New book places university governance under the microscope

The research by Dr Julie Rowlands, Senior Lecturer in Education at Deakin University, is outlined in her new book, Academic Governance in the Contemporary University: Perspectives from Anglophone Nations.

In completing her study, Dr Rowlands examined publicly available data collected from 93 public universities - 29 in the U.S., 27 in England, and 37 in Australia – as well as case study data from two American universities and three Australian universities. A total of 46 interviews, 15 in the U.S. and 31 in Australia, were also conducted.

Dr Rowlands said the data reports that fewer academics are actively contributing to decision making processes around teaching and research, particularly in Australia and England.

“This diminution of academic voice can be seen in five general areas,” Dr Rowlands said. 

“Firstly, there has been a decrease in the number and size of academic governance bodies, such as faculty boards and academic boards, and a substantial reduction within some universities in the proportion of board members who are grass roots practising academics.

“For example, in Australia, 46 per cent of academic board members are not practising teachers or researchers and in the U.K., this figure is 50 per cent.

“Secondly, contemporary universities have been ‘executivised’ with many senior academic roles are expanded to include managerial positions such as pro and deputy vice-chancellors.

“Thirdly, administrative processes intended to standardise and control outputs have had a big impact on curriculum, pedagogy and research practice, which has, in turn, has the potential to limit and define what can be taught and researched.

“Fourth, many traditional academic governance forums and processes are dominated by executives. This can result in reduced capacity for practising academics to speak and be heard at times when key decisions are being made around academic matters that will directly impact them and their students.

“Finally, the prevalence of executives on academic boards has arguably seen a reduction in academic engagement and fewer opportunities for developing an entrepreneurial culture within universities.”

Additional key findings from Dr Rowlands’ comparative research study include:

-          Academic boards across Anglophone nations have generally become smaller;

-          U.S. academic board equivalent bodies are larger than those in England and Australia and have a much broader range of responsibilities but can generally only recommend;

-          Australian and English academic boards generally have narrower responsibilities but greater approval authority than in the U.S.;

-          Australia has many more very small academic boards (less than 30 members) than England and the U.S.;

-          Australian academic boards have noticeably fewer committees than their U.S. and English counterparts and the scope of their responsibilities is much narrower; and

-          In the UK and Australia, academic boards within older and more prestigious universities are generally larger and more powerful than those within newer and less research-intensive universities.

Dr Rowlands said that the topic of academic governance was often misunderstood and rarely discussed from an international perspective.

“Academic governance is all about how universities make decisions about teaching and research, the principal activities of any universities,” Dr Rowlands said.

“Importantly, historic changes in academic governance can be seen as a reliable indicator of broader shifts in higher education in a range of areas.

“The special nature of universities’ academic work means that some of the governance processes and practices that have evolved within them are unique. The existence of an academic board or equivalent, in the form of a committee structure specifically responsible for academic governance, is one of the distinguishing characteristics of universities.”

Dr Rowlands will be presenting her findings at the Research for Educational Impact (REDI) Strategic Research Centre’s first conference on Thursday 24 November.