The rise and decline of faculty governance : professionalization and the modern American university / Larry G. Gerber.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gerber, Larry G., 1947- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Universities and colleges--United States--Administration.

Universities and colleges.

United States.

Administration.

Teacher participation in administration--United States.

Teacher participation in administration.

Physical Description:

x, 250 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Baltimore, Maryland : John Hopkins University Press, 2014.

Summary:

The Rise and Decline of Faculty Governance is the first history of shared governance in American higher education. Drawing on archival materials and extensive published sources, Larry G. Gerber shows how the professionalization of college teachers coincided with the rise of the modern university in the late nineteenth century and was the principal justification for granting teachers power in making educational decisions. In the twentieth century, the efforts of these governing faculties were directly responsible for molding American higher education into the finest academic system in the world. In recent decades, however, the growing complexity of "multiversities" and the application of business strategies to manage these institutions threatened the concept of faculty governance. Faculty shifted from being autonomous professionals to being "employees." The casualization of the academic labor market, Gerber argues, threatens to erode the quality of universities. As more faculty become contingent employees, rather than tenured career professionals enjoying both job security and intellectual autonomy, universities become factories in the knowledge economy. In addition to tracing the evolution of faculty decision making, this historical narrative provides readers with an important perspective on contemporary debates about the best way to manage Americas colleges and universities. Gerber also reflects on whether American colleges and universities will be able to retain their position of global preeminence in an increasingly market-driven environment, given that the system of governance that helped make their success possible has been fundamentally altered. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 College Governance before 1876 12

2 The Emergence of a Professional Faculty, 1870-1920 27

3 The Development of Faculty Governance, 1920-1940 58

4 The Developing Consensus on Shared Governance, 1940-1975 81

5 Corporatization and the Challenge to Shared Governance, 1975-Present 118.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781421414621

9781421414638

1421414627

1421414635

OCLC:

881382811