Locus of Authority argues that every issue facing today’s colleges and universities, from stagnant degree completion rates to worrisome cost increases, is exacerbated by a century-old system of governance that desperately requires change. While prior studies have focused on boards of trustees and presidents, few have looked at the place of faculty within the governance system. Specifically addressing faculty roles in this structure, William G. Bowen and Eugene M. Tobin ask: do higher education institutions have what it takes to reform effectively from within?
Bowen and Tobin use case studies of four very different institutions—the University of California, Princeton University, Macalester College, and the City University of New York—to demonstrate that college and university governance has capably adjusted to the necessities of the moment and that governance norms and policies should be assessed in the context of historical events. The authors examine how faculty roles have evolved since colonial days to drive change but also to stand in the way of it. Bowen and Tobin make the case that successful reform depends on the artful consideration of technological, financial, and cultural developments, such as the explosion in online learning. Stressing that they do not want to diminish faculty roles but to facilitate their most useful contributions, Bowen and Tobin explore whether departments remain the best ways through which to organize decision making and if the concepts of academic freedom and shared governance need to be sharpened and redefined.
Locus of Authority shows that the consequences of not addressing college and university governance are more than the nation can afford.
"William Bowen and Eugene Tobin's new book, Locus of Authority: The Evolution of Faculty Roles in the Governance of Higher Education, has just been published: anyone interested in the governance of universities and colleges should read it."--Henry Farrell, Washington Monthly
"The audience for this thoughtful, well-informed conversation is anyone associated with American higher education."--Choice
William G. Bowen is president emeritus of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Princeton University. He is also founding chairman of the not-for-profit organization ITHAKA. Eugene M. Tobin is senior program officer for higher education and scholarship in the humanities at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and a former president of Hamilton College.
"[A] thoughtful, well-informed conversation."--Choice
"Through a sweeping yet incisive history, Bowen and Tobin . . . present best practices for allowing American education to remain an engine of upward mobility and, thus, a guarantor of global competitiveness. Fortunately, the authors are highly qualified to examine this issue of tremendous import. . . . Locus of Authority is an obligatory study for anyone involved with higher education. It’s additionally a must-read for anyone concerned with the fate of American society."--Jonathan Bronitsky, Key Reporter
"The idea of shared governance probably conjures different notions for trustees, administrators and faculty members. But let's say it's a spectrum, with faculty advocates who want a say in major (or minor) institutional decisions while hoping trustees and administrators will stay out of the curriculum on one side. On the other side, think of administrators and governing boards who desire more involvement in curricular and other decisions long considered to be primary faculty domains, who are happy to be left alone on finance and management. Now imagine somewhere right in the middle: that's where Locus of Authority: The Evolution of Faculty Roles in the Governance of Higher Education, a new book by William G. Bowen and Eugene M. Tobin from Princeton University Press, aims to land. From neither a wholly faculty- nor administration-driven perspective, it seeks to deliver a friendly but urgent message about the importance of shared decision-making to higher education's future."--Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Education
"Withering critiques of the academy appear daily, predicting the end of higher education as we know it. Bowen and Tobin step into this fray with insight, deep knowledge of the field, data, and a good eye for history. Their eminently sensible book convincingly argues that higher education institutions have evolved over time in response to pressures and challenges, and that they are capable of continuing this evolution."--Lawrence S. Bacow, president emeritus, Tufts University
"This timely book thoughtfully explores the challenges of decision making at our universities today. Bowen and Tobin make lucid recommendations, some controversial, about the delineation of authority between the faculty and administration. Their book should be in the hands of every university trustee, president, administrator, and faculty leader and will stir healthy debate across the higher education landscape."--William Kirwan, chancellor, University System of Maryland
"Everyone who follows news about higher education or participates in that arena professionally is aware that faculty-administration relations are a vexed issue right now. Yet there hasn’t been a concise and deeply informed volume that addresses the history, contemporary issues, and prospects for constructive action--until now. This lucid and persuasive book makes an important and highly distinctive contribution."--Michael S. McPherson, president, Spencer Foundation
"Locus of Authority proposes that solutions to current issues in American higher education are impeded by an out-of-date system of governance. Addressing such problems as cost containment and effective uses of technology, the authors show that answers depend on ‘not business as usual’ decision making that cuts across institutional boundaries. I am not aware of another book that approaches institutional change in this way."--Mary Patterson McPherson, president emeritus, Bryn Mawr College and executive officer emeritus, American Philosophical Society
"In Locus of Authority, Bowen and Tobin make a compelling argument that 'governance'--the location and exercise of authority--is in urgent need of reform. Drawing on an historical overview of developments in higher education over the past 200 years and four fairly recent case studies (University of California, Princeton University, Macalester College and the City University of New York), Bowen and Tobin demonstrate that positive change in more likely to occur in a context of shared governance in which administrators, faculty and trustees avoid exclusive claims of 'ownership' in key domains. Locus of Authority is worth reading less . . . as an invitation to a conversation that is relevant to students, alumni and taxpayers as well as higher education 'insiders.'"--Glenn C. Altschuler, Huffington Post
Winner of the 2016 PROSE Award in Education Theory, Association of American Publishers
1.Introduction 1
2.Historical Overview, Part 1?From the Beginnings to World War II 13
Antecedents in Europe and Colonial America 14
The Emergence of the Research University 27
Control of Faculty Personnel Decisions?and Issues of Academic Freedom 34
World War I and the Interwar Years 45
3.Historical Overview, Part 2?World War II to the Present 67
World War II and the Growth of Sponsored Research 68
The "Red Scare" and the Loyalty Oath Controversies 70
The Explosive Expansion of Higher Education, Leading to the "Golden Age" of the 1960s 77
Protests and Rebellions 87
Retrenchment in the 1970s?and Subsequent Ups and Downs 98
The Real Estate "Bubble" Breaks?and Fiscal/Political Realities Take Hold (or Do They?) 109
The Impact of Experiments with Online Learning 112
The Pathways Initiative at CUNY 127
4.Faculty Roles Today and Tomorrow?Topical Issues 131
The Selection and Tenure of the President 133
The Faculty Appointment Process?Criteria and Decision-Making Authority 139
The Role of the Faculty in Giving Advice of All Kinds 142
The Role of Faculty in Staffing Decisions?and the Rise of Non-Tenure-Track Faculty (the New Majority) 151
Faculty Responsibility for Maintaining Academic Standards in Admissions, Curricular Content, and Student Performance 165
Control over New Teaching Methods?Online Learning 169
5.Overarching Challenges 177
Confronting Trade-offs and the Need for Upfront Consideration of Costs 177
Aligning Roles and Responsibilities 182
Coping with an Ever-Changing Academic Landscape 189
Clarifying Notions of "Academic Freedom" 201
Rethinking "Shared Governance" 205
Case Studies 213
Introduction to the Case Studies 213
The University of California 217
Princeton University 261
Macalester College 291
The City University of New York 315
INDEX 361
Defense Devil 09
Mirai Nikki 04
Pack Edt: Gals. Vol 2 a 6