Teaching in the Field of Higher Education: Politics of Higher Education Courses

Abstract

30 TEACHING IN THE FIELD OF HIGHER EDUCATION: POLITICS OF HIGHER EDUCATION COURSES David D. Dill Assistant Professor of Education University of North Carolina— Chapel Hill There has been a rich tradition in the literature of higher education addressing academic politics. F. M. Cornford's (1949) memorable exhortation Microcosmographia Académica: Being a Guide for the Young Academic Politician, and C. P. Snow's (1951) The Masters provided early insight into the vagaries of influence at Oxbridge. During the 1960's and 70's a substantial American literature emerged addressing academic governance, or the structure and pro­ cess of decision making in institutions of higher education. Courses and wri­ tings examining the organizational politics of academic institutions are rea­ dily visible in programs of higher education. A more recent development has been courses termed "the politics of higher education" which apply a political model to higher education policy­ making at the national or state level, and explore the implications of this process for institutions of higher education. These courses generally in­ quire into a range of topics well summarized by four questions posed by Graham Allison (1971): "Who plays? What determines each player's stand? What determines each player's relative influence? How does the game combine players' stands, influence, and moves to yield governmental decisions and ac­ tions?" As indicated by the course materials collected for this article, a poli­ tical perspective such as Allison's yields the following types of topics: 1) the evolution of federal involvement in higher education; 2) the "players" and the "game" at the federal level; 3) the implications of the game for the current and evolving missions of institutions of higher education; and 4) current public policy issues relating to higher education (e .g . , affirma­ tive action, etc.). Several courses included special emphasis on state-level politics (i.e . , legislation, planning, and control), or included organiza­ tional governance as a part of the overall presentation of politics in higher education. Representative resources for these courses include Bailey (1975), Carnegie Council (1975), Gladieux and Wolanin (1976), and Millett (1974). There is substantial variation among these courses in the organization of these resources and topics, and on modes of teaching. Therefore, individual courses will be reviewed briefly below. Van de Graaff (Calgary) approaches the politics of higher education as a comparative study with emphasis on North American and Western European na­ tions. Topics include alternative policies toward the role (mission) of higher education in society, the role of government and politics in the his­ torical development of national university systems, and a comparison of these systems. A substantial component of the course addresses the "government of higher education" from the academic department to the national level, as well as the way in which the influence of groups has varied from level to level and evolved over time. Van de Graaff (1978) is the principal resource for this section. Caldwell (N. C. State) offers a seminar on "The Politics and Organiza­ tion of Higher Education" which includes a heavy early emphasis on writings in political science. These include an understanding of the Constitution of the United States as well as basic political concepts sufficient to define the American polity, the nature of political behavior in America, the organi­ zation of political force and pressure groups— cf. Key (1964), and basic ide­ ological forces in American society. Following this introduction, an over­ view of the university, land grant institutions, and the American academic system is provided. Particular emphasis is then placed on state government and higher education, the politics of coordination, planning, and control, and the Federal involvement in higher education. Several policy issues are then addressed: costs/benefits and who should pay, black colleges, and the 31 women's movement. Members of the seminar are regularly assigned to report on a relevant current news item from The Chronicle of Higher Education. Mitau (Minnesota) offers "the Policy, Politics and Governance of Higher Education." The course opens with a presentation of the alternations in pub­ lic and governmental perceptions of educational roles and missions as illus­ trated by comparisons across selected periods (e .g ■ , 1955, 1965, 1975, 1985), followed by an analysis of the means by which the...