AAUP Develops Campus Governance Survey

A survey instrument to help faculty assess the state of governance at their institutions is being developed by Keetjie Ramo, a former member of the AAUP's Committee on College and University Government. The survey instrument, titled "Indicators of Sound Governance," will enable faculty to evaluate the extent to which their institutions' governance policies and practices comport with AAUP-supported standards, explains Jane Dineen Panek, chair of the committee. It is designed to be completed cooperatively by a group of faculty members experienced in governance at an institution. "It will serve the membership and the Association for years to come," Panek says.

According to the AAUP's 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities, governance in higher education should result from cooperation and interdependence between and among the administration, governing board, faculty, and, where appropriate, students. Faculty judgment should normally prevail in the areas of curriculum, subject matter, and methods of instruction and research; faculty status issues such as appointments, tenure, promotion, and dismissal; and those aspects of student life that relate to the educational process. The survey addresses each of these areas, along with other indicators of sound governance such as the faculty's role in presidential searches, budgeting, strategic planning, and institutional relationships with accrediting bodies, athletic conferences, and other outside entities.

Ramo and Panek, along with Martin Snyder, the AAUP's program director for academic freedom and governance, will participate in a panel discussion of the survey instrument at the Association's annual governance conference, to be held October 12-14 in Washington, D.C., and cosponsored by the AAUP, the Howard University Faculty Senate, and the American Conference of Academic Deans. The panelists will discuss the appropriate uses of the survey instrument by AAUP chapters and state conferences.

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