It would be easy to assume that social trust is a normatively good value to promote within institutions. Trust encourages cooperation between actors, and thus normalises policies, practices and behaviours that tend to work towards collective social good. To assume this would also be to assume that trust should be a central aspiration for policy…

Prepared for a Strategic Education Governance learning seminar, this working paper analyses the ways in which the Dutch government tried to reach overarching goals in education, in a system characterised by a high degree of distributed autonomy of education institutions and the participation of multiple actors, and consequently a government highly…

There has been a trend in state government toward tighter and tighter centralization that, though done in the name of greater economy and efficiency, is in large part a reach for political power. Not all services of the state can be performed well if integrated into a single monolithic administrative pyramid with all other state services and…

A research study examined the computing strategies of colleges and universities with enrollments of 5,000 or fewer. The management/governance structures were studied and responding institutions indicated that the concept of collegiality was prevalent in setting overall computing policy. (MLW)

Two central features of Australian universities are a strong research base and structural organization reflecting a close relationship between teaching and research. Current policy deliberations have produced research policy recommendations for increased centralization, coordination, selectivity, and concentration of research and funding that are…

The decade 1980-90 saw a spate of educational reconstruction occurring simultaneously in many countries. This book argues that the school restructuring of the past 10 years has been called the "education-reform movement," but that term is somewhat misleading. The current reform efforts seem to aim primarily at the control and governance of both…

The report describes the functions of multicampus systems of higher education in the United States, considers their growing importance, identifies common concerns, and presents ideas for addressing those concerns. It is based on interviews conducted during 1991 and 1992 with administrators, faculty, trustees, and other experienced professionals,…

The governance of Canadian schools is undergoing change. Provincial ministries of education are pursuing contradictory policy initiatives: local school boards are being consolidated to become more "efficient," and individual schools are developing school councils to become more "democratic." This paper applies Jurgen Habermas's…

A study is presented to determine (1) where people influential in public university governance believe various typical decisions are being made and (2) where they believe those decisions should be made. The kinds of issues that bring about most disagreement as to proper authority in governance and administration are identified. Centralization of…

This analysis of the changing balance in who controls the schools contends that local authorities have been slowly losing authority to the states. Moreover, within the local districts, the central offices are assuming more control in such matters as curriculum content and state testing programs. The paper begins with an overview of recent…

The changes and progress made under the new system of governance of the Montana university system are examined. The report compares progress made by the system in the five years preceeding the change of governance (1968-1973) with the progress made during the first five and one-half years of the new system (July, 1973 to December, 1978). Under the…

The literature concerning higher education and generic organization theory is reviewed to address various questions relating to faculty participation in institutional decision-making. Attention is directed to: the rationale for faculty participation, alternative types of participation, participation in academic senates, participation by functional…