Research Forum 2002

Marietta Del Favero
Louisiana State University

Faculty – Administrator Relationships:
Implications for Redesign of Higher Education Governance Systems

This conceptual paper explores the link between the imperative for redesign of higher education governance systems (Benjamin & Carol, 1998) and the faculty-administration relationship. Such a relationship becomes important considering the need to focus more on internal dynamics as opposed to external demands in studying decisionmaking in higher education. Promoting a new order demands new kinds of connections between and among the various participants in the academic enterprise including State oversight boards, institutional systems officials, campus executives and administrators, faculty, alumni, business and industry, and students. Traditional structures of domination characterized by depersonalized relationships and insularity must be replaced with new kinds of connections promoting cooperation, participation, and shared meanings if dialogues among competing interests are to be encouraged and supported. A conceptual model is proposed to shed light on how the social dynamic of one pivotal connection - - that between faculty and administrators, influences successful decision-making systems in higher education. Topics addressed in the discussion are as follows: a) the importance of understanding faculty-administrator relationships within a context of changing governance systems; b) faculty-administrator interactions as an integral dynamic to successful decisionmaking systems; and c) the role of leaders in nurturing the faculty-administrator relationship.