| dc.description |
College governance is a function of structure and of how people act within that
structure. Organizational strategies no longer identify administrations as monopolies
that possess all of the good ideas. Recent organizational management approaches to
governance promote inclusiveness in decision-making and are at odds with the
community college's historical structures, with K-12 roots, which foster strong,
control-oriented leadership. This study describes and explains perspectives on shared
governance among selected community college representative leaders at a Vanguard
community college. Results indicate that community college governance coordination
is not static and its success is based on historical and cultural influences. Colleges are
socially constructed organizations influenced by current stakeholders building upon the
foundation laid out by those before them. The social influences are both internal and
external. Local and state funding decisions, accreditation requirements, legal decisions,
social/cultural trends, economic demands, and leadership philosophies influence the
governance of a community college. Many governance systems in colleges don't work
because they address content (the knowledge, structure, and data in a college) or
process (the activities and behaviors), but fail to address the context in which both of those elements reside. The determinant of people's action isn't what they know but how
they perceive the world around them. How to appropriately involve classified staff,
faculty, managers, and students in decision-making is a concern for college presidents
and boards. However, if they ignore the role college constituents can play in creative
development and problem solving, presidents and boards run the risk of missing out on
the best solutions facing the college. |
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