The Southern African Development Community and Law by Mkhululi Nyathi

Author:Mkhululi Nyathi
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

5.4 Shared Governance as Organisational Theory

The model of shared governance as proposed in this study (or at least the core elements of this model) is borrowed from the application of this organisational model in the fields of university and college administration and in nursing professional practice particularly in the United States of America. In the context of universities and colleges, shared governance has been understood to mean that there must be ‘shared responsibility and cooperative action’ within an organisation.43 For a clear and detailed understanding of what this entails in institutional terms, a look at the 1966 joint statement by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges may be a good starting point.44 The statement calls for ‘shared responsibility and cooperative action among the components of the academic institution.’45 The expressed hope was, and still is, that the principles expounded in the statement would ‘lead to the correction of existing weaknesses and assist in the establishment of sound structures and procedures.’46

What is important to note is the narrow focus of the statement: it does not seek to cover outside stakeholders like the government, government institutions, and agencies.47 This exclusion should be viewed in the context of the need to concentrate on the internal stakeholder, rather than ignoring outsider interests. That this is so is clearly borne out of the statement itself: ‘However, it is hoped that the statement will be helpful to those agencies in their consideration of educational matters.’48 The statement’s introduction speaks to the need to accommodate and integrate outside stakeholder interventions through a generally unified view’ and emphasises the awareness by components of a college or a university of their ‘independence’; ‘usefulness of communication among themselves’; and of the force of ‘joint action’ which will enjoy increased capacity to solve educational problems.

The statement defines joint effort in ‘areas of action’ as involving, in part, the ‘initiating capacity’ and ‘decision-making participation of all the institutional components….’49 The statement further prescribes the need for certainty—the need for procedures (for review) to be clearly set out in the regulations.

Conversation before the ‘final’ decision is reached is one of the central concerns of shared governance. In the ‘stakeholder version’ of shared governance in a university setting, for example:shared governance is used to convey the idea that a lot of conversation ought to take place within and among various campus groups—board, administration, faculty, staff, students, etc.—before the people in power make the final decision … All the stakeholders should have a place at the table; everybody, within reason, should be consulted. Once people have talked things over, those in charge make the final decision, presumably after having given serious consideration to the full range of opinions and recommendations. Because ‘input’ is sought and wide communication takes place, governance is said to be shared.50

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.