSE)