INSTITUTIONS OF ACADEMIC GOVERNANCE AND INSTITUTIONAL THEORY: A FRAMEWORK FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Abstract

For the scholar of organizations, higher education is the scene of repeated paradox. Universities and colleges can range in their behavior from among the most munificent of organizations to expressing some of the worst impulses of organizational behavior. The field coalesces around a notion of shared governance, but administrators often complain that faculty members mostly ignore their opportunities to be involved in decision making and only become involved when they object strenuously to a particular proposal (Association of Governing Boards, 2001; Birnbaum, 2004). Faculty who are active in governance echo the view that their colleagues do not offer enough support and are not involved enough, but they also complain about administrative encroachments on their prerogatives (Rhoades, 2005). Higher-education organizations can both require and resist the imposition of decision hierarchies.