The Role of the State in the Governance of Higher Education

Abstract

Within the past 15 to 20 years, the states increasingly have exercised controls over both public and private colleges and universities, controls often deplored but rarely systematically investigated. A series of investigations should be made to increase understanding of the apparent directions and probable limits to state governmental control over critical aspects of higher education. Without such knowledge, historical prerogatives of institutions could be lost, not so much by design as by the happenstance of transient, political, and fiscal pressure.Stephen Bailey (1975) perceptively describes relations between the state and higher education as part of a "persistent human paradox. The simultaneous need for structure and antistructure, for dependence and for autonomy, for involvement and for privacy" (p. 1). The goal of research and study on this subject should be a clearer understanding and awareness of the details of the opposing forces that underlie the paradox of the interdependence of higher education and the state.

Changing governance and management strategies

“…The trends that Heydinger describes in Chapter Three have been described by others, including Glenny (1980), Glenny andSchmidtlein (1983), andBreneman (1979). Some speculation follows on how these trends are likely to affect governance and management strategies and on their implications for institutional research.…”

Planning for diversity: The inclusion of diversity goals in postsecondary statewide strategic plan

“…However, this autonomy dwindled near the end of the nineteenth century as states began to exercise their authority over postsecondary institutions within their borders. The authority to establish and control educational institutions at all levels was retained by the states under the Constitution of the United States (Glenny & Schmidtlein, 1983) and, therefore, the power to establish colleges and universities rested within the states. Acting upon this authority, many state constitutions have included language that allows or even calls specifically for the establishment of postsecondary educational institutions.…”

“…These declarations delegate to state legislatures the authority to define the duties and powers held by college and university boards of trustees and other institutional governing bodies. Under this governance structure, legislatively-mandated board of trustee functions are able to be changed by statute only, thereby placing postsecondary institutions largely under the control of the state (Glenny & Schmidtlein, 1983). In the vast majority of the United States, states are able to exert nearly unlimited influence over public higher education within their borders.…”

“…Today's SHEEO agencies impact a wide array of higher education issues, but statewide coordinating boards are most deeply rooted in planning. According to Glenny and Schmidtlein (1983), "a primary function of nearly every coordinating agency established after 1955 was to conduct continuous or periodic long term planning for education" (p. 138). During the 1950s and 1960s planning documents were used primarily to stem program duplication.…”

New reverse transfer: a case study analysis of implementation between a community college and a four-year institution

“…Higher education needs "considerable autonomy in making internal education decisions," but a government and its people, are "within its rights to demand accountability of all social institutions, including higher education" (Furniss & Garnder, 1979, p. ix). In order to better understand the system of accountability and the forces that impact university systems, researchers have spent considerable time exploring structure and policy innovation in higher education systems (Berdahl, 1971;Glenny & Schmidtlein, 1983;Hearn & Griswold, 1994;Millard 1980).…”