University Business - September 2011 - (Page 38)

be like to have one or two faculty members on the Board of Trustees?” he asks. “The right faculty member on a receptive board could make a big difference.” Success at Salisbury Believers on both sides of the shared governance model agree that it has a valuable place, and is still alive and kicking. What Ever Happened to Shared Governance? Dudley-Eshbach believes that shared governance is vibrant on her campus, noting that her staff meets regularly with representatives of the faculty senate, staff senate, and the student government association. Even though these bodies are advisory, she takes what they say seriously. “Effective presidents today must really be good listeners,” she explains. “When you seek input, it Get Paid to Pay Your Bills! Tuition and public funding don’t have to be your only revenue streams. Is your school’s A/P department hiding working capital and revenue opportunities? If so, consider Wright Express’s AP Direct Program. We deliver bottom line profits and overall efficiency to traditional payment processing. Benefits include: • Improve working capital and days paid outstanding • Earn revenue share — think cash back — on payments processed • No-cost, straight-forward integration with your existing ERP system Contact us today to learn how easy it is to integrate AP Direct into your current ERP system. 1-877-865-4244 www.wrightexpress.com/education often delays decisions, but I find the results tend to be better in the long run.” Dudley-Eshbach recalls that after cochairing a re-accreditation committee visiting a school in New Jersey, she came away impressed that faculty there taught three fourhour courses per term instead of the four three-hour courses practiced at Salisbury. “I threw the idea out,” she notes. “There was a huge debate over a year and a half— any discussion about curriculum gets pretty heated—and there was a campus-wide vote.” While Salisbury’s school of liberal arts adopted the idea, the university’s three other schools of science and technology, business, and education passed on the idea, DudleyEshbach reports. “If I as president had shoved the idea down everyone’s throat, there wouldn’t have been a buy-in. From my perspective, the university management model is akin to a progressive business or company where every employee owns stock. If I empower the faculty and they have input, I’m going to be more successful.” The AAUP, meanwhile, is encouraging its members to become more actively involved in shared governance at their institutions, and those members are beginning to get the message. While the AAUP had to cancel its first Shared Governance Conference in 2009 due to lack of interest, the 2010 version sold out. The more than 250 participants from colleges around the country heard presentations and took workshops on areas from the role of the faculty senate in budgeting and reviewing faculty and administrative collaboration in challenging times to faculty governance of intercollegiate athletics and challenges to governance from demands for accountability. “Once upon a time, you just did your teaching and your research,” says the AAUP’s Nelson. “But people are becoming aware that only community action can generate the parts of shared governance critical to a university’s community life.” Ron Schachter is a Boston-based freelance writer. 38 | September 2011 universitybusiness.com http://www.wrightexpress.com/education http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - September 2011

University Business - September 2011
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Viewpoint
Financial Aid
Money Matters
Internet Technology
Shared Governance
Acknowledging Achievement
Looking Back
Spotlight on Procurement
EduComm 2011
End Note

University Business - September 2011