Origins of Academic Governance in the United States

• 1889: first academic senate in the U.S. established at Cornell

• 1915: American Association of University Professors organized to define and protect academic freedom

• 1940: Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure (AAUP and AAC)

• 1966: Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities (AAUP, ACE, AGB)

Origins of Academic Governance in the CSU

• 1862: First State Normal School, in San Francisco (later moved to San Jose)

• 1921: Normal schools became state colleges, run by state Dept. of Education

• late 1950s: faculty councils created at most state colleges

• 1960-1: California State Colleges system created under its own Board of Trustees

• 1963: Academic Senates organized for the CSC system and on most campuses

University Governance

Shared ResponsibilityJoint Decision-makingCollegiality

collegial adjective1. power-sharing: with power shared equally between colleagues—col·le·gi·al·i·ty noun

Encarta® World English Dictionary

Who says faculty have a share?

“Collegiality consists of a shared decision-making process and a set of attitudes which cause individuals to regard the members of the various constituencies of the university as responsible for the success of the academic enterprise.”

Adopted by the Academic Senate CSU, March 1985.

Who says faculty have a share?

“The Legislature recognizes that joint decision-making and consultation between administration and faculty or academic employees is the long-accepted manner of governing institutions of higher learning and is essential to the performance of the educational mission of such institutions and declares that it is the purpose of this act to both preserve and encourage that process. . .

“Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to restrict, limit, or prohibit the full exercise of the functions of the faculty in any shared governance mechanisms or practices, including the Academic Senate of the University of California and the divisions thereof, the Academic Senates of the California State University, and other faculty councils, with respect to policies on academic and professional matters affecting the California State University, the University of California, or Hastings College of the Law.”

“Collegial governance assigns primary responsibility to the faculty for the educational functions of the institution in accordance with basic policy as determined by the Board of Trustees. This includes admission and degree requirements, the curriculum and methods of teaching, academic and professional standards, and the conduct of creative and scholarly activities.”

Statement on collegiality (response to the Senate’s statement)

adopted by the Board of Trustees of the California State University,

September 1985.

Why should we have authority? The Curriculum

It is the specialized knowledge of the faculty that

makes it appropriate that the faculty exercise primary responsibility over the curriculum. We sometimes say, "The faculty own the curriculum." By that, we mean that the faculty, by virtue of their specialized knowledge, are the only appropriate body to define, present, advise about, and, as necessary, defend the curriculum.

Why should we have authority? The Curriculum

“The faculty have a professional responsibility to define and offer a curriculum of the highest academic quality. . . . The faculty, therefore, have primary responsibility for making curricular recommendations to the president. Normally, the president will accept the advice and recommendations of the faculty on curriculum matters. Faculty appropriately have this responsibility because they possess the expertise to judge best whether courses, majors, and programs adhere to scholarly standards.”

Collegiality in the California State University System

Academic Senate CSU (1985)

Collegiality: Academic Policies

“Because the university’s curriculum is of central concern to the faculty and because faculty have the primary responsibility in curricular decisions, it follows that faculty should have the major voice in academic policy decisions which closely affect the curriculum, access to the curriculum, or the quality of the curriculum.”

Collegiality in the California State University System

Academic Senate CSU (1985)

Collegiality: Academic Policies

Examples of academic policies in which the faculty should have the major voice:•Criteria, standards, and procedures for adoption, deletion, or modification of degree major programs, minor programs, formal concentrations within programs, credential programs, and certificate programs;•Grading practices and standards;•Criteria, standards, and procedures for earning credit or satisfying requirements outside the classroom, including competency examinations for English composition and in U.S. history and government, credit by examination, and credit for experiential learning;

Examples of academic policies in which the faculty should have the major voice (continued):•Both short-run and long-range planning, including definition or modification of the campus mission statement, determination of the general scope and relative size or priority of campus programs, modifications of the campus academic master plan, annual campus allocation of faculty positions to schools or other units, and annual campus budget allocations;•Criteria, standards, and procedures for evaluating programs, the quality of instruction, faculty currency, and all other evaluations of the quality of the curriculum or of instruction;•Campus policies which govern resources which support or supplement the curriculum, especially the library and research facilities;•Campus policies which govern auxiliary institutions which support or supplement the curriculum, especially the campus foundation and the campus bookstore;

Examples of academic policies in which the faculty should have the major voice (concluded):•Student affairs policies, especially those governing financial aid, advisement, learning services, Equal Opportunity Programs, and related services which determine the extent to which students can avail themselves of the curriculum;•Campus and system policies governing withdrawal, probation, reinstatement, and disqualification which affect access to the curriculum and which can affect program quality;•Co-curricular activities, especially those which increase the likelihood that students will benefit fully from the curriculum or those which distract students from the curriculum, including intercollegiate athletic programs, and the relationship of those programs to the academic program and mission of the campus; and•The academic calendar, including the first and last days of instruction and the scheduling of final examinations.

Collegiality in the California State University System, Academic Senate CSU (1985)

Collegiality: Personnel “Policies and procedures used in building, main-

taining, and renewing the university faculty are vital determinants of the quality of the education the university provides to its students and to society. The professional competencies that are central to curricular and academic policy decisions should be comparably decisive and significant in the genesis and implementation of faculty personnel policies, procedures, and criteria.” Collegiality in the California State University System

Academic Senate CSU (1985)

Constitution of the General Faculty

Orderly faculty participation in policy making, and a clearly defined organizational structure designed to promote such participation, will contribute to a clear understanding of the mutual problems and responsibilities of the executive, academic and administrative personnel of California State University, Stanislaus. Effective faculty formulation of policies requires the establishment of a representative body which provides for faculty planning and consideration in the development of policy, and ensures effective communication between faculty and administration in policy matters. (Preamble)

Constitution of the General Faculty

Successful faculty-administration relationships and the ultimate value of the contributions made by the faculty in policy areas require that Senate recommendations be accepted by the University whenever there is no compelling reason to reject them. (Preamble)

Constitution of the General Faculty

It shall be the duty and responsibility of the General Faculty to formulate, recommend, review and revise all academic, personnel, and professional policies pertaining to its members, including fiscal policies related thereto, broadly and liberally defined. (II.1.0)

Constitution of the General Faculty

There shall be a standing committee of the General Faculty on retention, promotion and tenure, hereinafter referred to as the University Retention, Promotion and Tenure Committee (URPTC). (IV.1.0)

Constitution of the General Faculty

[The FAC shall] Develop and recommend to the Academic Senate faculty personnel policies, in general to include but not limited to promotion, tenure, retirement, leaves of absence, sabbatical leaves, research grants, awards, publications, selection and retention of instructional staff and such other faculty personnel matters as may be referred to the committee by the President of the University or the Academic Senate. (IV.2.2.c)

Constitution of the General Faculty

The Academic Senate is the official representative body of the General Faculty. (V.1.0)

Constitution of the General Faculty

There shall be a standing committee of the Academic Senate on educational policies, hereinafter referred to as the University Educational Policies Committee (UEPC). (VI.2.0)

There shall be a standing committee of the Academic Senate on committee membership and structure, hereinafter referred to as the Committee on Committees (COC). (VI.3.0)

Constitution of the General Faculty There shall be a standing committee of the Academic

Senate on budget matters, hereinafter referred to as the Faculty Budget Advisory Committee (FBAC). (VI.4.0)

There shall be a standing Graduate Council of the Academic Senate. (VI.6.0)

There shall be a standing committee of the Academic Senate on research matters, hereinafter referred to as the Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Policy Committee (RSCAPC). (VI.7.0)

Critical Elements

• Recommendation: The Faculty does not approve academic and personnel policy, it recommends.

The power of the faculty is its power to recommend and the strong expectation that its recommendations will be followed.

Critical Elements

Consultation on academic and personnel policy must include dialogue between administration and faculty.

From 21/AS/01/SEC/ Statement on Shared Governance

1. Early inclusion of faculty in identifying issues and in agenda setting.2. Ongoing consultation, much of it face-to-face, as an iterative process between faculty and administration to reach understanding, and3. Substantive and forthcoming explanations of decisions when agreement cannot be reached.

Critical Elements

• Approval: The President maintains ultimate authority over the approval of academic and personnel policy, approving faculty recommended policy unless there is compelling reason not to do so.

Should the President of the University decline to concur in such policy recommendations of the General Faculty, it shall be the responsibility of the President to explain the reasons in writing to all members of the General Faculty or to present the President's position in person to the Academic Senate within a reasonable time. (III.5.0)

Collegiality in the California State University System

Academic Senate CSU, 1985

“a university is a community of scholars who, out of mutual respect for the expertise and contributions of their colleagues, agree that shared decision-making in areas of recognized primary responsibility constitutes the means whereby a university best preserves its academic integrity and most effectively attains its educational mission.”

Academic Policy Personnel Policy

Recommending Authority

Curriculum

Disciplinary expertise