Complementary Models of University Organization

Abstract

What is the nature of college and university organization? How are the dynamics of higher education to be explained? How are the tradition~! departments and divisions to be understood and why does conflict between them arise? Are recent interdisciplinary ventures which cross traditional lines destined for success or failure? What is the significance of these questions for the practice of university administration? Answers to these perplexing questions about higher education are often given within the framework of a theoretical model which attempts to describe or explain the facts or phenomena with which the model is concerned. Besides providing a unique conceptual orientation, which in turn influences the selection of problems, the model may be useful in bringing to light some aspectsof the situation which otherwise would remain hidden or obscure. When the same data are approached by different models, the question of choice arises: which is the more adequate? Thus, underlying the question of how best to represent a body of facts is the more fundamental one of the status of contending models and their compatibility or incompatibility. This question will be explored through a critical consideration of some alternative models of university and college organization.