Merit and Demerit of Faculty Participation in University Governance and the Influence of Presidential Leadership

Abstract

　 The Japanese government has formulated a policy that controls faculty power on university governance. An apprehension exists about the weakening of presidential leadership due to faculty power. However, collegiality or decentralized governance based on agreement between professions may lead to the creation of a community with a cordial atmosphere.

　 This study then considered the merit and demerit of faculty participation in university governance. The expected merit was the creation of the abovementioned community, whereas the demerit was the rigidity of institutional management due to excessive participation. This study conducted questionnaire-based surveys on the deans and department heads of national universities and private ones. The main findings are as follows.

　 First, the more the influence of faculty on personnel and curricular aspects through faculty meetings at each school, the more the sense of community and belonging to the institution was fostered. Alternatively, the more the faculty exerted influence on institutional management through such meetings, the lesser the enterprising spirit of the institutions. Moreover, the influence of faculty on management through the all-campus senate exerted a positive relationship with the enterprising spirit.

　 Second, presidential leadership better explained nearly all dependent variables much more than the influence of faculty did. Additionally, the study found that the interaction term between the influence of faculty and presidential leadership displayed a significant relationship using several dependent variables.

　 Based on these findings, the study presents a few implications. For example, faculty meeting should exert an influence on personnel and curricular aspects to compensate for weaknesses in leadership. Alternatively, faculty participation in institutional management should not be made effective through faculty meetings at each school.