Changing Internal Governance: A Discussion of Leadership Roles and Management Structures in UK Universities

Abstract

A series of reviews over the past six years -from Dearing (NCIHE, 1997) to Lambert (Lambert, 2003) -have addressed the question of whether the structure and process of 'governance' in higher education is fit for modern times. This is a proper question to ask as operating environments change and pressures on institutional resources increase. Indeed, it is not coincidental that both the recent government-sponsored reports and those of the previous decade (Jarratt, 1985; NAB, 1987) were associated with significant financial changes in the sector. There are further parallels in that both the reports of the 1980s and those of the later period heralded legislative changes that produced -or will produce -new patterns of higher education provision in the UK (Education Reform Act, 1988; Further and Higher Education Act, 1992; Higher Education Act, 2004).The messages from the reports and White Papers (DES, 1987; DES, 1991; DfES, 2003) published in this twenty-year period have remained broadly similar, even though the wider environment has altered significantly. 'Increase efficiency, find new sources of income and improve performance across an everwidening range of activities and services' have been the watchwords of successive governments. Given the consistency of the message, it is useful to analyse the changes that universities have been making to meet these requirements and to consider what further changes may be needed in the light of new external challenges. The first part of the paper offers a historical perspective before addressing the evolution of leadership roles and management structures from the late 1980s. The second part considers some of the current drivers of internal and external change before discussing the kind of changes in internal govHigher Education Quarterly, 0951-5224

Underpinning excellence in higher education – an investigation into the leadership, governance and management behaviours of high-performing academic departments

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El Desempeño De La Dirección en La Universidad: El Caso De Decanos Y Directores De Departamento

“…Estos estamentos no sólo organizan al profesorado sino también a alumnos y personal de administración y apoyo; aunque el profesorado tampoco es un estamento homogéneo pues los profesores se organizan en función de su rango o nivel académico. Podemos decir que el resultado es una burocracia profesional con rasgos estamentales (Middlehurst, 2004). Este sistema ha hecho que los miembros de la academia elijan a sus directores entre el propio profesorado, generalmente el más senior.…”

“…La investigación se contextualiza en el actual debate sobre los modelos de gobierno de las universidades públicas (Middlehurst, 2004) y la necesidad generalizada de repensar las estructuras de gobierno de la universidad.…”

Revenue generation strategies in Sub-Saharan African universities

“…It stresses 'economy, efficiency, and effectiveness' (Currie et al, 2003:98) in response to the ever more targeted nature of public funding as well as increased university autonomy and accountability. More efficient and effective university internal governance and organisation structures are widely recommended (Lapworth, 2004;Middlehurst, 2004;Salter, 2004;Jacobs & vander Ploeg, 2006). Internally however, a university consists of individual actors or departments as actors not organised as a unitary hierarchy or an organic entity, but as a loosely linked group, with individuals often highly committed to their profession than to the overall goals of that particular university (Clark, 1983;Dill, 2007).…”

“…The governance structures of a university are of paramount importance in influencing organisational responses to external pressures (Stensaker, 2004;Covalski & Dirsmith, 1988;Sporn, 2001;Neave, 1998;Bauer et al, 2006;Middlehurst, 2004;McNay, 1995) Clark, 1998;Jónasson, 2008;Considine & Marginson, 2000;Sporn, 1999). In terms of the centralisation and decentralisation of universities, while many studies argue for a greater devolution of decision-making to the operational level (Brennan & Shah, 1994), others do not (see Clark, 1998).…”