Discusses how, with president Frederick S. Humphries' tenure drawing to a close and a newly appointed board of trustees in place, many people are wondering what the future holds for Florida A&M University, the nation's leading producer of African American undergraduate degrees. Includes a timeline of the changes in leadership. (EV)

Austria has gone through two cycles of university reforms since the 1960s. The first aimed to open the universities to social and labour market demand and to make their structures more democratic and flexible. The second reform cycle dealt with glitches in the overly close relationship between universities and state bureaucracy. Bureaucrats still…

In our increasingly legalistic environment, the work of the governing board has become much more complex and challenging. Board members today need better training and support to meet these challenges.

This article examines how tenure and academic freedom are portrayed in novels about academic life. The novel provides unique opportunities to explore philosophical questions and allows readers to examine meaning rather than truth, existence as opposed to reality. Thus, the novel suggests what is possible, which reality forecloses insofar as from a…

In recent years university governance has come in from the cold, so to speak, and is now the subject of some debate in political and academic venues. The core issue for debate is the appropriateness and effectiveness of current university governance structures. This debate is particularly critical in light of the increased professionalisation of…

In the not-so-distant past, an employment agreement between a university president and a governing board was often nothing more than a handshake. Today, formal contracts are requirements for presidents, with boards and presidents typically relying on lawyers to extensively document terms of employment, salary and benefits, and, perhaps most…

This guide for state policymakers examines the laws, policies, and programs that states are using to create and sustain high-quality charter school governing boards. In particular, the guide focuses on the two aspects of governing boards that interviews with state administrators revealed are most critical for a board's success: board composition…

Seven small private colleges in three states have found a way to reduce their administrative technology costs and expand their technological capability at the same time. They have done it by choosing the common-sense, yet unconventional, college and university strategy of genuine collaboration. The result, the Independent College Enterprise (ICE),…

In these uncertain economic times, leadership is among the most frequently used (and misused) terms in public discourse. And the vast literature on this topic certainly encompasses considerable discussion of the policies and practices that can equalize leadership opportunities for women and people of color. In reviewing the status of women in…

This is a preliminary survey of the laws and statutes that determine governance arrangements for higher education systems as well as individual institutions in 24 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Following an overview of recent higher education governance trends within Africa, it describes the current range of practice and most common approaches…

"What Works in Higher Education Reform: A Report from the Front," the twelfth annual national conference of the National Association of Scholars, took place November 17-19, 2006, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One panel, "Governing Boards: Raising Consciousness," examined the role governing boards do and can play in raising awareness on campus and…

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…

Board policy provides that in the fall of every even-numbered year, the Chancellor's Office shall compile a System report on faculty workloads at NSHE (Nevada System of Higher Education) institutions. Faculty workload is collected from the institutions in two parts: (1) in-class instructional data originating from workload databases and validated…

This report presents results of a 1997 survey of the governing boards of independent colleges and universities conducted to identify trends in membership and board policies and practices. Among the highlights are the following: (1) boards average 30 members; (2) 46 percent of boards had conducted a review of their own performance within the past…

This booklet for trustees of institutions of higher education offers guidelines for the creation of effective affiliated foundations. An introductory section notes the increased use of such foundations by public colleges and universities for institutional fund-raising and management of property and endowments. The booklet finds that successful…