University Governance

HOW AND WHY THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA GOT ITS AUTONOMY

John Aubrey Douglass
2015

The University of California became a “public trust” in 1879 as part of a larger revision of California’s Constitution approved by California voters. The University henceforth gained the exclusive power to operate, control, and administer the University of California, becoming virtually a fourth branch of state government, a "constitutional corporation . . . equal and coordinate with the legislature, the judiciary and the executive. It was a watershed moment in the history of California’s land-grant public university, fundamentally shaping the state’s subsequent development of the...

CLARK KERR AND THE CALIFORNIAN MODEL OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Simon Marginson
2014

Fifty years on, Clark Kerr’s multiversity and the Californian Master Plan for Higher Education stand as signal high points in the building of not just great public institutions but high participation modern human society. Key features of the Californian Model have become a universal template for research universities and system design. Seminal ideas and practices of higher education developed by Clark Kerr, Martin Trow, Burton Clark and others continue to colonize the thinking of policy makers, scientists, scholars, students and citizens, with profound effects not just in the United...

THE RISE OF THINK TANKS IN CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES: Their Interactions with Universities

Cristina González
Xinpei Zhang
2014

China has recently disclosed a national strategy for enlisting universities to advise the government through campus-based think tanks that will engage in research for various ministries. This move might surprise some academics in the United States. A review of the history of American universities and think tanks, however, reveals complex relationships between these organizations and government that are not as dissimilar to those involving their Chinese counterparts as they might appear. In both countries, think tanks are institutions with a certain degree of formal independence whose...

SINO-AMERICAN JOINT PARTNERSHIPS: Why Some Succeed and Others Fail

Daniel J. Julius
Mitch Leventhal
2014

This article examines institutional and demographic variables associated with successful joint partnerships between US and Chinese institutions of higher education. Understanding those variables requires an appreciation of overarching issues or the catalysts bringing both nations together and, as well, how postsecondary environments differ and the implications of such differences for success. The authors do not assume complete alignment in the interests promoting cooperation between the U. S. and China, but a convergence of mutual interests. The paper discusses different operational...

TAILORING SHARED GOVERNANCE TO THE NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF THE TIMES

C. Judson King
2013

Shared governance between the administration and faculty has been traditional for most public universities, but varies considerably in its nature and effectiveness. In the United States it probably takes its most structured form at the University of California. There are good reasons for having shared governance, and yet it tends to be poorly understood outside the university environment and to cause substantial tensions within the university itself. Several trends and issues are identified that pose both significant challenges and substantial opportunities for shared governance....

ACADEMIC COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: On Campus Fifty Years

Daniel J. Julius
Nicholas DiGiovanni, Jr.
2013

The authors provide a perspective, as scholars and practitioners, of the organizational, demographic, legal and contextual variables that inform the past and the future of faculty unions in US colleges and universities. They ask, how best to conceptualize and evaluate the impact of faculty unions; from the inception of academic unionization in the 1960's to the present, and further, what is known and not known about collective bargaining. Issues examined include: factors that influence negotiation processes, governance, bargaining dynamics, the institutional and demographic factors...

A PROVOST FOR PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

C. Judson King
2013

From 1972 to 1994, the academic administrative structure of the Berkeley campus of the University of California was unusual, in that it involved two Provosts, one who was also Dean of the College of Letters and Science, and another who was responsible for the remainder of the academic units, which were for the most part professional schools and colleges. The nature of the Provost – Professional Schools and Colleges position is explored, along with some of the issues addressed by the position and the relative advantages and disadvantages of the dual-provost structure. The value of the...

EXPLORING CANDIDATES, ELECTIONS, CAMPAIGNS, AND EXPENDITURES IN CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICTS, 2004-2010

Patrick Murphy
Max Neiman
Jelena Hasbrouck
2012

Previous recommendations to eliminate the district-level, elected boards have met with strong local resistance, particularly from faculty. The findings in this report do little to strengthen the case for locally elected, community college boards, however. The highlights of our findings are as follows: (1) a very high proportion of trustees seem to choose not to run for re-election and, overall, relatively few individuals choose to compete for trustee positions; (2) nearly half of the races involve just two individuals competing for a trustee seat; (3) there are some districts where...

THE FACULTY PROMOTION AND MERIT SYSTEM IN CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES:THE CASES OF WUHAN UNIVERSITY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS

Cristina González
Yamin Liu
Xiaoling Shu
2012

Any serious inquiry about improving the quality of a university must begin with an examination of its faculty promotion and merit procedures, since a university’s quality cannot be higher than that of its faculty. In this essay, we will examine the tenure track or regular faculty promotion and merit systems at the University of California, Davis, and Wuhan University, with a view towards understanding how they motivate the professoriate and foster creativity. In our analysis, we will pay special attention to compensation, as well as to work-life balance, issues. Our hope is to...

CLARK KERR: TRIUMPHS AND TURMOIL

David P. Gardner
2012

This paper is a personal recollection of Clark Kerr and his presidency of the University of California by a friend of 43 years, not from a distance, but as a former student, colleague and successor president of the University. It is also a summary remembrance of the contributions made by his three most influential predecessors. These three presidents: Gilman (1872-75), Wheeler (1899-1919), and Sproul (1930-1958), essentially defined the trail of history that led to and helped shape Kerr’s own presidency (1958-1967). The principal focus of this paper is Kerr’s beliefs, values, style,...