ABSTRACT
While institutions of higher education must operate by integrating the directives articulated by many external constituents, including state legislatures, boards of trustees, and various accrediting agencies, they also function through a system of shared governance on the internal institutional level, which has “significant consequences for the health of institutions” (Minor, 2004b, p. 361). The American system of higher education is largely characterized by this participatory governance model in both the public and private sectors, through which operations are facilitated by a central administration in concert with input from faculty, staff, and students. Myriad committees, advisory groups, task forces, and panels form the threads that are woven into the tapestry of internal governance, from community colleges to liberal arts colleges to research universities. Concerning campuslevel operations, Salter and Tapper (2002) posit:
The for-profit sector of higher education operates in a wholly more corporate fashion, not even remotely akin to the not-for-profit sector. In the for-profit context, institutional decision-making is deliberate and largely flows from executive authority. The results of these decisions are quickly implemented, a rarity in the not-for-profit sector, where various parties, especially the faculty, insist upon shared governance as part of the
sound function of a college or university. Indeed, Gayle, Tewarie, and White (2003) reason that “the extent to which campus stakeholders perceive institutional governance to be shared can enhance or constrain the role of a college or university as a vehicle for teaching and learning” (p. 73).
