The Role Of University Governing Boards In Canadian Higher Education

This book explores the historical and social foundations of Canadian higher education and provides a detailed analysis of university boards within this broader context of university governance. By examining rich empirical data from a sociological perspective, it offers unique insights into the role of boards, and the structures and practices that frame their work. It explores board composition, the professional backgrounds of board members, how members perceive their role, and the complex relationships between the board and the university president. The authors also compare and contrast the Canadian experience with governance reforms in Europe and other regions over recent decades. Drawing on multiple theoretical perspectives, the authors provide a nuanced analysis of the role of boards in terms of oversight, protecting university autonomy, representing societal interests, and dealing with increasing complexity and expectations. This innovative, original study makes an enormous contribution to our understanding of the role and work of Canadian university boards, and to international scholarship on higher education governance. It will appeal to scholars and researchers with interests across higher education, international and comparative education, and the sociology of education.

Universities play essential roles in Canadian society. The internal and external governance of these complex institutions faces ever-evolving challenges within a rapidly shifting international context. Written by a national team of scholars, University Governance in Canada asks how institutional decisions are made and who is behind these choices. By exploring the historical evolution and regional contexts of Canadian universities, as well as current trends, the book gives readers deep insight into how these institutions are governed. The authors explore the tensions between academic governance, external and internal stakeholder expectations, and societal demands as they relate to higher education and research in Canada. Comprising a case study of six major universities, the book examines the dynamics of governance at the institutional, provincial, federal, and international levels and reveals how Canadian universities make decisions and how well they are equipped to meet current and future opportunities and challenges. Canadians invest a lot of money, time, hope, and expectations in their universities. University Governance in Canada gives policy-makers, scholars, governors, leaders at all levels, faculty, staff, students, and citizens at large knowledge and tools that will help ensure the country’s universities excel in their missions and deliver fully on these investments.

This is the most comprehensive international discussion of higher education governance ever published. It presents a critical analysis of governance issues and reforms in: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the UK, and the USA. The book explores different theoretical perspectives and presents new empirical evidence on system and institutional governance issues.

In The Handbook of Canadian Higher Education Law, experts examine key legal issues in postsecondary education. Establishing the current governance arrangements for Canadian postsecondary education within a historical context, the editors provide a detailed look at the legislative framework of postsecondary education and the role of the federal and provincial governments in organizing, regulating, and funding these institutions. Individual chapters analyze and expound on legal issues associated with institutional governance and management, identifying laws that define the rights and freedoms of faculty and students, and the obligations of the institutions towards them. Contributors engage with a wide range of issues associated with community activities - such as research ventures, knowledge mobilization, commercial activities, partnerships with industry, and land development projects that are hosted by postsecondary institutions. Presenting a wide range of documentary analysis and study of case law, legislation, regulation, and policy, this essential contribution to public policy determines current and emerging legal issues facing the academy.

International growth in higher education, the introduction of new providers and increased public and state interest in university structures, levels of fees and funding models have made governance in higher education a vital and sometimes controversial topic. Governing Higher Education Today provides challenging perspectives on the longer-term dynamics and policy trends in a world market for higher education. Through international perspectives and case studies, it considers: The emerging national responses, which are likely to shape institutional governance in the next decade. An analysis of the trends and strategic directions in governance and policy in higher education. Insights from practising thought leaders on the future of higher education governance and policy. Traditions and values within higher education governance. Lessons and trends in the interaction of institutions and government. Whether you sit on a governing body, work in a university leadership role or in a governance or policy team, teach or study higher education, Governing Higher Education Today provides a thoughtful yet practical guide to the future of university governance with international applicability.

In the 1990s Canadian universities experienced an aggressive campaign of corporatization. Universities for Sale offers suggestions on how to resist corporatization. Neil Tudiver shows how scholarly independence has, in recent years, been eroded to a point of crisis. Left unchecked, corporations play a larger and larger role in deciding which fields of study survive and which will disappear. He looks at how professors defend free inquiry against the pressures of economic expediency. Universities for Sale is a penetrating analysis of the ongoing issue of corporate influence on Canada's universities.

"Michael Shattock, former registrar of Warwick, can lay claim to having invented the serious study of university governance in Britain." Public How has university governance changed and developed over the last quarter of a century? How can people actively engaged in university governance manage the increasingly complex issues that confront them? This book addresses university governance as extending throughout an institution from the governing body to senates/academic boards and the organs of governance at faculty and departmental levels. It considers the legal structure of higher education institutions; the impact of developments in corporate governance in the private sector; the reforms in modern university governance, including in academic governance; the practicalities of managing governance, drawing on selected case studies; and the role of governance in relation to institutional performance. Whilst the primary market for the book is the United Kingdom, many of the themes addressed are of international applicability. The book provides both a practical guide for those actively involved in governing universities – lay governors, senior managers and academics – and a key scholarly text for students of higher education, managers in universities and colleges, and policy makers.