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Mission,
Operation
and Management
in State Universities
Management practices and policies adopted by administrators,
trustees or regents, and legislators have the greatest impact
on shaping state universities. These factors bear upon a broad
spectrum of educational matters including Visual Art. Organizational
structure, definition of responsibilities, policies, procedures
and management styles affect teachers, students and educational
quality.
Educational
Organization
Regents or trustees and legislators have ignored important
aspects of academic organization and seem unaware of its evolution
in Western culture over a period of nearly five hundred years.
Educational
policy-makers do not demonstrate an understanding of how structure
and principles of educational organization are uniquely different
from corporate, business, military, religious or government
organizations.
Educational organization is composed of four groups: trustees,
president/administration, faculty and students. Each body
has power to affect the others. Successful operation of the
institution is based on interdependency achieved through appropriate
balance and tension between the four groups. Academic organization
has proven to be an excellent structure when a balance of
power is maintained.
Historically,
each time education was in trouble, it was because one group
had too much power over the others. In the eighteenth century,
trustees determined the curriculum, disciplined or rewarded
both teachers and students, and even established dress codes.
When trustees met, the president waited outside and, at the
conclusion of the meeting, came before the board to receive
instructions. About the time of the Civil War, trustees began
to transfer much of the responsibility for operating institutions
to presidents. Before long, presidents had enormous power
and presided over institutions in an autocratic manner. Early
in the twentieth century, teachers organized The American
Association of University Professors, and by the 1940s it
became a dominant force on university campuses. In the 1960s,
student activists rebelled and exerted undue influence within
institutions. Beginning in the 1970s, administrative offices
and functions dramatically increased to the point that administration
is now out of balance with faculty and students.
The
balance affects distribution of responsibility, division of
institutional resources, university objectives and decision-making.
It is imperative to restore balance of power between operational
and educational segments within universities.
Operation
and Mission
The university is ideally perceived as a monolithic
organization composed of trustees, administrators, faculty
and students all working toward the common goal of education.
In reality, the university is sharply divided between its
dual roles of operation and education. Operation includes
finances, business, planning, legal affairs, record-keeping,
alumni relations, maintenance, security, academic services,
housing, food services, fund-raising, public relations, sports
and cultural activities, auxiliary organizations, liaison
with the community and other similar responsibilities. Faculty
and students are primarily concerned with educational quality
and learning environment in the classroom, studio or laboratory.
The
divisiveness of these roles has become more pronounced in
recent years because of expanding administrative powers. The
consequences have been a down-graded role for faculty and
an application of business values to educational matters.
Administrative dominance has resulted in operation becoming
more important than education, The tail wagging the dog.
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