Patriot Weekly

In our discussion about campus advocacy, campus advocates must first know that while university authorities may sometimes rule by a direct vote,  the predominant way they rule is by  policy.  Policy Defined  The GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English defines policy as "The method by which any institution is administered.”  Method  is a good synonym for  policy . So in other words, policy is the established method, rule or practice that achieves the best results for the institution’s goals. This is what we mean by policy.   In higher education, the predominate way authorities rule the institution is through policy, which is a defined, specific method of handling certain affairs. For example, the policy or  method of approach  to students’ right to free expression, or the policy or  method of approach  to motorized vehicles on campus sidewalks. Higher education governance’s use of policy is pervasive...

In a higher education environment, a campus advocate’s relationship to authority is fundamental. This article will examine four reasons why advocates should submit to, rather than rebel against, authority and will examine the context that makes this approach make sense. Overall, submission to authority is the moral and mature thing for an advocate to do. Advocates should therefore respect authority to be the most effective they can be on a college campus. Here are four reasons why.   First, advocates should submit to authority because The Board of Regents’ role as head of UT System is supreme. Therefore, advocates should be mature and accept this rule as the fact of life that it is. Acceptance of The Board of Regent’s authority is a moral and mature response to ubiquitous authority.   Secondly, advocates should respect authority because, practically speaking, The Board can terminate the advocate’s campus advocacy. For should the advocate rebel against school policy, then the B...

  Every student must understand higher education organizational structure to effectively influence the campus.  How to Interpret Campus Regulation Before we discuss campus regulation in detail, every advocate must understand the university’s internal governance structure to effectively influence the campus community. Students who understand higher education’s internal governance also know how to influence university affairs. They know how to influence because they understand the world around them. Therefore, let us examine higher  education’s governance structure to understand how to influence the community within it.  Higher Education Governance First, it is helpful to realize that higher education has at least three tell-tale characteristics: 1) a decentralized organizational structure, 2) authority delegation and 3) a preference for jurisdictional autonomy.  Readers who understand these classic traits will interpret campus governance better than others who do...