This article presents an interview with Emily Toth, who writes the monthly "Ms. Mentor" academic advice column in the "Chronicle of Higher Education" and teaches in the English department at Louisiana State University, in Baton Rouge. She is the author of "Ms. Mentor's Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia" (1997), "Inside Peyton Place: The Life…

Recently, some presidents of colleges and universities have run into serious trouble because of conflicts with their faculty. When such conflicts arise, faculty senates frequently precipitate an institutional crisis by voting (or threatening to vote) no confidence in the president. But whether one agrees or disagrees that a particular president…

In this article, the author claims that the steady corporatization of American higher education has threatened to relegate faculty governance, never strong, to the historical archive. In public institutions, faculty disempowerment has been codified by law--legislatures, the governor or county executive or their staff, or state boards of higher…

While some social constructionists are unprepared to confront the role of ethics in the process of communication, the fact must be faced that as a person constructs reality, he or she makes judgments about that reality. Here are four situational perceptions that affect how decisions are socially constructed as ethical or not ethical within…

Asserts that the distinctive moral traditions of faith-based colleges and universities can help them resist corporate demands on academia, but only if their faculties are allowed to question institutional policies. Describes five main sources of governance problems in religiously affiliated schools. (EV)

This booklet contains materials designed to assist local academic senate leaders in forming and leading stronger and more effective senates. Section I explains the sources and objectives of the booklet. Section II looks at the role of academic senates in California community colleges, while section III considers the characteristics of effective…

Explores problems with shared governance between administrators and faculty at various colleges and universities, and why Black colleges appear to be more prone to these types of problems. (EV)

Explores the role and importance of faculty governance based on personal experience at the University of California, Berkeley (which has one of the country's strongest faculty governance systems) and the University of Michigan (with a weaker system more representative of national norms). Discusses the increasing market-related obstacles to…

A critique of the presupposition, inherent in collective bargaining at the higher education level, of a community of interests among faculty members and an adversarial relationship between faculty and administrators. In general, faculty members have doubts about the wisdom or legitimacy of collective bargaining. (TE)

Shared governance and collegial management are discussed. Steps to strengthen the governance process are identified: a more sophisticated view of the governance process must be formed, faculty must avoid administrative centralization of power and faculty provincialism, become more involved in union affairs, and become politically knowledgeable.…

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…

Asserts that academic freedom requires a governance system in which faculty expertise--often residing in an individual, but also expressed at times in a collective fashion--is the determining factor in institutional decisions affecting academic matters. Discusses why faculty governance is especially important in protecting liberal education…

The author, whose perspective is that of a faculty member, argues that faculty governance faces new challenges requiring modified attitudes and governance structures. He groups his comments under three general headings: (1) developing competence to govern; (2) academic freedom and faculty governance; and (3) avoiding collective irresponsibility.…

Describes the role of accountability in corporations and educational institutions, comparing differences in the ways that people are held accountable for inappropriate behavior in American and tribal cultures. Suggests that, unlike American communities, tribal communities use a non-confrontational approach and higher priority is given to…

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…