ABSTRACT
Governance involves the deliberate management of the decision-making process at the university level. It also entails the establishment of policies to guide the work of universities. As complex institutions, universities require all manner of decisions to be made for the effi cient and eff ective operation of the organizations. Decisions have to be made about academic programs, budgets, human resources, and external relations against the background of competing demands by various interest groups wielding diff erent powers. Political authorities, administrators, academics, students, and the public make various demands on the institutions, which have to be balanced against the institution’s mission and goals. The university’s decision-making culture has traditionally been a complicated assemblage of committees, subcommittees, and interest groups. Hitherto, most of the decisions are about the internal workings of the system rather than issues and trends in the outside world. However, with the new transformation of higher education and the concomitant emphasis on the market, attention to national and global trends has become central to the decision making processes.
