Traditional Governance Structures – Current Policy Pressures: The Academic Senate and Canadian Universities

The objective of this paper isto identify current policy pressures inCanadian higher education and explore theirimplications for academic decision-makingbodies based on data we obtained in ournational study on university senates. Wedescribe two inter-related sets of publicpolicy pressures that have emerged in recentyears in Canada including on-going financialrestraint and a renewed interest in universityresearch. We conclude by reviewing a number ofimportant implications for Canadian universitygovernance in the context of contemporarypolicy pressures.     

Traditional governance structures ‐ current policy pressures: The academic senate and Canadian universities

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to identify current policy pressures in Canadian higher education and explore their implications for academic decision‐making bodies based on data we obtained in our national study on university senates. We describe two inter‐related sets of public policy pressures that have emerged in recent years in Canada including on‐going financial restraint and a renewed interest in university research. We conclude by reviewing a number of important implications for Canadian university governance in the context of contemporary policy pressures.     

University Governance in Canadian Higher Education

In this paper we review the major historical developments in the evolution of Canadian university governance arrangements and synthesise data from two important national studies in order to provide an overview of university governance in Canadian higher education. We provide an analysis of university governance structures and arrangements, and conclude by reviewing a number of important contemporary issues. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.