Changes in the Case Study Academic Boards Over Time
Part II of this book presents detailed case study research conducted on academic boards within three Australian universities, which concluded in 2012. This chapter draws not only on interview data from the case study academic boards, the principal academi
- PDF / 146,413 Bytes
- 15 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 15 Downloads / 175 Views
Changes in the Case Study Academic Boards Over Time
Abstract Part II of this book presents detailed case study research conducted on academic boards within three Australian universities, which concluded in 2012. This chapter draws not only on interview data from the case study academic boards, the principal academic governance body within these universities, but also on extensive historical records from the older two universities in the sample to trace changes in academic board role and function since establishment. The data show substantial shifts, not only in how academic boards are comprised and for how long they meet, but also in the nature of the matters considered and the ways in which that consideration takes place. They are indicative of the significant diminution in academic board role and function that has taken place within Australian universities during this time. However, they also report a very powerful and ongoing symbolic role for academic boards. At the conclusion of the chapter, the Australian data are compared with data and literature reporting changes in academic board equivalent bodies within the UK and the US.
The Australian Case Study Research This chapter draws on case study research conducted within three Australian universities between 2010 and 2012 examining the role and function of academic boards in their capacity as the principal body for institutional-level academic governance. Its particular focus was on the changing role of the academic board in general terms rather than being a study of a particular university or even of an academic board at a particular university for its own sake. Data collection methods included interviews of current and former academic board members in a range of categories, analysis of current and historic academic board documents, including agendas, minutes, terms of reference and operating procedures; and direct observation of academic board meetings. Pseudonyms have been adopted to assist in preserving the anonymity of the three universities that participated in the research. Accordingly, of the three cases, ‘Newtown’ was a new dual sector university (i.e. encompassing, vocational, further and higher education) established after 1986; © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 J. Rowlands, Academic Governance in the Contemporary University, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2688-1_7
131
132
7 Changes in the Case Study Academic Boards Over Time
‘Historydale’ was a ‘Group of 8’ research intensive university established before 1914; and ‘Middleton’ was established in between these two dates. These age groupings were selected so as to compare and contrast the role of and attitudes to the academic board within the oldest university (in the sample), where the literature suggests collegial governance would once have played a considerable role, with the newest dual sector university (in the sample) where, by virtue of age and institution type, the literature suggests there could be no long-standing tradition of either collegial governance or of academic boards. These find
Data Loading...
