Negotiating the Perfect Storm

Today, institutional leaders face numerous struggles: intervention from boards of trustees, alumni, and state legislators; decline in financial support from the states; and competition in an increasingly global marketplace. While it is agreed that effective governance structures allow institutions to respond creatively to these challenges, how best to allocate control in order to maximize institutional efficiency, preserve academic freedom, and ensure institutional identity remains unclear. Increasingly, administrators look to non-academic institutions for governance and management strategies. In Competing Conceptions of Academic Governance, William G Tierney brings together faculty members, administrators, and policy experts to discuss differing views of academic governance at institutional, state, and international levels. Topics include the effects of globalization and the prospect of international accreditation; balancing the entrepreneurial and philosophical goals of higher education; the interaction between state governments and public universities; and the conflicting interests and roles of boards of trustees, administrators, and faculty. Carefully weighing various models and strategies, Competing Conceptions of Academic Governance provides new ways of understanding and addressing the changes that are transforming higher education.''An exciting book that covers all the vital topics and various points of view. The chapter authors are outstanding and it should be widely used in courses on governance.''—Joseph F. Kauffman, President Emeritus, Rhode Island College, and Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin''Tierney has done an excellent job of creating a forum for a discussion among the impressive array of authors who see higher education governance in differing ways. Each chapter provides important insights toward the discussion and each has a specific contribution that is critical to the dialogue. As a dean, I need this book on my shelf as I negotiate with faculty on one side and the provost and president on the other. I need to assure the faculty that this storm is not an invention of mean administrators, but an economic and social reality that is transforming higher education. This book will help me engage the discussion that we need to consider mutually supportive ways to arrive on the shores safely, if slightly shaken.''—Ken Kempner, Dean of Social Sciences and Education, Southern Oregon University''The broad perspectives on university governance put forward in this book, relevant to all who are 'negotiating the perfect storm,' make it worthwhile reading.''—Harry deBoer, Review of Higher Education''This book arrives at an important moment in the evolution of university governance . . . The research and scholarship in this volume provide a detailed depiction of the challenges faced by governing boards and postsecondary leaders.''—Brian Pusser, Journal of Higher Education