Editorial: Introduction To Stakeholder Groups In University Governance

 

(Photo: ''Court Gavel - Judge's Gavel - Courtroom'' by wp paarz via Flickr)

In my previous article, I gave an introductory overview of what a student needs to know to have an introductory understanding of university governance, and how this is important because this understanding will allow him to know how to participate in university decision-making about his own affairs while at university. 

In this article, I will introduce the main players (or stakeholders) in university governance and this will allow the reader to begin his understanding of the university's internal governance system. In this essay, I will introduce the university's governing board, the three constituencies and their governments and finally the university president and their roles. If a student has a basic understanding of these, then he can begin his introductory understanding of the university environment and ultimately, the way to advocate for his concerns in the university environment. 

So, let us begin. 

Within the higher education governance system, there is a governing board of trustees or “regents” which oversees all university activity. It has nine members who are appointees by the state governor and confirmed by the state senate.

Advising the board are three constituencies; faculty, students and staff. These constituencies have representation at both the university- and university system-levels. In this article, we will focus on their representation at the university-level.

At the university-level, these constituencies have representation through the faculty senate, student government association and the staff senate. All three representatives are appointed and acknowledged by the board to advise the board on their community’s behalf. 

For instance, the faculty senate represents the faculty to the governing board, the student government association represents the student body to the governing board and the staff senate (or staff advisory council) represents the university’s operational staff to the governing board. 

These three constituencies bear authority from the board to represent their community’s interests to the governing board. This authority means their representation is exclusive, meaning, in the board’s eyes, these alone speak for their communities. 

Aside from authority from the governing board, these entities also have authority from the community itself. It is to represent their community’s interests back to the community itself. This aspect refers back to our introductory article’s mention of how the governing body’s authority extends both to the community’s external and internal affairs. 

For instance, the governing body will determine rules for community elections, parliamentary procedures, and it administers the elections themselves. These internal matters the governing body handles on the community's behalf. These are what we might consider internal affairs. 

However, for the community's external affairs, the government will speak on the community’s behalf in matters of collective university concern, meaning, those priorities which lie outside the community's sole jurisdiction, and especially those decisions that affect the collective university community as a whole. For example, decisions such as the selection of a new university president or plans to demolish campus green space for new parking lots, or any other university affair that affects the community and its concerns. These governing bodies represent their community’s interests in internal university, yet external community affairs.  

These are the basic roles of the three main governing bodies at a university: advising the governing board, regulating its community and representing the community's interest within internal university affairs. 

Finally, the university president represents the governing board at the local level. In other words, the president is the board’s representative. He reports to the board and makes or carries out decisions on the board’s behalf. He is the face of the Board to both the university and to the surrounding local community. The president is the board's representative at the local, university level.

The governing board, the three governing bodies and the university president: these are the three main players or stakeholder groups within the university’s internal governance environment.

If a student knows these, then he will have a better understanding of how to participate in university governance.