Key Information
Improving Faculty Governance: Cultivating Leadership & Collaboration in Decision Making, By Michael T. Miller
2003 [ISBN: 1-58107-074-8; 216 pages soft cover; 5 1/4 x 8 1/4 inch] $20.95
Based on The National Data Base on Faculty Involvement in Governance Project Improving Faculty Governance This book reports on the first ever five-year longitudinal study of how faculty governance can be improved, the specific roles to be played and challenges to effective participation from the perspectives of faculty, provosts, and even college presidents. The communication patterns of faculty among themselves in decision making are also identified and correlated to effective voting patterns. The identified strategies are then examined through an ethnographic case study and a critical profile of national issues, all culminating in key strategies for faculty and administrators to improve shared governance. The work begins with a critical examination of the contemporary faculty member and the challenges of protecting academic democracy in the context of the increasingly corporate university. The ideas of trust and respect are examined between faculty and administrators, along with the positive and negative aspects of part-time faculty reliance.
The Contents
Dedication
Foreword
List of Figures and Tables
Chapters:
The Rationale for Shared Governance
State of Decision-Making in Colleges and Universities
Context of the Faculty Member
Democracy and Demand Making
Power and Resources for Decision-Making
Benefits and Barriers
Why Faculty are Involved
Impact on Faculty Involvement in Governance
Environments and Culture of Faculty Involvement in Governance
Administrative Trust
Faculty Trust
Part-Time Faculty
Student Participation in Governance
Impact on Faculty Involvement in Governance
The National Data Base on Faculty Involvement in Governance Project
Founding the Data Base
Phases of Data Base Work
Impact on Faculty Involvement in Governance
Faculty Governance Units
Baseline NDBFIG Data
Faculty Role in Governance
Faculty and Their Involvement
Ideal Governance Processes
College Presidents and Faculty Involvement
How Provosts Value Involvement
Impact on Faculty Involvement in Governance
Faculty Governance Leaders
Profiling Governance Leaders
Profile of 4-Year Faculty Governance Leaders
Skills and Stressors
Profile of 2-Year Faculty Governance Leaders
Tasks and Skills
Motivation
Classification of Senate Leaders
Impact on Faculty Involvement in Governance
Faculty Involvement in Governance Issues
National Observation
Leaders Respond
Attendance Patterns
The Author
Dr. Michael T. Miller is an Associate Professor in the College of Education, University of Arkansas. He also authored Responsive Academic Decision Making: Involving Faculty in Higher Education Governance, published by New Forums Press in 1999.