Editorial: An Introduction To University Governance

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

In my previous articles, we spoke of our fictional heroine Molly who took the proper steps to advocate for university change successfully. We used her story to illustrate how the policy change process at a university works.

Afterwards in the next article, we analyzed how her story illustrated important elements in the policy change process, such as how every stakeholder has a priority list and how a successful advocate will know how to either appeal to or influence this list. 

Most recently, we noted how even with all the tactics in the world, it is a cause that gives one’s advocacy meaning.

Now in this article, we will explore the university’s internal governance system, which is the context in which a student’s advocacy occurs.

At the end of this article, the reader should have a better grasp of the advocacy environment within higher education. Metaphorically speaking, the reader will know where the three-point line is, how to call a time out and which players are on which teams.

In other words, the reader will know the rules of the game and will know how to use them to successfully advocate for student concerns within this context. Every student must have an introductory understanding of university governance to successfully advocate for his concerns. 

Therefore, to obtain an introductory understanding of the university governance system, one must know the following aspects about the university’s internal governance system: 

1) that there are three communities, namely, the students, the faculty and the staff, that makeup the one overall university community; “the three equal one”; 

2) that these communities have representative bodies (aka., governments; namely student government, faculty senate and staff senate) which represent their communities within the university’s internal governance system; 

3) that these governments have authority to represent their community due to the governing board’s recognition and the respective community’s consent; and 

4) that these bodies have the authority to do so in the community’s internal and external affairs. 

In addition to this information, it is important to know that: 

5) the community’s governments represent their communities through formal acts, or “resolutions”, which are official government statements on university subjects, such as institutional policy and internally-relevant current events. 

Next, it is important to know that:

6) the interplay of this conversation between the respective governing bodies and the governing board is called shared governance, or The Shared Governance Model of internal university governance. 

7) Finally, one must know that as a student, he has an opportunity to participate in the official conversations that shape university policy and, ultimately, university governance. He can participate. This apparatus is not just for the administrators and Ph.Ds. 

If one knows these things, then he will have a good, basic understanding of the university’s internal governance system and will know how to operate within it successfully. He will champion his cause well and if he is a student senator or student government officer then he will know how to represent this constituency well. Even if he does not have a cause to advocate for or an official student government title, everyday students would do well to understand these things so that they can keep up with what is happening in their name. 

In the coming articles, I will expound on each of these seven topics. For now, this introduction is enough to get one’s interests in this topic flowing and to give a good outline of the university governance system. Learn this system, students, and you will have a greater hand in your community’s experience at the university. 

Feature image: ''Court Gavel - Judge's Gavel - Courtroom'' by wp paarz via Flickr