FACULTY PERCEPTIONS OF SHARED GOVERNANCE IN CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Abstract

After a 5‐year study and review, the first serious reform of the California Master Plan for Higher Education came about with the passage of AB 1725 in 1988. This legislation codified the ultimate control, authority, and responsibility of the State Board of Governors and the local governing boards, and it increased the governance activities and responsibilities of the faculty through the actions of the Academic Senates. This study was designed to ascertain the faculty's perceptions of (a) a working definition of shared governance, (b) the division of responsibilities between faculty and administrators in a shared governance setting, (c) the shared governance environment at their respective colleges, (d) the combinations of governing bodies possessing final decision‐making power in selected areas, and (e) the influences of selected institutional and demographic variables on faculty opinions. Faculty responses indicate a general trend toward a strong faculty involvement in all aspects of institutional decision making. Faculty opinions adhere to a belief in sharing those responsibilities that affect the most groups of people, while keeping those, like curricula and faculty personnel practices, that affect primarily themselves to themselves. Institutional location and service on an Academic Senate had the biggest influences on faculty perceptions. All stakeholders must be informed of the rules and regulations under which shared governance is to operate. In‐service training for faculty, administrators, and trustees must set the stage for continued development of shared governance precepts.