Understanding practices of UK college governing: Rethinking strategy and accountability

College governing boards are widely held to be the keystone of institutional strategy and the prime locus of support, challenge and accountability in respect of the actions of the senior Executive. Whilst there are many normative prescriptions about the conditions and arrangements required for effective college governance, relatively little is known about how and to what extent the practices of boards reflect or realise these prescriptions. This paper draws upon a unique research study of eight further education colleges across the four nations of the UK. Following Chia and MacKay and Hendry et al., our ‘strategy as practice’ approach gives primacy to emergence and immanence through board practices. Video and observational data, supplemented by some interview and documentary data are used to develop an understanding of governing practices. Our analysis suggests that current normative prescriptions lack the conceptual sophistication required to support governing as it really happens. We offer a reconceptualisation of both strategy and accountability suggesting that the latter includes lateral, inward- and outward-facing functions that make conflicting demands on governors. We argue that these distinctions are vital in enabling further positive development of governing in the college sector.

Reviewing the strategic influence of governance professionals in UK colleges: Acting as the translator of the conduct of conduct

This article considers the contribution of the governance professional to the governing of further education colleges in the United Kingdom and arises from a wider study of the ways in which college boards develop and implement college strategy. This is the first observational study to focus on what the governance professional does within the college governance space. From observation and other forms of evidence, the governance professional performs a significant, challenging and expert role in the processes and practices of governing colleges. The governance professional is instrumental as a governance sense-maker and, at a higher level, as translator of governing deliberations and decision making. The governance professional role in practice can vary depending upon a range of personal, local institutional and national factors. However, in essence the governance professional exists to legitimise college governance through the structures, processes and reporting of governing interactions. The article considers the extent to which the governance professional is pivotal to the governing of colleges and analyses the implications for college governing. Our research identifies some barriers to gaining greater impact from the college governance professional.

Application of information technology in college governance structure system and governance

With the continuous development of the modern university system, the focus of university management continues to move downward, and the improvement of the internal governance structure of universities has become a research hotspot in higher education academic circles. This article aims to improve the governance structure of colleges and universities and improve the governance capacity of colleges and universities by discussing the application of information technology in the governance structure of colleges and universities. This paper conducts questionnaire surveys and interviews with some teachers and students and relevant persons in charge of A colleges and universities, and analyzes the current situation of the governance structure of college A, the existing problems and the current situation of governance informatization of college A. 80.46% of the respondents believe that the actual governance of the school is still dominated by administrative power, and the administrativeization of colleges and universities is becoming more and more serious; 93.71% think that academic strength is weakened; 77.48% think that in participating in school governance matters, teacher and student participation is low and the school does not pay enough attention to it. Based on this, they put forward countermeasures to improve the governance structure of universities. The research in this article is helpful to realize the modernization of my country's university governance and university development through the informationization of university governance.

Nilai Strategis dalam Meningkatkan Competitive Value Perguruan Tinggi Agama Islam Swasta di Provinsi Jambi

The research aims to increase the competing advantages of colleges in Jambi Province, Indonesia, through cooperation between Islamic colleges. The study introduced a model of organizational culture as a strategic value in creating an effective college governance system. Qualitative-type research by descriptive survey methods. In total, 3 rectors and 24 lecturers were interviewed, participated in focused group discussions, and observed. The results of the study showed that the increase in the competing excellence of Islamic colleges in Jambi consisted of increasing the value chain (value chain), which divided the organization into the various activities it was executing in designing, innovation of educational activities, program marketing, and achievements that educational output demonstrated. In addition, effective Organizational Culture became a critical success factor in teaching learning activities in classes as well as in roles as well as in school service. The research makes an important contribution to Islamic educational institutions in competitive college management models that have several stages namely: necessity analysis, planning design, implementation and development evaluation. The proposed model can be made a reference to policy amplifiers in order to increase the quality of higher education nationwide.

The Governance of Faculty from the Perspective of Self-OrganizationTheory

Self-organization theory is devoted to solving the problem of the nature, power, and development form of an organization that is not subject to an external specific intervention. Its axiological characteristics and methodological paths are consistent with the value orientation and practical needs of the governance of faculty. The faculty of the university is a relatively independent self-organiz- ing system with the characteristics of openness, less external intervention, coordination of internal factors, non-equilibrium, non-linear- ity, etc. Its central dilemma is reflected in the subjectivity of college governance, the distribution of governance power, knowledge pro- duction and other levels. From the perspective of self-organization theory, the governance logic of university faculty requires openness of self-organization, realizing the co-catalysis within the university departments, and maintaining the stability of the organizational structure in the governance of the university departments.

Relationships Between State Community College Governance Centralization and Local Appropriations

This two-way, fixed effects analysis examines the relationship between local appropriations and community college state governance structures while examining governance’s moderating impact on state-level factors. We find that any type of state-level organization for community colleges does not impact local appropriations, and that in states with no formal coordinating authority, local appropriations are likely to be higher. Further, the absence of a state-level board, even one that includes four-year, primary, or secondary education, moderates the relationship between unemployment and appropriations. This relationship suggests that in states without a state-level board for community colleges, local governments invest in and leverage their community colleges in times of economic decline.

John Newsom-Davis. 18 October 1932—24 August 2007

John Newsom-Davis (‘JND’) was a neurologist who played an important role in the discovery of the causes of, and treatments for, myasthenia gravis (MG), and of other diseases of the nerve–muscle junction. He started his career at the National Hospital in London, becoming director of the Batten Unit there, with an interest in respiratory physiology. He began to work on MG in collaboration with Ricardo Miledi (FRS 1970) at University College London and in 1978, after performing the first study on plasma exchange in that disease, he established an MG research group at the Royal Free Hospital, subsequently identifying the role of the thymus in this disease and demonstrating an autoimmune basis for the Lambert–Eaton myasthenic syndrome and ‘seronegative’ myasthenia. He was awarded the first Medical Research Council Clinical Research Professorship in 1979 but moved to Oxford in 1987 when he was elected Action Research Professor of Neurology. While at Oxford he continued to run a very successful multidisciplinary group, and began the molecular work that identified the genetic basis for many forms of congenital myasthenic syndrome. He also helped to establish the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB) Centre. Meanwhile he was also involved in university and college governance and contributed widely to the Medical Research Council, government committees, and the Association of British Neurologists (ABN). Among many honours, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996 and made a Foreign Associate Member of the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) in the USA in 2001. Following retirement from Oxford, he was President of the ABN and Editor of Brain , and led a National Institutes of Health-funded international trial of thymectomy.

Theorizing College Governance Across Epistemic Differences: Awareness Contexts of College Administrators and Faculty

To provide a fresh perspective on governance in Canada’s colleges, interview data from administrators and faculty were interpreted through the lens of Glaser and Strauss’ (1965) theoretical categories describing interaction between physicians and patients. An example of a “closed awareness context” is suggested around college fund-raising, while “mutual suspicion” was observed in administrator-faculty interaction around student success policy. Examples of “mutual pretense” include feigned administrator-faculty cooperation around changing college missions and faculty workload formulae. “Open awareness” or dialogue, however, occurred where professional bodies or unions intervened. Awareness contexts are central to symbolic interactionist research, which focusses on how everyday realities are constructed. Similarities between doctor-patient and administrator-faculty interactions can be seen in the examples here. For example, just as doctors feared that delivering bad news to patients might precipitate “mayhem” in the hospital, college administrators may fear that openness around divisive topics might precipitate “mayhem” in college management.