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Governance Structures
The approach to governance adopted by most higher education institutions is:
- a corporate governance structure of a governing body, supported by a number of committees, including audit, remuneration and nominations committees as recommended in the CUC Guide, and usually a planning and resources or other form of strategic planning group;
- a senate or academic board, responsible for the academic work of the institution, often with faculty or school boards reporting to it;
- a management structure led by the vice-chancellor or principal, a key component of which may be a senior management team or leadership group.
This ‘traditional’ approach can give rise to problems:
- it may be felt that senior managers are inclined to seek decisions from committees rather than taking decisions and accepting responsibility for them;
- the speed of decision-making may not match the pace of developments which can lead, openly or otherwise, to a greater concentration of power in the senior management team (often not a formal part of the structure of governance).
In addition, the ‘traditional’ approach may not make full use of governors’ skills and enthusiasm. Some universities are introducing alternative structures to try to address some of these issues.
In an article in perspectives the journal of the AUA in July 2011, Professor Roger Brown suggests a new two tier structure of university governance.
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