Shared Governance in Wicked Times: Perceptions of Faculty Senate Presidents on Faculty and Administrator Relationships

Abstract

Background:

Shared governance is currently under attack by state agencies that seek to limit the power of institutional governing bodies. In addition, the effectiveness has been called into question by practitioners and researchers alike, which creates an additional stress on the prevailing governing structure of higher education.

Purpose, Objective, and Focus of Study:

Given the challenging context that higher education currently exists in with decreasing financing and desire for more legislative oversight, effective shared governance is critical. In this study, we discuss the importance of shared governance and focus on the critical nature of relationships in the efficacy of shared governance.

Research Design:

Guided by the shared governance theoretical model, we conducted an embedded qualitative case study on faculty senate presidents’ experiences working with administrators and faculty on issues of shared governance at public four-year regional comprehensive universities. We analyze responses from 13 faculty senate presidents to provide insights on the relationship between administration and faculty senate leaders to better understand how this relationship is perceived, and how it can be improved.

Conclusions:

We find that faculty senate presidents see challenges in what it means to “have a seat at the table,” and identify important insights for how to strengthen relationships between shared governance leaders and administrators.