Governance of Higher Education Institutions Research Paper

Abstract

The paper explores the kind of governance that is practiced in most of the institutions of higher learning. A more critical look is given to Whitman College, a small college of liberal art and sciences found in the United States. A brief history of the college is first presented followed by the statement the mission, vision, and core values of the institution.

The government’s involvement in the management of such institutions is then discussed with the emphasis on some of the governing policies that are employed at Whitman College.

What follows is the discussion the organizational structure of the institution where the terms of office of the members of such governing bodies and their roles are discussed. Finally, the strategic plans that have been put in place at Whitman College are discussed and a conclusion provided.

Introduction

Proper governance in an institution of higher learning is the key to the success of the learning and teaching process in the institution. The success of the process has positive effect on social, economic, and political growth in any society. The institutions are societies on their own, but their success/ failure influence the community as well (Bergan n.d, p1).

As such, it is the role of the stakeholders of the institution, the students, the community, and the government to ensure the success is achieved. Laxity on the side of any of these parties may hinder the effective performance of the institution.

For instance, the government may provide some policy like the copyright act; the management of the learning institution has the duty to familiarize the entire community of the institution with the policy, who in turn will contribute to its implementation through co-operation. The governments also have the role of funding higher education (Varghese, 2001, p8). The institution’s management has the role of properly managing the funds.

A Brief History Of Whitman College

Whitman College is a college of liberal arts found in the Pacific Northwest, near the city of Walla Walla, Washington, U.S.A., which traces its roots back to the mid nineteenth century. It was started in 1836, by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, as a Christian mission and school to teach the Indians their local language.

A decade later, after the two had been killed, a school was established in their honor by Rev. Cushing Eells. The school was granted a charter to Whitman Seminary in December 1859 and was changed into a four-year degree college in November 1883 by the Washington Territorial Legislature.

The college has had thirteen presidents since its establishment and has always sought to have its operation free from sectarian or government involvement. Perhaps the rapid accreditation of the institution was facilitated by the educational development back in the United States where the universities and colleges were not only concerned by primary learning in class but also embarked on extensive scientific research.

Mission

Whitman College is out to provide an excellent and a universally applicable liberal arts and sciences education at the undergraduate level. The mission of the college is contained in the Faculty Handbook and other college documents (websites). It is stated as follows:

“Whitman College is committed to providing an excellent, well-rounded liberal arts and sciences undergraduate education; it is an independent, non-sectarian, residential college;

Whitman offers an ideal setting for rigorous learning and scholarship and encourages creativity, character, and responsibility; through the study of humanities, arts, and social and natural sciences,

Whitman students develop capacities to analyze, interpret, criticize, communicate, and engage; a concentration on basic disciplines in combination with a nurturing residential life program that encourages personal and social development is intended to foster intellectual vitality, confidence, leadership, and the flexibility to deal with a changing technological, multicultural world” (Whitman College, 2010).

Vision

According to the statement that was contained in the Whitman College (2010), Whitman College’s vision is to provide a kind of education where “deep and lasting learning occurs in an academic community comprised of people who see and have experienced the world differently from each other.”

Core Value

The Whitman College’s core value is in the diversity that is experienced in the institution and on which the company relies for ensuring academic excellence.

Governing Policies at Whitman

The governing policies in any learning institution mainly have the goal of improving the teaching and learning processes (Nettles, Perorazio & Cole, 2002, p73). Some of the policies that enable smooth running of programs at Whitman College are discussed here below.

Copyright policy

One of the key academic offences is the unlawful production of a piece of academic work. Government involvement is usually welcome to help enact legislation to monitor such act. In most cases, an established copyright act or policy serves the purpose of preventing the vice (Munoz & Munoz, 2002, p99). The copyright policy at Whitman College is compliant with the United States law that protects copyright.

The policy gives the author of a material that right to own the material and attempts to educate the entire college community on the benefits of having the copyright act. The Whitman College copyright policy applies to all faculties, staff, and the students within the institution.

The policy attempts to encourage the community to acknowledge the use of others’ intellectual property and be ready to produce similar articles that can be used by others. As such, ideas can be shared among the members easily.

Institutional Review Board policy/ Assessment policy

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is concerned with a policy on studies related to human subjects that are characterized by a lot of research work. The board must review any research work that is conducted by any college or faculty students in accordance with the regulations provided by the government of the United States.

Communication policy

The other policy that is in use at Whitman College is the communication policy. An established Whitman Campus Network (WCN) serves the entire Whitman community in matters relating to the acquisition and/or passage of information.

The Network is under the management of Whitman College Technology Services and enables the college to ensure that the necessary information is available in the internet by use by the entire members of the institution.

The college thus established a policy that defines the recommended use of the resources provided by WCN, how the users of the services can be protected as in any information processing environment, as well as ensuring proper distribution of the resources.

Whitman College’s Organizational Structure

The traditional system of governance in higher education institutions was that similar to the administration by a state government.

The institutions relied fully on government policies but this has since changed. Currently, college governance goes far beyond government policies (Huisman, 2009, p13).The organizational structure of the Whitman College is contained the Whitman College Constitution that was first made in 1882 and was lastly modified in 1997.

The college is under the management of the President who is assisted by various governing boards. The college has different governing boards namely Trustees, Overseers, Alumni Board, and Committees. The usual role played by such governing boards include the appointment the Executive head, enacting policies and procedures and ensuring they are implemented and act as the overall authority of such institutions (Mackey, 2010, p2).

The Board of Trustees is the most powerful body in the management of the institution. It comprise the chair, the vice chair, and fifteen other members. The overall corporate roles are bestowed on the Board of Trustees. However, it can extend some of its roles to the Overseers. Members of the board hold the office for four years after which an election follows.

The overseers comprise the chair and vice chair together with other fifty-eight members. There is also the Alumni Board that comprises members selected from among the college alumni by the alumni themselves. The board serves the interest of the alumni in the management of the institution.

There are also several committees charged with various responsibilities. Most of the committees comprise the chair and vice-chairperson together with the members of the committee.

The committees include Academic affairs committee, the Audit committee, the Budget Review committee, Building and Grounds committee, Campaign Executive committee, Campaign steering committee, Diversity committee, Enrolment committee, Executive committee, Farm committee, Investment committee, Nominating trustee, Nominating-overseer, the student life committee, and the Technology Task Force committee.

A member of a committee can also be a member of another related committee. These agencies are essential in any institution as they also assist in the policy adjudication in the institution (Kaplin & Lee, 2007, p27).

Role and Action of Leaders

The President

The leadership at Whitman College is by Trustees in conjunction with the President, Alumni Board, and Overseers. The president has to be involved in the strategic planning in the institution (McMillen, 2010, p11). The college has had thirteen presidents since its inception in 1882.

The current president the institution is George S. Bridges, who assumed the office in 2005. According to Whitman College Constitution (modified in 1997), the President (also called the College President) is nominated by the board of trustees and is charged with the following roles:

• He/she shall be the executive head and shall be responsible for all the internal administration. The overall welfare of the institution and its community is under the president’s docket.
• He/she shall make various recommendations to the Board of Trustees and Overseers and, through the approval of these bodies, appoint members of the faculty, the educational staff, and the administrative staff.
• The president shall preside over all Faculty meetings, but also have that authority to appoint another faculty member to act instead.
• The president also delegates duties to the Deans of faculty and can perform any other function as concluded by the Board of Trustees.

Faculty senate

Some of the faculty senates in universities and colleges are active and perform their roles as had been traditionally stipulated while others happen to be dormant and end up being a ceremonial body. A standard procedures outlining the office terms of the members of the faculty will improve their performance, as they will b aware of the rights and responsibilities in the institution (Kaplin & Lee 2007, p186).

A faculty senate is traditionally charged with the responsibility of representing the interest of the faculty during the overall decision-making process by the institution. In such cases, the senate is largely concerned with academic matters like curriculum development as opposed to non-academic matters (Leach, 2008, p21).

A typical faculty senate in the current world, however, goes far beyond the decision-making process concerning the faculty. Instead, they contribute in discussing non-academic matters such as that concerns the entire institution like financial planning, organization of sporting activities, or the improvement of the college’s infrastructure (leach, 2008, p21).

At Whitman College, the Faculty consists of the President, Deans, and a Secretary. It has the responsibility of arranging course work, implementing government legislation, and instilling discipline in students.

External Agencies and Professional Associations

Whitman College Alumni Association

A college alumnus is a graduate, a former student, a former staff/faculty member, or a former social worker of the institution, who may still wish to have interest in knowing how the institution carries on and possibly make some ideological contributions. The alumni of the college formed an association in 1895 to be able to keep in touch with the college and share the matters that concerns their welfare.

The association serves to promote the interest of the alumni in relation to the management of programs in the institution. Members of the Alumni board are elected after every three years with the current president being an automatic member.

The board has the responsibility of connecting the alumni to the college and as such, the alumni can contribute to the general performance of the institution. Any graduate from the college is an automatic member of the Alumni Association

The Government

A public institution refers to that whose top management or governor is a government appointee and receives financial aid from the government and as such, the institution’s progress can be closely monitored by the government (Rephann, Knapp & Shobe, 2009, p14).

Students in these institutions obtain the required knowledge and skills at a subsidized costs compared to their counterparts in the private institutions that need to pay for everything (Alam, 2009, p2).

Whitman College of liberal arts and sciences is however, a private institution and such benefits are not enjoyed by the students in the institution. Its management is completely independent of government procedures. Nevertheless, there are certain government policies applicable to all institution and with which it has to comply.

According to Rwandese Ministry of Education (2008), the success of a learning institution requires a merger between the government and the institution (p4). The Bill of Rights contained in most Government constitution (like that of the Philippines) will also help promote education (Munoz & Munoz, 2002, p38). Every individual has the right to education.

The governments in the current worlds consider the economic value of education and feel the need to be involved in the administration of the institutions of higher learning McMillen (2010) observed that ‘government relations is a necessary senior administrative unit for academic institutions’ (p1).

The Community

The community in which an institution is established has a substantial role it plays in dictating the performance of the institution.

The community is the most readily available standard of measuring the degree to which the institution is achieving its overall goals since a research that was to be carried out may go beyond the community perhaps only if the necessary facilities and study procedures are not available within the community.

Besides, due to financial difficulties among the majority of students, many students often opt for nearby institutions to cut down certain expenses. As Rephann, Knapp, and Shobe (2009)observed, the majority of students ‘are induced to attend community college because of its much lower costs, close proximity, and greater ease in combining course work with employment and home obligations’ (p30).

The culture of the community and the general community make-up is thus a determining factor of the success of an institution within it.

Strategic Planning At Whitman College

In order to continue producing mature result-oriented leaders as has been the main dream of Whitman College of liberal arts, there have been several strategic initiatives started in the recent past.

Most of these initiatives are implemented or spearheaded by a committee that usually draws its members from the students, the teaching staff, and faculty officials. Extensive participation of everyone in the college ensures the required success (Gordon College, 2003, p7).

Changing entry procedures to various programs

In the recent years, reinforcement has been made on the process of student selection and the registration. The president of the college, President Bridges, established a committee in 2009 to restructure the student’s registration process and make the appropriate reinforces where necessary. The working group came up with a set of proposed procedures of registration that is currently in the process of being put to use. This has been one of the problems facing poorly governed private institutions (Alam, 2009, p12)

Redesigning the college’s Identity

A different committee was set up in November 2009 to redesign the college’s existing graphic style. There was a need to have a college Identity that gave the total visual impression of Whitman College.

Support for Innovation in Teaching and Learning

Financial and time constraints are some of the major challenges that are encountered in any teaching and learning environment. Poor time management by the students and staff is a threat to the learning process in that the staff will strive to cover the entire course work just during the eve of end-semester exam. Lack of resources due to financial difficulties cannot enable inventive and innovative learning conditions.

The teaching staffs are not able to develop their teaching skills to match methodological and technological advances. The learning process is thus reduced to being exam-oriented. The support initiative by Whitman College is aimed at providing financial or other necessary support to the members of faculty and staff so as enable them to acquire the necessary teaching methods.

This is not a new initiative in the United States according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2003, p11). The provision of such grants on the individual merit and in a competitive basis ensures competition among the teaching staff, which eventually improves the overall student outcome. This is also essential in strengthening the management of the institutions (Huisman, 2009, p42).

A Collaborative Budget Committee

The committee also draws its members from the students, staff, and faculty members. The committee is charged with the responsibility of providing technical advice to the college president on the financial management in the college in order to fight vices like misappropriation of the institution’s financial resources. Resource allocation is a major problem encountered in any institution.

Institutions across the world have opted to apply performance indicators as a tool to aid in the process (Varghese, 2001, p13). The committee is thus a means of ensuring accountability and transparency in matters pertaining to the institution’s financial management.

It also helps in regulating the student’s tuition fee in relation to the academic programs and the set goals. Good budget policy will facilitate the implementation of other policies (Bergan, n.d, p9).

Establishment of Whitman Institute of Scholastic Enrichment (WISE)

This program was first carried out in 2006 and has since been performed each year.

It is a motivational initiative targeting students in the middle schools from a minority group or impoverished community but with outstanding academic excellence. It sheds light to the students on the nature of college life and helps them develop interest in, and therefore seek the necessary support for, joining the college after high school.

President’s Advisory Council on Diversity

Diversity will always be encountered in any organization. Political organizations, business organizations and social organizations like religious and learning institution draw individuals from different cultures and belief. Managing the diversity is therefore one of the key roles of the management to ensure the success of any of these organization. Diversity is recognized as a core value by the Whitman College.

The council, which came into force in 2006, is charged with the role of setting plans to manage the increasing diversity among the college students and staff and educating the public on how to manage the same. The college is committed to fighting all sorts of discriminations like in the admission of students, offering employment, scholarships, or in the administration of educational policies.

The council ensures that there is no discrimination based on race, age, gender, color, religion, nationality, or even disability. The Trustees of Whitman College (2005) gave a statement of their view on the role of diversity as follows:

“Diversity is fundamentally important to the character and mission of Whitman College; diversity enriches our community and enhances intellectual and personal growth; we seek to provide a challenging liberal arts experience for our students that prepares them for citizenship in the global community” (The Trustees of Whitman College, 2005).

Academic Resource Center (ARC)

The ARC has various programs that cater for the needs of students especially on matters concerning career options and how one can plan his or her study in the college. The staff at the center come in handy when a student is faced with the difficulty in planning his/her studies, or when they are unable to set up an academic goal to be achieved. Support services for the disabled are also available.

Conclusion

The various strategic plans that the institution put in place will enable it to realize its dreams of providing the kind of quality education described in the vision of the institution. Most of them can be implemented and are already in place. However, much more effort needs to be especially in the establishment of education policies, which has continued to be a major challenge in educational research.

References

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