Research Forum 2002

James T. Minor
University of Southern California

Understanding Faculty Senates: 
Moving from Mystery to Models

Faculty governance remains a point of contention for many institutions of higher education. Both faculty and administrators have expressed dissatisfaction with systems of governance as a whole, and faculty involvement in particular. Faculty senates remain the vehicle by which many faculty participate in governance. Yet, the role of senates and their impact on governance has been understudied considerably. This study examines the role of faculty senates in governance with the aim of providing a better understanding of how they function. In doing so, I provide four protean models of faculty senates. 
Based on site visits to 10 campuses and telephone interviews with 50 faculty senate presidents, I offer the following four models of faculty senates: 1)Traditional /Check and Balance 2) Legislative/ Influential 3) Ceremonial/Dormant 4) Cultural/ “Kitchen Cabinet.” These models provide a conceptual frame by which senates can be viewed and studied. As follow-up to presenting them I identify key variables that affect the role faculty senates play in governance. Lastly the paper offers discussion intended to advance the study of faculty governance by considering multiple ways faculty might participate in governance.