By Michael T. Miller
New Forums Press

In "Improving Faculty Governance" Michael T. Miller, associate professor of higher education in the College of Education and Health Professions, asks the question, "Can faculty governance survive and thrive in this new world of corporate-structured higher education?"

He examines the first-ever seven-year longitudinal study of how to improve faculty governance. The National Database on Faculty Involvement in Governance project surveyed 5,000 faculty members and resulted in nearly 50 academic articles and presentations.

Miller discusses the state of faculty involvement in governance in light both of the history of the faculty role in decision-making and of the results of the national database study. He concludes with 12 recommendations to assist faculty governance bodies and the faculty and administrators who lead and work closely with them. Recommendations include steps such as "Make a Commitment to Representative Training," "Foster Good Senatorship" and "Commit Time to Transitions."

Miller argues that it is "paramount to the history and future of higher education for there to be a forum to defend academic integrity and the mission of higher learning.." He concludes with a call to college and university faculty to create a history of faculty governance today that will empower future scholars.

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