As academics, we believe that shared governance is the structural underpinning of the top-down, bottom-up approach that is needed for effective higher education. With the rapid changes in higher education, how can shared governance continue honoring academic traditions while transforming into a higher-functioning system? Let’s look at the different aspects of accomplishing a balance while meeting goals and objectives.
Fifty years ago, three organizations, the American Association of University Professors’ Committee on College and University Governance, American Council on Education, and Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges collaborated to publish their 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities which called for shared responsibility among the different components of educational institutions. Thus, shared governance was born.
