An understanding of shared governance structures is a critical skill for an administrator to understand and learn to work within toward accomplishing the goals of the institution and the implementing the vision of the president or chancellor.
According to the AAUP, there are three common forms of shared governance found in US institutions:
- Fully collaborative decision-making.
- Consultative decision making where faculty are asked for opinions, but the authority remains with the administration.
- Distributed decision making. Usually this is manifested in the form of faculty standing committees. Faculty have power in certain areas and administrators in others.
I have worked for the majority of my career in a consultative decision making environment. I like to remind individuals working in these systems that shared governance does not mean shared government. The subtle distinction of terms governance and government are critical and they helped me understand my role as a young faculty member serving in our Faculty Senate. Consultative faculty shared governance groups will occasionally consider themselves to be decision makers as opposed to advisors to the administration. This sometimes leads to misunderstanding of roles which can cause conflict. As an academic administrator, it is important to clearly communicate the definition of roles within the system and then respect the voices of faculty whose input is sought.
In consultative systems, administrators who do not respect and value faculty shared governance advice and input given can quickly find themselves in peril. In my experience, success in working with shared governance organizations all comes down to transparency, valuing people, active listening, and communication. Successful administrators who do these four things well excel in their job performance. It is important to remember that faculty governance organizations want to have a voice in the administration of the institution. Mostly, faculty want to be listened to. Understanding this is critical to success as an academic administrator at any level. A maxim I try to live by as an academic administrator is that I will have neither permanent friends nor permanent enemies, but I will always have permanent interest in the institution.
Presently, I work with the FHSU Faculty Senate closely on all matters pertaining to the curriculum. At FHSU, the Faculty Senate is empowered to approve the curriculum and the administration facilitates and guides this implementation according to Kansas Board of Regents policy guidelines. Close communication is key to the success of this governance and I frequently meet with faculty leaders and committees associated with oversight of the curriculum.
A parallel organization exists at the graduate level of our institution in the Graduate Council. For nine years, I chaired the Graduate Council and worked closely with faculty in a shared governance role as an administrator.
Three other importance shared governance structures all administrators should understand well are collective bargaining units, standing committees, and the organizational structure within the academic affairs unit.
At FHSU, I have had the privilege of representing the administration in collective bargaining with our FHSU chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). The discipline of negotiation has been an important skill for me to learn and I have come to enjoy the interaction with faculty who are attempting to protect and maintain conditions of employment for their unit members. In many respects it is easier to administer faculty within collective bargaining systems because many conditions of employment are set within the collective bargaining agreement.
There have been many standing committees I have chaired in my time as an administrator. My role as a direct report to the provost has been to support the provost in working with faculty in certain areas of interest to academic affairs. In my case, these have included experiential learning, learning environments, student success and engagement, program review, Graduate Council, internationalization of the campus and curriculum, institutional effectiveness, and assessment.
Finally, a common governance structure within academic affairs is the organizational structure of the division through colleges and departments. Regular meetings with the leaders of these groups are critical for governance in the institution. I would also add the importance of department chairs and communication with and from this group through a standing meeting of department chairs in the university.
Timothy R Crowley 